Japanese Nostalgic Car

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 quite a bone of contention and the Mid4 designer Hiroshi Itoh received some criticism for it. However the really exciting thing was that Nissan had made several prototypes that were quite fully engineered and were convincing, driving cars. These were not just stylish concept cars built to look good on car show stands: Nissan invited car journalists from all around the world to its test track in Oppama to give its small fleet of fully engineered and trimmed prototypes hell and everyone was blown away.

The vibe at the time from all the car magazines around the world was that, here was a revolutionary high tech supercar that was just about to go into production.

Continue reading →

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, and Nissan needed a way to break into the European market.

Back in the 1980s, JDM manufacturers were subject to import quotas in most Europoean countries, which limited the number of cars they could sell in any given market. Today, Japanese manufacturers all have plants in Europe anyway, so the import quotas are no longer an issue. But back in the early 80s, Nissan saw a way around the quotas by tying up with Alfa Romeo. And Alfa Romeo would begin to manufacture Nissan Pulsars in its old Alfasud factory near Naples, and that plan was that Nissan would have golden opportunity to expand its European market share, free of the constraints of import quotas.

Well…..it didn’t quite work out that way.

Continue reading →

Hot damn. I swear on your ma, we’re not as biased toward Nissan as you’d think—There’s just a frightening lack of happenings out there for the other marques that are worth mentioning. And as I always say, if we’re missing something fly, you need to be emailing that business to us.

So moving on. Auto-Otaku has gotten his hands on some shots of a bag of classic Neesahns out cruising through the hills of Nihon, with a spot of track time thrown in. If only there were some video of that shiz.

It’s a small bunch of photos, but damn nice nonetheless. Head over.

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 like, and vintage Nissan specialists Star Road, located in Edogawa in east Tokyo, has got a great photodiary of their recent resto of a C10 GT-R rep. Check it out, it really does look like the base car was an absolute basket case, but it’s inspiring to see them restore it properly. I can’t imagine how much it all costed in the end but I’m sure you’ll agree the final result was worth it.

Continue reading →

Where do you reckon would be home to the most ridiculously awesome S30Z in the world? You might think it’d have to be Japan, with their crazy big turbos and ability to turn anything old and Japanese into a masterpiece… or maybe you’d think it would be the U.S.A., where some of the finest customs in the world are built, and supercharged V8’s are sold by the dozen in wooden crates at Wal-Mart. But you’d be wrong. You forgot about the country that brought us ABBA, Volvo and “bork bork bork!” (was that last reference too obscure?)

For over 2 years now, Philip (better known as Mull) has been hard at work with his 240Z, turning it into what can only be described as a piece of engineering magnificence. Graciously, he has documented the entire build from very beginning to its stage now (which involves welding in the suspension from an R32 into the rear end) with great photographs and very entertaining videos. The build is nowhere near completion just yet, but this is a testament to his dedication to create a car without compromise rather than anything else. The project is documented at one of our favourite forums, Classic Z Cars.

Visit the thread, now.

I have no doubt that when finished, this will be one of the best modified S30Z’s in the world. Possibly the best? We wait with baited breath…