FLAT4 SHOP TOUR

BY ERIC GEISERT, OUR MAN IN YOKOHAMA, JAPAN

In Japan, finding any kind of space for anything is very difficult, so you might appreciate how impressive it is to see this big two-story vintage VW parts store (with adjacent repair shop and parking area) on a third of an acre.

A customer’s car is being dropped off at FLAT4’s three-bay repair shop, located across the parking lot from their showroom.

FLAT4 also works on, builds, and does government inspections on vintage cars. There are no sand dunes in Japan, so it’s rare to see a Baja Bug here.

Sometimes

a story needs a little context.

In the custom VW world, there’s a pretty good dividing line between things that happened before the last Bug-In and things that have happened since — and we’re talking about the original Bug-In that was held at Orange County International Raceway in Southern California between 1968 and 1982. That time frame also includes era-specific aftermarket parts companies such as Small Car Specialties, Johnny’s Speed and Chrome, and the original EMPI in Riverside, California (not the company that exists today).

Back then, finding old parts for your 20-year-old Split-window was easy, and ’67 Bugs and Buses were still driving around on the highways and still cheap (nobody really cared about a barndoor or any other kind of Bus back then). It was the golden era for those lucky enough to be involved with VWs.

But outside SoCal it was a different story.

The Cal Look scene was slowly creeping across the U.S., and there were some great pockets of interest popping up here and there, like in Texas and Virginia. But if you were outside the country, it was damn near impossible to enjoy the hobby the way those in SoCal were experiencing it.

So imagine living in Japan in the ’70s and wanting to find parts for your Bug. There had been a VW dealership network in Japan since the late ’50s, but that was only a source for new factory parts. What if someone started importing parts from parts houses and U.S.-based speed shops to Japan? That’s what Takashi Komori figured out how to do when he created FLAT4 in 1976.

Initially he was buying parts through a U.S.based broker. But soon Komori realized he could have his own SoCalbased business for sourcing parts. So in 1991, he opened an office in Santa Monica, California, and began buying whatever his countrymen needed to fix up, repair, and customize their VWs.

Meanwhile, in the late ’80s, Nao Fujita was attending college in New Hampshire. He was an American-motorcycle type of guy but that wasn’t going to cut it with the New England winters. So he bought a commuter car, which happened to be a ’66 Bug. After a move to Penn State in Pennsylvania, he got involved with some friends who were into VWs. They introduced Nao to VW Trends and Hot VWs magazines and also began to teach him how to work on his car (he confesses he didn’t even know at the time how to fill the oil). That kinship led to Nao attending quite a few VW swap meets (including the Manassas Bug-Out), buying and selling parts to make a few bucks while attending college.

You can bet there are not more than a handful of restored ’50 convertible VWs in Japan. This one, in FLAT4’s showroom, is not for sale.

In the early ’90s, Nao saw an announcement from FLAT4 about the release of a new reproduction BRM wheel to the Cal-Look VW market. Nao called them up and asked if they needed any help. They said yes, so Nao sent a resume, went to California for an interview with Komori, and got the job.

In the late ’90s, the Santa Monica branch of FLAT4 closed. The sole remaining FLAT4 location filled a fivestory building in the new auto dealership area of Tokyo. It was an economic boomtime in Japan, and sellers at the Pomona Auto Swap Meet in SoCal would often see groups of Japanese carrying briefcases full of cash and buying up vintage VWs and other cars at every meet.

FLAT4 had been doing pretty well in the ’90s selling other people’s products, and after introducing their own BRM wheel, they began making many more of their own parts and expanding that side of the business. Among the first items were steering wheels and horn buttons (their steering wheel line now covers vintage VWs, Cal-Look, and Bus), and exhaust systems and other necessary parts soon followed.

In 2018 Komori decided to retire and Fujita was named president of FLAT4.

Among the first items FLAT4 created were vintage and GT-type steering wheels, and you have to make horn buttons for them, too! Years ago FLAT4 created an Abarthstyle vintage muffler system and they still carry the product today.

Nao’s work of expanding the business continues to this day. It’s tough on one hand, because there are fewer old Volkswagens out there than ever, but Nao feels there’s still a strong demand for his parts and for the hobby in general. The fact that companies are willing to invest in tooling to fabricate brand-new 23-window Bus bodies tells you something about the current shape of the vintage VW aftermarket — let alone the sky-high prices that some of the original pre-’68 Buses are bringing at car auctions around the country.

The shop moved out of downtown Tokyo in 2021 to Yokohama, very close to the Yokohama Convention Center, where the massive Mooneyes custom car show happens each year. FLAT4 now occupies a two-story building with a large showroom, vintage parts display, online sale offices, a separate three-bay repair shop building, another area for used VW car sales, and customer parking spaces (which are very rare in Japan).

Nao will continue to look for new opportunities and new products for FLAT4 — one of which is a new 17-inch GT steering wheel for Bus owners that is due to hit the market by the time you read this.

And it seems Takashi Komori’s initial thoughts on creating FLAT4 nearly 50 years ago still ring true today: Even though you may own a rare car, you still have to be able to drive it, and FLAT4 will continue to be there to help folks make that happen.

Bob McClurg has been photographing drag cars at Southern California tracks since 1964, but caught this shot of the original I/Gas Inch Pincher, Too! at an IHRA event in Dallas in the early ‘70s.

A “parade” of invited vehicles always opens Japan’s prestigious Mooneyes car show in Yokohama, and FLAT4’s Inch Pincher participated in the 2022 drive-in.

When FLAT4 cloned the Inch Pincher in the early ’90s, they used a ’54 oval that had already been chopped by the previous owner. In its latest restoration from a couple years ago, a big-window section was installed to bring the look closer to the original version.

To replicate the look of the original, FLAT4 used an Autometer tach with a custom repro full-sweep 8,000rpm Sun Tach gauge face, and a DDS Bus shifter with a T handle and Line Lock button. The EMPI GT steering wheel is another addition not found in the original.