Author: banpei (Page 17 of 318)

Toyota Carina GT-R AA63 with N2 over fenders

What looks better on a Carina? N2 or zokusha fender flares? – Carina Sightings

November 27, 2023 / banpei / 0 Comments

Fender flares will give you the ability for a much wider track than with your standard OEM fenders. Fender flares range from the simple bolt-on types as introduced on the Hakosuka Skyline to the bizarre wide creations of the Group 5 and N2 racing. Zokusha were copying racing designs, hence a lot of the zokusha have giant wide fender flares. I found this Toyota Carina GT-R AA63 from Okinawa on Cartune and it actually featured both N2 and zokusha fender flares. So my question to you: N2 or zokusha fender flares?

N2 style

I’ll first start with the N2 Style (not to be confused with the N-style) fender flares:

The N2 used to be a one-make racing series in the 1980s and early 1990s where it was based upon the FIA Group N rules. In Japan, the Group N was already driven as the N1 series which later became the Super Taikyu Series. N2 started out as a racing series organized by Toyota to have the Toyota Corolla Levin AE86 and Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 compete against each other. Keiichi Tsuchiya, who just graduated from the Fuji Freshman series, wanted to join the series but was denied entry because he wasn’t an established driver yet.

Abandoned rusty two-door Sprinter Trueno AE86

Two-door Trueno AE86 hidden in the foliage – Japanese Rustoseums

November 26, 2023 / banpei / 0 Comments

It is always sad to see a forgotten or neglected car. It’s bad if the car in question is parked up for a long time and is showing signs of rust and decay. It’s even worse if the car is slowly being consumed by the foliage around it. This two-door Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 is one such car!

Eaten by the foliage

The Minkara user mitanimomo investigated this neglected Trueno left behind in the fields. The owner could not be traced and, just like the car, the house next to it was abandoned.

The Trueno appears to be original panda, which would indicate it’s a GT Apex model. The doily lace covers are still on the seats. And it seems to be sitting on Work Equip Casting 4 spoke rims.

This Toyota Carina AT171 is a fusion of cultures!

Japanese, French and German fusion: Toyota Carina II AT171 – Down on the Street

November 25, 2023 / banpei / 0 Comments

Earlier this year I had a job that required me to commute by car every day. Even though it was normally only a 17-minute drive, it meant I was stuck in a traffic jam every day. One day I noticed an interesting car in my rearview mirror and I immediately took my phone out of my pocket. As it passed by in the other lane, I could enjoy this fusion 1992 Toyota Carina II AT171 very much!

What’s the (con)fusion?

If you’re wondering why I call it a fusion car, that’s simply because it is half-JDM inspired and half-German inspired. In my rearview mirror, I could see the headlights were replaced by yellow bulbs. The yellow headlamps are actually a French thing and I did a video about yellow headlights that a long time ago. Lately, the VW and BMW scenes adopted the yellow headlamps as well as a cool retro thing. So if this Carina has yellow headlamps, it’s definitely not JDM but French.

The tall boy dissected: Honda City – Picture of the Week

November 23, 2023 / banpei / 0 Comments

This week I already posted twice about the Honda City, so why not stick to it for the picture of the week post? Today we will look at a dissected Tall Boy: the Honda City! For those unaware: Honda nicknamed the Honda City the Tall Boy. They did so because of the relatively high profile of the car, giving it a lot of space.

The Honda designers created the tall CITY logo to support the tallness of the car. The Honda leadership liked it so much that they retained this. That’s also the reason why all sorts of tall and city puns, like the Manhattan HiFi, were created. It’s a shame no Motocompo can be found in this cutaway drawing.

Better than the motocompo: Honda City R Manhattan HiFi – WTF?!

November 22, 2023 / banpei / 0 Comments

If you thought the Honda Motocompo moped was the best accessory of the Honda City, you’re very wrong! The best accessory for the Honda City R is, by far, the Manhattan HiFi! If you’re wondering what the heck that is, it looks like this in the brochure:

Yesterday we featured a Family Album Treasure lightly touching upon the Honda City, but today we have a deep dive into the Honda City!

What is the Manhattan Hifi?

As the name implies, the Manhattan HiFi is a Honda City boombox! Literally! It wasn’t an accessory you could order, but rather more a whole car! Basically, you could order the Honda City R with this big boombox mounted to the ceiling in the rear making your Honda City a boombox!

Madness on the Honda City: Hondahondahondahonda!

Baggy Trousers with my Honda Civic – Family Album Treasures

November 21, 2023 / banpei / 0 Comments

The owner of this second-generation Honda Civic strikes such a strange pose that I immediately had to think of the wacky Madness Japanese TV ads for the Honda City! It’s like he’s doing that strange Madness-walking dance!

Honda Civic owner doing the Madness walking-dance

If you are unfamiliar with what that dance looks like, this is the album art of the Madness Honda City LP that was released in Japan: