Remembering Japanese cars from the past
I’m sure that the phrase More Collage Excess Prelude by First Molding will be identified as being written by AI if you pass it through an AI checker! These random words aren’t as random as you might think!
The company in question is called First Molding. No, that’s not a spelling error, it’s the American spelling of the word moulding. The name has been derived from the company’s origins.
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I have never fully understood the difference between the Prelude and the Honda Accord coupé. The first-generation Prelude was built on the first-generation Honda Accord platform, so why did the third-generation Accord re-introduce a coupé? The third-generation Accord also aligned with the design of the Prelude, CR-X and Integra, so they all featured pop-up headlights. This made it even more difficult to distinguish them from each other.
We’ll probably never know the true answer to why it was re-introduced, but let’s put the Prelude and the Accord coupé side by side and compare them.
| Prelude | Accord coupé | |
| Length | 4,460 mm (175.6 in) | 4,564 mm (179.7 in) |
| Width | 1,709 mm (67.3 in) | 1,695 mm (67 in) |
| Height | 1,295 mm (51 in) | 1,336 mm (52.6 in) |
| Wheelbase | 2,565 mm (101 in) | 2,600 mm (102.4 in) |
As you can see, the difference in dimensions is marginal. The Accord coupé is only 10 centimetres (4 inches) longer, 1.6 centimetres (0.3 inches) wider and 4 centimetres (1.6 inches) higher. The wheelbase is also almost equal.
Continue readingWhat do a Subaru Rex Combi 4WD, Nissan Skyline GTS-R R31 and a 1989 RUF CTR 3.4 have in common? They are all featured in today’s You’re Under Arrest manga! Yes it’s another Manga Car Spotting video and we will continue the You’re Under Arrest series with this sixth manga by Dark Horse. It will be a longer video today as we will have to cover 15 cars and two mystery cars.
The young petrolhead Kosuke Fujishima started out as an editor and assistant of, back then not so famous, Tatsuya Egawa mangaka. This inspired him to create his own manga and the first successful manga series drawn by him was You’re Under Arrest! (逮捕しちゃうぞ) which revolves around a Tokyo police station in the business district Sumida. The two protagonists are two female police offices called Natsumi Tsujimoto and Miyuki Kobayakawa and both of them are petrolheads. Natsuki is the more blunt one who catches thiefs, thugs and tramps singlehanded while Miyuki is the more intelligent one who loves tinkering with cars, engines and motorcylces.
In today’s manga we will spot more than 15 cars and various motorcycles. The Honda Today police special is the main car as the duo patrols the Sumida area in this car. The Honda Today is no longer bone stock and is specially tuned to keep up with the sports cars owned by the businessmen of Sumida. Some examples of these cars are the Nissan Skyline GTS-R R31, Mazda Savanna RX-7 FC3S and RUF CTR 3.4 than can be spotted in this manga. Also a bit more luxurious cars like a Toyota Mark II Grande GX71 can be spotted. Or even the high performance pocket rocket Subaru Rex Combi 4WD!
Initially created as a spin-off of You’re Under Arrest! manga, Ah! My Goddess surpassed it in fame. Belldandy turned up in one of the manga of You’re Under Arrest and this inspired it’s creator Kosuke Fujishima to create the Ah! My Goddess manga. In this a goddess, Belldandy, meets a lowly student Keiichi Morrisato and this series ran from 1988 till 2014. I have also created a Manga Car Spotting episode for this series some time ago. As Ah! My Goddess surpassed You’re Under Arrest! in popularity, the final manga of You’re Under Arrest was released in 1992.
You can find the video and the high resolution scans of the panels containing manga cars below: Continue reading
I spotted this fourth generation Honda Prelude in the parking lot of my previous employer. The Prelude itself is the European 2.3i model with 4 wheel steering and is rapidly becoming a rarity.
Even though it looks stock there have been a couple of modifications on this car: the tail lights have been replaced by Lexus-look items and a tow hook has been added. I really wonder who thought a tow hook would look great on a car? Well, given the engine has 209Nm torque it should not be a big problem to haul a caravan with this car…
I did change the format of the Down on the Street video since last time a bit: Continue reading
Remember this Honda Prelude mk5 I shared two months ago?
Back then I stated that it must be owned by someone who appreciates JDM.
Well I spotted it again this morning during my daily bike ride to work:
And it looks a bit different as the owner updated the Prelude to a new level!
As you can see a bit closer up the front fenders have been swapped for a set of vented FRP fenders: Continue reading
Last week I bumped into this last generation Honda Prelude in an underground parking garage:
Sorry for the mediocre photo quality, but camera phones, dim light and fluorescent lamps are not a good combo.
The prelude was parked there shortly before I entered the parking garage as the car was still wet from the rain above ground.
This last generation Honda Prelude is disappearing from the streets rapidly: Continue reading
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