This Unstoppable S2000 Just Drove from Spain to Japan

A Honda S2000 is an unlikely car for an overland adventure, but one owner just drove his all the way from Spain to Japan.

Adri Merino-Piferrer is a self-confessed Honda-head and has owned several models from the Japanese automaker over the years. Of course, he’s made the pilgrimage to the Land of the Rising Sun, which only cemented his love for the car culture in Japan.

After a recent trip he returned home to Barcelona but longed to drive some of Japan’s famous race and drift circuits with his own car. “But if I was going to go back I wanted to drive something really special on track,” said the Catalan. Soon enough Adri sourced and bought an S2000 in the UK, but he felt that it would need a few modifications to make the journey.

The car was converted with much help from other petrolheads. A lift kit raised the ride height, chunky off-roading wheels were added, underbody bash plates and custom bumpers made it more hardy off-road. The end result is, what many people believe to be, the world’s first overlanding S2000. Importantly, all the changes are reversible as Adri had no intention of driving a Safari roadster around drift tracks, as funny as that would have been.

With the conversion complete, Adri and his friends headed east in convoy with an E34 BMW station wagon, also kitted for rough roads, and a Honda Stream minivan in July of this year. They planned to travel the 12,500 miles to Tokyo in about 60 days. “I have been tagging places on Google Maps for years and I wanted to see as many of them, if it was possible, along the way,” he explained.

In the process, the overlanders crossed through 16 countries, including France, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Mongolia and with a ferry through South Korea, the S2000 finally arrived in Japan. In the end the crew of adventurers covered over 22 000 km, which took 75 days. And the Honda was the only one that didn’t skip a beat.

Part A of the JDM-head’s plan is now complete. The S2000 has a new home at a friend’s workshop in Fukushima. Adri returned to Spain late in September to make a living and to recount his amazing road-trip.

Part B of the experience starts in November. The crazy Spaniard has a new target, to compete at the Tsukuba Attack event in February of 2026. He has already started buying performance parts to prepare the car for its new life as a track machine in Japan.

You can follow the adventures of Adri MP on Instagram.

Words Sudhir “Banzai” Matai Instagram

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