Obviously only in Japan this could have happened:
How can you just leave your Honda Beat gather dust like this, let alone that poor Countach… Lucky enough the Countach is just a replica. ;)
Direct link to video: ?????????????????????
Tag: Honda Beat
Honestly I do love Top Gear, but I simply can’t find the time to actually follow it… Most of the time I just wait for the reviews and see if I really need to see an episode…
People already speculate that this actually might be the last series of the new Top Gear, which I can understand since all three of them are already presenting the new format for 8 years now (I know, May only 7…) and it slowly starts to become difficult to make the series even better than last season. ;)
Back to the old series: I found this clip from the old series (1991) where Jeremy Clarkson test drives a couple of the finest Japanse kei cars:
I was really puzzled on how much he actually liked them! Was he more forgiving in his early years or did he become soft for the little ones??
I just uploaded all worthy pictures I took at Japan Classic Sunday 2010. I haven’t commented them yet but I surely will do that in the upcoming week. I’ll also start posting pictures from the meet now and then. Let’s kick off with some highlights!
Trip to the JCS 2010
The trip to JCS was already a highlight! Five old/youngtimers cruising on the highway and of course we could all keep up with modern traffic. Only the TE71 (currently an AE71 with 20v blacktop) had some difficulties now and then: who says a blown headgasket can keep you from going to a meeting? So he just filled up that radiator with some water now and then… ;)
Double Beat!
These double Honda Beats sure look great! If you read my blog regularly you will recognize the red Honda Beat as the one I posted in the DOTS a few weeks ago! I spoke to the owner and he has an extensively large collection of cars and motorcycles and does indeed owns the FJ Cruiser. More on that later!
German Corolla AE86 in Haselbeck trim
What’s so special about this German AE86 except for its AE86 vanity plate?
German Corolla AE86 with 401k on the odo!
401k kilometer on the odo meter? Indeed: I spoke to the (young) owner who bought it only three weeks ago from the first owner! The first owner had the car for 27 years and drove 400k kilometers with it and then sold it off to this young lad. From the sound of the engine that 4AGE was still purring like a kitten! :)
More highlights tomorrow and on Saturday! In the meanwhile you can already have a look at the pictures here:
Japan Classic Sunday 2010 gallery
As I said last week in the Honda Beat DOTS: I would come back to the FJ Cruiser parked behind it… Well I want to talk about this yellow FJ Cruiser first:
Yellow 2008 Toyota FJ Cruiser
I spotted it parked a few villas away from the 2005 light blue Honda S2000. I took some quick photos of it and put it aside (for better times…) and didn’t think about it for some time. Combined with the pictures of another yellow 2008 FJ Cruiser it was able to make it as a posting!
Here another snapshot of the Honda Beat together with the yellow FJ Cruiser:
Another yellow 2008 Toyota FJ Cruiser
Even though they are both yellow and delivered in 2008 the two yellow FJ Cruisers are not the same car! This second FJ Cruiser had a different license plate and according to the RDW it had been converted to run on LPG. Somehow that sounds like a sane idea to me! :D
Another yellow 2008 Toyota FJ Cruiser
I think the huge number of FJs is due to the fact that the part of the Netherland I live in is quite popular for the rich and famous… FJ Cruisers are especially known as a fashion product, so I can imagine their popularity around here… But I never expected to spot three of them within just a few months time apart!
I already thought finding a Toyota FJ Cruiser would be quite unique, but when I looked a bit further down the road I spotted a small tiny red cabriolet: a red Honda Beat! Opposed to the (RHD) Suzuki Cappuchino the Honda Beat was never sold in Europe, let alone in the Netherlands! So this Beat only drove 12 years of its life on the Japanese soil!
Down on the Street: FJ Cruiser and Honda Beat
So unless you would go to a JDM car meeting this should be a quite unique shot!
I’ll come back to the FJ Cruiser in a later DOTS, this week is focussed upon the Beat!
Down on the Street: red 1992 Honda Beat
I did see a Honda Beat in the Netherlands before on the Japan Classic Sunday (see here and here) but in my memory that one was not as small as this one… Must be my memory backing up I guess..
The Honda Beat is such a tiny car that getting closer to the Beat didn’t result in the Beat getting actually any larger in sight! You could almost put one transverse in that FJ Cruiser!
Talking about transverse: the Honda beat did get a transverse engine in the rear: a tiny 656 cc with ITB (Individual Throttle Bodies) managing to squeeze 64hp out of that tiny engine without a turbo! Truly amazing! I wonder if the owner actually managed to squeeze out more…
Down on the Street: red 1992 Honda Beat
Up front you can see some blueish aftermarket headlights and some nice rims (anyone got an idea what they are?), so probably the owner is an enthusiast! :)