Nagoya, Japan, is known for being the birthplace of Toyota and culinary delights like Miso Katsu. You can add crazy-ass cars shows to that notoriety, like the annual Nagoya Auto Trend. This year's exhibition attracted manufacturers from all over Japan. Companies like J's Racing, Pioneer Electronics and all of the major Japanese auto makers had huge displays that filled the Port Messe Nagoya convention center.

On this trip I tried to save a few bucks by taking an overnight bus to the show, which meant I got there a couple of hours early. Upon arrival I couldn't help but notice there were a bunch of guys already lined up to enter the event. A few had what looked like $20,000 of camera equipment strapped around their necks.

After sitting back and watching the vendors enter the show, it became very apparent that these guys were not here for the cars. This crew was the local perv patrol, and was in it for the nasty chick photos. It made me wonder if these depraved souls in their golden years (several looked to be 50 or older) have ever been on a date in their lifetimes. I hate to see what these guys do with the images when they get home.

NAT '08 featured this really cool Nissan Skyline display. The setup had every chassis configuration in the car's history, from the first 1950's 88-horsepower version to the present 3.7-liter Skyline coupe.

Garage Defend had a very impressive display of race-cars in the main hall. They boasted GTRs ranging from the present-generation R35 all the way down to a sick third-gen. R32. Included in their display was the company's blistering-fast time attack R33.

J's Racing brought their time attack Honda Fit all the way from Osaka to give Nagoya show goers a close-up look at the subcompact. Additionally, its booth was filled to the gills with the latest J's goodies.

Warner Bros. is getting ready to release their much-hyped live action "Speed Racer" motion picture here in Japan. It's interesting that Warner Bros. is releasing the movie here with the US name of the cartoon instead of the TV show's original Japanese name, "Mach GoGoGo".

Tamiya held a sanctioned RC race at this year Nagoya Auto Trend. After walking around the show for a bit, I got the impression that it boasts many of the same features as the Osaka Messe show.

There was a huge VIP car presence at this show. All three of the big Osaka VIP companies (Garson, Wald and Junction Produce) went all out with huge displays, rocking cars ranging from a wide-body SL to slammed Lexus ISs.

All of the Nagoya show goers were given a chance to enter a drawing to win dozens of prizes from various show vendors. The prizes ranged from a set of wheels to light bulb replacements.

Nagoya Auto Trend 2008 Visit the 2008 Nagoya Auto Trend Gallery for more images.