Liberty Walk just did something I didn’t think was possible. It created a single product uniting two of my biggest passions: cars and keyboards. See, we keyboard enthusiasts are a strange bunch. We spend countless hours and dollars customizing and building something that does the exact same job as one you could pull off the shelf at Walmart for $10. (Maybe car and keyboard enthusiasts aren’t so different after all.) Anyway, this Liberty Walk Ferrari F40-inspired keyboard speaks to me, and likely many other similar nerds, on two levels.
This kickass keeb is a collaboration between Liberty Walk, the legendary Japanese tuner, and Original Konbini, who together created a low-profile mechanical keyboard inspired by Liberty Walk’s Ferrari F40 build from earlier this year.
“This is a piece of JDM heritage that lives on your desk,” said Caleb Chandra, co-founder of Original Konbini. “We want to bring the passion and beautiful modifications of these machines to your space, an extension of love for one of the most iconic builds in recent JDM history.”
As for the keyboard itself, its case is made from two milled blocks of aluminum that were then coated in an off-white color similar to the tuner’s F40. It uses low-profile mechanical switches and keycaps, but there’s no word on who makes them or their specs. The only switch detail provided is that they’re tactile switches, meaning they have a noticeable engagement point that you can feel in the keystroke. However, we do know it’s a wired USB-C keyboard with RGB backlighting and a 75%-ish profile. For non-keyboard nerds, the latter means that it has function and arrow keys but no number pad or page-up and page-down buttons. The Liberty Walk livery looks great, too, with its simple black-over-white main keys, black space bar with “Slammed” on it, and the Japanese flag on the enter key.
Without knowing what sort of switches or stabilizers this keyboard has, it’s impossible to say what it will feel like or if it will be worth its likely high price tag. Only 500 are being made, and it’s being bundled with a diorama desk pad that replicates famous Japanese car enthusiast parking areas. The bundle goes on sale December 31 and once all 500 are gone, that’s it. If you want one, head on over to Original Konbini’s website to sign up for early access, so you can hopefully snag one on New Year’s Eve. I’m already fearing the financial discussion I’m going to have with my wife on January 1.
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