One of the most memorable scenes in the film to racers, is the moment where the driver of the Eclipse reaches back to open the valves on two 50-shot bottles of Nitrous Oxide “NOS”, an amount which, as quoted by the film itself…

“He got enough NOS in there to blow himself up… period”

is enough to put the vehicle in some very serious risk. If you seen the film, (and I assume you have, or will have shortly) then you can understand my desire NOT to use the large “scuba tank” like 50-shot bottles in a show car.

This story begins on a day back in 1987 when I moved to Okinawa, Japan and was introduced by some new friends to the world of illegal street racing.
One member of our “team” drove an average looking Toyota mini van with no numbers or custom parts of any kind. He was the most important person to us all…

Every Friday night around 7PM, we’d all meet up in the parking lot of the base Auto Hobby Shop or the Burger King and drive to the main gate with our daily drivers. Just across from the guards at the main gate was a little Japanese mini-mall parking lot. Once safely outside the gate, we’d park and unload the van full of custom wheels, suspension parts, safety equipment and performance upgrades…

… and tools!!!!

An entire workshop crammed into a van with all the spare parts we needed to convert 4 average vehicles into weekend race cars. (A process we’d reverse later in the evening, in full view of the Gate 1 guard post, before being allowed back on the base.)