Author: banpei (Page 108 of 318)

Brilliant: Soarer lace seat covers

March 16, 2012 / banpei / 0 Comments

One of the things that is typically Japanese are the lace seat (or headrest) covers that you mostly see in Japanese taxis or luxury cars. Apparently Toyota sold OEM lace covers with the Soarer griffin logo embroided on them:

This Soarer was photographed outside Gallery L who is renowned for restoring beautiful kyusha cars. The Soarer is the “lesser” 1G-GEU powered GZ10 model, so it doesn’t feature the smooth 5M or 6M engine however they did put some effort in it: it now features a five speed manual. That means you can really get the best out of that 140hp engine. :)

Here you can see embroided lace headrest covers up close: Continue reading

Carina Sightings: dynoed Carina GT-R

March 14, 2012 / banpei / 0 Comments

A dyno run is always fun, especially if the car in question is a Carina GT-R!

I have to add that this red AA63 actually is upgraded with a silvertop 20v 4AGE, so the result are not the same as when it left the factory around 1983. (video and results on the next page) Continue reading

Random: manufacturing the MR2 AW11

March 13, 2012 / banpei / 3 Comments

I found this scanned photo of robots assembling MR2 AW11s on someone’s SW20 blog:

On the foreground one partly assembled MR2 upsidedown and behind it a better recognizable MR2 that already received 60% of its shape.

I’ve tried finding more pictures of the MR2 assembly line, but apparently this is the only one.

Found at Minkara

Family Album Treasures: GT-R and flares

March 12, 2012 / banpei / 1 Comment

In the early 70s you needed two things to be BIG in Japan: flared jeans and flared Skyline!

As this picture was taken on a sulky day in June 1980 we’ll forgive this guy for not wearing flared jeans. ;)

Found at Minkara

Down on the Street: Nissan Sunny Coupé

March 11, 2012 / banpei / 0 Comments

On my way to work one early morning four weeks ago I spotted this 1985 Nissan Sunny B11 Coupé parked down the road:

It looked stunning as just as if it had left the dealership only two weeks ago! Okay, that’s a bit exaggerated but for a 26 year old car it is remarkably well preserved!

The Nissan Sunny B11 Coupé was the predecessor of the B310 Coupé. It was the first generation of the FWD Sunny and naturally the A15 was replaced for the E15 engine. Given the 55kW specification for this car in the Dutch car register it most probably features the E15S engine.

As you can see it is also for sale: Continue reading

Friday Video: Plasma Spark Skyline

March 9, 2012 / banpei / 0 Comments

Ever wondered what Plasma Spark actually is?

These two corporately dressed classy ladies will explain it all with the brand new Nissan Skyline GT-EX 2000 hardtop! (video on the next page) Continue reading