Remembering Japanese cars from the past

Month: June 2011 (Page 1 of 5)

Carina Sightings: Ukranian Carina CA60 rustoseum

Supra605 found this JDM Carina CA60 rustoseum parked somewhere in the Ukraine. It appears to be in a very poor state, flat tires, lots of dents, rusty bootlid. Still the fender mirrors appear to be as shiny as 30 years ago! 🙂

The sticker on the windshield reveals it was exported to the Ukraine around 1989 since it last had seen shaken in Showa 64 (1989).

Video: 1966 Third Japanese Grandprix prequel

This prequel to the 1966 third Japanese Grandprix held at Fuji International Speedway is a great rendering of the era back then: no fear, real men with big engined cars, the Prince r380 and, of course, the big rival Porsche!

I also found it a bit weird that the Jaguar E-Type got so much attention compared to the Honda S800 and Toyota Sports 800. Then again: the Nissan Skyline C10 still had to arrive…

Direct link to video: old fujispeedway旧富士スピードウェイ original 6km full course 30°bank1966open!

DOTS: 1978 Cressida RX30

Actually it is not really a Down On The Street entry since I did not find it parked alongside of the road. I actually visited the owner of this car with the intention of buying it!
DOTS: 1978 Toyota Cressida RX30
DOTS: 1978 Toyota Cressida RX30

The car is in excellent condition, especially if you realize this car is 33 years old. I did not find a spec of rust under the car, nor inside the fenders! The only rust on it was on one of the rear fenders and the other rear fender had a small paint problem. Also there is a dent in the roof you don’t see it immediately and it is easy to fix when you already are respraying the rear fenders… 🙂

Driving it was a hoot: it drives way more relaxed than the Carina. It also feels lower and I immediately got the urge to cut its springs and lower it even more (with a bunch of deep dish steelies)! Also the (almost) JDM fender mirror are something else and make the car look perfect!

Why I didn’t buy it? Well my wife told me I had to sell the Carina if I wanted to buy the Cressida. Very sane thought but a very unfortunate for the Cressida: I can’t sell my Carina!

The color may look a bit weird, but I haven’t been able to get the colors of the Cressida right. Somehow it always is either too yellow or too vale. See also the photo I took of the car at the JAF2011:
1978 Toyota Cressida RX30 @ JAF2011
1978 Toyota Cressida RX30 @ JAF2011

The color is somewhere inbetween…

If you are interested in the car, let me know and I’ll forward your inquiries to the owner.

Commerical time: Starlet KP60 trade in

This Dutch commercial is trying to sell the Toyota Aygo to all Toyota owners with an additional 1500 euros trade in on any Toyota.

I don’t think it really needs a translation: basically back in 1978 the guy boasts about his Starlet and is inseparable with his little Toyota. During the years he and his Starlet gets mocked more and more. In the end he decides it is time for a new car, but only after Toyota offers the additional 1500 euros trade in.

There are some things wrong with this commercial: first of all the Starlet is a 1978 model, but a 1980 facelift model (also the registration of the car reveals it was registered 12th of September 1980) and second of all the Starlet would catch a nice 3000 euros on the second hand market, so the additional 1500 euros should then be on top of another 1500 euros trade in price. But they probably wouldn’t offer that much money for the Starlet. 😉

Ugly duckling to swan (Skyline HR30)


It is always nice to see how a car progresses in time, especially if the car transforms from an ugly duckling to a swan like this Skyline R30 owned by Zeki did back in the mid nineties:
From Skyline HR30 to RS Turbo
From Skyline HR30 to RS Turbo

You’d probably say it is nothing special and just a bone stock RS Turbo on a set of SSR Hiro V1-R wheels.

Well, consider that the car started out as this bone stock Skyline HR30:
From Skyline HR30 to RS Turbo
From Skyline HR30 to RS Turbo

After six months a Skyline RS grille, a set of RS Watanabe rims and a PMCS sticker were added:
From Skyline HR30 to RS Turbo
From Skyline HR30 to RS Turbo

After four more months the Watanabes were swapped for a set of Work E-WIng Fin rims, a boot spoiler and a set of smoked DR30 tail lights:
From Skyline HR30 to RS Turbo
From Skyline HR30 to RS Turbo

He also added a Recaro seat and a pair of yellow fog lights at the same time…

Followed by a pair of white foglights, a set of Hiro V1-R rims and a RS Turbo sticker on the rear door:
From Skyline HR30 to RS Turbo
From Skyline HR30 to RS Turbo

And finally the iron mask was applied:
From Skyline HR30 to RS Turbo
From Skyline HR30 to RS Turbo

The only differences with a RS Turbo are the L engine under the hood and the missing rear window wiper.
The ugly duckling became a real swan!

Found at [Zeki]

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