Author: banpei (Page 6 of 318)

Is this the American Dream? A Pontiac Trans Am with Work Equip Excel Spinning wheels?

Rock’n Roll Works Equipped with the American Dream – WTF?!

March 7, 2024 / banpei / 0 Comments

This Work Equip advertisement is another wacky magazine advertisement from a random Japanese magazine. It’s just mindboggling what the designers must have thought when they composed this advertisement. Let’s go over all those texts in the advertisement!
City after dark is our stage!
You look so fine tonight!
Let our dreams run all through the night
I’m your heroin
May I sit next to you?
We’re the real Rock’n Rollers
Come with us, Equip!
You, get off!
American Dream, you are going to be us

Work Equip magazine advertisement featuring the band Serika with Dog

I’m quite puzzled by the I’m your heroin May I sit next to you? I could interpret this in various ways. Also, by the absence of a female person in this advertisement, the meaning of heroin makes me fear the worst!

Would you consider this Bulgarian Carina polarizing?

BJDM Toyota Carina: a Bulgarian interpration of JDM – Carina Sightings

March 5, 2024 / banpei / 0 Comments

My first reaction when I found this Toyota Carina GL TA60 for sale on a Bulgarian classifieds site was WTF?! But don’t let the looks at the front deceive you: this was done by a genuine enthusiast. Someone who really loved this Carina. Let me go over it completely.

The modifications on this Bulgarian Toyota Carina TA60 can be considered polarizing

The Carina

Let’s begin with the base of this car: it’s a 1982 Toyota Carina. As it features headrests on the rear seats and has a carpeted boot, it has to be the GL trim level. It features the 1.6-litre 2T engine, so we can narrow it down to a TA60. The seller mentions it’s a 5-speed manual, so its gearbox is a T50. In one of the photos are some German documents, so I suspect it originated from Germany many years ago.

Which one would you choose? Left or right? Impul March or Impul March Classic?

The impulsive Impul March K11 and Impul March Classic – March-athon

March 3, 2024 / banpei / 0 Comments

Today I’ll feature the Impul March and Impul March Classic variants of the Nissan March K11. As I mentioned in the previous post about the March-athon, I would step away from the factory variants like the Tango, Rumba, Bolero and Polka and move on to another variant. As the title suggests, we’re moving towards a company called Impul.

Introducing the Impul March and Impul March Classic Neo-Retro Sport

But before we dive into Impul and the March, I’ve asked ChatGPT if it could make a joke about the Impul March as well:
Why did the Impul March challenge the Nissan March White Limited to a race?
Because it wanted to see if its “impulsive” modifications could outpace the pure, pristine white beauty – but it quickly realized that even with all its upgrades, it couldn’t “march” past that classic elegance!
It’s scary it remembers that I asked it to make a joke about the Nissan March White Limited well over a month ago. At the same time it’s amazing how capable ChatGPT is in understanding what a Impul March is and how to incorporate this into a joke.

Hoshino Impul Co. Ltd.

For those less familiar with the Impul brand. Hoshino Impul Co. Ltd. was founded by racing driver Kazuyoshi Hoshino in 1980 and is often shortened to Impul. Hoshino was a famous Nissan works driver and he decided to hop on the aftermarket parts bandwagon.

It’s been 7300 days since I last heard your 4A-GE scream – Friday Video

March 1, 2024 / banpei / 0 Comments

Today’s video features a Finnish two-door Toyota Corolla GT Twin Cam 16 AE86 in Supra White and, unlike the title suggests, no 4A-GE screams in this video. Nevertheless, this video is a must-see! Let me explain why!

7300 päivää - Toyota Corolla GT AE86 — 7300 päivää – Toyota Corolla GT AE86

A rapper, a DJ, a tango dancer and a singer

The song itself was written by Finnish rap artist HesaÄijä (Marios Kleovoulou) and DJ Oku Luukkainen. The song itself is about HesaÄijä’s first love Korhosen Taina. Also, I don’t speak Finnish, so I have to admit I first wrongly assumed the title 7300 Päivää meant something like 7300 rpm screaming 4A-GE. But that turned out to be a very wrong assumption as it translates to 7300 days. You can find the full lyrics of 7300 Päivää here.

This DMC12 would travel back to the past if it could!

No more future Delorean DMC 12 – Japanese Rustoseums

February 28, 2024 / banpei / 0 Comments

I rarely post about non-Japanese cars, but this slowly decaying DeLorean DMC12 in Japan is an exception to that rule! The DeLorean DMC12 is a very special car and it is strange to see one neglected like this. I would even say this is the US counterpart of the Fujiwara Tofu-ten special!

Neglected DeLorean DMC12 in a Japanese parking lot

What is a DeLorean DMC12?

Would you like some Meiju Saucer on your Honda City? – Commercial Time

February 27, 2024 / banpei / 0 Comments

This aero kit and Saucer wheels on the Honda City was developed in the early 1980s by a tuning shop called Motor Sports Meiju in the Kyoto prefecture in Japan. 40 years onwards, it looks strange and heavily dated. It looks crude and this is not how Aero evolved over the past 40 years. So what is it and who is this Keiji dude sitting with a wheel in his lap?

Motor Sports Meiju history

I guess I first have to explain what Motor Sports Meiju is. It all begins with the late racing driver Keiji Matsumoto (松本恵二). Matsumoto started his career in 1968 when he bought a used Toyota Corolla and, unbeknownst to his parents, he stripped off all unnecessary accessories and started practising on Suzuka Circuit and the Higashiyama route near his hometown of Kyoto. He debuted in 1969 in the T-1 class and worked his way up via FJ1300 to F2000, a precursor to the F2 class in 1976. In 1979 he managed to win the, by now renamed, F2 class. Shortly after this, he started his own tuning shop called Motor Sports Meiju. Matsumoto is a very well-known Japanese racing driver and featured in many Cabin Spirit ads.