Remembering Japanese cars from the past

Month: February 2011 (Page 1 of 5)

Video: 1972 TS-a Touring Car race @ Fuji Speedway


I found a couple of old 70s videos of the Gran Prix Touring Car races at Fuji International Speedway of which this 1972 race is one of the best!

It starts off with showing the thorough process of inspections and approvals on a Toyota Corolla Levin TE27 and a Toyota Sprinter Trueno TE27 in the first part:

Funny to see the whole parkinglot is full of the cars that are going to race at the track!

In the second part the race actually starts and several accidents happen:

Especially the one on the straight around 2:00 looks very spectacular. Marshals running across the track, pushing and pulling the two cars from the track. Sounds very very dangerous…
Also the crash at 6:42 looks dangerous. The upcoming racecars harldy take distance. What if someone would have been trapped in there? And even worse, at 7:38 they use it as a new apex!

In the third part the fierce battle continues:

And ends in an all Toyota Podium: two Celica’s and a Corolla Levin TE27 make it to the podium!

Apart from that an impressive list of cars that attended: Toyota Sprinter Trueno TE27, Corolla Levin TE27, Celica TA22, Nissan Cherry X-1R, Nissan Sunny B110 and a Mazda RX-3.

Found at [Hotcakemix00 @ Youtube]

DOTS: Honda CRX Del SOHC


Last week I finally was able to make some pictures of this Honda CRX Del Sol:
Down on the street: Honda CRX del sol
Down on the street: Honda CRX del sol

It is parked around the corner of my mothers place, but either I didn’t have my camera with me or it was parked in a difficult spot. This time I decided to make use of the phonecam on my Desire and see how bad it could get. The picture quality marginally made it and I decided not to pursue the CRX anymore…

The rims used are actually quite nice and fit the styling of this CRX:
Down on the street: Honda CRX del sol
Down on the street: Honda CRX del sol

They are Lenso BSX (BBS knock offs).

First thing that got me surprised was the badge on the side of the CRX:
Down on the street: Honda CRX del sol
Down on the street: Honda CRX del sol

SOHC Vtec? Yes it exists and it’s D16Z6 is actually just as powerful as with a SOHC as the 16 valve 4AGE with DOHC! Pretty impressive!

Last but not least: a nice picture from the side of the car!
Down on the street: Honda CRX del sol
Down on the street: Honda CRX del sol

Random: Nissan Skyline coupe spy photos


They are not new but actually rather 40 years old spy photos of the Skyline KPGC10 coupe:
Nissan Skyline KGC10 spy photo
Nissan Skyline KPGC10 spy photo

Back in the late 1969 and early 1970 Nissan was already developing the coupe version of the Nissan Skyline. Presumably these pictures were taken at the Nissan Granddrive test circuit.

You can clearly see it is a KPGC10-version from its rear arches:
Nissan Skyline KPGC10 spy photo
Nissan Skyline KPGC10 spy photo

Nice to see automotive manufacturers were just as paranoid back then about a new car leaking to the public as nowadays.

Found at [Spirit of Skyline]

Family Album Treasures: Fuji Speedway 30 degree bank

One of the most famous parts of the old Fuji International Speedway was the 30 degree banking. Due to the track layout changes made in the middle of the construction the banking was actually the wrong way around. At the end of the straight cars would dive into a banked corner which suddenly ended. This resulted in one of the most dangerous corners ever made and had many casualties over its 19 years use.

When in 1986 the the Group 5 era ended and also the infamous banked corner was closed down on Fuji International Speedway, but never actually demolished. There is still a large piece left of the banking and apparently this Group 5 fan wished to say goodbye to the 30 degree bank:
Fuji International Speedway 30 degree bank
Fuji International Speedway 30 degree bank

I would certainly love to have such a picture in my family album! Whenever I visit Fuji International Speedway I’ll certainly make a similar picture! :)

Found at [Feel the beat @ Livedoor blog]

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