Normally I frown on the idea of putting foreign luxury or exotic car headlights, tailights or other essential body panels onto Japanese cars. It reminds me of Civics I’ve seen with BMW lights and other such nastinesses. Yet RE Amemiya for more than a decade has taken the Porsche headlights and tastefully made it their own. Starting with some of the old school “Super Greddy” FC RX-7s of Tokyo Auto Salon fame in the early/mid 90s, RE Amemiya has adapted Porsche lighting from various Porsches and taken what is generally a juvenile art to a respectable and admirable level. Some rules are meant to be broken from time to time, but it takes skill and class to do it right.

Here are three photos I took of a recent RE Amemiya demo car in 1800pix glory. Everything from the uniquely Japanese mirror placement on the fenders to the aero design to the 997 headlights are all executed with great skill.

One of the ways I know this car is a great achievement is because I love this car…and it’s red! I really dislike red cars, but this one breaks through my biases.