What with all the big interest in drivers lately and not really having shown much of my collection on here, thought I'd follow the other interesting threads with my somewhat unusual cab history..
Being as it's a whopping 15 years since I got my first cab you might be expecting a really interesting read with rare cabs coming and going and tales of the good old pre-ebay days. Sadly, you're going to be disappointed, but if you like drivers you may want to read on..
1999-present: UK Sega OutRun upright
During a lunchtime chat at work with a mate we got talking about our favourite arcade games back in the day. We'd just had 'the internet' made available to us in the office, so with my all time fave being OutRun I casually typed the term 'outrun arcade machine' into MSN. Little did I realise what I'd started
Somehow we stumbled on a website called Arcade Heaven (no relation to Arcade Warehouse I hasten to add) which happened to have a small photo of an OutRun upright, from the waist up. Having not been into gaming of any kind for most of the nineties it was the first time I'd seen one of these cabs for about 10 years! We reminisced about how great this game was and browsed the site for other memories of our youth. I couldn't believe my eyes, all the machines listed on the site were for sale. The OutRun was the most expensive I think at £200
I had no idea what cabs were worth at the time, but this seemed like an absolute steal to me so, encouraged by my mate, promptly send the guy an email. Any veterans remember this website?The place was actually an independent game store down in Maidestone, Kent. The owner was a guy called Andrew Baker IIRC..
Anyway, this is turning into a long story so cut to the chase. I agreed to buy the machine, not knowing what the hell I was doing and paid a total of £230 (or £240, can't quite remember exactly) for the cab and delivery - what an insane bargain.
I never planned on this turning into a hobby or anything, I just thought I was getting a game that I could play occasionally and re-live a small part of my youth. However the game had graphics issues from the start and was in need of a fair bit of TLC so I guess that started me of..
I didn't have a camera in those days so sadly didn't get many photos - not easy to get the classic front quarter shot in an 8'x6' shed anyway!!
2010-present: 3 x UK Sega initialD singles
Having first set eyes on an OutRun2 cab while on holiday in Tenerife in 2004, and being blown away, I knew one day I had to have one of my own but that it might take a while..
Okay, I know there's a huge gap inbetween my first and second cab but a whole range of issues prevented me from expanding my collection at the time
Well, in 2010 I moved in with my future missus - top of the list of priorities while choosing a suitable abode was of course a big garage!!
OutRun2 cabs were still big money in 2010 - I was quoted north of £4.5 if the owner could be persuaded to sell! Drawing on inspiration (and no little amount of knowledge) from Andy Geezer it quickly became clear that a conversion from initialD was the way to go.
Again, I'm babbling so with help from a local J+ member I managed to get hold of three initialD cabs for £1200.. delivered
Two were for me to convert to an OutRun2 twin with me keeping the third for my buddy until he made space to take delivery. I'd never even heard of initialD before 2010 so had no plans to get one, but after playing the game a few times I was more than happy when my buddy gave me the news that he wouldn't be able to have the cab afterall..
Temporary storage..
So, these three cabs turned into..
2010-present: UK/Jap Sega OutRun2SP twin
These two would gradually be turned into an OutRun2SP twin, with Jap touches and enhancements where possible..
I’ve added Jap style seat backs, twin lightbox with SP DX plexi, all original decals, 4.1 sound, lovely crisp Nanao monitors and most recently Andy Geezers superb SSD solution to load the game in a fraction of the time it takes from GD-ROM..
Finally filled in the gaps either end of the plexi now too - only took about six years!
2010-present: UK/Jap Sega initialD single
The third initialD cab will always remain as initialD, but is being Jap’d and converted to v3 livery..
With UK lightbox and seat back..
Moved and now finally finished with powder coated metalwork where needed, Jap lightbox/pop card assembly, Jap seat back plastic, full NOS initialD v3 livery and I couldn't resist a NOS steering wheel centre cap as well! Oh and sub-woofer added for extra punch to those maddeningly catchy tunes!
I like the original initialD livery, but I'm not over keen on the sideart and the v3 colour scheme is somehow more 'Japanesey'.. and that little bit more exclusive
2012-2016: UK Sega Ferrari F355 Challenge twin
Organised a shared purchase on this cab. I wanted four red side panels for the OutRun2SP conversion and Olly/muddymusic wanted a Sega sitdown driver and wasn’t bothered about colour of panels so it worked out nicely. So yes, shock of shocks, a cab was allowed to leave the garage! The first and so far only cab I’ve let go
Got it from a guy I’d met before and done a deal with for a twin lightbox. Nice guy and what a place- he had about 30 F355/F355 2 twin cabs in various barns/containers/trucks! This twin was surplus and had no boards – it was in pretty poor condition, but did also come with a nice spare Nanao 31K monitor I also wanted for the OutRun2SP.
So Olly had one half and turned it into his OutRun2SP cab (see his cab history thread), and I kept the other half to convert as well..
edit: my half also now sold to make way for genuine Japanese OR2 project cab (see below).
2012-2016: UK/Jap Sega OutRun2 single
I decided early on to do my twin OutRun2 in SP livery as it hadn’t really been done before (not in twin form anyway) and I had all original SP artwork, unlike regular OR2 which by this time was all repro. Regular OutRun2 livery is very nice though so when original Japanese artwork became available I thought it would be nice to do a single OutRun2 in Jap spec, complete with Jap topper/pop card/seat cushions etc. etc..
Getting tricky to get shots of cabs on their own now! This is less than half way there - regular OR2 pop card needs adding and new artwork needs applying after metalwork has been powdered..
edit: this cab was sold to Brettster in 2016 to make way for genuine Japanese OR2 project cab (see below).
2014-present: Jap Sega Ferrari F355 Challenge 2 International Course Edition twin
I never planned to get this cab, but you know what it’s like when a gorgeous cab turns up virtually on your doorstep and is begging to be saved!
The cab was originally owned by a rich London hedge fund manager who had it imported direct from Japan to go in his games room, but no longer wanted it as he was converting the games room to a Yoga room for his wife! He told his gardener to dump the cab in a ditch at the back of his estate, just to get rid of it but thankfully the gardener thought his lad might quite like it so saved it and stuck it in his own garage. After a few months and needing funds to move house he stuck it on ebay and had plenty of offers, but all turned out to be time wasters. Amazingly the cab was only 10 minutes from my house so I thought I’d take a look..
It was in stunning condition, having never been sited in a UK arcade and hardly played. It was just too good to miss out on so I gathered as many pennies as I could and made him an offer. By this time he just wanted it gone and was very wary of dead loss ebay idiots – I convinced him I was genuine and hired a van virtually the next day. In the pouring rain Olly helped me moce the beast into my, now somewhat crowded garage.
Nothing to do on this cab other than enjoy it..
2015-present: Jap Sega Daytona USA 2 single (now converted to a twin - see below)
Always wanted a Model 3 cab to add to the collection and when this cab came up I just had to have it. The cab was half of a twin Vamino (Ian) rescued and spent many hours, effort and no little amount of cash getting tidied up and running. This was a bonus for me as I don't have that much space in the garage now for full cab stripdowns
I choose my cabs very carefully as I tend not to sell them on so only buy cabs I really want and know will fit into the lineup nicely. It's a Jap spec machine and those in the know will appreciate that means it's just that little bit nicer in all respects than a UK built cab - these things make a difference
With Ian doing most of the groundwork, the idea is for me to do what I usually do and get the cab furnished with NOS parts and decals where possible. I've already fitted NOS dash plastics, Sega wheel emblem and a Jap style dash sticker (seat adjust info in place of the hole for the credit button). I also have NOS seat decals ready for application and a Phantom sticker to go on after the base lid has been powder coated.
Single cabs were never released in europe (or Japan to my knowledge) so as I must have toppers on my cabs I have temporarily fashioned a decent looking solution using an initialD single lightbox and a US Daytona 2 plexi and pop card. You don't see the iD decal on the side of the lightbox when the cab is in place, but I will sort something more permanent in time..
The seat plastic is from a deluxe cab - hence the number 41..
2016-present: Jap Sega Daytona USA 2 single No.2 (to turn existing single into a twin)
Always going to happen wasn't it?
Model 3 drivers are so iconic and what with my (insane) need to have twin cabs in my gamesroom, it was inevitable that I'd have to find a way of shoe-horning a second cab in.. somehow!
Well, when your buddy messages you saying an op is clearing out a warehouse, there's rows of Sega drivers on the brink of being scrapped, but there's deals to be had if we get there today/tomorrow, you drop everything and run! These things are usually last minute so it's book the day off work, get down there and ask questions later!
The scene was bizarre - the op needed the warehouse clearing that day, so at one end of the room were workers stripping cabs and chucking stuff in recycling skips, while at the other end of the room we were stripping cabs and shoving them into our cars/vans! It was a race against time, so needless to say you don't have much time for photos! You might recognise someone here - this was the scene before we got into the warehouse..
Anyway, this was my haul - thankfully a Ford Focus Mk2 boot is big enough to swallow an entire Daytona 2 sitdown cab, plus a few tasty extras - gotta love Ford
As you can see it was pretty late when we got back, so I was grateful to have my other good buddy on hand to help me unload, quickly throw the cab back together and shove it in the garage. No idea if it worked at this point - you don't get the luxury of testing when on raids!
The twin topper didn't fit in the car, but I stashed that out of sight and managed to go back the next day and pick it up. Warehouse was empty.
Amazingly, when we finally got chance to fire the cab up some days later we were greeted with this awesome sight and the game was 100% working - even the 4ch sound amp and seat adjuster worked - anyone that's owned a Sega driver will know how rare that is!
That moment we first fired it up, waited a few moments and bam! ..was one of the best single moments during my time in the hobby - high fives all round
I've since cleaned it outside, added a NOS dash plastic and applied some nice muddymusic artwork to the seats - I will give it a good clean inside, sort out the base metalwork/footplate and apply a few more NOS decals, but I guess this technically means a new entry..
2016-present: Jap Sega Daytona USA 2 BOTE twin
So, this cab came to be thanks mainly to two great guys I've met in this hobby - feeling the love today so it's a big thanks to Ian and Olly
Just a few tarting-up shots and the money shot at the end..
2016-present: Jp Sega OutRun2 single
Another addition in 2016, and the last cab to date, was this project Japanese OutRun2 cab. Of course, I already have the SP twin and the project UK F355/OR2 single cab so I could have an OR2 with regular livery, but something was nagging away at me (Ian!)
A so-called Japanese OR2 with a UK base/frame was never going to cut it - I had to re-shell the UK cab with a Japanese shell, or find a suitable Jp OutRun2 cab that needed the Gary treatment. Enter our good friend Mr Stegrey
He had this cab up for sale in mid-2016 - it had a few issues; wobbly picture/interference on the Toshiba PF monitor, damaged seat, squeaky steering, loose shifter, dodgy accelerator pot, missing/incorrect artwork and was just generally a bit rough around the edges. No problem, this was a perfect project for me. Thankfully my UK project cab was snapped up and a deal was done to get this cab delivered and my UK cab picked up by Martin - this was crucial as I didn't have room to have both cabs at the same time!
Anyway, the cab arrived and the swap was done as agreed - sadly Martin somehow managed to damage the topper en-route, but we won't go into that
I'm sure anyone that is interested will have already seen my OutRun2 JP resto thread so I'll just post a few before and after photos here, rather than bore you all with the details all over again!
Arrival
Fully restored
So that's about it - summary of the current lineup..
OutRun UK upright
OutRun2SP UK/Jp twin
OutRun2 Jp single
Ferrari F355/2 Jp twin
initial D 3 UK/Jp single
Daytona USA 2 BOTE Jp twin
I have a load of other games that can be played in the relevant cabs, but I guess that's another thread altogether!
Pretty sure I'm done now - don't think even I can find a way of squeezing any more in
Let's see a few more of these threads - this has been a good record for me as much as anything else, but I do enjoy reading others' stories
Had them all running at the same time for the first time at the weekend so did a quick video. Sadly it's a bit crap, but until I do something better..
Outrun22019-08-19 13:14:39
Being as it's a whopping 15 years since I got my first cab you might be expecting a really interesting read with rare cabs coming and going and tales of the good old pre-ebay days. Sadly, you're going to be disappointed, but if you like drivers you may want to read on..
1999-present: UK Sega OutRun upright
During a lunchtime chat at work with a mate we got talking about our favourite arcade games back in the day. We'd just had 'the internet' made available to us in the office, so with my all time fave being OutRun I casually typed the term 'outrun arcade machine' into MSN. Little did I realise what I'd started
Somehow we stumbled on a website called Arcade Heaven (no relation to Arcade Warehouse I hasten to add) which happened to have a small photo of an OutRun upright, from the waist up. Having not been into gaming of any kind for most of the nineties it was the first time I'd seen one of these cabs for about 10 years! We reminisced about how great this game was and browsed the site for other memories of our youth. I couldn't believe my eyes, all the machines listed on the site were for sale. The OutRun was the most expensive I think at £200
I had no idea what cabs were worth at the time, but this seemed like an absolute steal to me so, encouraged by my mate, promptly send the guy an email. Any veterans remember this website?The place was actually an independent game store down in Maidestone, Kent. The owner was a guy called Andrew Baker IIRC..
Anyway, this is turning into a long story so cut to the chase. I agreed to buy the machine, not knowing what the hell I was doing and paid a total of £230 (or £240, can't quite remember exactly) for the cab and delivery - what an insane bargain.
I never planned on this turning into a hobby or anything, I just thought I was getting a game that I could play occasionally and re-live a small part of my youth. However the game had graphics issues from the start and was in need of a fair bit of TLC so I guess that started me of..
I didn't have a camera in those days so sadly didn't get many photos - not easy to get the classic front quarter shot in an 8'x6' shed anyway!!
2010-present: 3 x UK Sega initialD singles
Having first set eyes on an OutRun2 cab while on holiday in Tenerife in 2004, and being blown away, I knew one day I had to have one of my own but that it might take a while..
Okay, I know there's a huge gap inbetween my first and second cab but a whole range of issues prevented me from expanding my collection at the time
OutRun2 cabs were still big money in 2010 - I was quoted north of £4.5 if the owner could be persuaded to sell! Drawing on inspiration (and no little amount of knowledge) from Andy Geezer it quickly became clear that a conversion from initialD was the way to go.
Again, I'm babbling so with help from a local J+ member I managed to get hold of three initialD cabs for £1200.. delivered
Temporary storage..
So, these three cabs turned into..
2010-present: UK/Jap Sega OutRun2SP twin
These two would gradually be turned into an OutRun2SP twin, with Jap touches and enhancements where possible..
I’ve added Jap style seat backs, twin lightbox with SP DX plexi, all original decals, 4.1 sound, lovely crisp Nanao monitors and most recently Andy Geezers superb SSD solution to load the game in a fraction of the time it takes from GD-ROM..
Finally filled in the gaps either end of the plexi now too - only took about six years!
2010-present: UK/Jap Sega initialD single
The third initialD cab will always remain as initialD, but is being Jap’d and converted to v3 livery..
With UK lightbox and seat back..
Moved and now finally finished with powder coated metalwork where needed, Jap lightbox/pop card assembly, Jap seat back plastic, full NOS initialD v3 livery and I couldn't resist a NOS steering wheel centre cap as well! Oh and sub-woofer added for extra punch to those maddeningly catchy tunes!
I like the original initialD livery, but I'm not over keen on the sideart and the v3 colour scheme is somehow more 'Japanesey'.. and that little bit more exclusive
2012-2016: UK Sega Ferrari F355 Challenge twin
Organised a shared purchase on this cab. I wanted four red side panels for the OutRun2SP conversion and Olly/muddymusic wanted a Sega sitdown driver and wasn’t bothered about colour of panels so it worked out nicely. So yes, shock of shocks, a cab was allowed to leave the garage! The first and so far only cab I’ve let go
Got it from a guy I’d met before and done a deal with for a twin lightbox. Nice guy and what a place- he had about 30 F355/F355 2 twin cabs in various barns/containers/trucks! This twin was surplus and had no boards – it was in pretty poor condition, but did also come with a nice spare Nanao 31K monitor I also wanted for the OutRun2SP.
So Olly had one half and turned it into his OutRun2SP cab (see his cab history thread), and I kept the other half to convert as well..
edit: my half also now sold to make way for genuine Japanese OR2 project cab (see below).
2012-2016: UK/Jap Sega OutRun2 single
I decided early on to do my twin OutRun2 in SP livery as it hadn’t really been done before (not in twin form anyway) and I had all original SP artwork, unlike regular OR2 which by this time was all repro. Regular OutRun2 livery is very nice though so when original Japanese artwork became available I thought it would be nice to do a single OutRun2 in Jap spec, complete with Jap topper/pop card/seat cushions etc. etc..
Getting tricky to get shots of cabs on their own now! This is less than half way there - regular OR2 pop card needs adding and new artwork needs applying after metalwork has been powdered..
edit: this cab was sold to Brettster in 2016 to make way for genuine Japanese OR2 project cab (see below).
2014-present: Jap Sega Ferrari F355 Challenge 2 International Course Edition twin
I never planned to get this cab, but you know what it’s like when a gorgeous cab turns up virtually on your doorstep and is begging to be saved!
The cab was originally owned by a rich London hedge fund manager who had it imported direct from Japan to go in his games room, but no longer wanted it as he was converting the games room to a Yoga room for his wife! He told his gardener to dump the cab in a ditch at the back of his estate, just to get rid of it but thankfully the gardener thought his lad might quite like it so saved it and stuck it in his own garage. After a few months and needing funds to move house he stuck it on ebay and had plenty of offers, but all turned out to be time wasters. Amazingly the cab was only 10 minutes from my house so I thought I’d take a look..
It was in stunning condition, having never been sited in a UK arcade and hardly played. It was just too good to miss out on so I gathered as many pennies as I could and made him an offer. By this time he just wanted it gone and was very wary of dead loss ebay idiots – I convinced him I was genuine and hired a van virtually the next day. In the pouring rain Olly helped me moce the beast into my, now somewhat crowded garage.
Nothing to do on this cab other than enjoy it..
2015-present: Jap Sega Daytona USA 2 single (now converted to a twin - see below)
Always wanted a Model 3 cab to add to the collection and when this cab came up I just had to have it. The cab was half of a twin Vamino (Ian) rescued and spent many hours, effort and no little amount of cash getting tidied up and running. This was a bonus for me as I don't have that much space in the garage now for full cab stripdowns
I choose my cabs very carefully as I tend not to sell them on so only buy cabs I really want and know will fit into the lineup nicely. It's a Jap spec machine and those in the know will appreciate that means it's just that little bit nicer in all respects than a UK built cab - these things make a difference
With Ian doing most of the groundwork, the idea is for me to do what I usually do and get the cab furnished with NOS parts and decals where possible. I've already fitted NOS dash plastics, Sega wheel emblem and a Jap style dash sticker (seat adjust info in place of the hole for the credit button). I also have NOS seat decals ready for application and a Phantom sticker to go on after the base lid has been powder coated.
Single cabs were never released in europe (or Japan to my knowledge) so as I must have toppers on my cabs I have temporarily fashioned a decent looking solution using an initialD single lightbox and a US Daytona 2 plexi and pop card. You don't see the iD decal on the side of the lightbox when the cab is in place, but I will sort something more permanent in time..
The seat plastic is from a deluxe cab - hence the number 41..
2016-present: Jap Sega Daytona USA 2 single No.2 (to turn existing single into a twin)
Always going to happen wasn't it?
Model 3 drivers are so iconic and what with my (insane) need to have twin cabs in my gamesroom, it was inevitable that I'd have to find a way of shoe-horning a second cab in.. somehow!
Well, when your buddy messages you saying an op is clearing out a warehouse, there's rows of Sega drivers on the brink of being scrapped, but there's deals to be had if we get there today/tomorrow, you drop everything and run! These things are usually last minute so it's book the day off work, get down there and ask questions later!
The scene was bizarre - the op needed the warehouse clearing that day, so at one end of the room were workers stripping cabs and chucking stuff in recycling skips, while at the other end of the room we were stripping cabs and shoving them into our cars/vans! It was a race against time, so needless to say you don't have much time for photos! You might recognise someone here - this was the scene before we got into the warehouse..
Anyway, this was my haul - thankfully a Ford Focus Mk2 boot is big enough to swallow an entire Daytona 2 sitdown cab, plus a few tasty extras - gotta love Ford
As you can see it was pretty late when we got back, so I was grateful to have my other good buddy on hand to help me unload, quickly throw the cab back together and shove it in the garage. No idea if it worked at this point - you don't get the luxury of testing when on raids!
The twin topper didn't fit in the car, but I stashed that out of sight and managed to go back the next day and pick it up. Warehouse was empty.
Amazingly, when we finally got chance to fire the cab up some days later we were greeted with this awesome sight and the game was 100% working - even the 4ch sound amp and seat adjuster worked - anyone that's owned a Sega driver will know how rare that is!
That moment we first fired it up, waited a few moments and bam! ..was one of the best single moments during my time in the hobby - high fives all round
I've since cleaned it outside, added a NOS dash plastic and applied some nice muddymusic artwork to the seats - I will give it a good clean inside, sort out the base metalwork/footplate and apply a few more NOS decals, but I guess this technically means a new entry..
2016-present: Jap Sega Daytona USA 2 BOTE twin
So, this cab came to be thanks mainly to two great guys I've met in this hobby - feeling the love today so it's a big thanks to Ian and Olly
Just a few tarting-up shots and the money shot at the end..
2016-present: Jp Sega OutRun2 single
Another addition in 2016, and the last cab to date, was this project Japanese OutRun2 cab. Of course, I already have the SP twin and the project UK F355/OR2 single cab so I could have an OR2 with regular livery, but something was nagging away at me (Ian!)
A so-called Japanese OR2 with a UK base/frame was never going to cut it - I had to re-shell the UK cab with a Japanese shell, or find a suitable Jp OutRun2 cab that needed the Gary treatment. Enter our good friend Mr Stegrey
He had this cab up for sale in mid-2016 - it had a few issues; wobbly picture/interference on the Toshiba PF monitor, damaged seat, squeaky steering, loose shifter, dodgy accelerator pot, missing/incorrect artwork and was just generally a bit rough around the edges. No problem, this was a perfect project for me. Thankfully my UK project cab was snapped up and a deal was done to get this cab delivered and my UK cab picked up by Martin - this was crucial as I didn't have room to have both cabs at the same time!
Anyway, the cab arrived and the swap was done as agreed - sadly Martin somehow managed to damage the topper en-route, but we won't go into that
I'm sure anyone that is interested will have already seen my OutRun2 JP resto thread so I'll just post a few before and after photos here, rather than bore you all with the details all over again!
Arrival
Fully restored
So that's about it - summary of the current lineup..
OutRun UK upright
OutRun2SP UK/Jp twin
OutRun2 Jp single
Ferrari F355/2 Jp twin
initial D 3 UK/Jp single
Daytona USA 2 BOTE Jp twin
I have a load of other games that can be played in the relevant cabs, but I guess that's another thread altogether!
Pretty sure I'm done now - don't think even I can find a way of squeezing any more in
Let's see a few more of these threads - this has been a good record for me as much as anything else, but I do enjoy reading others' stories
Had them all running at the same time for the first time at the weekend so did a quick video. Sadly it's a bit crap, but until I do something better..
Outrun22019-08-19 13:14:39
