Back in 1987 when I visited my uncle in Australia he moved us around the Brisbane area in his Toyota Tarago before my parents rented a Holden Commodore VK. I thought the Tarago was much cooler to drive around than the Commodore: it had more room, better view, turnaround seats and most importantly aircon!
So I kind of liked this Australian Tarago commercial:
Funny thing is that according to this ad the bumpers passed the US safety regulations. Apparently the Australians really liked that big fat lip under the face of the Tarago. Personally I preferred the JDM/EU face with Carina-like headlights and plastic bumpers:
EUDM Toyota Van (MasterAce/Tarago)
When I spotted a Toyota Van for sale earlier this year I was very tempted. I could constrain myself and someone else walked away with it. I met the lucky owner on the Japan Classic Sunday this summer and he takes really good care of the van!
Some time ago I aquired a JDM brochure of the Nissan Skyline VBC110 van:
Nissan Skyline VBC110 van
I spotted it on a local auction site for a cheap price. I can’t think any other way of how this brochure actually got into the Netherlands than with the help of a collector, but why it was sold for a decent price puzzles me…
Perhaps because a lot of people can’t appreciate the weird 70s lines of the Kenmeri Skyline?
Nissan Skyline VBC110 van
I just love that thick C-pillar of the wagon! Imagine how big the blind spot of this wagon must be!
Nissan Skyline VBC110 van
The interior is, of course, a lower grade than in the other C110s. Nevertheless it looks awesomely 70s!
What about having that Nissan Anti-Pollution System?
Nissan Skyline VBC110 van
I have no idea what the NAPS anti pollution system is (probably means it got a hemi-head), but I think that became standard on all other Nissans over the years! ;)
Maybe you already saw this seventh generation Honda Civic on Jalopnik yesterday, nevertheless I really need to repost it:
Hilarious: Yanni Civic
Yes, not only is it the ultimate posermobile, it also got a name now: Yanni!
Why? Because it has got a Yanni record behind the rear window:
And it is not only a Yanni record that makes this Civic great, the options list is longer than the hit list of Yanni:
– Chrome Honda logo on rear window
– Yellow brake calipers
– Hood scoop
– Fake hood vents
– Fake hood vents on the rear fender
– Fake chrome locking mechanism
– Chrome Honda logo on the bumper
Do I need to go on? :P
It is the end of the year and I see lots of sites being nominated for a Website of the year award. Personally I don’t really care about these kind of things since most sites that are nominated are too far off my own personal taste. Take for instance the Dutch nominees for “Automotive website of the year”: Oldtimer Nederland – Basically a static page where you can find parts and repairmen, but anything Asian or Japanese is not included Onderdelen zoeker – Find second hand automotive parts. Anything older than 20 years can not be found Autoscout 24 – Find and buy second hand cars Autotrack – Find and buy second hand cars (didn’t we cover that already?) Autotrader – Find and buy second hand cars (another one?) Marktplaats Auto – Find and buy second hand cars (yet another one?) Gebruikte Auto – Find and buy second hand cars (come on guys!) Autoweek – Website of the largest Dutch automotive magazine
etc. etc.
As you can see, not really my cup of tea between those nominees and, as I see it, not really exciting sites and definitely most of them are old fashioned sites that are not following trends. The same goes for the nominees in the UK (with the exception of Pistonheads being nominated) and in several other countries. Don’t these guys have any clue what is going on in the world??
So I thought: why not nominate a bunch of automotive sites by the community and have an alternative automotive site of the year award (ASS-YA in short :P ) handed out to any site that has been nominated and voted as best.
Nomination is quite simple and consists of three basic rules:
1. The site/blog/community needs to be automotive related
2. You can’t nominate your own site/blog/community
3. When you nominate a site/blog/community you have to state the reason why you think it should be nominated.
You can send in a nomination by sending me a short email complying to the rules above before the 15th of November. You can send it to: banpei [at] banpei.net with the subject nominee Alternative Awards and I’ll take care of it. ;)
And because a blog post is nothing without pictures or video, here is a completely unrelated video:
Onboard video of a 4A-GZE powered hachi! :9
If you got distracted by this video: don’t forget to send in your nomination!!!
Two weeks ago Andrew sent me a picture of his Carina GT and asked me if I was interested in more pictures and info regarding it. Of course I am! ;)
Ukrainian Carina GT AA60
His Carina GT is a 3A-U powered GT model and was delivered originally to Krivoy Rog city in the Ukraine in 1982! I didn’t even know it was possible to buy anything else than Russian cars like the VAZ range. The 3A-U powered GT model is a bit puzzling, however the car has a GT cluster (with an oil pressure meter in the middle) and it was an export model so the designations could be different from the JDM badges.
When the first owner passed away the car remained in storage and was not abused untill his children were old enough to make some small damage at the front of the car:
Ukrainian Carina GT AA60
The car was sold and eventually Andrew bought it in 2007.
The car is in immaculate condition and almost looks as if it was new:
Ukrainian Carina GT AA60
However there is one modification made by Andrew: he moved the fender mirrors to the doors to improve visibility. I can imagine that: the fender mirrors are not well known for the area they cover to the rear. On the other hand: they are rare fender mirrors!
Here is another detail of when the car was imported:
Ukrainian Carina GT AA60
Apparently the Hyogo Toyota dealer made a deal with the USSR to import a batch of Toyotas. Nice to see this car survived that long! :)
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