We went with high art and how-to for the last two Friday Videos but this week is a return to the roots – more Seibu Keisatsu madness.
The video appears to be clips from two episodes spliced together. In the first one, our heroes’ R30 Skylines and S130 Fairlady Z give chase to a C230 Laurel. Look out for the rare Toyota sighting in the Nissan-sponsored series.
In the second vid, the crew pursues a 330 Cedric/Gloria through Nissan Sunny Miyagi, an actual dealership. Car carriers full of brand new Nissans become embroiled in the melee. A perfectly good B210 hatch gets its door shorn off, and the finale results in some serious cringe-inducing carnage.
Available starting today at all Japanese Mazda and Mazda Anfini dealerships is a new Roadster (called MX-5 or formerly Miata elsewhere on planet Earth) celebrating the model’s 20th anniversary.
Mazda offers it in either soft top or retractable hard top versions, 6-speed manuals or automatics. There’s no performance upgrades but 20th Anniversary editions can be visually identified by their exclusive Crystal White Pearl Mica exteriors matched to red leather and black alcantara (very Honda S600-esque, no?) Recaros, 17-inch wheels, clear fog lamps and obligatory badging.
Many of you know that squawky-voiced celebrity Adam Carolla has a penchant for Datsuns, owning a 510 BRE street replica as well as a Fairlady Roadster race car. You’d think that it qualifies him to be the celebrity spokesman for Datsuns, to defend and extol them to the unwashed masses.
On a recent video, Carolla presents a genuine Bob Sharp Datsun 610 race car to his audience. At first, Carolla seems to be enthusiastic about the car, teaching the co-host a thing or two about Datsuns. Unfortunately, Carolla soon takes on a snide tone and says some not-so-nice things about this venerable rig at the 3:49 mark.
See the vid after the jump. Watch it all the way through and decide for yourself if Carolla is being uplifting or derogatory:
Did you ride a Chopper bike when all the other kids rode Schwinns or Huffys? If so, then these official Mazda accessories would’ve suited you when you bought your first RX-3.
So the “side skirt mold” and “speed wiper arm and blade” seem pretty decent. Even the “safety scope” (sun visor) seems useful. But look closely and you’ll see an unlabeled bug shield in the middle of the hood! Also, note the bulge on the hood for a possible gauge.
Not your style? Next we have a a race car “Sports Kit”:
Sai. Nunchucks. Shuriken. These are the ancient weapons of the ninja, lurker of shadows, trained in the arts of illusion, stealth and assassination. But did you know there was another closely guarded secret weapon in the ninja’s arsenal that has evaded scholars and historians for ages?
Why, it’s the 1968 Toyota Corolla 1100! See, once a hero (you can tell he’s a good guy cause he’s dressed in white) has swooped in and rescued his damsel from a gang of heavily armed baddies, there’s the small problem of actually escaping. Well the obvious answer is to produce a pokeball and shout, “KE10, I choose you!” The best part is, once you throw it at the ground and the getaway vehicle magically appears, the ninja’s teleportation abilities ensure that he will already be in the driver’s seat. And then it’s sayonara, suckas!
Unfortunately, the ninjas have also disabled youtube embedding for this commercial but you can see it in full on YouTube. And in case you were wondering what William Tell’s favorite car was, your answer is after the jump.
Picture it: you’re cruising along in the Shiz behind the wheel of a rented kei car, minding your own business in the slow lane. It starts as a faint buzz. Within moments, the sound multiplies into a chorus of side draft carbs running in triplicate as a swarm of vintage Skylines rips past. You’ve just been buzzed by the Shizuoka 70s Street Fighters.
Our buddy Murilee Martin over at Jalopnik has been documenting old cars still in service in his hometown of Alameda, California. “The Island that Rust Forgot,” he calls it.
Out of 480 cars “Down on the Street,” 61 have been Japanese, starting with a 1966 Datsun 411 Bluebird. The only rules are they have to be on public streets and must be driven. Take a look.
We have our own “Sightings” thread that’s 21 pages and counting. See a nostalgic in the wild? Post up a pic!
Come August, Nissan will be opening a gallery showroom at its new headquarters in Yokohama. According to the press release, part of the gallery will display classic and race cars alongside new models. It will be about four times the size of the current showroom in Tokyo’s pricey Ginza district, but unfortunately that’s still too small to house the 400-plus cars in its top secret Zama warehouse (coverage in JNC Issue 3). There will also be a boutique for Nissan-related goods and a cafe overlooking Yokohama Bay. The grand opening will be on August 8. If you’re in town, stop by and send us some photos. (more…)
Hot on the heels of Slappy’s Wall of Wheels Wallpaper we came across these vids of cool J-Nostalgic wheels from Youtube user Zeppann13J. More video after the jump! (more…)
Did you ride a Chopper bike when all the other kids rode Schwinns or Huffys? If so, then these official Mazda accessories would’ve suited you when you bought your first RX-3.
