Remembering Japanese cars from the past
During my weekly Saturday shopping I spotted a Eunos Roadster parked in a busy shopping street. Naturally I stopped and checked it out!
The Eunos Roadster is a rarity on the European continental soil as it is right hand drive and we had more than enough of the “normal” Mazda MX5 supply.
I decided try something different and make a down on the street video of the Eunos Roadster this time: Continue reading
I think these three videos are about the earliest drift videos to be found on Youtube so far!
Be prepared for an overkill of Hakosuka Skylines, Corolla Levin AE86s and Sprinter Trueno AE86s, (brand new) Nissan Silvia and 180SX S13s, Mazda FCs, MR2 AW11s, Isuzu Gemini, Eunos Roadster, Lancer Turbo, Toyota Carina and even an Isuzu Piazza right at the beginning! Two of the videos are shot on the pass next to Kurume (Fukuokai) and the other one on Yz circuit in Mizunami!
In this second video it really shows how dangerous the drifts of these guys actually were: I stopped counting after the tenth near accident with oncoming traffic!
Yes, a real bunch of lunatics!
There is some serious action on the YZ circuit going on and at 4:36 you can spot an occasional zenki Carina GT twice:
Looking at all this track action I get the feeling the aftermarket for springs and shocks wasn’t as big as today! Most of the cars drift like a boat! :D
I understand why Shuichi Shigeno got inspired by his drift friends back in the early nineties! These guys really were way before drifting went from fun to pro.
All videos found at [Pipiyumio]
Yesterdays I already posted a snow covered Nissan 200SX S14 in the Down on the Street winter edition. Today I’m posting up some of the Mazda MX5s and Miatas I shot pictures of the day it had snowed!
First of all I took a picture of the white Miata near the nursery of my son:
White Mazda Miata covered in snow!
I don’t think the color of this Miata can be called snow-white! ;)
As you may recall this Miata had a dent in its front fender. About two weeks ago this Miata disappeared for a few days and when it returned its front fender had been repaired! So it is certainly not going the same way as the Nissan 200SX! ;)
Red Mazda Miata covered in snow!
Of course I took a picture of the red Miata as well. I must say that a snow covered red Miata looks a lot better than a white snow covered Miata!
And last but not least, this Blue MX5 mk2:
Blue Mazda MX5 mk2 covered in snow!
I did not post this one before, but since all three of them were “on the way” from the nursery to my work I took a short detour to make the three pictures needed for this posting.
All pictures were kept as dark and gloomy as my EOS shot them: I took those pictures around sunrise so they are supposed to be a bit dark.
This week more I continue with some more Miata hunting!
First of all this MX5 caused a lot of pain:
Mazda MX5 mk2
It came around the corner quite quickly when I was on my bike. I immediately grabbed my camera, pointed it to the car and turned around to take a picture. I was just in time to take the picture. Doing this maneuver strained my back because I was still sitting on my bike. ;)
This red Miata was parked in a multi-story car park:
Mazda Miata (or 323?)
Never seen it there before but immediately took a picture of it. :)
When I looked it up at the license plate register it turned out to be registered as a Mazda 323 1.6 instead of the Mazda MX5 I would have expected it to be registered on. The car was imported to the Netherlands in 2001, so that could not have been the reason to register it as a 323. And even tax evasion (import taxes are based upon luxury options as AC and PS) could not have been the case… Maybe the worker at the register could not come up with the MX5 designation and registered it as a 323?
Last one for this week:
Mazda MX5
This originally Dutch first generation MX5 was registered on the very last day of 1992. It is currently owned by the same owner for almost 11 years now! Now that is certainly a faithful owner! :)
Ever since I started doing the Down on the Street series I thought it was amazing how many Mazda MX5s (aka Miata in the US and Roadster in Japan) I saw on the streets. Since I thought it was quite odd I started taking (quick) pictures of every single one of them I encountered.
For instance I saw this one parked next to a private apartment/housing block. I could not go in there without lifting a chain at the entrance and trespassing the private parking lot, so I took the picture from the street.
Mazda MX5 parked next to an apartment block
It is also funny to see how many Miatas are imported from the US! I think about 50% of all cars I’ve seen so far were actually imported Mazda Miatas! This red Miata is no exception to that:
Red Mazda Miata
I actually pass this red Miata every day (going to work) and still I have only two pictures of it taken with the crappy camera. Shame on me!
This is another Miata I pass every day:
White Mazda Miata
But then on my way to the nursery of my son. This one has got a big dent in it and has been parked there for ages now without moving… Currently the dent is starting to rust and the car itself is starting to look brown due to the amount of leafs on the car… Feels a bit like a deja vu!
Next time more Miatas! ;)
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