How unbelievably cool is it that RS Watanabe actually aired TV commercials back in the day? Of course, they’re so expensive we’d never slap them on a rally-going 910 Bluebird and sandblast them to smithereens. You could always go with some Black Racing lookalikes, which is what drifters used to do because they too found Wats too pricey. But the pure simplicity of this ad makes us want to go out and get some nice, black 8-spokes, stat. There’s no music at all, and only the briefest of voiceovers at the very end. Racing Service… Watanabe!
[Banpei]
Watanabes would look good on any car, even a… Skoda or Yugo.
Awesome vid!
What wheel widths are people shopping for that they keep saying Watanabes are so expensive? I keep seeing 14×6, which is the original size or wider than what came on most 1960s and 1970s cars, on auction for 15000-35000 Yen per set of four. Yes, they have the company logo cast into the face. They need paint, but I’ve never seen new fakes for under $90 each.
Wow! Where do you guys find this stuff!?!?!
I want a set of 15″ or 16″ to suit an S30 Zcar with ZG flares. So they need a bit of width about 9.5 from memory.
They are a bit pricey but same as any nice set of wheels really and Wat’s are lets face it period correct! 🙂
OK, 9 1/2 inches wide probably makes all the difference. around 6 inches wide would have sold in large numbers 20 years ago, so there would be a lot of them available now. 9 1/2 inches wide would have been more rare a long time ago so fewer available now and higher demand pushes up the price. Finally a reason to be happy that big wheels and tires won’t fit my car.
@1977ra29: At my blog of course! 😀 😀
Seriously: I do watch a lot of youtube videos on JDM cars and ads so I bump into interesting stuff now and then. 😉
@ Nigel; Watanabes on a Skoda or Yugo? Puh-leez. Wats are for J-tin, you need Minilites for Euro cars 🙂
Some wheels are classics, and then we have superstar classics! The waves of nostalgia are flooding over me. Where are the days of 14″ rims and 60 profile tyres being a serious wheel and tyre upgrade?