Remembering Japanese cars from the past
This video of driving through the Tokyo Sendagi area in 1989 synchronized with a drive in 2023 is another amazing video by Kamepo! Last week I posted another one where he drives over the Shuto Expressway C1. In that video there were a few interesting cars, but today I found an enormous amount of interesting cars! So let’s start to identify them!
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If you have never heard of the 1987 Mazda Étude: you are not alone! I personally never heard of it before and it was a big WTF?! when I saw it first. At first I thought I was looking at an Isuzu Gemini, but those tail lights resembled something else. When I looked at the badge I was even more baffled: Étude?
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The Shuto Kosoku Trials (also known as Megalopolis Expressway Trials) is one of the best Japanese car related movie series from the late 1980s until the late 1990s. Unsurprisingly they closely collaborated together with Keiichi Tsuchiya to make the racing action more realistic. This video that I found is a VHS tape transfer of the making of the stunts used in Shuto Kosuku Trial 5: the Final Battle. This movie was shot in 1992 and you see this reflected in the use of a brand new red Mazda RX-7 FD! It’s also amazing to see how much care is taken into making these stunts!
Ever wondered which cars are featured in Initial D? And perhaps also wondered which model, make and type these manga cars are? In this third episode of Manga car spotting, I’ll be spotting cars in the first book of Initial D! This first book is the US version of the Manga by Tokyopop and covers chapters 1 to 10 of the Japanese Manga.
I don’t think Initial D needs an introduction: it’s the classic racing manga / racing anime series that gained huge popularity during the mid 1990s in Japan and mid 2000s outside Japan. The manga itself contains many layers of depth and isn’t just about cars, but also about (family) relationships and harsh training by commitment and determination. These first 10 chapters are mostly the introductory of the characters and the setting, so not a lot of action will happen. Still it was fun to do!
You can find the video and the high resolution scans of the panels containing manga cars below:
Continue readingBack in December 1987 the very first issue of Best Motoring video became available. The video was a monthly magazine containing not only car news and reviews but also extensive how-to’s on subjects of mastering cornering or drifting. KaKo posted this video in four separate parts:
The first video covers the Nissan MID-4 II, Toyota FXV-Ⅱ and Mitsubishi HSR concept cars. Followed by a short video (in sepia) about the Tokyo Motor Show from the 50s till 80s including the 27th motorshow that just happened days before the release of the video. And last part of the first video covers an extensive test between various cars including the new (second generation) CR-X Si and the Nissan Skyline GTS-X R31.
As I said yesterday: I was browsing Tokusatsu videos on Youtube to make my Hilarious posting this week. My idea was to see how cars were actually used through these series. Of course I mean recognizable cars and not the Bosozoku styled super-heroes cars.
First of all I found this intro of the 1988 Choujuu Sentai Liveman series:
At 0:30 the first hero drives a white Mazda FC convertible.
A poor student at Academia, but a strong leader and quick thinking under pressure. He is brave and a hardworker. Initially starts as hot-headed and sarcastic, but grows into the role of dependable leader as the series progresses.
Could this have been the inspiration for Shuichi Shigeno for Ryosuke Takahashi in Initial D? Only difference is that Ryosuke is not a poor student but rather a rich student taking a break during his study…
Then take the intro of the 1986 Choushinsei Flashman series:
The red Flashman is a professional racing driver. To be more precise: he drives the number 170 Mazda 757. It must somehow be true that he did was the driver because number 170 did not finish Le Mans 1986. Probably one of the villains must have wanted to sabotage Le Mans 1986 and in order to prevent this red Flashman must have abandoned the race. ;)
And in the last (but not least) example the 1984 Birth of the 10th! Kamen Riders All Together!! series:
The blue Kamen Rider drives a Mazda HB Cosmo (a.k.a. the Mazda 929 overseas) like he’s doing audition for the first movie of the the Shuto Kousoku series (a.k.a. Shuto Trial or Freeway Speedway).
Somehow I see a pattern in these intros: Toei and Mazda! Coincidence? No, I don’t think so…
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