Remembering Japanese cars from the past

Author: banpei (Page 3 of 318)

Drive on the Shuto expressway Shinjuku route (1993 versus 2024) – Friday Video

My favourite Showa-nostalgic Youtube channel Kamepo posted another video: the Shuto Expressway on the Shunjuku route. This time you get a comparison between 1993 and 2024 and there are a lot of interesting cars to spot!

Shuto Expressway Shinjuku route 1993 versus 2024 - Suzuki Jimny
Shuto Expressway Shinjuku route 1993 versus 2024 – Suzuki Jimny

Highlights

The highlights of this video are a Mazda RX7 FD on a flatbed, a French Citroën BX GTi 8v, two Toyota Prius-es (or Priora in Latin) XW50 and XW60, a Subaru BRZ ZD8, an Autozam Revue and also a Honda Integra coupé DA5.

Mazda RX7 FD on a flatbed

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Tec-Art’s digital gauge panel – AE86 trivia

About two weeks ago my fellow AE86 owner Robert forwarded me a Facebook video of a very special gauge cluster. The video contained a bespoke Motec screen installed in an AE86 with software that displays the OEM Toyota gauge cluster in various generations. I found out the video was shot at Tec-Art’s but it wasn’t an official video. Now Tec-Art’s released a video of a customer car that contains this gauge cluster!

The Tec-Art's gauge cluster boots up with Dorikin!
The Tec-Art’s gauge cluster boots up with Dorikin!

You can watch the video (with English subtitles) below:

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Sporting the Mazda Cosmo Sport – Family Album Treasures

The photograph of a Mazda Cosmo Sports 110 below looks like any other ordinary photograph from someone’s family album. However, if you look at the date scribbled in the right bottom corner your eyebrows will be raised! The Mazda Cosmo Sport 110 was only first sold in 1967, so how can this be?

Takaharu Kobayakawa with the Mazda Cosmo Sports 110 prototype
Takaharu Kobayakawa with the Mazda Cosmo Sports 110 prototype

The Mazda Cosmo Sport 110 prototype was unveiled at the 1964 Tokyo Motor Show. The motor show was held from the 26th of September till the 9th of October. That means this photograph was taken even before the unveiling of the Cosmo!

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Black Racing rims fitment and fuel pressure regulator – My Carina

This already happened a few weeks ago, but I have done some work on my Carina. The most important update was replacing the Celica Supra rims with a set of Black Racing rims. In addition to that, I finally installed a fuel pressure regulator to, hopefully, fix some rough idling of the 2T.

Fitting Black Racing rims (Watanabe knock offs) on my Carina TA60
Fitting Black Racing rims (Watanabe knock-offs) on my Carina TA60

Watanabe knock-offs

I refurbished these Watanabe knock-offs last year by sanding them down and painting them with a rattle can. I can’t say it’s perfect, but they do look heaps better than they used to. The black paint on them was fading and they were in desperate need of new tires.

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What is it Daihatsu, Charade or Charaaydo or Chalayde? – Commercial time

The first generation Daihatsu Charade was released in 1977 and the three door hatchback featured a weird looking opera window in the C-pilar. Today’s commercial isn’t about that funny three door, but its larger five door hatchback.

The ad seems to to highlight the fact that the Charade is everything a Toyota Crown sized car can offer with its boot (or trunk for you Americans) cut off. Is it really that large? The literal definition of Charade is an absurd pretence intended to create a pleasant or respectable appearance. So the Daihatsu Charade was meant to be something absurd which it actually isn’t? That sounds just about right when they pretended this Charade to be a Crown with its boot cut off!

What I found most confusing were the three ways of pronouncing Charade in this video. The first voice over pronounces it as the American charade (charayde), the female voice sings it as charaydo and the girl with the aviator glasses says “Yes, chalayde” with a thick Murican accent. So, what is it then?

Drive next to the Tokyo Monorail on the Shuto expressway in 1987- Friday Video

I’ve featured Kamepo‘s amazing side-by-side videos a few times before and this week he outdid himself with a side-view video of the Tokyo Monorail! It’s taking a drive on the Shuto Expressway route 1, where the monorail follows the route side-by-side.

The Tokyo Monorail rides alongside the Shuto Expressway route 1
The Tokyo Monorail rides alongside the Shuto Expressway route 1

Highlights

There are only a total of 16 cars to spot in this video as its total length is only 3 minutes. I think, in addition to the monorail, the double E-class, Toyota Stout, Nissan Laurel C32 and Toyota Sprinter Carib are the highlights of this video.

Double Mercedes E-class

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