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Remembering Japanese cars from the past

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Commerical time: Nissan Coupe Rz-1

I always liked the looks of the Nissan Sunny B12: sleek, boxy, fast and still looking normal enough to be a wolf in sheeps clothing! In Japan they were marketed as the Nissan Coupe Rz-1 which sounds a lot more 80s in my ears than the Sunny Coupe.

Somehow it may sound funny, but this commercial made me laugh: my Down on the Street regular started with a Nissan Sunny B12 used by a window cleaner and imagine this streamlined commercial with a big ladder on top of the car!

Only in Japan: spot a Nissan 240RS in the wild

Okay, maybe not 100% true: you can certainly spot a 240RS outside Japan, but probably not on the open roads! Outside Japan normally these cars end up somewhere in the corner of a museum or only be driven on circuits while the Japanese actually are very fond of driving heritage out on the open roads.
Only in Japan: spot a Nissan 240RS in the wild
Only in Japan: spot a Nissan 240RS in the wild

Imagine what it would be like to hear a deep growl coming closer and closer, you turn your neck to the direction the sound is coming from and all you can see is this very wide flared 240RS homologation special!

[ Found in Toyota08’s photozou]

DOTS: Miata hunting! (part ten)


Already beginning of the month again? Then it is time to perform another Miata hunt! This time the bit more beautiful Mazdas!

How about a nice grey NC?
Grey Mazda MX5 NC
Grey Mazda MX5 NC

Okay, I cheated a bit here… This Miata was parked in front of the Mazda (and Hyundai) dealer. Nevertheless it was blocking the sidewalk and thus right down on the street! ;)

This very nicely done NB with aftermarket rims passed me somewhere in (slow) traffic and I quickly took a picture:
Mazda MX5 NA
Mazda MX5 NB

Never saw the NB again but surely would like to take some more pictures of it.

And last one, a dark green NA with 90s aftermarket six spoke rims:
Dark green Mazda MX5 NA
Dark green Mazda MX5 NA

Parked in an industrustrial zone only 300 meters from where I live, but separated by railroad tracks.

BTW: sorry for the poor quality. I took all these pictures with my (new) phonecam but only realized afterwards how worthless it actually is!

Hilarious: kei cars19 years ago in Top Gear

Honestly I do love Top Gear, but I simply can’t find the time to actually follow it… Most of the time I just wait for the reviews and see if I really need to see an episode…
People already speculate that this actually might be the last series of the new Top Gear, which I can understand since all three of them are already presenting the new format for 8 years now (I know, May only 7…) and it slowly starts to become difficult to make the series even better than last season. ;)

Back to the old series: I found this clip from the old series (1991) where Jeremy Clarkson test drives a couple of the finest Japanse kei cars:

I was really puzzled on how much he actually liked them! Was he more forgiving in his early years or did he become soft for the little ones??

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