This week’s video shows the collected opening sequences for Tokusou Saizensen, which translates (we think) to “Front Line Special”. The long running Japanese police drama aired from 1977 to 1987, but the intro had to be re-shot each time Nissan redesigned the Cedric, Gloria or Skyline.
That’s because the cars are featured prominently driving in formation through the sprawling concrete jungle that is Tokyo, and the Nissan sponsorship juggernaut dominated cop shows of the era. As a result, you can see not only Nissan’s bread and butter sedans, but the capital city itself, evolve over the better part of a decade.
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.
In this clip from 80s Japanese cop show Abunai Deka, a Nissan Cedric 430 unmarked patrol car gives chase to a Gloria Van of the same generation. As you can see, this series doesn’t take itself as seriously as, say, Seibu Keisatsu, which would have ended the pursuit with Daimon arriving just in time to cut the baddies off at the pass and blow the crap out of their driver with a blast from his shotgun. Instead, Abunai lets its heroes play the fools, and even though we can’t understand what’s being said in this clip it still made us lawl.
Continuing on the motorsports theme, our next stop is at the Japan Grand Prix. This one comes by way of banpei and appears to be a DVD about the race. Unfortunately embedding was disabled so you’ll have to click on the links below to watch the videos. (more…)
Who knew that Mazdas could slice open a Nissan like a knife through hot butter? We have absolutely no idea what movie or TV show this is from, nor what is going on here, but it sure is zany! However, the fun times implied by a bright yellow Mazda Luce Legato surgically bisecting a Cedric down the middle seems to take a darker detour when the final crash engulfs several cars – and presumably their occupants – in flames and a (um, spoiler alert?) child’s red cap falls from the sky. If you know from where this clip originated, let us know in the comments.
Yabba dabba doo, it’s the weekend! Time for your Friday video. Here’s another gem from Seibu Keisatsu, the ass-kickingest, Nissan-wreckingest cop show around. In this clip, the bad guys bust into police HQ in a shootout reminiscent of Heat and jack some kind of police-issue armored Nissan Gloria Wagon. A massive chase ensues, with all the requisite crashes, jumps, and toppled fruit stands. As our heroes get picked off one by one, Daimon is the only one left to pursue the perps in his 230 Cedric. But it appears that this time, the criminals get away… for now.
Here is your Friday video. But it’s Thursday, you say? Yes, there will be no Friday post this week because I’ll be on a plane to Japan! Hopefully the forthcoming pictures will make up for it.
This clip is once again from Seibu Keisatsu, the Japanese cop show that has destroyed more Nissans than Formula D. The story arc of this chase is a bit unclear, but you basically have the West Tokyo Police Force mobilizing against bad guys in a pair of car carriers. As the gullwing 280ZX, R30 Skyline and a random unmarked Cedric give chase, the trucks – hauling a Fairlady Z and kenmeri Skyline, I might add – cause all sorts of havoc for Bluebird and Cedric drivers unfortunate enough to be in their path.
And oh look, the cops can flip a switch to turn any traffic signal green! Despite a computer that looks about as advanced as a Texas Instruments graphing calculator, they manage to divert the perps into a roadblock. But the real question is never answered. What happened to the hostage cars on the carriers!?
We’re still trying to go through the hundreds of SEMA photos we took, but in the meantime here’s a small set of photos from Satoshi, our man in Japan, from one of the Morning Cruises sponsored by Barracuda. Here are twomore galleries from some of their past cruises in our Events Section. (more…)
