What Ended the Golden Age of Japanese Street Racing? - Past Gas #06

In the final installment of the series, James and Nolan explore more of the lore of the infamous underground Japanese street racing team, the Mid Night Club. Plus, James and Nolan pass on a message from an actual member of Mid Night.
►LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE!
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Shoutout to Grif Batenhorst on Flickr for the thumbnail image: www.flickr.com/photos/collare...
Donut Media brings you some of the craziest stories from all of automotive history in their new podcast "Past Gas!". Hosts James Pumphrey and Nolan Sykes walk you through incredible stories behind your favorite cars and manufacturers, like underground Japanese racing clubs, bitter racing rivalries and how some of your favorite classic cars came to be. Remember, it's about cars, not about farts.
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Donut Media is at the center of digital media for the next generation of automotive and motorsports enthusiasts. We are drivers, drifters, and car enthusiasts who love to tell stories.

[@juanmanuelpenaloza9264]

Team Midnight: Rich people being lowkey scientists.

[@roflcoppter117]

"im something of a scientist myself"

[@filipladan7756]

Well, some are, literally.

[@MrYutoob]

ha more like automotive engineers

[@Seanpfree]

Batmen?

[@kylesoler4139]

I can picture a bunch of 50+ year old Japanese men drinking sake and talking in code words about their street racing past.

[@SirZeck]

That's freaking cool.

[@cossusierra69]

one of them is bunta

[@ahmed-og2le]

@@cossusierra69 thats for sure hahahaha

[@TinyBearTim]

One of them was arrested in England after the club was ended for going like 200 in a supra going down the motorway

[@matheuswolters3448]

@@TinyBearTim smokey nagata if i'm not mistaken

[@drunkdriver]

First rule of midnight club: You do NOT talk about midnight club

[@MrScotty5877304]

Probs shouldn't have got those windscreen decals made then huh? 🤣

[@Jdmking-kp1mu]

Lol I was thinking that to

[@seanphillips7320]

....

[@justaguy6415]

Still cancelled soz

[@pandaguzman664]

BlackPantha has entered the chat

[@waltermcquade693]

I’ve been a muscle car guy all my life. I’ve been watching up to speed, bumper2bumper and other shows you guys and Donut have put out. You have shown me how awesome tuner culture and super cars really are! Thanks James and Baby Nolan for making wicked content. I can’t wait for the next past gas. Thick boys for life!

[@ryugatsuchiya9018]

I was on the Same boat as u were. I hated tuners and I was all about only 'merican Muscle. Until I started watching donut media.

[@toastywhiteboy7822]

Big Red is basically a hypercar., without an LS.

[@nitroxide17]

Don't forget the off-road boys

[@sonicallstarify]

America needs it's own version of Midnight

[@Che1seabluesdrogba11]

thank you for opening your eyes to stuff other than muscle cars

[@seber05]

What if this whole episode was a misdirect?

[@StellarGale]

Because it probably is.

[@Greenrosettas]

Team Midnightalatti

[@BlazebeatRacing]

Ironically, the light-heartedness of Donut Media is likely part of why Mid Night allowed them to divulge what is true and what isn't. Mid Night does not want there to be any concrete evidence, which in turn could lead to finding out their identities.

[@jamesrichards5601]

*X-Files theme intensifies*

[@king_h.3826]

That's what I was thinking about.

[@ChipKaffmen]

SMOKEY NAGATA UP TO SPEED.

[@lukedanielgalon1596]

you're not the only one who requested this one even though i forgot to written up to speed alfa romeo

[@360Jesus360]

YES, or on Top Secret as a whole.

[@james_chatman]

Smokey Yunick's lost Japanese son.

[@Elias_Harrison]

yes

[@jacbo374]

Lmao “ideally they’d stop doing that” i caught that nolan😂

[@ashas7730]

Slick lol

[@Stretch_Buckets]

Petty asl 😂😂😂

[@steve5926]

Ideally has the most annoying videos on YT

[@prod.mx9669]

crying taco cat SAME HAHAHA i came down to see if anyone else noticed

[@straightlinetech]

crying taco cat 😂😂😂😂

[@nickknee3515]

This is the actual best story of any secret society in the world. It's so intriguing and romantic. Japan's car culture must have been so cool to be apart of in back in the 1980's and 90's. And so many great cars came from the development that came out of what these guys did. It's just such a cool story.

[@kip258]

"If someone was rumored to be a member of Midnight, it was probably a hoax." That sounds like something someone from Midnight would say.

[@Decon650]

when nolan mentions the fairlady Z; ****UNHOLY DEVIL Z SONG INTENSIFIES****

[@ondra_rx732]

Akuma no zeto!

[@sal7382]

It was crazy growing up back than and witnessing the street racing in Japan. If you wanted to watch top speed you go to the highways, drifting? The mountains, drag racing? The city! Racing all night till the sun came up or morning traffic.

[@sdmyhussein4680]

It's like Bill Gates, Bezos, and Zuckerberg racing each other on the 5

[@imvivalamilo]

Musk always bringing up the back of the pack in his Model 3

[@habibiranch]

They need to make the team midnight club story into a movie. It will be the coolest movie since the first fast and furious.

[@JonManProductions]

Just so you all know, THE WIKIPEDIA PAGE FOR RACING TEAM MIDNIGHT IS GONE. It redirects to the game series now because there were not enough sources for the article to exist... OR IS THERE?

[@risingsun9595]

Oh shit JonMan, what're you doing here? Also, spooky

[@claytonep797]

The club still exists. Check out ogi_r35 on instagram he is a member of the club

[@Kamalchagla]

clayton ep how do you know he’s real and not a poser ??

[@claytonep797]

@@Kamalchagla in his posts he used to wear a pink Mid Night sticker (without the window banner) meaning he was still an apprentice, now he wears a window banner and a white bumper sticker meaning he is now an official member, but i think the Mid Night nowadays just cruise around not in top speed lol

[@1nSovi3tRussi4]

@@claytonep797 Anyone can put that sticker on their car.

[@andipajeroking]

James Team: "Ram Chargers!"

[@SpeedDemonPowerage98]

Andrei Paul Anastasiu lmao.

[@bkgnkprt]

26:35 We pay taxes per liter over here in Turkey too. So not only the supercars are rare, even the ecoboost mustang is overpriced at a whopping 100 thousand dollars.

[@blakewalker2676]

That's terrible

[@WHOTFISTOKYO]

damn thats sad

[@zachgelinas9603]

Is that hundred thousand yearly?

[@RafitoOoO]

Same thing here in Brazil but the taxes don't scale prohibitively. Other taxes and exchange rates though make a Mustang GT (single version sold here) sell for 330k BRL (10 times the cheapest Ford model on Brazil).

[@zhixci958]

cries in 200 thousand dollar ecoboost in singapore

[@platinumandrew6029]

You guys should start showing thumbnails and pictures of what your talking about. Ex. Picture of the midnight fair lady z

[@TheOceanX]

But it's a podcast so only the people watching on KZbin would be able to see it.

[@thatcanadian3240]

@@TheOceanX yes and the podcasts are an hour long so it would take a long time to edit

[@n.handley9087]

I think if I had to name my team it’d be something like ‘broken wind’ 1. It’s funny 2. I drive a 1991 scirocco mk2, have done for 9yrs it breaks a lot it is my forever ‘project car’... Team midnight are just awesome in every way so quiet they became folklore legends I love that they still to this day are quiet about it. Big love from the UK team Donut!

[@cyberneticxylem9614]

Now I don't know if you know about the Jojo series... but your team name reminds me of a certain song...

[@XiGlove]

@@cyberneticxylem9614 LMAO LETS FKIN GO

[@OutlawFarmersRC]

Import Tuner Challenge, Tokyo Xtreme Racer, Shutokō Battle series. All great games that highlight this kind of car culture right down to the different teams.

[@YukiTsunoda7]

*how do these not have more views??!!* *KEEP KILLIN THE GAME KINGS!!!!*

[@RallyRu_2004_STi]

Ok guys listen up..... You just gotta dubb the anime "Wangan Midnight" You have such character, charisma, and soul to the way you speak. Since you guys are now xperienced with knowledge of the club You gotta give us your dubbed masterpiece of the anime :)

[@dangboi3802]

You watched it too?

[@dangboi3802]

I think in one of donut medias video there is one cutscene of Devil Z

[@DatOneCat]

Man listening to this particular podcast episode of the Mid Night with the mentions of a few particular cars gave me flashbacks of the Tokyo Xtreme Racer series. Had no idea that one of the cars in that game series was built to compete with the Mid Night. But also, a lot of this is such an eye opener and it makes me see what the Wangan Midnight series took from their real life counterparts. Like the mention of the crashed FC and then paying their respects to the fallen racer every year. Which in the Wangan Midnight series was instead a Celica Supra that crashed but the friends of the fallen driver payed their respects every year. Also just wanna correct James, FC is the 2nd gen RX-7. FD would be the 3rd gen.

[@Wolf813921]

It’s crazy rewatching these old vids and seeing James pre heart attack. Glad you’re still here king.

[@duncanlang922]

The car Smokey brought over to the UK had an RB26DETT engine. The V12 came later.

[@nighthawk2566]

you guys should have referred to Mr. X as Mr. Hayai Kurumahito. It literally means Fast Carhuman/person in Japanese

[@ashas7730]

Wangan midnight anime is awesome!

[@RallyRu_2004_STi]

Still waiting on a Dubbed version But it's a badass anime that needs to be watched by every car enthusiast

[@shira_yone]

Shame that it cuts a lot of stuff from the manga

[@matheusmoreira9951]

I actually got annoyed with it. 90% of that series is them crashing and rebuilding their cars.

[@synicallful]

"DON'T STEAL PEOPLE'S LOGOS!" -Team Midnight

[@marjahNee]

"Ideally they'd stop doing that!" Lmao

[@justintaylor9458]

Many were doctors, business owners, and some were rumored to be professional drivers. I don't know about now, but during the golden age, pro drivers were expressly forbidden from driving on the street. I knew a couple who did, but their street car was only driven for racing and was otherwise stored in a closed garage at a closed down shop they rented to do secret work on or a private parking garage.

[@zephyrkds1839]

Correction for the Smokey Nagata part : As long as i know/searched. The car that Smokey brought to UK is not the V12 Supra but another Supra who is another Top Secret Crown Jule. The V12 Supra however was brought to Nardo ring in attempt to break the 400KM/h but only achieved 356KM/h cmiiw. Smokey also known for engine swapped a MKIV Supra with a RB26 engine, thats right. Kudos for the information about the Team Mid Night but the Smokey part is little off and there was literally bunch of OPTION Video from japan about it. Cheers! 👍💪

[@Typerex187]

The supra that had thr rb swap was white. The gold one had the 2jz with greddy T88 at that time. He brought the gold one first then later the white.

[@zephyrkds1839]

Yeah, i think he brought the white one in one of his wangan ran and to New Zealand

[@zephyrkds1839]

And he also brought a "Skyline" or highly tuned G35 to Autobahn to beat Inada score with the Blitz R34 xD

[@Wes_Mo]

@@Typerex187 incorrect, the gold car driven in the UK definitely had an rb26dett. I saw the car in person when he brought it over

[@LimitR]

The Supra that did the Top Speed run in the UK was the RB26 Supra. It was later painted white. There was another gold JZA80 Supra that Smokey had which had a 3S-GTE conversion. For reasons I'll never know it seems that Top Secret never really did a big power 2JZ Supra. Since the only other Supra they are really known for is the V12 1GZ Supra you mentioned. Which is now somewhere over in the US.

[@OneyeIver]

I love these pod casts. I loved the chemistry. I hope you guys keep doing these

[@charleslinlinker1479]

First time listening to a full podcast of yours, gotta say it's lit! This Midnight Club story was mindblowing.

[@joedemo7482]

Been watching donut for ever. Never knew you had a podcast until now. And I’m pumpeddd!!!

[@erenkaslte8046]

The S130 biggest drawback was the semi trialing rear suspension. Once that modified/ replaced getting rid of the heavy trunk lid and steel hood gives the Z a way different feel.

[@gabrielclutter4405]

Awesome work guys. I wasn’t aware of any of this and found it super interesting and informative. Great listen! ❤

[@dreadedkitty980]

I fell in love with james watching the small clips on snapchat. Started checking you out more on youtube and now I'm subbing to everything. James is hilarious. Nolan is pretty cool too. Great team at donut.

[@kenzielacosta8244]

I have been watching this next to my husband for the last 2 hours or so. The first and second half.....cracking up but trying to keep quiet so he won't get mad. Lol You both have the best personalities and put you boys together. Slap stuck fun! You are a riot!

[@alainsampson3149]

Amazing episode!!

[@eduardocorona7016]

Keep up the good work guys!!!

[@smoovekidwill]

Watching y'all is like watching the 2 sides of my personality having conversation 😂😂😂

[@SinSear001]

I have the Wangan Midnight and Tokyo Extreme racer video games on PS2. Those games turned me on to tuner culture and I've been hooked ever since. Fun fact: Tokyo Extreme Racer Zero low key had a full cinematic trailer for the Fast and the Furious and a Wangan midnight documentary on the disc. It also had most of the real Wangan clubs featured mostly acurately...... MOSTLY LOL.

[@mtvideos8]

Great episodes! Awesome theme on team Midnight!

[@louevilmetalhead]

Loving the long form. Pump that compressor, though. I’m all over my volume knob.

[@johnsonwang9915]

I've actually seen the gold Top secret supra back in 2002 when Skunkworks was still in Fremont California. Never knew it was this famous LOL

[@TilcTac]

I wish I was as good at accents as James.

[@pradhyudh]

Everybody is good at accents than pumphrey

[@kimluzano2531]

I was listening to this in Podcast and laughed so hard with James' accent that I went here just to comment 😂 you guys are epic!

[@Strikox]

Incredible series i loved it

[@qbdanan1]

Just wanted to say loved this Article personally cause I've watched and read the manga, so hearing that there is a real team, is just mind blowing to me.

[@tj_t-bone_26]

love this content funny as hell please keep going

[@AEkyuni]

Would love to see an animated version of these podcasts. Both of you are pretty animated (especially james) while delivering. Hi from Manila.

[@MokkaHai]

These is some of the Best podcasts on youtube (Keep up the good work) ('3')

[@saienide9301]

You know what might be cool, a Past Gas on Morohoshi-san. Creater of the Fighting Star bodykits and a legend in the japanese car scene these days.

[@dapedaily]

idk why hearing blackbird from you guys gave me a goosebump

[@alexhise968]

Just one goosebump.... I have a bumb too but not a Goosebump

[@VencedorGamer]

A 3 liter engine making 800 HP in the 90's, I'd believe it, a GM Ecotec 2.0 or 2.4 liter engine has been shown to make 600 HP just by modifying the internals, adding a turbocharger, and running a ECU tune.

[@veight7]

This sounds like it was the basis for Tokyo Xtreme Racer on Sega Dreamcast and later on ps2. You'd drive the highways of Japan at night and to start a race you'd come up behind another car and flash your high beams. Earn cash to upgrade your car and eventually you'd encounter a "boss" car that was considerably faster than anything you'd raced up to that point. I feel like those were meant to represent team midnight

[@atx744]

Seems like such a cool car scene, too bad it’s slowly being killed by the Japanese government.

[@anarchyandempires5452]

Don't worry, they will eventually need money again and well see the good days back.

[@zerozero_73]

@@anarchyandempires5452 dont you think electric cars will take over before that tho? :(

[@yesminsalima4924]

@@zerozero_73 Not electric,but maybe Hybrid

[@genkideguire]

The races still happen and very often. Despite cameras and other technology...

[@jamesalbright6155]

Do you ever think if we stopped buyin wtf, nismo leafs , and kept our og nissans/infinitys , theyd make WHAT WE WITH THE $$$$ WANT , IDGAF electric hybrid gas , gotta be a 400hp 400z COUPE , not a eletric sentra ...thing

[@Roundboi24]

Yay past gas is back

[@biggaywizard]

I used to work at a very high end motorcycle race shop, one of the things we constantly had to pound into peoples heads was the reality that if your suspension sucked balls it didn't matter how many horsies you had strapped between your legs. If I can keep my tires on the ground better than you can, I will ride better and win far more than you will. This is incredibly true with motorcycle racing where maintaining corner speed is a fundamental component to succeeding as a racer. So I have to agree with them in that arena.

[@teddylugo8965]

Wow this podcast about mid was awesome. Find another group similar to this would love to here others like it.

[@keoni3814]

Best vid yet, thank you doughnut

[@cd5sircoupe]

Check out DriftHunterAlbo if you want more info on the Mid Night Racing Team (soon) or the real life inspirations for Initial D / Wangan Midnight. And also just Japanese car culture in general. The guy's on track to actually make that documentary you're talking about.

[@brainc0la-_-]

Oh, Smokey you so crazy. Dudes a legend.

[@Professional.Bro.777]

Nice to see a periphery fan here and there!

[@ellisjackson3355]

This is what got me into racing although I think it might've been inevitable either way

[@mpfunk30]

A nother job well done . Father and son gettin it done !

[@DaygoG]

Anyone ever play Tokyo Xtreme Racer on Dreamcast?

[@jasonroth376]

The whole tokyo xtreme racer series is probably my favorite group of games of all time. Someone needs to make a new one

[@RealAnthonyJones]

@@jasonroth376 the new need for speed plays very similar to tokyo extreme racer.

[@DatOneCat]

@@RealAnthonyJones I don't think so. I've played most of the Tokyo Xtreme Racer games as well as most of the NFS titles as well as the most recent one. It does not play like the TXR games whatsoever. They have two completely different handling models with one being more simcade and the other being more arcade in terms of drive feel.

[@RealAnthonyJones]

@@DatOneCat correct one is more sim cade compared to arcade. But when i say it plays like tokyo extreme racer i am referring to the fact that it gives you a map with multiple starting points that you can use whenever appropriate. Tokyo extreme racer certain rivals only drove on certain specific routes so you could chose to start the night in a specific part of the map if you were trying to find one of the elusive Wanderers. In nfs heat races are scattered all over the map day and night. You can chose to start the day/night at a garage/safehouse that is right next to a race you need to do based on the heat level you want to achieve. In txr you had the highways only to roam around and you could chose various parking areas as your starting point. In heat you have a whole city you roam around with various garage/safe houses as a starting point. In tokyo extreme racer you came across rivals on the set highway you were on. In nfs heat you can come across rivals 2 ways. Either start a challenge all race in the lobby and hope they accept or look at your map and track them down. Some other players run away, some other players make you chase them to a race they want to do then they challenge you. That last part is very txr like in essence.....if you can keep up with them and accept their challenge at the race they lead you to that is.

[@SinSear001]

On dreamcast and TXR0 on PS2. I still have the PS2 games and play them through once and awhile I love that series.

[@LimitR]

Qualy spec F1 engines were making up to possibly 1500hp. At least according to lore regarding the BMW M12 turbo engine.

[@alnaastora6175]

I started watching when yall started using SM7B mic's so seeing you guys on regular sm58s is kinda hard lmao XD

[@andrewstewart1464]

Donut: We have a special message from Racing Team Mid Night! Mid Night: Logo OC please don't steal!

[@littlebeesam]

I wish you guys put pictures of the car up, as for someone who is watching the podcast and still learning cars it would be very helpful for me to see the cars as you guys are saying the name. Otherwise I love you guys keep it up!

[@NoaSeret]

I hope, in few time we will listening your podcast on deezer spotify etc etc, #fromFrance

[@miguelrivera5791]

Correction on the s130. They come from the factory with irs. So they cannot be swap to irs if it already is. Love the show keep up the good work.

[@faded_rt2252]

6:21 reminds of the night kids from initial D

[@backwoodsboosting4961]

Sweet I like this I'll keep watching

[@spacemoai]

a story about G.A.Mitsunaga's Detomaso Pantera is actually sick.

[@CarrotsWithLegs]

Ideal media is just a donut ripoff yeah?

[@sabyasachiroy7482]

The guy worked here

[@joe-df5mk]

yes he is

[@fairlaizi_d]

The British accent was so nailed 😂😂 can’t stop laughing

[@Hammer1978]

I was one of the founding fathers of Nor Cal Imports. Mad racing and we so wanted to be just like Midnight.

[@Lowflyer02]

The Top Secret Supra used for the UK run had an RB26DETT.

[@oriongear2499]

Really cool, considering the Skyline GTR and MK. 4 Supra were viewed as rivals in the JDM scene.

[@palocax]

You need to cover good old smoky nagata.

[@Educatedchild]

Hold up this isn't the hot soup podcast

[@dangdang3970]

Idealy theyd stop, fucking nailed it nolan, i litterly couldnt watch a ideal video today for that exact reason keep it up guys:)

[@Wes_Mo]

Smokey nagata had an rb26dett in the supra when it did it's top speed run in the UK. The V12 engine came later

[@vittomoronifilm]

anyone else noticed that the intro title is styled after wane's world? Excelent!

[@jacksonmanley3307]

James: “people use similar logos to ours and it pisses me off” Proceeds to promote a sticker pack later on that has a mopowabebah sticker in moroso font and a buff horses Ferrari logo.

[@turbogears900]

I would love to see a video on the 1jzgte none vvti .and a video on the lexus sc300

[@g.dfirestarta6474]

Fun fact! ABR S130ZX aero kit can still be purchased from ABR through their website.

[@TheRazorJDM]

Those were cool days imo. Nowadays, the traffic rules and all the speed camera shit, it’s all so advanced, it’s nearly impossible to do that kind of stuff. One thing is for sure... 80’s and 90’s were something else. Something special man.

[@patrick383ironworker]

This makes Smokey even cooler now btw

[@longblacktrain777]

Good show , really like James womb broom....

[@MartialDuartist]

I like the Netflix idea. Interesting fact: Despite being (arguably) a criminal organization, the Hells Angels also reserve rights to their brand, logo, etc. That said, I wondered “How would midnight club sue you without revealing their identities?”. I suppose they’d just have lawyers representing their “client(s)” and simply remain in anonymity that way. Yes/No??

[@grokster9ontheroads174]

I used to face in Japan in 82-83 and they race after midnight and yeah,it was a long time ago!

[@sebastianmorrison6114]

Omg that accent for that amount of time like wow mad props James

[@kristianalejandro792]

“the color of the queen’s crown” 🤣🤣

[@TheAtariBrothers]

Loved James's English accent ❤️

[@281cobracar7]

I remember hearing about a Midnight car club in the 90's but it wasn't in Japan. It was in southern california.

[@leamigo2937]

i love ur videos

[@turbiz]

why is this not on spotify? I love listening at work.

[@hunggarguy]

Now I just want to listen to periphery 🤘😎

[@firstwordcar]

🤘🏼🤘🏼

[@kevinbodman1011]

Everyone knows that the Ruf CTR YellowBird is the benchmark,even the Japanese tuners could never reach the speeds layed down that the Ctr achieved wich was 211mph beating out Ferrari F40, Lamb Countach,Porsche959 .I guess what i am trying to say it was a bad MoFo.Haha