After nearly two years of Friday Videos, we may have exhausted every Japanese cop show car chase you YouTube. Luckily, there’s NicoNico Douga, Japan’s most popular video hosting site, ready to be mined! Here’s a clip from Daitokai (The Big City) in which Tetsuya Watari chases down the very rare 510-esque C30 Nissan Laurel with an even rarer Isuzu Florian! Clearly this was prior to the days where corporate sponsorship made it look like everyone on Earth drove a Datsun. Watch the clip below the fold. Continue reading
Friday Video: Isuzu Florian vs Nissan Laurel
Posted in datsun, isuzu, nissan, Video Games
Tagged c30, daitokai, datsun, florian, isuzu, laurel, nissan, tetsuya watari, the big city
4 Comments
Kidney, Anyone? 1973 Nissan Laurel HC130
If the recent MS55 Toyota Crown is a bit too stock for your tastes, how about a mild-bosozoku Nissan Laurel SGL? It’s easy to get hypnotized by the butaketsu Laurel‘s shapely rear but the HC130 sedan can look just as dope, especially when modified in proper lowdown style. This SGL’s stock 2.0L straight six has been mated to a 5MT and boasts only 38,335km (just under 24,000 miles). It’s swathed in 70s green inside and out, complemented by bright red 14×7 Star Sharks. The price on Yahoo Japan Auctions is currently at ¥1,480,000 (or $17,625 American). More photos below the fold. Continue reading
Posted in datsun, for sale, nissan
Tagged butaketsu, c130, hc130, kidney anyone, laurel, nissan
10 Comments
Hakosuka Nissan Skyline Reborn, in Hot Wheels Form
We have long maintained that a car’s fame is directly proportional to how many diecast models of it have been made. Ford Mustang? You can’t swing a petrified cat at Toys R Us without hitting a scale replica of the quintessential American automobile. But for fans of nostalgics like the hakosuka Skyline, the only recourse has been the toymakers of Japan. Until now. Continue reading
Kidney, Anyone? 1970 MS55 Toyota Crown Deluxe
This might just be the cleanest, most original MS55 Toyota Crown in the United States. It was purchased new in 1970 by an elderly woman in Butte, Montana, and comes with a thorough ownership history, including the original sticker and sales card from Knievel Imports (of Evel Knievel fame) Continue reading
New JD Classics Race Series for 1977-1985 Cars
If the idea of a MkII Toyota Supra lining up on the starting grid opposite a Mitsubishi Starion gets your motor going, then this is the race series for you. The new Motor Racing Legends JD Classics series will pit touring cars from 1977-1985 against each other, running period correct specs.
Unfortunately, this will take place in Europe only. However, that means the field will be populated with cars like the BMW 635csi, Merkur/Sierra XR4Ti. The organizers are looking to include production cars from the American IMSA as well, which means Mazda RX-7s and Datsun 280ZXs!
The organizers believe that “a lot of the genuine race cars still exist, sitting in garages, but they’re not being brought out en masse as there isn’t a series catering exclusively for them… It’s a time that many of us remember clearly, and even more of us would like to see revived as a historic race series.” The inaugural checkered flag drops at the Donington Historic Festival, April 29 to May 1, 2011.
Friday Video: Far East Movement Loves Datsun 240Zs
Alright, alright, we’ll post about it! We’ve been getting emails about Far East Movement‘s Z-heavy music videos almost as frequently as the songs are played in nightclubs. So apparently this LA-based band likes Datsun 240Zs and has populated at least two of their videos with them. The first was the Billboard #1 hit “Like a G6”, which apparently has nothing to do with front-wheel-drive Pontiacs. The second one, shown above, is “Rocketeer”, which laid to rest any doubt about their love for the for the S30 chassis. If your cup of tea consists of something called electro-hop, check out the videos below the fold. Continue reading
Posted in datsun, nissan, Video Games
Tagged 240z, 260z, 280z, datsun, fairlady z, far east movement, like a g6, nissan, rocketeer, s30
10 Comments
90 Years of the Mazda Logo
In honor of Mazda‘s 90th Anniversary, Mazda Europe has issued a press release documenting the evolution of the Mazda logo. From the word “Mazda” itself to a stylized flying M, here’s nearly a century’s worth of hood emblems and the explanations from the company itself. Continue reading
A Gaijin Looks at Japanese Modding Culture
We get so used to concepts like takeyari and tsurikawa it’s easy to forget that for some, it’s a mind-blowing world. Here’s a look at AOL Translogic’s tour of Japanese modding culture. Continue reading
Event Horizon for the Week of November 29, 2010
This week:
- Friday, December 3 / Torrance, CA: SoCal Japanese Classic Car Meet
- Saturday, December 4 / Irwindale Speedway, CA: Motormavens Mass Appeal @ Gymkhana Grid
Ready to Wangan: 1979 Mazda RX-7
Something for the Mazdafarians: an off-white Hiroshima screamer sitting on red Enkei 92s. The black A-pillars give the SA22C the illusion of a cantilever roof and adds to the overall feeling of lightness. Want.
[cVon12]
Friday Video: Datsun 280Z vs. Chevy Chevelle
You are not experiencing a deja vu. This is the second consecutive week in which we’ve had a car chase involving a brown, late-model Datsun Z. This one hails from a completely different continent — ours, in fact. Robert “Mannix” Forester gets behind a Chevy Chevelle to chase down a car thief in a stolen 280Z 2+2 in the 1983 film Vigilante. Video below the fold. Continue reading
Posted in datsun, nissan, Video Games
Tagged 240z, 260z, 280z, car chase, datsun, fairlady z, nissan, s30, vigilante
4 Comments
Event Horizon for the Week of November 1, 2010
This week:
- Tuesday, November 2 / Torrance, CA: Toyota Automobile Museum Grand Opening
- Friday, November 5 / Torrance, CA: SoCal Japanese Classic Car Meet
Boyd Coddington Custom 17 & 18 Inch Celica Supra Wheels
The Toyota Celica Supra P-Type is one of the best looking OEM wheels ever made. The classic four-spoke alloy was delivered stock with the MA61 from 1982 to 1986, and although the L-Types had a 15×6 option, the wider P-Type 14×7 is the most desirable. Almost 30 years after their introduction, they’re a staple of any self-respecting Toyotaku’s garage stash, and make appearances on everything from AE86s to Cressidas.
Now, some enterprising enthusiasts on CelicaSupra.com have remade them in 17- and 18-inch sizes. Continue reading
What a Datsun 240Z Looks Like Going 173 MPH
Remember the Datsun 240Z that recently broke the F/GT Class record at the Bonneville Salt Flats? Here’s a video on Rebello Racing of what that looks like from the cockpit. Or is that footage from a Space Shuttle launch? No, it’s the Z.
[Image: ClassicZCars]
Posted in motorsports, nissan
Tagged 240z, 260z, 280z, bonneville, burton brown, datsun, fairlady z, nissan, s30, speed record
6 Comments
Mazda Assembly Lines Through the Ages
Straight outta Hiroshima, let’s take a journey through Mazda’s assembly lines over the years. The above is a 1980 plant churning out the SA22C RX-7 Savanna by the boatload. Continue reading
Posted in mazda
Tagged assembly line, cosmo, familia, hb, k360, mazda, r100, r360, rotary coupe, rx-7, sa22, sa22c, savanna
12 Comments
Awesomeness Lurks at the Swiss Toyota Museum
It’s been a while since we checked into the Swiss Toyota Museum, but this photo from their newsletter that recently landed in our inbox makes us want to pack our bags and high-tail it to the Alps. Here is a list of their cars and more photos await below the fold. Continue reading
Posted in toyota
Tagged celica, century, corona, crown, mark II, ms65, sports 800, swiss toyota museum, toyota
4 Comments
Friday Video: Datsun 260Z Drifts Through Zandvoort, Sorta
If anything, the Dutch rival the Japanese for television weirdness, so we’ll ignore the plot of this Bassie & Adriaan episode and cut straight to the chase. In it, a Datsun 260Z pursues a clown in a Matra Rancho. There are some primitive attempts at drifting and pointless 360s, but it’s fun to watch this brown bandit scooting across the Netherlands’ Zandvoort circuit. Video below the fold. Continue reading
Posted in datsun, nissan, Video Games
Tagged 240z, 260z, bassie adriaan, car chase, datsun, fairlady z, nissan, s30, zandvoort
5 Comments
Gallbladder, Anyone? Citrus Green Datsun 280ZX
Would you rather have: a super low mileage gem, or an ultra rare color? Citrus Green is likely the rarest color ever to grace a Datsun 280ZX, excluding the one-off specials. It’s the color I’d have because I dig oddball hues that have no business coating a modern car, but seem oh-so-right for its era. It was available only in 1979, and according to some sources there were fewer than 100 Citrus Green 280ZXs sold in the US, surpassing in rarity the 10th Anniversary Black & Red cars (of which there were 500). And unlike the 12,000-mile Turbo we saw recently, this is a 5-speed. See more photos below or at the auction on eBay. Continue reading
Posted in datsun, for sale, nissan
Tagged 280zx, citrus green, datsun, fairlady z, nissan, s130
11 Comments
Enkei Wheels Resurrects Enkei 92 Mesh Rim
Need some nostalgic meshies that haven’t seen one too many pothole and aren’t stricken with a classic case of curb rash? The old school revivals keep on coming with the (re-)introduction of the Enkei 92! Continue reading
Japanese Nostalgics at the 2010 Art Center Classic
The Art Center College of Design is one of the top transportation design schools in the world, and each year the Art Center Classic gathers some of the world’s best automotive forms in a show that would make Jeremy Clarkson weep with envy. Continue reading
Posted in datsun, events, nissan, toyota
Tagged 1600 sports, 2000gt, 300sl, 356, 8c, 911, alfa romeo, art center classic, art center college of design, bugatti, datsun, f40, fairlady roadster, ferrari, mercedes, mini, nissan, porsche, sls amg, spl311, sports 800, toyota
5 Comments
