Remembering Japanese cars from the past

Author: banpei (Page 5 of 318)

Nissan S-Cargo statistics – How many are left?

Another post in the How many are left series and today I’ll dive into how many Nissan S-Cargos have been registered in the Netherlands.

1989 Nissan S-Cargo parked at my local multistory parking garage
1989 Nissan S-Cargo parked at my local multistory parking garage

I’m not going to explain in great detail what the Nissan S-Cargo is. The S-Cargo was the third Pikes car, preceded by the Be-1, Pao and succeeded by the Figaro and the Rasheen. The S-Cargo was introduced at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1989 and manufactured between 1989 and 1991. If you wish to learn more about the S-Cargo, I covered it in great detail in my S-Cargo Down on the Street post.

Finding the S-Cargo

To find all Nissans registered as S-Cargo was quite an extensive search: I found the S-Cargo to be registered under the following names:

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EV charging spot hogging 1990 Mazda Miata – Down on the Street

I already found this electrifying Mazda Miata a few years ago. Back then, the parking garage where I also found the Estima and some other cars converted 8 parking spots on the first floor for electric charging.

The first time I spotted this Mazda Miata NA hogging an EV charging spot
The first time I spotted this Mazda Miata NA hogging an EV charging spot

Almost every other weekend I would spot this Miata hogging one of those spots. It’s quite interesting because I could see the benefits of an electrically powered Miata: lightweight, good balance and high torque would be awesome. However, as this car was never connected to the charging port I reckoned it wasn’t converted. So what was the reason for this person to park his/her Miata in those charging spots? I can think of a few.

The first reason: a wider parking space

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What’s up with this Suzuka Carol Levin AE86 wheels? – Commercial Time – WTF?!

I’m sure you must have a couple of WTFs in your head by now: a Suzuka Carol Levin AE86? Isn’t that supposed to be a Mazda Carol or a Toyota Corolla Levin AE86? No, it isn’t in this advertisement:

Suzuka Sangyo Carol wheels advertisement with a Corolla Levin AE86
Suzuka Sangyo Carol wheels advertisement with a Corolla Levin AE86

Whacky advertisement text

The Japanese writing reads:
You might call it a space technology
but this wheel holds the
“romance of driving” of a new era
.
Right, so these Suzuka Carol wheels are supposed to be space technology that holds the romance of driving in a new era?

What are Suzuka Sangyo Carol wheels?

When I searched for Suzuka wheels, I could only find cheap knock-off wheels that are called Suzuka. I found via Kyusha Shoes that Suzuka Sangyo is the brand that made the Carol wheel. What I also found out is that Suzuka Sangyo actually was the brand behind the Long Champ XR4 wheel and the wheel was manufactured by SSR. This really surprised me as I was under the impression it was SSR who manufactured and sold it. Anyway, I digress…

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Sleek SPEED AE86 Gauge Cluster – AE86 Trivia

A few weeks ago I found a comment in the comments section of the AE86 gauge cluster trivia page that there was a Sleek Speed AE86 gauge cluster for sale on Yahoo Auctions. Unfortunately, I missed the auction, but fortunately enough the pictures were shared via a drive. I updated the original AE86 Trivia page and didn’t think of it until I spotted the same cluster for sale again!

Sleek SPEED AE86 gauge cluster with 240 km/h speedometer and 10K rpm tachometer
Sleek SPEED AE86 gauge cluster with 240 km/h speedometer and 10K rpm tachometer

The cluster is not for the faint-hearted as it’s for sale for 158,000 yen (just over 1000 dollars), which is steep. Then again, the digital gauge cluster already sets you back well over 300 dollars nowadays and it might be difficult to find another. The cluster is a modified GT or GT-V cluster as it doesn’t feature the door-warning and tail-light burnout warning lamps.

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Datsun 240K GT sedan C110 bridging the gap in Düsseldorf – Family Album Treasures

Today’s Family Album Treasure Datsun 240K GT C110 isn’t part of someone’s family album. That’s because it’s an official press photo by Nissan/Datsun Germany! And the amazement over this photo doesn’t stop there either as I have so many questions about it! Let’s start to unravel this mystery photo!

Datsun 240K GT HGLC110 - Nissan GMBH press photo
Datsun 240K GT HGLC110 – Nissan GMBH press photo

Datsun 240K GT HGLC110

Let’s begin with the Datsun 240K GT, this car is actually a left-hand-drive export model of the Nissan Skyline C110. The trim level is mostly similar to the Japanese GT, but thanks to not being obstructed by engine capacity taxation, it features the larger 2.4 litre L24 engine. HGLC110 is the official code for this particular C110. Another major difference is the location of the steering wheel and the driver seat. These are now on the left side of the car. This makes this car super rare as there were only a few thousand in left-hand-drive produced.

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