When I started to go back to Japan, 2017 was the year of “Wandering Leopard Pilgrimage“.
Part of this journey was to start visiting shops I have always loved reading about when I was younger. Bee Racing was one of those shops. In my early 2000s excursions to Japan, I was pretty much clueless as back then there was no translation software and phones were regional (I would pay a hefty roaming fee using my phone in Japan). So I didn’t get a chance to check out Bee-R.
Fast forward to 2017, I had a chance to go there and I was glad I did.
Imai-san let me check out the shop and enjoy all the old school cars he had under dust covers. Hearing of his passing has brought a bit of sadness. Project Leopard will carry a bit of homage to Bee-R with the rev limiter. While it isn’t “functional” due to today’s ECU technology (I am running LINK ECU), I will always contend that Project Leopard is a tribute car to the era and tuners that have made the Japanese car scene what it is today.