After the long wait, one thing was missing: taking the FD out to be seen. You don't bring a car like this over to keep it locked away; you bring it to share it. And its first car show, on Sunday, August 9, 2026, was the real test: a whole day in the sun with lots of people looking at it up close.

Spoiler: it was worth every day of waiting.

給 The warm-up

Every outing with a rotary starts the same way: at the gas station, in this case at ten in the morning. A full tank of the good stuff, because a turbo 13B doesn't negotiate, and one last look at the gauges before heading out.

And I didn't go alone: a red Civic EG joined the convoy. Two Japanese cars from the nineties, side by side at the pump, were already half a car show.

The FD and the red Civic EG filling up at Shell The FD at the pump, front three-quarter view

First stop: fill up and go.

The FD at the gas station with the attendant next to it

Ready for the road.

着 The arrival

Grass, winter sun and a red rope marking each car's spot. Rolling into the venue slowly, with the FEED front lip centimeters off the ground, finding the spot without scraping anything, is already part of the show.

The FD parked on the grass with the pop-ups up The FD head-on with the pop-ups up and the sky behind

Parked with the pop-ups up: the FD's official greeting.

The FD at the venue, with the Supra and the Civic around it Dutch-angle shot of the FD with the rest of the show behind

Settled in among friends.

Aerial view of the show with the black FD and the red FD parked side by side

From the drone: the black FD and the red FD, side by side, with the whole venue behind.

細 Up close

From far away the photos show a black car. Up close, the FD tells its story: every part they fitted in Japan has a reason.

The FD's front end from grass level, with blue sky The FD's front end behind the red rope The FD's front end with a rally Evo next to it

The FEED Afflux GT3, at grass level.

The FD's headlight in the afternoon sun Vented hood with the Defi gauges peeking out inside

The RE Amemiya vented hood. Through the windshield you can see the Defi gauges.

Pop-ups up facing the sun Side view of the FD with the pop-ups up Profile of the FD with the widebody kit

Pop-ups up, widened fenders and black wheels.

At the back is my favorite part: the RE Amemiya GT Wing and the widened FEED fender, which in the afternoon sun reflect everything around them. The tires are Advan Neova, by Yokohama: the same name as the city where the FD posed for the last time before boarding the ship.

Rear arch with the black five-spoke wheel and the Advan Neova tire GT Wing with a green Mustang in the background GT Wing with a rally Lancer Evolution in the background

The GT Wing and the rear arch, from three angles.

Rear of the FD with the BRIDE seat visible through the window

Through the window you can see the BRIDE seat.

仲間 The neighbors

The best part of a car show isn't your car: it's the ones next to it. And this time the FD was in very good company.

The red Civic EG behind the FD The red Civic EG with the FD's GT Wing in the foreground

The Civic from the convoy, also on the grass.

Red GR Supra next to the FD's rear end A row of cars: the Supra, the FD and a red one on Toyo tires

Generations: the GR Supra next to the FD.

Behind it there was a Lancer Evolution III in period rally livery, number 7 included, and a green Mustang with louvers on the rear windows. Japan and the US, the nineties and the eighties, all on the same grass.

Rear of the FD with the green Mustang and the rally Evo III The rally Lancer Evolution III behind the GT Wing

The rally Evo III, a few meters from the FD.

And it wasn't the only FD: there was another one, red and with graphics, the kind that reminds more than one person of a certain 2001 movie. Seeing it got me thinking about the red I have on my list of projects under consideration.

Front of a red FD next to the black FD's rear end The black FD's hood with the red FD in the background

Two FDs, two colors.

The FD's front end with an E36 M3 in the background The FD's front end with a widebody Veloster in the background

In the background, an E36 M3 and a widebody Veloster.

次 What I take away

More than a year of paperwork, ships and tracking pages came down to one day on the grass. Watching people walk up, crouch down to look at the front or peek through the window to see the steering wheel on the "wrong" side confirmed what I already knew: an FD isn't a car to keep locked away.

It was the first, but not the last. If you see me at the next one, come say hi: the FD doesn't bite.

The day-to-day, the photos that didn't make it here and the next outing are at @hirotary.rx7.