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Posted
Nov 13 2008, 08:29 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 12 comment(s)
Last week Jeroen posted up a poll asking which was the favorite of the Nissan cars currently competing in the D1 Grand Prix, and I can't really say that I was surprised to find out that you guys picked Yoshinori Koguchi's 180SX as your favorite. That actually worked out pretty well for us since we had been saving Koguchi features for Nissan month. The man and his cars achieved have hero status among hardcore drifting fans, and in an era complex pro drifting, the guy from Tochigi-ken continues to keep it real. I'd say his current car is one of the finest 180's in the world without a doubt and it's built on years of experience. And now a closer look at the car built and driven by the man who is known as the king of 180SX drift style....
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Posted
Nov 11 2008, 06:10 PM
by
Antonio Alvendia
with 4 comment(s)
On our trip to the UK earlier this year, I came face to face with a big pink monster. Get any ideas of fuzzy dinosaurs out of your head - I'm talking about a pink R33 Skyline drag monster from Sumo Power, in the UK. This car is very well known in the UK - it's gotten features inked from all the big magazines out there; this R33 has been stirring up quite a bit of attention from its performance numbers and overall impact! The vehicle is a 1994 Nissan Skyline GTR, which was imported from Japan...
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Posted
Nov 11 2008, 08:51 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 3 comment(s)
When I visited the East Car shop in Toride earlier this fall, I planned to shoot one of their finished projects and as soon as I arrived, this white Hakosuka Skyline jumped right out at me. The Hakosuka is one of the quintessential vintage Japanese cars and a perfect fit for our Nissan month. Like I stated in the previous story about East Car, the shop's specialty is restoration, so this is obviously isn't the fastest Hakosuka around, but it's a great example a top quality traditional restoration with a few tasteful modifications thrown in for good measure. ...
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Posted
Nov 03 2008, 03:09 PM
by
John Brooks
with 15 comment(s)
They say that racing improves the breed, they also say that win on Sunday, sell on Monday. Both are clichés but contain more than a grain of truth. And that truth provides the motivation for the Driftworks Company to showcase the products available at their on line store. Of course having a bit of fun along the way also plays a part too, as Phil Morrison admitted to me. Driftworks was set up nearly 5 years ago and provides a top quality parts services to all levels of the drifting community...
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Posted
Oct 30 2008, 04:45 PM
by
Antonio Alvendia
with 23 comment(s)
The first time I saw this car, it was at the Toyota booth at SEMA. Since I spent soooo much time drooling and just plain jocking this FJ45, I was obviously very happy to run into it again this year at JCCS. This car is a definite head turner because at first, you’re really not sure what kind of hot rod this is, and become even more confused when you see TOYOTA stamped on it. Even in the world of highly modified classic cars, this one-off specially built FJ45 Low-Boy is an extremely rare breed...
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Posted
Oct 28 2008, 08:00 AM
by
Antonio Alvendia
with 12 comment(s)
As I walked through the field of Japanese classic cars at this month's event in Irvine, a certain car sparked my attention, sitting way in the back, next to the Toyota Motorsports big rig truck. The car was an ST162 Toyota Celica; it was the coupe version of Toyota's first front-wheel-drive Celica. This ST162 chassis of Celica was sold in the USA from 1986 to 1989, with three different normal trim levels: ST, GT, and GT-S. (In other countries, they also released other versions, like the GTR...
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Posted
Oct 24 2008, 05:05 PM
by
Antonio Alvendia
with 14 comment(s)
Many of you know that the Japanese Classic Car Show recently took place in Irvine, CA. I didn't have too much time to spend at the show - we were out late at Irwindale the night before (for the Formula D Finale ), and was pretty surprised to find out that JCCS ended super early - at 3pm!!! Since most of the photos I took at the show centered around old school Toyotas, I thought it would be cool to show you all these photos that my good friend Chris Manacop shot. For those of you not familiar...
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Posted
Oct 20 2008, 10:15 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 22 comment(s)
Love it or hate it, the Ford Mustang is an automotive icon and the original pony car has been a favorite among enthusiasts ever since its introduction in the mid '60s. After its Carroll Shelby and Steve McQueen "glory days", the Mustang was reduced to a shadow of its former self with the Mustang II of the '70s. By the mid '80s the Mustang had regained some of what made the original cars great with the introduction of the famous Fox body 5.0. The 5.0 'Stangs became the car to have in the '80s, and the potential of the EFI 5.0 engines made them one of the most popular "tuner" cars ever. The original 5.0 Mustangs are now over 20 years old, but they continue to be one of the best "bang for the buck" vehicles on the used car market in the USA. The 5.0 has already been established as a great platform for drag racing and even road racing, but what about drifting?...
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Posted
Oct 17 2008, 12:30 PM
by
Andy Blackmore
with 13 comment(s)
Photographer Andrew Jennings was at Road Atlanta earlier this month, enjoying a classic Petit Le Mans event. During the weekend, Andrew had the opportunity to get close to the Drayson-Barwell Aston Martin Vantage GT2 race car. Following our popular Car Features on the GT1 Aston Martin DBR9 and Corvette C6.R , we are delighted to feature his words and images for fellow Speedhunters. Words and Images by Andrew Jennings Not long ago I was down in Atlanta to attend the 2008 ALMS Petit Le Mans 1000mile...
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Posted
Oct 16 2008, 01:19 PM
by
Jeroen Willemsen
with 57 comment(s)
There are certain cars that make an lasting impression, and it's no different with this 180SX. I have seen this car on so many automotive forums from around the world, I knew I had to feature it here on Speedhunters. Last weekend, I had a party at my house with lots of friends, not all of them are into cars, and when I showed them these pictures even they said ‘Hell Yeah'. That's the same feeling I got when I first saw this car. This root beer colored 180SX belongs to Joshua Maghirang...
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Posted
Oct 15 2008, 10:00 AM
by
Jeroen Willemsen
with 21 comment(s)
After I promised you guys to make a car feature of the Denstsport 240RS, here it is. I have been in contact with Bill Washburn from Denstsport about this car who drove the car during the GT Live Red Line Time Attack event. It seems that more and more car builders are giving more attention to how the air flows around the car. Same goes for Dentsport, the rear quarters are cut in half to let the air pass as smooth as possible. In the opening picture you can see the diffuser they used during a time...
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Posted
Oct 13 2008, 04:37 PM
by
Antonio Alvendia
with 16 comment(s)
Rallying is one aspect of Southern California's car culture that isn't usually shown or promoted in import type magazines! We often see Southern Cali's best drift cars, show cars, drag cars, and even time attack cars being featured by the automotive media. However, there are a lot of really cool cars that run Southern Cali rally events like the California Rally Series , SCCA Rallycross , Formula RallyX , and the annual Rim of the World Rally . These cars don't often find themselves...
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Posted
Oct 13 2008, 05:00 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 14 comment(s)
It's SoCal month here on Speedhunters, and while there is a wealth awesome car stuff to be seen around LA, it can be a bit hard to access since I am in Japan right now. That's no problem though, because the SoCal influence can be seen on cars all over the world, and especially here in Japan. I have been researching some of the US-inspired custom cars in Japan and I came across a really unique build that I thought was worth a closer look. The majority of the cars that I have featured here are commonly seen models, this one surely is not. Before I get into the details of the build, I should probably give a little background info on the Nissan PAO....
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Posted
Oct 08 2008, 08:00 AM
by
Jeroen Willemsen
with 26 comment(s)
A couple of days ago I got a tip from one our readers who lives in the UK. He gave me a link and the only thing he said was "I know you will like this". When I pressed the link, I got confronted with the car you see before you and I was blown away. This car has been in the making for the past three years and it started its life as an ‘ordinay' Nissan S14A. When I was browsing through the pictures I didn't recognize the bodykit or any of the other stuff on the car. That's...
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Posted
Oct 01 2008, 07:15 AM
by
Antonio Alvendia
with 3 comment(s)
By now you guys have probably seen the great video footage that Rod shot at Porschewerks Leipzig for the 911 RS vs 911 GT2 feature on Speedhunters. While you all are capable of Googling the specs and numbers on the Porsche 911 GT2, I wanted to talk for a minute about how the car felt when I was driving it. The GT2 I drove was actually a Clubsport edition GT2 - an instructor car from Porsche's Sport Driving School at Leipzig. The Clubsport designation means it comes equipped with a bolt-in rollbar...
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Posted
Sep 29 2008, 08:15 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 21 comment(s)
In the mid-90s, my wife and I moved to London to pursue a dream of directing music videos in the UK scene. This of course, was not such an easy manuever. It was quite a huge challenge to go to a large, foreign city to get started in a freelance career.... Pretty stressful times I have to say, although I wouldn't be where I am today unless I put myself through that hardship.... A particularly tough scenario I had to deal with during this period of my life was, I had to endure seven whole years...
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Posted
Sep 28 2008, 02:47 PM
by
John Brooks
with 4 comment(s)
Seeing old race cars for the first time in ages is a bit like bumping into an old flame, there is a natural tendancy to don the rose tinted spectacles, remember the good times and forget the bad. Racing imitates Life. Those of you paying attention will know that Rod, Antonio and I were guests of Porsche AG at their Leipzig Factory earlier this year. Like all good hosts they made us feel very welcome and when they showed us up to the museum/display area it was an opportunity to meet up with some old...
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Posted
Sep 25 2008, 12:29 PM
by
Jeroen Willemsen
with 11 comment(s)
For some the world is not enough, same goes for certain car owners. To cater those happy few that can buy million dollar cars and turn them into something even more outrageous we have Gemballa. The tuner is situated in Leonberg Germany, that's around 10km from Stuttgart where Porsche themselves are situated. Gemballa made some interesting conversions in the past but I wanted to show you the most extreme one, the Gemballa Mirage GT based on the Porsche Carerra GT. The kit that Gemballa developed...
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Posted
Sep 23 2008, 12:54 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 22 comment(s)
As we get closer to the end of the month and our all out on focus on Porsche, it's time for me to finish up my Rauh Welt car features with the much-anticipated look at Nakai-san's personal 1985 Porsche 930. This is a car over 12 years in the making, and in its current state it is definitely one of the most unique Porsche 911's anywhere in the world. From its extensive bodywork to its laps and laps of racing experience, this car has been a testbed for all of RWB's products, and as you saw in my previous feature, it has inspired Porsche owners all over Japan and more recently all over the world....
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Posted
Sep 19 2008, 05:44 PM
by
Antonio Alvendia
with 15 comment(s)
It's not every day you get to see and touch a real Porsche 911 Carrera RS. There are many, many clones out there, but a real production RS is a very rare car. The RS initials stand for Rennsport , which basically means racing sport in German - it was, in essence, a race car, specially produced by Porsche in the early 1970s. The car I got to photograph and ride in on the Speedhunters trip to Leipzig was a 1973 model - pristine white with green wheels and Carrera stripe going across the sides of...
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