DEC Sekia Hills "Back Issues" - Auto Styling

A look at the style influence of DEC International

First, some sounds for while you read

Sekia Hills was a small track that made a large impact. The styling trends that emerged in the early 2000’s are still idealized and emulated today. Iconic D1 cars such as Katsuhiro Ueo’s AE86 and Ken Nomura’s ER34 wore livery designs that were similar to the ones used by the Kyushu drifters who frequented Sekia Hills. The auto shop at Sekia Hills, DEC International, pioneered some of these styling trends; this post will focus on some of the best examples of them.

Goods from the Circuit Factory

DEC International did just about anything you could want done on a car. Tuning, styling, vehicle inspection, general maintenance, used car sales, various parts sales and installation, race car and engine manufacturing, sheet metal work, painting, the list goes on. The parts they sold reflected this breadth, featuring brands such as Trust, HKS, Blitz, Kazama, Sard, URAS, GP Sports, R.G., Nismo, Yashio Factory, Speed Master and Yokohama. They stocked everything from oils and tires to aero parts, intercoolers, oil coolers, gauges, and turbo kits.

But what truly stood out and cemented the visual identity of the cars that graced that track was the DEC body decal.

Source: Drift Tengoku Magazine, December 2005

The iconic DEC sticker is a central aspect of the styling of these cars. While DEC International was opened in 1998, the sticker started to appear five years later in 2003.

The decal was sold in two sizes, a large size that covered the entire side of the car, and a smaller size that covered just the rear quarter panel. Customers could get this decal in a myriad of colors and finishes. The circuit not only made this standard shaped decal, but also custom decals. Teams and parts manufacturers could contract through DEC to design their logos. This meant that customers could dress up their cars in ways that felt similar, but still had their own unique flair.

The large decal came in 150 colors and was around 2500mm × 860mm

The smaller decal covered only the rear quarter and was 1500mm × 460mm

Looking at these cars, it’s easy to see design similarities they had with some of the more famous D1 Grand Prix cars, such as Ueo and Ken Maeda’s AE86s and Nomuken’s ER34.

Various sources

DEC also sold their own branded stickers. While these are out of print today and hunting down an original is nearly impossible, JPN Revive replica products can help you get your hands on some of these designs.

You can also have a look through the original DEC parts catalog here .