Today, September 8, is Star Trek Day, the date that the original series hit US airwaves in 1966. As much as we dig the scifi series, one thing it lacked was any automotive content whatsoever. Even when the characters entered the holodeck, a room that could simulate a realistic representation of anything you want, these spacefarers from 2364 inevitably chose scenarios like the wild west or a Sherlock Holmes mystery where no cars existed. There was no “Computer, put me at the Toyota stand at the 1965 Tokyo Motor Show,” or “Computer, let me drive the a 1969 Nissan Skyline GT-R at Fuji Speedway with the deadly Daiichi banking.” What a waste!
What automotive scenario would you conjure up on the holodeck?
The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “If you could buy any new JNC from 1975, what would it be?“.
Man, Nissan fans are a bunch of cheaters! We chose 1975 not just for the 50 year mark, but because it was a difficult era, given the post-oil crisis, big-bumper offerings carmakers were building. Yet several of you (*ahem* Ray) tried to sneak in a Kenmeri GT-R or (*cough* BlitzPig, daniel) a used 240Z. Thankfully others restored our faith with variants that were available in ’75, like Nigel‘s C110 sedan, streetspirit‘s C110 4 cylinder coupe, or Michael Jue‘s 280Z.
Mustard yellow was a recurring theme, with Alan Robinson choosing a Datsun 610 SSS in that color and Kyuusha Corner opting for the same hue on an FJ40 Land Cruiser.
Inspired choices included nlpnt‘s Subaru 4WD wagon, Vincenze‘s Isuzu 117, TheJWT‘s Laurel, Lee L‘s Gloria Wagon, Franxou‘s Mazda RX-3, speedie‘s Celica Liftback, and mangocast‘s TE47 Sprinter Trueno.
The winner this week was Lavender Null, who found the perfect car to represent and defy the Malaise Era with:
The obvious answer is a Datsun Fairlady Z, but I think I’d have to go with a Civic CVCC. It’s a zippy little hatchback with a lot of personality – I’d throw on some fender mirrors and period-correct kyusha rims. I’d also love to own one of the early Honda CVCC motors, I’m fascinated by how they were able to meet emissions regulations without the use of a catalytic converter.
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
Lapping the original Spa course in a Ferrari 330 P4.
Bliss.
That holodeck had better be running Starfleet’s fastest CPU and graphics processors, because my request to relive 9000 RPM in my Honda S2000 down the front straight of Texas World Speedway is going to take serious power to reproduce.
And the sound has to be perfect—reverb off the wall on the straight, climbing through the revs in every turn, because the perfect lap means you never drop out of VTEC. And finally, wind through the hair, because of course the top is down.
Yes, this was our life for so many years at TWS… best immortalized in in-car video, which we’ll provide to train the holodeck AI.
Unfortunately, our video showing this on Temple of VTEC was lost—along with that great site
1966. Yatabe Circuit.
2000GT Record attempts.
Absolute glory for Toyota and Japanese manufacturers altogether.
Or any time in ’95 plus, to witness the legendary Castrol TOM’s Supra in the JGTC.
I’d probably ride shotgun on one of Smokey Nagata’s 200mph highway runs of the late 90s
May 9, 1936 – Tamagawa Speedway. As fun as it would be to race, I think I would value the experience of being in the crowd that day even more. Just to soak in what it would be like surrounded by the spirit of everyone cheering on as the drivers whizzed by or fixed their car in a frenzy!
“As much as we dig the scifi series, one thing it lacked was any automotive content whatsoever.”
(Pedantic voice) Actually…
https://imcdb.org/movie_60028-Star-Trek.html
What would I do in a holodeck? Take red, original generation MR2 through the mountains and down the coast from Nagoya to Wakayama in 1985. Perhaps with the idol of choice riding shotgun to get myself into some properly Geordi Laforge-level trouble.
I would love to work with Tom Paris on his Camaro from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
I now realize it’s Star Trek voyager, not next generation whoops.
“Holodeck, please scan my memories circa 1998, and make special note of the automotive zeitgeist at the time – capture that magical feeling of ‘if cars are this good now, imagine what they’ll be like when I can afford something cool someday!’
Extrapolate that optimism over an alternate timeline where automotive electronics technology achieves an agreeable stasis wherein the devices and systems they enable serve only in an unintrusive and invisible manner to make vehicles safer and more convenient, where three-pedal manual transmissions and conventional automatic transmissions remain industry standards, where Ferraris are pretty and sound good, where the Wankel is alive and well and rotating, where turbos are merely fun multipliers and not a means to ends beyond more power, where F1 cars have V12s and V10s, and where hybrid powertrains are restricted to wheeled appliances.”
Make it so!
the build process of the Hino Samurai.
I dream of building a replica some day and seeing the original be built would be really cool!
“Computer, generate early november, about 3 in the afternoon, the rural stretch of road where the speed limit goes up to 80 km/h near my hometown with around an inch of snow, no trafic, a cherry red hatchback 240SX on almost bald 4-seasons tires.”
I crashed my cherished dream car, that S13 240SX after sliding on the first snow of the year that time coming back from the school gym. I didn’t even have any classes that day, I just went to the gym and to spend time with friends during lunch, but then it started snowing heavily.
I want as many retrys as I need in order to save that slide and bring my 240 home.