OUR MAN IN JAPAN

James Elliott joins an exclusive Japanese classic tour in an exquisite Alfa Romeo Junior Zagato 1600

- James Elliott

Suddenly it doesn't feel like tourist Japan anymore. We are far from the dominant shadow of Mount Fuji, well away from the constraints of Tokyo and its head-rule-heart Expressways, and chasing car designer Ken Okuyama's pokey little hardtop racing Frogeye through a network of deserted private toll roads. At every tollbooth we are told that the car in front has already paid for us. Classy. Especially as Okuyama had a traumatic start to this event, his Corvette C2 failing on the Expressway out of Tokyo and causing a big tailback. He dashed home, picked up his Frogeye to rejoin the rally, then that Frogeye ran out of fuel in a long mountain tunnel and had to pull over into an emergency layby to await a top-up. And all this while his fellow entrants were still talking about his speeding violations on the previous tour!

Thankfully the intrepid Ken retains his good humour far better than I might have and all of that angst seems well in the past now - he is clearly enjoying himself as he threads the Frogeye through the forests and canyons. As am I, following him in this little 1973 Alfa Junior Zagato that has suddenly come alive. Dramatically so. Not that it was any less capable with more mundane driving conditions, but you know when you can sense a car's emotions - well, here that emotion is happiness. Myself and my excellent co-pilot Dr Maki - daughter of Yuki Hayashi, who had generously asked Octane to join him on the invitation-only Ralph Lauren Tour d'Elegance in Japan in November 2023 - have come alive, too. I am in the driving zone, she is filming the road we are gorging on as it flashes under the car.