- Mon Jan 14, 2013 3:06 am
#46343
[by Steve Neill]
Most people who play video games have played “Midnight Club,” where you race around the city at night, collecting cars, cash, and parts to make your collection different from everybody else’s. That game originated from the real Mid Night (note the space in between the words) Club, in which members of Japan’s finest tuners would drive at full throttle down the Bayshore Route (Wangan) highway deep into the wee hours of the morning.
As much fun as Midnight Club the game is, it is not even remotely similar to the real events which happened between early 1988 and mid 1999…
In the late 80s, amid the re-spawn of tye dye shirts, and big shoulder pads, there was a group which was starting to come up through the woodwork in Japan. We have seen this group before, with their wild cars, and they were called the Bosozoku. The Bosozoku were an ambitious group, one of sporadic violence, and at the time they would deliberately try to scare drivers who were only on their nightly commute to work, by speeding down the highway at violent speeds on motorcycles.
These Bosozoku however had some trouble with owners of high end sports cars, who would get overtaken by a few violent jokers on motorcycles, and would floor it, only to watch the motorcyclists disappear in the rear view mirror.
Such anger was ensued, that a club was formed that would go out and race both for fun and for rivalry. This club of high end supercar owners were called the Mid Night Club.
The typical markings of Mid Night Club car owners were at first nothing more then simple bumper stickers, but after they figured out that Bosozoku couldn’t read that from looking behind them on their bikes, they applied them (properly I might add, not reversed like on an Ambulance) to their windshields. That way, as the rider of a Bosozoku was riding, he/she could swivel their heads and see what was trailing them.
Cars in the club were originally Porsche 911s, Ferraris, and other such machines, but as the tuning culture increased, so did the variety of their cars. Soon, Skylines, Supras, and RX-7s were made into Wangan terrors, as they were much cheaper to buy, and could be modified to be much faster then most motorcycles.
To join the club was not as easy as the other clubs as it was governed by a series of rules and was far better organised. Additionally, unlike in other groups, the hashiriya (street racer) car was to be capable of going over 250 km/h (160 mph), as a racing speed of over 300 km/h (190 mph) was common. As new members are regarded as apprentices for one year, they were required to attend all the meetings. Only 10% of these drivers would qualify for full membership and they would have to leave if they posed a danger to other motorists and to other members.
The high standard of the drivers made it difficult for the police to catch them, as most police cars of the era were limited to 180 km/h (110 mph), a legal requirement set forth by the 1977 Japanese Automotive Gentlemans Agreement. Even after they adquired more powerful vehicles they still didn't manage to catch the racers.
On average, there were 30 members in the club, and they met in a designated meeting spot at midnight, as the name implied; races would take place on the Bayshore Wangan route sometimes leading itself to extended portions of the "Shuto Expressway" for more complicated and intricate top speed runs. The standing/winner of the race would be one of many factors, such as "the ability to no longer see the driver in front" or "To pass a certain Highway Stop first". Although very secretive in fashion, a member was once heard saying " "Drifting" and "Autocross" is for the weak. We only do Maximum Velocity. "
A map of the usual routes
Races usually began at speeds of 100-120 km/h and a signal from a third car in the form of a horn. Both participants rushed on, and sometimes the starting point was a line just before a big curve and continue on to various straights. To end the race, they would choose the entrance to a rest area, where the competition could talk about the details of the race. It could also be used to catch up with the other car shoul they lose sight of the other contender.
One major rule the Mid Night Club had in place was a very strict policy on safety. If you were ever a threat to yourself or anyone around the club while driving on the expressway, you were immediately asked to leave. In fact, it is said that of all of the candidates considered, roughly 10% of that group would go on to don the infamous Mid Night Club stickers which can be seen written in cursive on the front windshield, side rockers and on the bumpers. This was a prestigious moment for a member, as any car caught with these stickers without being a full fledged member was allegedly vandalized and even burned down. Sheesh!
In order to organize a meet up, a Mid Night Team Leader would place an ad in a Tokyo local newspaper, under the "Classifieds" section. Usually it would read of something entirely different than any sort of racing meeting, in order to not draw unwanted attention from law enforcement. The subject of the ad would have been discussed at the previous meet up, so that the team members could look up the ad and specifically meet up at the exact location in order to begin racing, at the exact time. An example of the ad would read something like this.
For Sale: Small handbags at discount prices. For more information, I am available for meetup at Daikoku Parking Area on Thursday, between 11PM and 2AM. Thank you.
The members would then meet up at the preconceived meeting spot, and begin racing. As full-fledged members' cars were capable of performing over 320 km/h (200 mph), the cars were usually boasting over 400–600 bhp
Other racing teams would also issue challenges to the Mid Night Club. In this case, each team would elect a member to duke it out with the opposing team in a best two out of three scenario to eliminate any chance of luck. But the Mid Night Club was no punk. Their members would often pack some super serious punch back in the day. Of course most members horsepower output was believed to be anywhere from 450-700hp, there was one crazy Z32 that supposedly had a prototype motor directly from Nissan that they used in their Z32 Bonneville Salt Flats race car. A motor that is believed to be somewhere in the realm of 800hp.
Which leads us to another rule of the Mid Night Club. Under no circumstances, a member could not ask another member what he did for a living or how he got the money to modify their cars. This was strictly forbidden. One member supposedly spent upwards of $2million dollars to keep up with his addiction to “Maximum Velocity”.
Only Max Power, in 1995, revealed the professions of two drivers: one, a RX-7 FD3S owner, was a property developer; the other, who drove a Skyline GT-R R32, ran his family car sales business. Many affluent and well known Japanese "tuning" shop founders are rumoured to be original members however.
By the mid-90s, Mid Night had about 75 members, and it was looking pretty strong. But new laws in Japan started to pin down on them for street racing, and soon the club dwindled down to only about 40 members. They still would meet up every Friday night, at a popular gas station off the Tomei route, in order to organize races, and they would be seen coming in and out of the Daikoku Futo from time to time, looking for challengers.
One night however, in 1999, the group would see its final hurrah.
At approximately 3am on an unknown Friday night in 1999, a member of Bosozoku was driving recklessly down the Wangan, whilst the scared drivers of motorcars were swerving out of his way. The Mid Night Club just happened to be racing in this area, and while he caught up to them, they blinked their lights, unbeknown to the fact that the rider of the motorcycle was in fact drunk.
As they proceeded to race through the traffic, in excess of 160 miles per hour, the Bosozoku rider lost control, and hit a motorist, it culiminated in a huge chain-crash. The motorist crashed into the barricade, dying instantly. The Mid Night Club racers slowed down, and noticed that the Bosozoku rider was also in fact dead. 8 motorists were hospitalized, 6 of them being innocent drivers on the highway.
Due to a policy that the Mid Night Club had organized at their start up, the group disbanded. Their rule was simple, if anyone was to die during the existence of the club, whether a racer, or a motorist, or whether it was indirect or directly the clubs fault, they would disband.
And that they did.
There have been numerous imitators over the years, yet none have lived up to the true stature of the original Mid Night Club. If anyone would like to know of one member of the original club, the most famous of them all, Mr. Smokey Nagata San of TOP SECRET Co. Fame will happily tell anyone about the adventures he had while he was part of the club.
The club members seclude themselves in secrecy to this day, many refusing to talk/mention the club under any circumstances.
A ex Mid Night Club member website
[youtube size=560X315]
1st
2nd
3rd
Most people who play video games have played “Midnight Club,” where you race around the city at night, collecting cars, cash, and parts to make your collection different from everybody else’s. That game originated from the real Mid Night (note the space in between the words) Club, in which members of Japan’s finest tuners would drive at full throttle down the Bayshore Route (Wangan) highway deep into the wee hours of the morning.
As much fun as Midnight Club the game is, it is not even remotely similar to the real events which happened between early 1988 and mid 1999…
In the late 80s, amid the re-spawn of tye dye shirts, and big shoulder pads, there was a group which was starting to come up through the woodwork in Japan. We have seen this group before, with their wild cars, and they were called the Bosozoku. The Bosozoku were an ambitious group, one of sporadic violence, and at the time they would deliberately try to scare drivers who were only on their nightly commute to work, by speeding down the highway at violent speeds on motorcycles.
These Bosozoku however had some trouble with owners of high end sports cars, who would get overtaken by a few violent jokers on motorcycles, and would floor it, only to watch the motorcyclists disappear in the rear view mirror.
Such anger was ensued, that a club was formed that would go out and race both for fun and for rivalry. This club of high end supercar owners were called the Mid Night Club.
The typical markings of Mid Night Club car owners were at first nothing more then simple bumper stickers, but after they figured out that Bosozoku couldn’t read that from looking behind them on their bikes, they applied them (properly I might add, not reversed like on an Ambulance) to their windshields. That way, as the rider of a Bosozoku was riding, he/she could swivel their heads and see what was trailing them.
Cars in the club were originally Porsche 911s, Ferraris, and other such machines, but as the tuning culture increased, so did the variety of their cars. Soon, Skylines, Supras, and RX-7s were made into Wangan terrors, as they were much cheaper to buy, and could be modified to be much faster then most motorcycles.
To join the club was not as easy as the other clubs as it was governed by a series of rules and was far better organised. Additionally, unlike in other groups, the hashiriya (street racer) car was to be capable of going over 250 km/h (160 mph), as a racing speed of over 300 km/h (190 mph) was common. As new members are regarded as apprentices for one year, they were required to attend all the meetings. Only 10% of these drivers would qualify for full membership and they would have to leave if they posed a danger to other motorists and to other members.
The high standard of the drivers made it difficult for the police to catch them, as most police cars of the era were limited to 180 km/h (110 mph), a legal requirement set forth by the 1977 Japanese Automotive Gentlemans Agreement. Even after they adquired more powerful vehicles they still didn't manage to catch the racers.
On average, there were 30 members in the club, and they met in a designated meeting spot at midnight, as the name implied; races would take place on the Bayshore Wangan route sometimes leading itself to extended portions of the "Shuto Expressway" for more complicated and intricate top speed runs. The standing/winner of the race would be one of many factors, such as "the ability to no longer see the driver in front" or "To pass a certain Highway Stop first". Although very secretive in fashion, a member was once heard saying " "Drifting" and "Autocross" is for the weak. We only do Maximum Velocity. "
A map of the usual routes
Races usually began at speeds of 100-120 km/h and a signal from a third car in the form of a horn. Both participants rushed on, and sometimes the starting point was a line just before a big curve and continue on to various straights. To end the race, they would choose the entrance to a rest area, where the competition could talk about the details of the race. It could also be used to catch up with the other car shoul they lose sight of the other contender.
One major rule the Mid Night Club had in place was a very strict policy on safety. If you were ever a threat to yourself or anyone around the club while driving on the expressway, you were immediately asked to leave. In fact, it is said that of all of the candidates considered, roughly 10% of that group would go on to don the infamous Mid Night Club stickers which can be seen written in cursive on the front windshield, side rockers and on the bumpers. This was a prestigious moment for a member, as any car caught with these stickers without being a full fledged member was allegedly vandalized and even burned down. Sheesh!
In order to organize a meet up, a Mid Night Team Leader would place an ad in a Tokyo local newspaper, under the "Classifieds" section. Usually it would read of something entirely different than any sort of racing meeting, in order to not draw unwanted attention from law enforcement. The subject of the ad would have been discussed at the previous meet up, so that the team members could look up the ad and specifically meet up at the exact location in order to begin racing, at the exact time. An example of the ad would read something like this.
For Sale: Small handbags at discount prices. For more information, I am available for meetup at Daikoku Parking Area on Thursday, between 11PM and 2AM. Thank you.
The members would then meet up at the preconceived meeting spot, and begin racing. As full-fledged members' cars were capable of performing over 320 km/h (200 mph), the cars were usually boasting over 400–600 bhp
Other racing teams would also issue challenges to the Mid Night Club. In this case, each team would elect a member to duke it out with the opposing team in a best two out of three scenario to eliminate any chance of luck. But the Mid Night Club was no punk. Their members would often pack some super serious punch back in the day. Of course most members horsepower output was believed to be anywhere from 450-700hp, there was one crazy Z32 that supposedly had a prototype motor directly from Nissan that they used in their Z32 Bonneville Salt Flats race car. A motor that is believed to be somewhere in the realm of 800hp.
Which leads us to another rule of the Mid Night Club. Under no circumstances, a member could not ask another member what he did for a living or how he got the money to modify their cars. This was strictly forbidden. One member supposedly spent upwards of $2million dollars to keep up with his addiction to “Maximum Velocity”.
Only Max Power, in 1995, revealed the professions of two drivers: one, a RX-7 FD3S owner, was a property developer; the other, who drove a Skyline GT-R R32, ran his family car sales business. Many affluent and well known Japanese "tuning" shop founders are rumoured to be original members however.
By the mid-90s, Mid Night had about 75 members, and it was looking pretty strong. But new laws in Japan started to pin down on them for street racing, and soon the club dwindled down to only about 40 members. They still would meet up every Friday night, at a popular gas station off the Tomei route, in order to organize races, and they would be seen coming in and out of the Daikoku Futo from time to time, looking for challengers.
One night however, in 1999, the group would see its final hurrah.
At approximately 3am on an unknown Friday night in 1999, a member of Bosozoku was driving recklessly down the Wangan, whilst the scared drivers of motorcars were swerving out of his way. The Mid Night Club just happened to be racing in this area, and while he caught up to them, they blinked their lights, unbeknown to the fact that the rider of the motorcycle was in fact drunk.
As they proceeded to race through the traffic, in excess of 160 miles per hour, the Bosozoku rider lost control, and hit a motorist, it culiminated in a huge chain-crash. The motorist crashed into the barricade, dying instantly. The Mid Night Club racers slowed down, and noticed that the Bosozoku rider was also in fact dead. 8 motorists were hospitalized, 6 of them being innocent drivers on the highway.
Due to a policy that the Mid Night Club had organized at their start up, the group disbanded. Their rule was simple, if anyone was to die during the existence of the club, whether a racer, or a motorist, or whether it was indirect or directly the clubs fault, they would disband.
And that they did.
There have been numerous imitators over the years, yet none have lived up to the true stature of the original Mid Night Club. If anyone would like to know of one member of the original club, the most famous of them all, Mr. Smokey Nagata San of TOP SECRET Co. Fame will happily tell anyone about the adventures he had while he was part of the club.
The club members seclude themselves in secrecy to this day, many refusing to talk/mention the club under any circumstances.
A ex Mid Night Club member website
[youtube size=560X315]
[/youtube]
One of the earliest non-Japanese media referrals was in the first episode of Jeremy Clarkson's Motorworld in January 1995, when the presenter Jeremy Clarkson, driving his Skyline GT-R around Japan, stated that his car "is more likely to be seen in the Mid Night Club". The show then featured roughly 30 seconds of amateur footage revealing the typical nature of the club.Sources
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