Banpei.net

Hilarious: kei cars19 years ago in Top Gear

banpei — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 06:11:52 +0000

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??

Family Album Treasures: Skyline DR30 girl sandwich

banpei — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 05:50:10 +0000

What would you prefer more: a tekamen Skyline DR30 or a girl sandwich? Why not do both?

Skyline DR30 girl sandwich
And of course a nice zenki Levin in the background. ;)

Carina Sightings: Carina Surf

banpei — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 05:45:22 +0000

I'm not a fan of the rims on this Carina, but as you can see it is an original Carina Surf:

Original Carina Surf
The Carina Surf was part of the original Carina lineup and seperate from the Van line-up. It did feature the live axle we know of the other vans (and non-IRS Carinas) but there was a major difference: it had coil springs instead of the leaf springs used on the van!
BTW: The two extra stripes are not original...

Video: Aristo automatic drifting in Tochigi

banpei — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 05:24:27 +0000

I liked this short drift video in Tochigi a lot:

Not only do we see a 6 to 7 cars drifting snakelike all the way up a mountain in Tochigi, we also see Nomuken sitting shotgun in a Toyota Aristo (aka Lexus GS300) with automatic gearbox! The driver does manages to drift most corners and keep up with the S15 up front and the S14 behind him!

These first generation GS300s are already up for grabs for under 3000 euros, so that is very tempting! Only thing that is holding me back is the road tax: about 1000 euros per year! Compare that to the zero euros I pay for the Carina! :O

BTW: The plings indicate the huge dents in the guardrails!

DOTS: Celica's like brother and sister

banpei — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 06:34:34 +0000

Some time ago I saw a red Celica ST in the TACN magazine which looked very very familiar... When I saw the license plate I knew I did see it somewhere before... But then with different rims... The day after I knew where I saw it:

Brother and sister: two Toyota Celica ST AT180s
Right down the street, literally: it is parked one block away from my house! :D

That evening I compared it with the one in the magazine and found out that it is indeed almost the same: the license plate is off by one number:

Brother and sister: two Toyota Celica ST AT180s
In the Netherlands we have incremental license plates (no vanity plates!) and the plate says something about when the car was registered with that plate. In this case both cars were bought on the same day and probably at the same dealer. Maybe they were even bought by a brother and sister. ;)

At the Japan Classic Sunday I spotted the second car and tried to find the owner. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find him, had a chat with the owner of the neighbouring car and took a picture of the car with the intention to post it up here in the DOTS. ;)

JCS 2010 highlights (part two)

banpei — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 06:24:53 +0000

Let's continue (and finish) the highlights of Japan Classic Sunday 2010!

First of all these two blue Corolla KE30s drew my attention:

Two Corolla KE30s

Two Corolla KE30s
I briefly spoke to the owner and his buddy. They surely love to keep these old Rollas alive! :)

Another Corolla, but this time PetzK's AE86:
Three more highlights (AE86, Datsun 280C wagon and a Levin BZ-G) after the break!

Hilarious: 2 year old mechanic

banpei — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 06:00:31 +0000

Now I certainly know I did something wrong with the education of my son: this guy's son seems to be younger than Ollie and he is already fully capable of adjusting a sidedraft Solex carburettor!!

I guess teaching Ollie this stuff won't do much good either: he prefers to use hammers above a screwdrivers. ;)

JCS 2010 highlights (part one)

banpei — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 05:49:56 +0000

I just uploaded all worthy pictures I took at Japan Classic Sunday 2010. I haven't commented them yet but I surely will do that in the upcoming week. I'll also start posting pictures from the meet now and then. Let's kick off with some highlights!

Trip to the JCS 2010
The trip to JCS was already a highlight! Five old/youngtimers cruising on the highway and of course we could all keep up with modern traffic. Only the TE71 (currently an AE71 with 20v blacktop) had some difficulties now and then: who says a blown headgasket can keep you from going to a meeting? So he just filled up that radiator with some water now and then... ;)

Go here for the Honda Beats and Haselbeck AE86 highlights!

Carina Sightings: Carina bi-turbo diesel drifting (part two)

banpei — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 06:01:37 +0000

A few weeks ago Turbiini78 sent me a video of him drifting at the Botniaring on the 12th of june.

Even though the Carina now is running on 225/50 R17 it still likes to throw up big clouds and happily goes sideways! :)

Family Album Treasures: Fuji Speedway comic version

banpei — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:10:10 +0000

When I found the picture of Fuji International Speedway I posted last week I got an Initial D feeling from the whole scene. So I could not resist modifying it with some comic sound effects from Initial D:

Comic version: Fuji Speedway International visit
Even better to keep this version in your family album, right?