Mark’s Japanese Car Obsession with Volk Racing

Renowned photographer Mark has worked with Top Gear for many, many years. When he is not behind the camera, he is buying unsuitable cars. Here, he reveals his addiction to the world.

The Max Power DVD that started it all

In 2001, as we headed north towards the Isle of Skye, my parents were eager to show off the sophisticated features of our Volvo XC90, including screens built into the headrests. The one detail nobody had planned for was something to watch, so for the opening hours of the trip I simply stared vacantly at the displays. At a fuel stop, I asked Mum whether we could buy a DVD – still fairly new technology at the time. Having been car-mad from an early age, I immediately picked out a DVD with a vivid yellow Impreza on its cover.

Max Power: Beasts from the East. Anybody familiar with the history of Max Power will know it was not exactly family entertainment, yet remarkably this particular DVD was car-focused and reasonably factual. Despite arriving first on VHS in 1999, it remains an excellent window into Japanese car culture, even by modern standards. My parents were utterly baffled by it, but it set the course for an automotive fixation that has lasted decades.

My first car was a white EK Civic, built as a tribute to the Top Fuel EK9 shown in the film. Isao Mizota, who drives Ab Flug’s Mazda RX7 near the beginning, is now a friend. Between 2004–2010, I even worked on Max Power, while my eventual trip to Japan in 2017 put visits to Top Secret and Veilside at the top of the immediate to-do list.

Volk Racing wheels on Japanese cars

Over the past 20 years, I have owned Civics, Skylines, an Evo, a 200SX and several RX-7s. Every one of them has had one shared characteristic inspired by that long-ago DVD: each has worn the most revered of revered Volk Racing wheels. For more than 50 years, Rays Engineering, the company behind Volk Racing, has made some of the finest-looking wheels available, spanning OEM applications such as the R35 GT-R to Formula One. They are not merely attractive, either; they are engineered with genuine motorsport intent.

My first R32 Skyline wore Volk TE37s, and so did my R33 GT-R. An RX-7 of mine had Gram Light 57DRs, as well as TE37s and ZE40s. I attempted, unsuccessfully, to fit 17x9.5in SE37Ks to an old EK Civic, and more recently used a set on an ageing Ferrari Challenge racecar. I am not sure whether it is impressive or concerning, but I can identify most TE37 fitments purely from their spoke pattern and PCD.

That degree of nerdiness is precisely why my current R34 GT-R has reached its third set of Volk Racing TE37 wheels: the TE37 Saga SL M-Spec, to use their complete name. In effect, they are a lighter and stronger interpretation of an already lightweight, exceptionally strong wheel. Their finish is simply called ‘pressed black’, and changes according to the light, ranging from an almost chrome-style surface to solid black. Either look works superbly with the Bayside Blue paint.

An obsession that continues

It has been 23 years since that DVD accidentally ignited my Japanese car obsession, and I had expected it to have developed into something slightly more sensible by my late 30s. Instead, the GT-R remains largely in pieces, a Pajero Evo has a blown engine, and I have an awful urge to build a four rotor RX-7 one day. Right now, the saying ‘it has to get worse before it gets better’ has never felt more appropriate.