Rice Nostalgia: All Clear Tails

If you’re a little older (or you’ve got older friends) then you probably remember the glory days of rice.  You grew up in the ’90s when bodykits, altezzas, and graphics were cool.  ”The Fast and The Furious” didn’t introduce you to anything new – it only confirmed what you’ve thought was cool for years!  Alot of times when I talk to older guys we’ll talk about the “good ol’ days” and laugh about how silly we were back then.  The term rice gets thrown around fondly, almost as if it weren’t a bad thing.  There is a bit of nostalgia for us.

Sometimes, I feel like we were better off then.  The import world didn’t have nearly as much elitism and styles hadn’t been around long enough to establish themselves or get played out.  Forum kids weren’t know-it-alls.  Everything hadn’t been done already, there wasn’t hate if you weren’t building your car to everyone else’s approval.  It was cool to be different, even if you weren’t quite tasteful when doing it.  The import guys were the underdogs and when you saw another guy with a riced out import car you instantly gave him a thumbs up.

Alot of times, I think that the overall themes of cars back then were all over the place.  It wasn’t specifically bodykits that ruined cars, and it wasn’t specifically altezzas, and it wasn’t giant tachometers or fart cans.  It was the sloppy way we threw it all together.  Look, things hadn’t had time to mature back then and you didn’t have alot of selection when it came to parts.  When something new came out, you bought it.  You shopped at Autozone in “the rice isle” looking for new things to slap on it.

I’ve often wondered if certain aspects of rice could be introduced back into the scene with cleaner builds and better flowing cars.  I think we’re at that point now – bodykits and wings are definitely making a come back under the guise of “Time Attack”.  Some people feel the need to justify everything they do with performance.  When you share the same parts as a high powered all business time attack car, it makes justification that much easier.

Well, here is an interesting re-introduction.  Clear tails!  I haven’t seen these things in years!

Clean car, great stance, a good set of wheels… and clear tails!  I’m not asking you to like the car, but it sure does look better than what you would’ve imagined they would’ve been on in the ’90s.  I think it is pretty neat!  Props to the previous owner (Sarap of Team 5 Star) who had the guts to throw them on because he liked them.  Also, its great to see enthusiasts just hanging out and having a good time.  More photos from that day here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/omgodzilla/sets/72157613224535445/

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