Depending on the way it's translated, the Japanese word "bosozoku" means, "out-of-control tribe" or "violent running tribe." Either way, it's an apt description of this unhinged group of car modifiers who'll stop at nothing to make the craziest looking machines. With its roots in 1950s biker gang culture, the style has expanded to include all sorts of vehicles such as cars and vans.
The idea is simple: to make a car that looks outrageous. Bosozoku is all about shocking and polarizing car fans, with many thinking the cars are too weird and many others loving the absurdity. The culture is still largely an underground one, no doubt due to the fact that a lot of the modifications on these cars are illegal. Those drivers who brave the possible fines and criminal charges to come out to car shows mean that the rest of the car community can wonder at these insane but brilliant builds.
10 Who Needs Headlights Anyway
It's popular in Japan for car meets to happen in roadside service station car parks, and that was where this Toyota Mark II was spotted. The owner took the drastic step of removing the front headlights, with the only lighting now coming from two units in the front bumper.
The rear of the car sports more traditional bosozoku style, with a wide body kit and cambered wheels protruding out each side of the car. The exhaust has also been modified to stick several feet above the roof of the car, another common bosozoku feature.
9 A Bosozoku Car in LA
Most of these extremely-modified cars are never seen out of the car parks and streets of Japanese cities, but this example made it all the way across the Pacific Ocean. It's owned by YouTuber Effspot, who has a passion for modified JDM cars.
He's taken the car out around his native Los Angeles several times, including up to Beverley Hills where the car drew huge amounts of attention. With its huge front splitter and cartoonish design, who wouldn't stare at this as it drove past?
8 Don't Tell The Police
Bosozoku, like most Japanese car styles, is hard to define in isolation. Often a car designed in Bosozoku style can take influences from other modification disciplines, in this case VIP style. VIP cars are usually Japanese RWD sedans modified with lowered suspension, cambered wheels and body kits.
If that sounds similar to Bosozoku, that's because it is. Back in the '70s and '80s Kanto-area Bosozoku gangs actually used VIP style as a way of making their cars unique to them but avoiding police crackdowns on the more crazy elements of Bosozoku modification. This brown sedan clearly takes influence from both disciplines.
7 A Bosozoku'd Diablo
Old-school Bosozoku focuses almost solely on Japanese sedans, but there's a growing element of new-school builders taking the style to a whole new set of models. The owner of this car embraces both old and new, owning this modified Diablo and an old-school Datsun.
All the key elements of Bosozoku have been transferred over, with flared body kit, bright colors and air suspension to drop the car within an inch of the ground. The car has also been straight-piped to cause maximum sonic impact, meaning it attracts police attention almost everywhere it goes.
6 Sitting Pretty In Pink
Skylines are a true pillar of the JDM tuning community, so it's no surprise one owner decided to make a Bosozoku version. The headlights have been removed and replaced with body-color panels, and the car now sports an exposed radiator.
From the rear things look a little less crazy, with a wide body kit highlighting the car's comically wide rear tires. Contrasting yellow struts can be seen through the car's window, presumably to give the veteran classic more rigidity in case of any mishaps.
5 Exhausts, What Exhausts?
One of the more extreme bosozoku builds out there, this car takes all the typical elements of the style and turns them up to 11. Most notable are the crazy exhausts that trail above the roof line of the car.
In fact the highest exhaust is so tall that it even sits above the ridiculous two-tier rear spoiler. With four pipes all heading straight from the engine out over the windshield, it's safe to assume this car sounds as loud as it looks.
4 Musical Madness
As well as crazy visual modifications, owners like to go all out on the smaller elements of their cars that would often get overlooked in other tuning disciplines. The car's horn, for example.
Some builders like to fit a louder horn or a novelty one, but it's almost certain they won't be as outlandish as this example. Sporting five different air horns, this car is set up to blare the theme tune of The Godfather to any motorist unlucky enough to get in the way.
3 More Shelving Than Ikea
There's having a big front splitter, and then there's having a splitter big enough to park a scooter on. This car must be almost impossible to drive on anything but the smoothest of tarmac, as the shelf on the front would catch on every imperfection along the road.
The rest of the car is mad too, with exhausts reaching up into the sky and a bright purple interior to match the car's purple and silver paint work. This definitely isn't a car for the faint of heart, or anybody who likes driving anywhere in a hurry, really.
2 It's A Mean Machine
Looking like a modern take on a Wacky Races vehicle, this mean machine started life as a minivan. It's now anything but mini, with so much extra body work fitted that the owner has to fold up the front end just to fit it in their garage.
It's an absolutely crazy vehicle and one that doesn't look real, let alone driveable. In can however be driven on the road, although it's highly illegal thanks to all the modifications. That hasn't stopped the owner, who has to take a wallet full of yen with them every time they go out to pay the fines their van always gets.
1 Land Of The Rising Datsun
The old-school counterpart to the Bosozoku'd Diablo, this Datsun manages to take all the best bits of the style and do them just right. It looks undeniably cool blasting down the streets of Toyko at night, orange and white paint contrasting against the city lights. It's also one of the most street-legal Bosozoku cars, with only a small number of infringements compared to other builds.
Whether car fans love it or hate it, it's impossible not to respect followers of Bosozoku for taking their cars to such extremes and driving them in spite of the inevitable vehicle fines. It's one of the craziest, weirdest modification styles out there, but that's what makes these builds as unique as they are.