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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 06 2008, 01:56 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 8 comment(s)
I was originally planning on running this story last month, but since old school Nissans play a pretty big role here, I figured I would save it until Nissan month. Earlier this fall, I took a trip down to Toride City here in Ibaraki Prefecture where I had made arrangements to visit a classic car dealer and restoration shop called East Car. Although I have seen plenty of cool vintage Nissans at events here in Japan, I was pretty excited to check out the facilities at East Car and get a deeper look at the world of Japanese classic cars. We were greeted by the manager Akihiko-san who kindly took some time from his day to show us around and talk a little bit about the shop and what they do....
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Posted
Oct 09 2008, 03:24 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 3 comment(s)
In a lot of places the internet is taking over print magazines as the primary form of automotive media, but that's not the case in Japan. The car magazine is still king here and every month bookstore shelves fill with TONS of high quality automotive magazines about everything from Ferraris to Toyota Hi Ace vans. This month I will be looking some of the SoCal/US- focused magazines, and one of the most unique of these publications is a magazine called "Cruisin'". I first came across this magazine when I was on trip to Japan a few years ago, and was very impressed with it. It's all about American-inspired custom cars and the culture that surrounds them. Everything about Cruisin' magazine is ultra high quality, and I would say each issue could almost border on being a book, or "mook" as the Japanese like to call magazine-book hybrids....
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Posted
Oct 08 2008, 11:13 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 14 comment(s)
After just a few years, the annual Japanese Classic Car Show has become a Southern California tradition and the premiere classic Japanese auto event in the United States. In case you haven't heard, the '08 edition of the event will be held this Sunday October 12 at Hidden Valley Park in Irvine. Since I have lived in Japan I have had the chance to attend several classic car events, but there is something special about the unique SoCal touch of the JCCS. Of course I won't be able to go this year, but I'm looking forward to seeing coverage from the event....
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Posted
Oct 07 2008, 03:32 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 3 comment(s)
I don't think it's much of a stretch to say the Japan has the best convince stores in the world. Whether it's freshly made onigiri rice balls, bento lunches, or the latest issue of your favorite magazine, the conbini have everything you could want. They also have a nice selection of toys that come packaged randomly in small boxes that include everything from WWII fighter planes and motorcycles to alien monsters. I always have to take a look at these things when i drop by the neighborhood Seven Eleven, and the other day I came across something I couldn't live without, the 1/64 scale "Granchan Collection" from Aoshima....
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Posted
Oct 06 2008, 12:04 PM
by
John Brooks
with 11 comment(s)
The say a picture is worth a thousand words but this one is almost beyond value, you could not buy these cars at any price, they are truly constructed of Unobtainium. Ferrari 330 LMB (one of only four built) leads Ferrari 250 GT SWB "Breadvan", Ferrari 250 GTO and the poor relation a Jaguar E type "lowdrag coupe""............this is the contents of the vault of an automotive Fort Knox and the treasures are being raced! With the period setting in a glorious location, the serious...
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Posted
Sep 25 2008, 04:25 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 10 comment(s)
I spent the afternoon yesterday shooting a couple of upcoming features at a nearby classic car dealer and restoration shop called East Car. Visiting a shop is always a fun thing to do, and I found plenty of cool stuff at East Car that I can't wait to post. For now ,I just wanted to throw up this quick shot of the impressive sight that greets you when arrive at the shop. Can you identify all the cars in the photo?...
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Posted
Aug 28 2008, 01:54 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 16 comment(s)
Earlier this month, I looked a little bit at the Japanese classic car scene and discussed some of the popular models and different styles of classic car restoration and modification in Japan. One thing that I didn't really touch upon in that post was the "kyusha kai" culture that can be found all over Japan. There are different names that have been used for these cars and sometimes they are known as "bosozoku" or "yanki" cars, but in actuality those names don't really fit too well. Or at least they don't anymore. You probably know about the infamous bosozoku motorcycle gangs and how they are known for riding around revving their engines in the middle of the night and causing other sorts of trouble....
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Posted
Aug 22 2008, 11:14 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 6 comment(s)
There a few things better than spending a weekend hanging out with fellow enthusiasts, talking about cars, and just enjoying the hobby in general. This is exactly what happened last weekend at the meet that was hosted by our friends at Retro Scene Magazine in the UK. The UK has a thriving classic car scene, and I must say that it looks quite different from anything I have seen in the states. In the US everyone is sort of divided into their own "scenes" and there is little interaction between them. The UK "retro" scene is much different, and at the meet you could find everything from vintage air and water-cooled VW's, to classic Japanese cars, to UK market Fords, and even classic American cars. That is the most impressive thing to me about this meet, people with all sorts of cars coming together to celebrate the love of vintage machinery....
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Posted
Jul 25 2008, 01:55 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 3 comment(s)
It's hi res desktop wallpaper time again! This time I went with a couple of images I took at the recent JCCA Tsukuba Summer Meeting. One is the Skylines in the photo above and the other is a shot from the TS Cup race. Head over to desktops section to download them now......
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Posted
Jul 09 2008, 07:50 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 5 comment(s)
Even car enthusiasts who live outside of Japan are probably familiar with the automotive magazine "Best Car". Best Car is one of the primary sources of the "speculative renderings" of new models that pop up on car blogs all over the internet. Of course Best Car does a lot more than just speculate on future cars. The magazine has actually been around for thirty years! To celebrate this anniversary, Best Car has published a special edition (book?) called the "Best Car Chronicle" that features reprints of selected articles from the magazine's history dating all the way back to the its beginning in 1978. When I was at my local Tsutaya bookstore the other day I spied this one sitting on the shelf and after flipping through it for a few seconds, I knew I had to add it to my collection......
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Posted
Jul 07 2008, 04:58 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 8 comment(s)
What could be better than seeing a bunch of cool hot rods and pro touring muscle cars underneath the skyline of one of America's most historic cities? How about seeing a bunch of cool hot rods and muscle cars being thrashed on an autocross course at the same event? Speedhunters forum member MarlowLT12 was at the TRSCCA and Goodguys Car Show & Autocross in downtown Nashville, TN where he found some of the best hot rods and muscle cars that the south has to offer......
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Posted
Jun 25 2008, 08:27 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 5 comment(s)
Finally had some time to upload a couple new desktop wallpapers. Get them while they are hot in our desktops section!...
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