Remembering Japanese cars from the past

Tag: 350Z

SF Bay area: everybody drives an Integra over here!


Today is my third day in the San Francisco bay area and I think I’ve shot at least 50 photos of remotely interesting cars with my phonecam and about 20 interesting cars with my analogue SLR. Time for a small recap!

First of all I found it hard to believe, but in the first 10 minutes of driving with the rental car to the hotel I spotted an 240SX S14, a Lexus SC400 and a drift style 240SX S13. I think if I would have spotted those cars in the Netherlands it would have taken me either a week to spot them or I must have been at a meeting at that moment. 😉

Second of all: everybody drives an Integra!
SF Bay area: everybody drives an Integra
SF Bay area: everybody drives an Integra

Again: back home the Integra is just as omnipotent as my Carina, so spotting one is quite rare. In the bay area everybody seems to be driving an Integra!
I looked it up on Wikipedia:
A total of 301,102 Acura Integras were sold from calendar year 1994 to 2000 in the U.S.
And I bet most of them are still driving around in the bay area!

Apart from the Integras I saw many many many Nissan 350Zs!
SF Bay area: everybody drives a 350Z
SF Bay area: everybody drives a 350Z

The 350Z is back home a bit less omnipotent as the Integra, but here you see them on about every parkinglot. The one above was shot in downtown SF btw.

Runner up is definitely the Mazda Miata (or MX5s) and for some weird reason none of them was topless. After the Miata it gets a bit harder, but I guess it probably would be the four door Charger…

I did see much variation in the styling: from lowrider trucks to drift cars to big rim cars to hellaflush ratlook roofracked Integras:
SF Bay area: Hellaflush roofrack Integra
SF Bay area: Hellaflush roofrack Integra

I must say this car was pretty bad maintained and the rat look was not deliberately made.

Last but not least: I spotted many many older cars including this Cressida MX61.

From this angle it looks great, but on the right side it was pretty smashed up. Which brings me to another weird thing: everybody tends to keep on driving with insanely dented cars. In the Netherlands most people get their cars fixed as soon as they get a dent in it, but it appears as if you don’t need to fix up your car and you keep on driving as if nothing ever happened.
SF Bay area: Smashed up Cressida
SF Bay area: Smashed up Cressida

That’s it for now, but I’m positive I’ll have more of this stuff in the upcoming days. 😉

DOTS: snow covered Nissan Fairlady 350Z


A month ago I posted about this Nissan 350Z parked in my neighborhood. Apparently it is a regular or a new resident: I found it parked in the same parkinglot covered in snow!
DOTS: Nissan Fairlady 350Z
DOTS: Nissan Fairlady 350Z

So I quickly took some nice snapshots with my EOS/Helios combo. 🙂

Everything gets more beautiful when covered in snow:
DOTS: Nissan Fairlady 350Z
DOTS: Nissan Fairlady 350Z

The Z-logo looks even better when it is covered with a tiny film of snow:
DOTS: Nissan Fairlady 350Z
DOTS: Nissan Fairlady 350Z

Unfortunately I focussed on the indicator light below the logo and not on the Z itself. 🙁

Also the mirror looks a bit lost when covered in snow!
DOTS: Nissan Fairlady 350Z
DOTS: Nissan Fairlady 350Z

Last, but not least: what does the rear of the car remind you of? A Prius perhaps?
DOTS: Nissan Fairlady 350Z
DOTS: Nissan Fairlady 350Z

Maybe a bit mean, but when I saw the rear covered in snow and I tilted my head a bit it really resembled the silhouette of a Prius. 😉

DOTS: Skyline R34, Celica ZZT230, Fairlady 350Z and Toyota Bb


How often can you spot a Nissan Skyline R34, Toyota Celica ZZT230 and a Toyota Bb parked next to each other?

If you look closely you can also spot another Celica ZZT230 further down in the parkinglot!
Skyline R34, Celica ZZT230 and Toyota Bb parked next to eachother
Skyline R34, Celica ZZT230 and Toyota Bb parked next to eachother

And how about spotting another red Toyota Bb parked in the center of some Dutch town the same day? And spot two other R34s the same day as well?
Toyota Bb parked in some Dutch towncenter
Toyota Bb parked in some Dutch towncenter

And if you turn your head 45 degrees see another Nissan Fairlady 350Z parked next to a big giant?
Nissan Fairlady 350Z
Nissan Fairlady 350Z

It is possible: if you visit the funpark Madurodam in the Hague! The funpark is a scaled down version of the landmarks in the Netherlands, so a heaven for all scale model enthusiasts! 😛

I’ve paid the park a visit with my son and my wife and saw various cars parked or driving on the roads of Madurodam. Most of them were just VW/Audi/Mercedes/etc. and actually some were interesting cars like Porsches and Masseratis but I did not expect some JDM car nut to throw around Skylines, Fairladies and Celicas as if they were common cars in the Netherlands! Take for instance this blue R34 next to the main railway station of Utrecht:
Blue Nissan Skyline R34 in Utrecht (main railway station)
Blue Nissan Skyline R34 in Utrecht (main railway station)

Just blends in the scenery nicely!

And I also didn’t know people at the ING Bank headquarters owned a black R34:
Blue Nissan Skyline R34 in Amsterdam (ING bank HQ)
Blue Nissan Skyline R34 in Amsterdam (ING bank HQ)

Yep, apparently even people at the ING bank have taste! 😛

There are probably a lot more Celicas, Fairladies and R34s to spot in Madurodam but I wouldn’t have had the time to take a picture of them anyway…

© 2024 Banpei.net

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑