Stance Car of the Year 2021

Of all the niche and not-so-niche trends on the global tuning scene, there’s none more gangsta than the VIP look. Known domestically as ‘bippu’ (Japanese for ‘very important person’), VIP-style originated with the Yakuza – the bosses of organised crime syndicates wanted big flashy cars, but knew that rival gangs and the police would be immediately suspicious to see them in European luxury cruisers, so instead of rolling in top-flight Beemers, Mercs or Rollers, they set about up-speccing JDM cars like the Toyota Crown and the Nissan Gloria. As time moved on and the scene evolved, today’s bippu cars are characterised by high-end wheels with loads of dish, very low ride height, huge negative camber, aggressive skirts and lips, and very glossy paint. Tom Kennedy has absolutely nailed the look with his Lexus LS400. A rolling embodiment of the less-is-more ethos, this car is proof positive that if you pay attention to the details, the bigger picture will look after itself. Tom’s fitted BC Racing Ultra Low coilovers, adjustable Serial 9 upper control arms at either end, and a set of supremely dishy Weds Kranze Bazreia wheels. The result? Pure unadulterated gangsta vibes.