![]() ![]() ![]() It may seem more logical for us to talk about the flagship LS models, but we reckon the GS is a better shout for a UK VIP project. Remember what Alan Partridge said about Lexus? “It’s the Japanese Mercedes.” Well, it can’t possibly get any more bippu-style than that, can it? Lexus is the very definition of what VIP cars are about. This mile-long goliath packs a creamy-smooth 6.0-litre V12, giving you 439bhp to outrun the fuzz – and imagine what that’d sound like on open pipes! The optional soft-close doors offer proper Rolls-Royce levels of VIP swank too. And when you clock the depreciation figures of these brutes, they’ll really start to make sense to you as a used purchase. OK, European cars aren’t in-keeping with traditional bippu culture, but the world’s moved on. So what you really need is something impressively long – say, a long-wheelbase 7 Series. Being able to put your feet up at full stretch, possibly using a bound and gagged business rival as a bloodied footstool, is an essential part of the lifestyle as your henchmen whisk you under the city streetlights. If there’s one thing mob bosses really love, it’s having absolutely buttloads of legroom. (Or just rip it out and slam it on coils!) Rear sunshades and rear-mounted climate and audio controls were optional, so you’re already halfway to being a Yakuza boss. Brilliantly, they came with optional factory air-ride, which can presumably be fiddled with to dump the thing on the ground. The one you want is the ‘Athlete V’ spec you’ll have to put up with an automatic gearbox, but you’ll also have close to 300bhp. Why this one in particular? Well, this is the one that Toyota decided to fit with the 1JZ-GTE engine – the turbocharged 2.5-litre straight-six with BEAMS tech. This iconic model is now running in its fifteenth generation and is showing no signs of slowing down, and the one we reckon would best suit your needs for a VIP project is the eleventh-gen Crown S170, built from 1999-2003. Hardly surprising really, as the first-generation Crown came out in 1955, so the model’s as deeply interwoven into Japanese culture as rice wine and clichés about karaoke. The Crown’s been on the VIP scene since its inception. Kicking off our list of the 10 best VIP style project cars is the Toyota Crown Athlete. 10 best VIP style project cars Toyota Crown Athlete However, if you want to go traditional bippu – and let’s face it, why the hell wouldn’t you want to? – we’ve pulled together our 10 best VIP style project cars that you can you use as a base. So if you fancy rocking the scary, moody VIP style but you’ve got a Corsa parked on the drive (or you feel like giving your grandad’s Previa a bit of a makeover), there’s nothing stopping you. There are oodles of Kei VIP builds on the scene, and VIP minivans – you name it, it’s out there. VIP, then, is a style – this means that, while it’s logically and usually applied to big-ass luxury cars, it’s a set of values that can be affixed to any car you like. ![]() As time moved on and the scene evolved, today’s bippu cars are characterised by high-end wheels with loads of dish, very low ride height, huge negative camber, aggressive skirts and lips, and very glossy paint – usually in a subtle black, white or silver. Known domestically as ‘bippu’ ( Japanese for ‘very important person’), VIP-style originated with the Yakuza – the bosses of organised crime syndicates wanted big flashy cars, but knew that rival gangs and the police would be immediately suspicious to see them in European luxury cruisers, so instead of rolling in top-flight Beemers, Mercs or Rollers, they set about up-speccing JDM cars like the Toyota Crown and the Nissan Gloria. We’re talking massive luxury saloons, panscraping stance, blingin’ rims, eyewatering camber… although there is actually a bit more to it than that. ![]() Of all the niche and not-so-niche trends on the global tuning scene, there’s none more gangsta than the VIP look. We take a look at 10 of the best VIP style project cars you can use as a base to build the ultimate show-stopping car. ![]()
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