EVENTS: 2010 Mooneyes Street Car Nationals, Part II


Welcome to Part Two of our coverage of the Mooneyes Street Car Nationals. As we mentioned in Part One, this show often blends American and Japanese customization styles, as evidenced by this army-themed van.

If you think a US military motif, complete with kill markings indicating bombs dropped, is a bit incendiary for a Japanese car, count the number of Rising Sun flags at your next Datsun meet. Vans are the biggest thing in Japan right now, and there’s no reason why old schoolers should be left out.


Nissan adopted the name Caravan for their one-box minivans long before Dodge and the E23 Nissan Caravan is a favorite of the vannin’ crowd. With its mean mask, it’s easy to see why. This one looks like something the Japanese A-Team would roll around in.


Not to be left out, here’s the Aichi faction of the one-box squad. The H10 Toyota Hiace has cool wraparound turn signals and some truly nostalgic two-tone paint schemes.


Nissan Vanettes were tremendously sleeker (a relative term for a van, of course), especially when it’s lowered on Work Equip 01s. And how cool is that opera window?


Smooth Bertone lines almost make you forget that this lovely, light olive Mazda Luce is a four door sedan. Perhaps because this is really an Italian body, the modern-ish wheels don’t look entirely out of place.


Not that you asked for one, but the SCN even had room for an Isuzu Gemini. The last time we remember seeing its USDM equivalent, the I-Mark, on an American street was probably over 15 years ago.


Black workhorse Cedrics were everywhere in 1980s Tokyo. The 430 Nissan Cedric Van was a common delivery vehicle, and you can identify the commercial (usually bare-bones) spec by its round headlights and fender mirrors.


Unlike the tangerine dream in Part One, here’s a more moderate RX-3 Savanna. But do those Fuchs make it more German? Or is this a Cal-look Mazda?


No sir, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a S50 Crown wagon.


Although, the idea of hauling your Japanese nostalgic bike in the bed of your RS46 Crown Pickup is pretty appealing as well.


The opportunity to showcase a vintage Daihatsu is rare enough, but when that Daihatsu is a slammed third-gen S37 Hijet pickup, you can bet we’re going to get excited about a 360cc kei truck! Note the hinges and massive (compared to the size of the cab) doors.


We’ve seen some wild customs, some hits, some misses. But this B110 Sunny van on Libres proves that you can never go wrong with clean and stock. Note the tsurikawa hanging in the cargo area.


And as we bid sayonara to the 2010 SCN, here’s an adorable little kid checking out the Mitsubishi Debonair pedal car with matching full scale sled.

permalink.
This post is filed under: datsun, mazda, mitsubishi, nissan and
tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

11 Responses to EVENTS: 2010 Mooneyes Street Car Nationals, Part II

  1. Slag says:

    Not one of these vehicles on this page is amazing!

    However, that third van’s not a Hi-Ace. I was gonna say it’s a Lite-Ace, but now I’m pretty sure it’s a Nissan (Datsun) Vanette.

    Spent ages looking for photos of one with that window, finally found it – guess where: [LINK]
    !!

  2. Slag says:

    Double post sorry, but the first line is meant to say “Every one of those vehicles is amazing.”

    JNC, consistently the most interesting car site.

  3. Anton says:

    That last pic makes me say awwww 🙂

  4. Nigel says:

    The vans are very cool. And I think I saw a future JNC’er.

  5. Toyotageek says:

    @ Slag – While on rare occasions they err, in this case, the boys of JNC know what they speak of.

    The H10 Toyota Hiace [LINK]

    http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Toyota_Hiace_H10_Lahti.JPG

    http://imcdb.org/vehicle_239780-Toyota-Hiace-H10-1972.html

    🙂

  6. Toyotageek says:

    …But if you mean the 4th picture, then yeah, that sure looks like a Nissan Vanette ;P [LINK]

  7. Komeko says:

    “The last time we remember seeing its USDM equivalent, the I-Mark, on an American street was probably over 15 years ago.”
    Que lastima.
    http://www.isuzuperformance.com/gifs/carpix/ima_ani.gif
    Equally unfortunate for the owners of the Lotus Elise Supercharged and Factory Five Daytona Coupe who race against this car and see it on a regular basis.

  8. Ben says:

    Toyotageek: Well that would explain why it says Nissan on the front!

  9. rob says:

    No sir, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a 1JZ-powered S50 Crown wagon.

    ………….except that it looks like a 4M-D not a 1jz, the rocker cover is very distinctive early M engine cover and also can see the twin carb air filter box.

  10. Ben says:

    rob: I guess there is something wrong with me! 🙂

  11. Mark says:

    Those ‘modernish’ wheels on the luce have a distinct 1960s Empi BRM look to me…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *