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Mid Night Club


The Mid Night Club (ミッド ナイト クラブ, Middo Naito Kurabu) was a Japanese street racing gang that hosted illegal top speed themed races on the Bayshore Route (known natively as the Wangan) of the Shuto Expressway between Tokyo to Yokohama. The club was formed in 1987 and was active until 1999.

The gang became one of the most notorious and highly respected clubs of its type, which led to it being featured in over 200 editorial features in most of the leading Japanese auto magazines and even in foreign magazines such as the Danish Autoviz, the British Max Power and the American Turbo magazine. One of the earliest non-Japanese media referrals was in the first episode of Jeremy Clarkson's Motorworld in January 1995, when the presenter Jeremy Clarkson, driving his Nissan Skyline GT-R around Japan, stated that his car "is more likely to be seen in the Mid Night Club". The show then featured roughly 30 seconds of amateur footage revealing the typical nature of the club. The combination of its dangerously high racing speed, and aggressive racing style gave street racing in Japan a worldwide notoriety. The club was regarded as one of the longest running street racing gangs.

To join the club, which was formed in 1987, was not as easy as the other clubs as it was governed by a series of rules and was far better organized. Additionally, unlike in other groups, the hashiriya (street racer) car was to be capable of going over 250 km/h (160 mph), as a racing speed of over 300 km/h (190 mph) was common. As new members are regarded as apprentices for one year, they were required to attend all the meetings. Only 10% of these drivers would qualify for full membership and they would have to leave if they posed a danger to other motorists and to other members. Members would bear the trademark small rectangle "Mid Night Car Special" sticker on their bumpers, a larger sticker on the sun visor area, and sometimes a "Mid Night Racing Team" sticker on the side skirt. The high standard of the drivers made it difficult for the police to catch them, as police cars of the era were limited to 180 km/h (110 mph), a legal requirement set forth by the 1977 Japanese Automotive Gentlemen's Agreement, and thus the police cars couldn't catch cars that were driving 180 km/h or faster.


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