Author Archives: Kevin San
MS65 Crown: front to back, side to side….pancake
Old classic sedans have always been a staple of the JDM lowdown scene, but we’ve found that relatively few examples have the airbag suspension system that’s so popular in the USA. But here’s a Youtube of one in action. Cool!
Autech Stelvio: Handbuilt JDM Excess by Zagato
For those of you who don’t know, Autech is Nissan Japan’s own in-house tuning and customisation arm. By law, JDM car manufacturers have to offer a customisation service to cater for disabled drivers, and so this service forms a big … Continue reading
Posted in nissan
9 Comments
Cafe GT-R: If they served chicken wings, you’d never have to leave
If you were cruising the Tochigi area of central Japan, you might come across a roadside restaurant, with a charming organic produce market at the back. There’s a restaurant serving pizza and pasta, and at the corner of the complex … Continue reading
Posted in Businesses, nissan
5 Comments
Debonair: When AMG met Mitsubishi
Recently, we profiled some bizarre tie-ups between JDM and European car companies, like the weird alliance between Nissan and Alfa Romeo and between De Tomaso and Daihatsu. But one that we forgot, and to be honest, it’s the one that … Continue reading
Merry Christmas GrandJDMers!
It hardly seems like a whole 6mths has passed since Van, Lachy and I started GrandJDM, and it’s been a blast. We’d like to give our heartfelt thanks to all you readers for supporting us, and we hope you’ve gotten … Continue reading
Posted in Miscellaneous
2 Comments
Alto Slideslim: funny-doored microcar pioneer
A couple of years ago Peugeot released the 1007, which is a funky subcompact city car with a unique feature: double sliding doors. So instead of conventional doors, you get van-like sliding doors which whizz back and forth electrically. Cool … Continue reading
Posted in Did You Know?, suzuki
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Saurus: Nissan’s Stillborn Lotus Seven
In the late 80s, Nissan went crazy on concept cars, almost all of which never went into production, like the Mid4 supercar. But another concept that made a favourable splash was the Saurus. Unveiled at the 1987 Tokyo Motor Show, … Continue reading
Posted in nissan, racing
3 Comments
Victory50: for all your Hakosuka Needs
One of the great things about JDM tuners in general is that it’s quite common to find a tuner that caters for your particular model of car, and only that model. So if you have say, a Mazda Roadster, there … Continue reading
Charade 926R: When Daihatsu Met DeTomaso
Many apologies for the shortage of new posts in the past week or so, if you knew what we’ve been working on then you’d forgive us! Anyway, back to regular programming. A couple of weeks ago we did a piece … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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March Superturbo: Mighty Mite!
A recently notable new car release has been the VW Golf GT. Both supercharged and turbocharged, the boosted 165ps 1.4L does a pretty good job of moving the big Mk5 Golf body along. VW claims that it is the very … Continue reading
Posted in nissan
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Isuzu Piazza: Media Ownage
The other day we did a feature on the Isuzu 117 Coupe and we concluded the article with a short mention of its replacement, the Piazza. That got us to thinking about the Piazza and now that we have … Continue reading
Posted in isuzu
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Isuzu 117 Coupe: JDM Italian Supermodel
One of the more fondly remembered classic cars in Japan today is the Isuzu 117 Coupe. An FR design, it debuted in Japan as an Italian-designed, DOHC sports coupe with an exotic pricetag to match. A JDM car with an … Continue reading
Posted in isuzu
8 Comments
Old School JDM Sat-Nav
Today, satnav is no big deal. A lot of cars come with it, and even if yours doesn’t, a portable handheld unit is not expensive. Heck, very soon we’re sure that everyone’s mobile phones will have satnav capability for free … Continue reading
Posted in honda
2 Comments
Old School JDM Rides You Can Buy Today
A thread at the www.auszoku.net forums the other day reminded us that Nissan South Africa still makes the B121 Nissan Sunny truck. Called the 1400 Bakkie, it is a 1971 Nissan design that you can still buy new today. So … Continue reading
Posted in Miscellaneous
4 Comments
Mid4: Nissan makes a Ferrari (well….almost)
In 1985, Nissan stunned everyone by releasing a mid engined prototype called the Mid4. The first thing you notice of course is that it looks a hell of a lot like a Ferrari 308. Back in the day, this was … Continue reading
Posted in nissan
6 Comments
Arna: When Alfa Romeo made Nissans
By far one of the more bizarre automotive dalliances was the very short lived alliance between Alfa Romeo and Nissan in the early 80s. Alfa Romeo needed a small and cheap new model to accompany it’s new Alfa33 compact, … Continue reading
Posted in nissan
7 Comments
Prince R380: Want One?
A couple of weeks ago, we touched on the topic of the Prince R380 racecar in our retrospective on the Hakosuka Skyline GT-R. As we take up the story, the S54B Skyline debuted at the Japan Grand Prix in 1964. … Continue reading
Posted in prince, racing
4 Comments
My Name is Hakosuka, and I’ve just been Overhauled!
Ever dreamed about finding a basket-case C10 Skyline in a barn, and then restoring it to perfection? Is it a recurring dream? You and me both, brother. But the reality of old-car restoration is a lot less romantic than we’d … Continue reading
Posted in nissan
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Did you Know: Skyline, Ken and Mary
The C10 Skyline is commonly known as Hakosuka, and you think it might mean “Deadly Wind” or “Shark” or something like that because the word sounds tough….but actually it just means Box-Skyline, Hako means Box and Suka is just a … Continue reading
Posted in Did You Know?, nissan
7 Comments
