Tag: jaf2011

DOTS: 1978 Cressida RX30

June 26, 2011 / banpei / 0 Comments

Actually it is not really a Down On The Street entry since I did not find it parked alongside of the road. I actually visited the owner of this car with the intention of buying it!

DOTS: 1978 Toyota Cressida RX30
The car is in excellent condition, especially if you realize this car is 33 years old. I did not find a spec of rust under the car, nor inside the fenders! The only rust on it was on one of the rear fenders and the other rear fender had a small paint problem. Also there is a dent in the roof you don’t see it immediately and it is easy to fix when you already are respraying the rear fenders… :)

Driving it was a hoot: it drives way more relaxed than the Carina. It also feels lower and I immediately got the urge to cut its springs and lower it even more (with a bunch of deep dish steelies)! Also the (almost) JDM fender mirror are something else and make the car look perfect!

Why I didn’t buy it? Well my wife told me I had to sell the Carina if I wanted to buy the Cressida. Very sane thought but a very unfortunate for the Cressida: I can’t sell my Carina!

The color may look a bit weird, but I haven’t been able to get the colors of the Cressida right. Somehow it always is either too yellow or too vale. See also the photo I took of the car at the JAF2011:

1978 Toyota Cressida RX30 @ JAF2011
The color is somewhere inbetween…

If you are interested in the car, let me know and I’ll forward your inquiries to the owner.

JAF2011: Nissan Silvia S12 Grand Prix

June 13, 2011 / banpei / 2 Comments

On Friday I already promised some some photos of a spectacular Nissan. Well here it is: a widebody Nissan Silvia S12 Grand Prix!

Nissan Silvia S12 Grand Prix widebody @ JAF2011
The car looked very very clean. No spec of rust to be found and the whole car appeared to be 100% authentic!

The Grand Prix version of the Nissan Silvia was a limited edition (4.400 built) from which the majority featured the more powerful FJ20E engine.

Nissan Silvia S12 Grand Prix widebody @ JAF2011
This particular Silvia also featured that very same FJ20E engine. :)

The Silvia also featured a set of periodically correct shoes:

Nissan Silvia S12 Grand Prix widebody @ JAF2011
Most of the S12 Grand Prix widebodies featured these vintage Gotti 3 piece rims.

Nissan Silvia S12 Grand Prix widebody @ JAF2011
I never saw a Grand Prix before and I must admit I was blown away by its appearance! Hence I spent four precious pieces of celluloid on it. ;)

JAF2011: Finally some celluloid photos! (part 2)

June 10, 2011 / banpei / 0 Comments

In total there were three AE86s on the paddock. Yesterday I already posted the purple Corolla AE86 with the BEAMS 3S-GE conversion, so how about this red Corolla AE86 with some deep dished SSR dori-dori rims?

His Corolla Levin AE86 started its life as a Swiss red panda Corolla GT and slowly he migrated it to a driftstyle hachi.

Oldskulls Corolla (Levin) AE86 @JAF2011
He actually downgraded its looks by removing the Vertex bumpers. Personally I like it much better with the stock bumpers back on again: mimics the grassroots JDM driftstyle much better!
BTW: The photo was a bit of over exposed on the left due to inserting the film.

The hachi is owned by my friend Oldskull and I still think it is amazing what he does to it! The SSR Dori-doris are just a small example how great you can make a hachi look!

Oldskulls deep dish SSR Dori-dori rims @JAF2011
To shoot this photo I had to lay down on my knees and I almost knocked over another photographer.

After a while the free runs were due and a long line of cars were anxiously waiting to make some rounds:

Long line of cars waiting for tracktime @JAF2011
The lineup mainly consisted of Skylines, Silvias, Lancers, Integras and Civics…

Another eye catcher was this immaculate Cherry F-II at the Dutch Nissan club:

Immaculate Cherry F-II F10 @JAF2011
It featured some vintage 80s 15 or 16 inch wheels that looked a lot like the Borbet rims.

It also featured an oldskool chin spoiler with a vintage Datsun racing badge on it:

Vintage Datsun racing badge on a Cherry F-II F10 @JAF2011
One of the best things I’ve seen at the JAF!

And also a Heartbreaker for Japan sticker:

Heartbreaker for Japan sticker on a Cherry F-II F10 @JAF2011
Even though this Cherry is a FWD it was by far one of the most impressive cars on the paddock!

Stay tuned for more photos on an even more impressive Nissan in the next part!

JAF2011: Finally some celluloid photos!

June 9, 2011 / banpei / 2 Comments

It has taken about a month for me to finally post up some of the celluloid photographs I took with my Zenit-E and a “new” Industar 61 lens at the Japans Autosport Festival 2011 at Zandvoort. As we Dutch say: “It takes a while but then you have something!” but that probably hits like a plier to a pig! :P

First reason it took so long was that the pictures got lost between the processing company and the photostore. Second reason was that I was too lazy to scan them. Third reason was that I was too lazy to upload them. So here they finally are!

I’ll start with my Carina parked next to this Datsun 240Z:

Datsun S30 240Z @ JAF2011
I made the decision that the Carina would be a better off parked next to a classic 70s JDM sportscar than one of those “modern” cars in the background. ;)

When chatting with the owner of the Corolla AE86 with 3S-GE swap this yellow 240Z stopped by. The owner turned out to be an AE86 owner as well. What is the chance that I parked my Carina next to his 240Z? One out of 10000?

Next up is this first generation green Mazda 626 hardtop coupe:

Mazda 616 coupe @ JAF2011
When I was waiting for someone in my Carina near the exit the owner (plus three his friends cramped) into this coupe made a small detour to yell at me that I had a cool car. :D
Gave them a big thumbs up and yelled back the same!

BTW: There are only 3 of these 626 coupes known to exist in the Netherlands. By chance I also met the owner of another one…

Then I spotted one of the most extraordinary AE86s in the Netherlands:

Corolla AE86 with BEAMS 3S-GE @ JAF2011
A Toyota Corolla AE86 with a 3S-GE BEAMS blacktop swap (SE86) with a W58 and a Carina SA60 bellhousing.
I met the owner a few times before (I bought the Celica Supra rims from him three years ago) and had a long chat about this swap. Amazing it actually fits!

Tight fitted BEAMS 3S-GE @ JAF2011
As you can see the BEAMS is a very tight fit. One of the support beams of the hood had to be cut out and a few things had to be moved in order to make it fit.

Corolla AE86 on Work Meisters @ JAF2011
The Work Meister rims were bought from The Doctor who previously had them under his JDM Toyota Chaser GX71. Some people like them and some people don’t. Personally I think they are an excellent fit!

Then I also spotted this bosozoku styled Suzuki Alto SS40:

Bosozoku style Suzuki Alto SS40 @ JAF2011
I did spot it at the Japan Classic Sunday 2010. Since then a few modifications have been done.

In case you are wondering: the writing on the hood says “STUK” which is Dutch for “broken”

Bosozoku style Suzuki Alto SS40 @ JAF2011
So apparently it broke down during the trip to Zandvoort and was towed to its place.

That’s it for the first part. More pictures will be posted in the next coverage!

JAF2011: First impression and a purple beams AE86!

May 10, 2011 / banpei / 6 Comments

The first impressions on the Japans Autosport Festival were that there were waaaaaay too many Skylines in the Netherlands. I think I saw more than 100 R32/R33/R34s and most of them were riced out. On the other hand there were some really nice examples as well!

What was most interesting was this purple hachi I spotted three and a half years ago in someones garage without an engine in it.

Purple Corolla Levin AE86 with 3S-GE Beams blacktop
The owner sold me his 15 inch Celica-Supra rims and just casually told me he owned a couple of Celicas, a Starlet EP70 with a 3SGTE in it and an AE86 as well. So of course I got very interested to see the AE86 and the Starlet. The AE86 looked already as great as the photo above but only lacked its engine…

Shortyly before the JAF the project finally met its end and its 4AGE made way for a different engine. At first the owner planned a 1JZ-swap, but changed his plans and went for a 3SGE Beams blacktop mated to a W58 supra gearbox by a JDM 1S Carina bellhousing!

As you can see the 3SGE blacktop is a tight fit for the AE86:

Purple Corolla Levin AE86 with 3S-GE Beams blacktop
He told me he had to modify the bellhousing because the starter engine was on the wrong side, so he tool the bellhousing of the 4A and had the starter position welded on the other side. You can’t tell unless you look up close and look really well. Very nice to see such a project getting a good ending!

The funny thing was that I would have expected it to be a very loud engine but he used a bone stock muffler of a Hyundai Scoupe and it just sounded like a stock 4AGE! So literally you have a wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing!

More pictures of the festival will follow when I’ve developed the films from my camera. :)