The Sagamiko Forest Skyline & Kyusha Meeting had acres of perfectly painted kaido racers, but one that really stood out to us looked like it had been found in a barn. In fact, this Hakosuka is a known drifter and was displayed in the style of an old school street racer.
Larger-than-normal flares barely contain classic 3-piece Panasport 8-spokes, wrapped in what truly makes the car — fat, dry-rotted, all-weather Bridgestone RA-300 tires. A dry version of this tire was the first racing slick in Japan, and since tires do decay over time this was a super rare sighting.
On the back, though, are a pair of widened steelies. Headlights from a Peugeot (?) match the contours of the openings. Even the routing of the oil cooler lines is clean. A homemade tow hook caps off the package. The look is that of a Hako built during the peak days of racing, but then put away for many decades and rediscovered.
The main thing about this Skyline is that it’s not overdone. Even the patina looks natural and inoffensive, not deliberate. The key is balance. In contrast to many intentional “rat rod” drift missiles, not any one area is overthought. It doesn’t look like it’s trying hard and as a result, ironically, has incredibly strong presence. The rusty hardtop was one of the most wild cars at the event.
To be continued…
We’ll have more coverage from the Sagamiko Forest Skyline & Kyusha Meeting coming soon, so stay tuned. Until then, in case you missed it, here’s Part 01 and Part 02.
When my S800 grows up, it wants to be this cool…
Wow! That Skyline really has an aggressive look!
I don’t think those covers are taken from a Peugeot. The 304 and 504 had similar styling as the Skyline front end, but the lenses have a different fresnel cut in them:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7094/7236043132_c9c499c3cc_b.jpg
http://www.roadsmile.com/images/peugeot-504_white_17.jpg
Also the shape is square and straight on the insides of the Peugeot lenses, so they would not fit the rounded shape of the one on the Skyline.
So maybe it has been cut in this shape from a bigger lens?
Is there anyway I can find high res photos of these?
Very cool old machine !
I don’t understand the exposed oil cooler/lines on the front of a “track car”. I assume this is for aesthetics only as it sure wouldn’t be for longevity.
It’s a vintage styling cue
Originally, not for aesthetics at all. The opposite. Pure function – at least for track cars to get auxiliary cooling as easy as possible with little concern as to how it looked…
Is that a hand-formed aluminum chin spoiler?
Those headlights are from a Peugeot 504.
Great Hako!