Speeding into the Night

Street racing. A form of racing, that by definition, isn’t even legal. A hazard to public

safety, and a punishment that would leave your car impounded and you behind bars.

Despite having such high stakes, in the mid-1980s, a group of Japanese people formed

one of the most famous street racing groups ever, the Mid Night Club.

Despite being a street racing group, they had a high level of morals and strict rules. To

even have a chance to enter this exclusive club, you had to be an apprentice for a year,

attending every single meeting. But, if it was that easy, how come not everyone was in

the Mid Night Club? To prevent Japanese police from finding their secret hideouts, they

would hide their meeting locations within newspaper ads, the most famous one being:

"For sale! Hard knitted socks at excellent prices! For more information, come to Daikoku

Car Park, this Wednesday at midnight!" It wasn't even guaranteed you were allowed to

become a permanent member, as only 10% of apprenticeships would become

permanent members.

So what truly separates these racers from all the other ones littering the streets of

Japan? If you were ever, under any circumstance, caused harm to another driver or

innocent civilian, you would be promptly removed from the club. The club had 30

members in total, all of them meeting at a gas station in Yokohama at midnight. Having

a minimum speed requirement of 250 km/h (160 mph), drivers would not only have to

reach the set speed but be able to maintain it on the dimly lit streets of Tokyo.

Having lightning-fast cars such as these would prove a daunting task for Japanese

police officers, as their police cars could only reach 177 km/h (110 mph) by law. These

cars were reaching speeds not even some modern supercars can reach, bearing in

mind this was the 1980s!

Members of the Mid Night Club were always kept anonymous, as the policy instated

that they were never to question one another about how they are funding their

modifications. However, rumors would circulate that some of them would spend up to 2

million dollars on a single car, around 5 million dollars today (adjusted for inflation).

Despite having such strict rules on reckless driving that would cause crashes or

incidents, in 1999, the club got into a race with the Bosozoku, a biker gang that

challenged the Mid Night Club. As they raced down the expressway in Tokyo, the bikers

collided with traffic, causing the tragic death of one biker, and six being hospitalized. As

was the tight club policy, they promptly disbanded, permanently and forever.

Despite no longer being a club, the mysterious Mid Night Club remains that way today,

a mystery. Very little is known about the members of the group, and what their real

occupations were. It would be safe to assume that they were some of the richest people

inside of Japan at the time, as it was an expensive hobby to maintain by night. Despite

fading into nothing, the history the Mid Night Club left behind will be remembered by

many street racers that broke the law in the most elegant way possible.