A sharknose conversion is a pretty commonplace staple of the JDM lowdown/bosozoku/yanki/garuchan scene, and in general they are an homage to the outlandish styles of the Silhouette racing cars of the late 70s and early 80s. Hence sharknoses are usually inflicted on boxy 70s/80s saloons like a ’79 Skyline Japan or ’84 Toyota Cresta, and you generally don’t see the earlier cars given the same treatment (after all it would be a historical mismatch).
Well…until now. Here, ladies and gentlemen, is a Hakosuka sharknose.
There has been a bit of a proliferation of JDM old-car magazines lately, and one promising new title is Kyusha-kai (literally means “Classic Car”).
It is one of many new “DVD Magazines” in the sense that it also comes with a DVD that covers some of the feature cars. Compared to most, the production values of the DVD in this magazine are pretty high, and overall it’s very well done. So this magazine is worth buying if you can find one.
But one of the feature cars is a C10 Hakosuka Hardtop, given a pretty comprehensive, 30cm sharknose.
Another good reason why 80s cars are preferred for sharknose conversions is because their panels are quite square, and so the sheetmetal extensions necessary to the fenders and the bonnet aren’t too difficult to fabricate.
But as you can see, the curves of the Hakosuka would have made this a somewhat more difficult car to do, and no matter what we might think of the end result, there is no doubt that this would have been quite painstakingly done.
Now, before you get upset that a rare and beautiful Hakosuka has been ruined, let me tell you that this isn’t a KPGC10 GT-R. Far from it in fact….it’s a 4cyl 1800, and if you look closely you’ll see that it has rust breaking out absolutely everywhere where you don’t want it to.
So it’s no great loss to the Hako world, and maybe the best way to look at it is that it was a chance for someone to have a little fun with the car before it got sent to the crusher.
C10 sharknose….damn. ‘Never thought I’d ever see one.
*kev shows me the magazine he just got, specifically a bunch of pages with S30s and C10s*
Van: Whoa. There’s nothing there that I don’t love.
Kev: That sharknosed C10 is a bit iffy, don’t you think? Hahaha
Van: Only a little bit, I swear. Heh.
Hahaha, I honestly do love it! I wouldn’t *do* it to my own, but I don’t hate it, that’s for sure.
Haha….
DISCUSS. 🙂
Mmmm…. way-out-the-front-mount oil coolers rock
Technically the oil cooler is not a the front….it is 30cm inboard from the nose 😀
It probably looks no more ridiculous than a short nose C10 hardtop does anyway. I’d love a short body sedan or a wagon but the coupe looks badly out of proportion…
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The Hardtop’s tail will look a lot shorter once you put on the obligatory flares, bootlid wing and 10in deep dish alloys 😀
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Not bad per see, i wouldn’t do it on a hako if i had one… but plain silver? i was expecting some more color loving… and where’s the ductail wing? 😛
I must get a set of those flares for my Mazda and I wouldnt mind one of those bootlid wings, they remind me of the Mazda RX-2 and RX-3 sport kit wings
Geez.. no way… you would NEVER put flares on a short nose. That’s just silly.