A 51-HP Kei Van in Spoon Colors Takes Runner-Up at Tuner Battlegrounds 13

The Honda Vamos makes 51 hp in Greg O'Brien's spec sheet, and it was never meant to impress anybody. Kei vans in Japan exist to move people and cargo down narrow streets. That is exactly why O'Brien's Vamos works. Dressed in the blue and yellow of Spoon Sports, the 1999 van took runner-up at the Tuner Battlegrounds 13 Championship, according to PASMAG's Oct. 27 feature.

O'Brien is from Austin, Texas, and runs with the ICONZ club. His pitch is simple: there is more to Japanese car culture than the cars everybody already knows.

Beyond the Skyline

O'Brien's interest in kei vehicles came from time spent around JDM imports, PASMAG's Adam Gordon writes. Skylines dominate those conversations, but to O'Brien they are only one piece of the puzzle. O'Brien told PASMAG his goal was to make the van a head turner, because there are "definitely more true JDM vehicles with no USDM equivalent" than the legends like the Skyline.

It is a fair point, and it explains the build. PASMAG says he did not spend much time keeping the Vamos stock.

Spoon colors on a box

The most obvious move is the livery. Spoon Sports' blue and yellow is a look most people connect with Civic Type Rs and S2000s attacking corners at Tsukuba, as PASMAG puts it. On a tall, short-wheelbase van, it reads as a joke at first and then as a good idea. The number 626 on the doors matches the plate.

The van sits on custom powder-coated 14-inch wheels, which give it far more stance than Honda ever intended. Dual-color XKGlow lighting sets the mood after dark, and a MotoHorn air horn gives the little Honda a voice that PASMAG suggests could startle unsuspecting drivers.

Small changes underneath

O'Brien kept the mechanical upgrades subtle. A custom coolant expansion tank and relocation clean up the engine bay, and a custom exhaust adds a little presence. The surprise is a big brake conversion, not a part you expect on a 51-hp van.

Inside, the build points straight back at its inspiration. A Spoon Sports steering wheel by Momo sits on a blue NRG race hub and a gold NRG Quick Release 2.0, hardware that would look at home in a track-prepped Honda coupe. An OBD2 heads-up display handles the numbers.

Why it placed

PASMAG says the van was a favorite on its Editorial Desk podcast and that it surprised plenty of people at the Tuner Battlegrounds 13 Championship on the way to runner-up. The magazine's explanation is that it does not pretend to be something it is not. The proportions stay pure kei, short wheelbase, tall roof, compact everything, while the visual language comes from a completely different tier of Japanese car culture.

It also stays useful. O'Brien told PASMAG kei vehicles are made to be small, quick and nimble, park anywhere and sip gas, and that he fills his up maybe once a month even when it is in heavy rotation.

That is the appeal in one line. The Vamos is not louder or faster than the cars around it at a show. It is just much harder to ignore, and it gets there on a single tank a month.