Made in Japan: Race around Tokyo Bay

Anyone who loves cars and grew up during the 1980s almost certainly will have an appreciation for The Cannonball Run.

I do, even though I'll happily admit it's a terrible movie.

But the concept of a wild, flat-out and illegal cross-country outlaw race from sea-to-shining-sea, well, let's just say it made a mark on my young and impressionable self.

That might explain why, when colleague Feann Torr suggested a pitstop south of Tokyo after a morning of filming for the Made in Japan series, I came up with a plan.

Not a real unlawful race, but a light sprint from Chiba to Kanagawa prefectures.

OK, that might not exactly conjure up the spirit of the original legendary race from NYC to LA – but you get what you're given.

That applies to the machinery too.

Today we're distinctly lacking a black Lamborghini Countach. Although, if you have enough of an imagination and squint, the snow-white Elgrand does do a decent impression of a modern take on a late-1970s Dodge Tradesman ambulance.

The only rule for today is no sat-nav, just to spice things up. Both Feann and I could get lost in a car park.

Winning the coin toss, I gain an instant advantage with the keys for the pint-size Dayz – a car made for Tokyo.

I jump in the car and wring the neck of the little Nissan – it's time to hustle. My plan? Purely rudimentary – point the little Nissan kei-car's snout north and keep the water on the left-hand side.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to me, Feann has his own devious plan.

Throwing gentlemanly sportsmanship right out the window, he asks our translator and guide for directions and discovers that he's a short drive from one of the engineering wonders of the world – the Aqualine Expressway.

In a mean underhanded act that only some sort of monster would undertake, Feann abandons the well-established circle of trust and drives his deceitful Elgrand in the opposite direction to me.

As you'll see in the video, you can almost forgive Feann's treachery. Almost.

While I battle against the traffic, confusing road signs and my natural ability to get lost, he enjoys one of the world's greatest feats of engineering – an expressway that consists of both bridge and tunnel, with the unique impression you're driving directly into the ocean.

The highway itself only measures 23.7km but was so complex to flesh out that the designing, engineering and planning of it took an incredible 23 years.

It then took another nine to build it at a cost of an astonishing $11 billion.

That astronomical cost doesn't actually sound too bad when you consider it includes the creation of an artificial island – the place Feann stops off to treat himself to a tasty macha green tea snack while I bravely plough on, dehydrated and stressed out.

I should have been suspicious when Feann texted to switch our rendezvous to the upmarket Ginza area of Tokyo. But until then, after an hour and a half on the road, I thought I was making good progress.

That couldn't have been further from the truth and I arrive decidedly last. I pay for dinner but at least I don't have argue with the carsales accounts people about a $67 toll.