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Remembering Japanese cars from the past

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Down on the Street: Datsun 260Z midget

The Datsun 260Z a midget? There must be some mistake, right?
Nope, totally wrong!
Datsun 260Z in Santa Clara
I shot this photo inside a parking garage in Santa Clara because it looked odd. Compared to the Jeep Cherokee XJ and Toyota Corolla E150 parked next to it the Datsun 260Z certainly looks like a midget!

Wait a minute? Is that seriously a Corolla?
Yes it is the USDM Corolla E150 and it surely grew almost as large as the kujira Toyota Crown S60 in the past 38 years. Both the 260Z and S60 came from the same era and a the world has changed since. If the Corolla could speak it would certainly say to the 260Z who is the underdog now? ;)

Carina Sightings: Hugo Matthyssen

I really love this song from 1992 by the Belgian comedian Hugo Matthysen where he sings about his 1981 Toyota Carina:

And 1981 makes it most probably one of the last Carina TA40s that were delivered.
The song is in Flemish, so it is hardly understandable for the non-Dutch/Flemish speakers but at least I tried to translate the lyrics as close as possible. Unfortunately it looses all its rhyme. :(

I googled for a beige 1981 Toyota Carina to give you at least the chance to form a picture in your mind what this song is all about:
Beige 1981 Toyota Carina TA40
Don’t pin me down on this color: there used to be a metallic beige color for the TA40 as well.

The full lyrics including a terrible translation:
Okee, ik snap geen jota (Allright, I don’t understand anything)
van automechaniek, (from car mechanics)
maar toch zeg ik, “mijn Toyota (but still I say, “My Toyota)
was een wonder der techniek.” (was a miracle of technique”)

Hij was van éénentachtig, (He was from eightyone,)
hij schakelde zo zoet, (he shifted so sweet,)
dat beige stond hem prachtig, (that beige looked great on him,)
de deuren sloten goed. (and the doors locked so well.)

Amper dertigduizend ballen voor zo’n pure klassebak, (almost thirtythousand bucks for such a class ride,)
en wat een fijne zestienhonderd dat er in zijn buikje stak. (and with such a nice sixteenhundred in its belly)

Toyota Carina, Toyota Carina,
Toyota Carina-aaaaa.

Hij had geen vijf vitessen (he didn’t have five gears)
en hij had geen open dak, (and neither a sun roof)
maar wat een kracht en een souplesse, (but what great strength and flexibility,)
wat een mooie beige lak. (what a great beige color.)

Zijn banden hadden allemaal een adellijk profiel, (his tires all had a royal profile,)
zowel de voorste als de achterste, en het reservewiel. (both its front, rear and spare wheel)

Toyota Carina, Toyota Carina,
Toyota Carina-aaaaa.

Natuurlijk werd hij minachtend bekeken (Of course people looked down on it)
door dikkenekken met een BMW, (by fatnecks with a BMW,)
of door krapuul met een CX en jannestreken, (or scum with a CX and lowly,)
maar daar lachten wij eens mee. (but we only laughed about it)

Vlaamse moeders stoven witloof of ajuinen, (Flemish mothers cook chicory and unions,)
wij stoven met zijn tweeën naar de zee. (we drove with the two of us to sea.)
Hij was al beige dus hij hoefde niet te bruinen, (He was already beige and did not need a tan,)
ik vond dat beige wel okee. (I thought the beige was okay)

Toyota Carina, Toyota Carina,
Toyota Carina-aaaaa

Direct link to video: Hugo Matthysen – Toyota Carina

Japanse Autosport Festival: the odd stuff

I’m still not done yet with the Japanse Autosport Festival: there is still some odd stuff lying around. ;)

First of all Ibrahim and I spotted this terrific Toyota MR2 AW11 parked opposite of my Carina in the parkinglot:
Toyota MR2 AW11 at JAF2012
Only to find out a couple of hours later (when it passed by the place the S13 had overheated again) that this very same car used to belong to 7Tune blogger Allard van der Grafhorst who immediately recognized it!

I have to verified it with the originals and it is the same white MR2 as I spotted two years ago. Obviously there are some differences compared to when Allard owned it: Continue reading

Japanse Autosport Festival: the hachi-rokus

This year there were six hachis on the paddock! It has been doubled within only one year!

First of all Ibrahims hachi was part of the group I joined:
Two of a kind: AE86 hatchbacks
Next to his hachi is a yellow hachi on Victorian plates. Bozu lived in Australia for a few years and decided to ship his hachi to the Netherlands. AFAIK it has Dutch plates, but these plates were one of the coolest you can get!

His zenki hachi is in an excellent shape: Continue reading

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