Author: banpei (Page 31 of 318)

Toyota Carina A60 history [JDM Trivia]

October 11, 2016 / banpei / 2 Comments

Welcome to JDM Trivia #12 where I describe the Toyota Carina A60 history.

Carina, Corona and Celica combined

The Toyota Carina A60 started its life when Toyota decided to combine the platforms of the Corona, Carina and Celica. This delivered a floorpan that was identical for all three cars and some of the Corona and Carina body panels are even exchangeable.

Toyota Carina A60 generation

This generation of the Toyota Carina was produced between September 1981 and April 1988. For Toyota this was considered to be a very long lasting production. It obviously helped that the Carina derived van stayed into production till April 1988, but also the sedan and coupe were available till the end of 1987. Continue reading

Widebody Honda CRX Mk II ED9 [Down on the Street]

October 9, 2016 / banpei / 0 Comments

This widebody Honda CRX Mk II ED9 has been featured two and a half years ago in the down on the street photo series.

Back then it looked like the build was relatively new and I shot a few photos of it. I even made an attempt to shoot a video Wasabi Cars style, but as it was winter the lack of ambient light made it look horrible. And then it disappeared and probably went back to Poland.

Reunited

You can imagine how happy I was to see the CRX again, and this time even closer to my home. Continue reading

Shabby Infiniti G20 [Down on the Street]

September 8, 2016 / banpei / 0 Comments

I found this shabby Infiniti G20 parked next to my hotel in San Mateo, California.

Its paint has eroded by the Californian sun and the interior looked quite worn. Not only was the paint peeling off, someone did a very dodgy job covering this up by adding a black layer of matte paint. Basically converting it to a two-tone scheme. The G20 was covered in pine needles, indicating that it has been standing there for some time. Well, at least after September 2015 according to Google Streetview. Continue reading

Walk around Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

May 20, 2016 / banpei / 0 Comments

Last week we drove to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and this week we will walk around the track a bit.

The Laguna Seca Raceway was originally built in 1957 near Monterey, California. In 1988 the track was heavily modified and the inner field has been added between turn 2 and 5 of today’s circuit. In 2001 Mazda became the major sponsor for this circuit and the track got renamed to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Timelapse drive to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

May 15, 2016 / banpei / 0 Comments

Welcome to this timelapse video of my drive from Santa Cruz to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

The timelapse drive will start at my hotel in Santa Cruz, drive down highway number 1, stop at Monterey and then drive down highway 68 to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Laguna Seca Raceway is famous for its corkscrew corner which is considered to be one of the most difficult corners on any circuit in the world. The corner has a steep drop in the shape of a corkscrew. The circuit also has been made famous by Gran Turismo. Continue reading

Unmolested Nissan 240SX [Down on the Street]

May 6, 2016 / banpei / 1 Comment

Welcome to another Down on the Street video!

Unmolested 240SX

I found this unmolested Nissan 240SX in Santa Cruz while driving towards the beach. I stopped and jumped out of the my rental car and shot a short video. Unfortunately nobody was around and I couldn’t make any inquiries about it.

Drift car

With unmolested I obviously mean it has not been converted into a drift car. It is even rarer to find a bone stock S13 than a tuned or lowered one. Continue reading