Remembering Japanese cars from the past

Tag: flyrat

Carina Sightings: Flyrat SR20DET Carina TA63

Back in September 1982 the 3T-GTE powered Carina TA63 succeeded the 18R-G powered RA63 and during the whole production run this Carina was considered as the top of the line. The 3T-GTE propelled the Carina into almost supercar-like performance!
Flyrat SR20DET Carina TA63
Nowadays the 160hp 3T-GTE performance resembles more like the average 1.8 litre engine in your Ford Focus wagon and I can really understand this TA63 was in need for a new and better performing engine.

Not so great for the Toyota purists, but the previous owner swapped out the 3T-GTE for a Nissan SR20DET: Continue reading

Flyrat: Tommy Kaira M30

Just browsing through the Flyrat blog and came across this rare Tommy Kaira M30:
Tommy Kaira M30
Tommy Kaira M30

I thought it would be nice to share this car: this is one of the very rare occasions you will see this car, apart from when you play games like Gran Turismo! 😀

Tommy Kaira M30
Tommy Kaira M30

Tommy Kaira was already a renowned tuner in Japan since 1968, but in 1987 they made their first rebadged version of a tuned production car: the Tommy Kaira M19! (based upon a Mercedes 190) Starting from 1988 they changed focus and put themselves exclusively to modifying Japanese production cars, starting with the Tommy Kaira M30!

Tommy Kaira M30
Tommy Kaira M30

This car is often mistaken for the Infinity M30, which is actually a Nissan Leopard F31. The Tommy Kaira M30 was intially based upon the Skyline GTS-R R31 and later on based upon the Skyline GTS-t R32. This particular car is the R31 based M30. The car was tuned up to Tommy Kaira’s specifications by lowering and stiffening up the suspension and swap the engine for a custom built RB30DE!

Tommy Kaira M30
Tommy Kaira M30

The engine was a work of art: they took out the RB20DE engine, removed the head and put it on top of a RB30E engine, and thus creating a RB30DE engine. Then the workshop increased the compression ratio, cams, port polish and all this raised the M30’s power output from 159hp to 238hp! There were some limitations to this engine: the RB30E bottom is not as strong and refined as its lesser counterpars and created inbalance. This results in and engine that can’t be revved over 7200rpm. On the other side it has massive amounts of torque!

Nowadays this trick is happily done by the Australians as well to upgrade their Australian built Skyline R31s (RB30E engines only) to a more decent power ouput. The only difference is that the Aussies do a much bolder job than Tommy Kaira: they swap over the newer RB25DET head to make it a more powerful turbo version of the M30 engine!

Bone stock R31 GTS-R Interior
Bone stock R31 GTS-R Interior

All other parts of the car remained the same as the factory spec GTS-R. This can be seen in the austere (or yet better: spartan) interior of the car. On the other hand: who needs luxury if you got one of the coolest Skylines ever?

You can buy this beauty for the small sum of $16,495 at Flyrat!

Flyrat car company

Last week Beeoneoneoh posted some very beautiful pictures and info about a Nissan Sunny Excellent k120Y PB210:
Nissan Sunny 120Y PB210
Nissan Sunny 120Y PB210

And there was something about those pictures… I could not pinpoint what it was… Until he posted these beautiful pictures and info on a Nissan Cherry 100A X-1R:
Nissan Cherry 100a X-1R
Nissan Cherry 100a X-1R

It was the exact same location as the Carina Sighting of the almost mint TA63 GT-TR:
Toyota Carina TA63 GT-TR at Flyrat!
Toyota Carina TA63 GT-TR at Flyrat!

I never took notice of the name of the dealer who sold that particular Carina, but it remained in the back of my head somehow… 😀
Damn, I think I have another car dealer to follow now! 😉

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