Old School Love At StanceNation NorCal
Corollas Are Cool

There’s an unmistakable charisma that classic cars innately possess. The distinct smell of aged interiors, the mechanical feel of taking a corner at speed, the sound of old engines turning over and chugging along; they’re all factors contributing to an indescribable nostalgia that can only be satisfied by a classic car.

While Sara’s already given you a closer look at the newer cars that showed up to StanceNation NorCal, there was a lot of old school goodness at the show, too. Although, I’ll admit I’m using the ‘old school’ term lightly, as I snuck a few cars from the early 2000s in here.

Seeing as how Japanese cars dominated the show, especially when it came to classic builds, we’ll start there.

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This ’69 two-door Corolla is a car I’ve seen on several occasions, most recently at the final Shukai Show in Japantown San Jose. I can’t help but grab some photos each time I come across it – it’s just too good.

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The 20-valve 4A-GE-powered Corolla is a modern interpretation of what a classic can be, executed to the highest level. Each time I see the car, something about it has been improved.

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Moving to the ’70s but sticking with Toyota, this Celica was an unexpected but very nice find at StanceNation. With the car surrounded by people for much of the day, I was glad to see Sara managed one clear shot of the hood popped after the crowds began to thin towards the evening.

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Under the hood it’s clear why the car was on the receiving end of so much attention. There’s just something so awesome about a clean and simple carbureted setup, especially with a set of velocity stacks topping it off. I can only imagine that the sounds this car makes are fantastic.

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Jumping to the ’80s, I spotted another 20-valve 4A-GE-powered car I’ve seen evolve over the years at a number of shows. Something tells me that those tire letters didn’t come from our store, but this FX16 GTS on air sure checks a lot of the right boxes.

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This being my first time at StanceNation NorCal I was excited to see so much variety, even within specific marques.

Datsun & Beyond
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Kicking things off for Datsun, I found this SR20-swapped 510 complete with a big single turbo, GReddy intake, and a VeilSide titanium exhaust. I’m sure there are countless other goodies at play here which I can’t readily see, too.

As with Toyota, there was a huge mix of Nissan/Datsun builds, but it shouldn’t be a surprise that most were pushing an aggressive ride height. I’ll be quick to admit that I’ve always liked the look of a stanced S30, but this is probably the first R32 on air that really spoke to me.

I love how the angularity of the front lip and side skirts accentuate the lines of the car and sit nearly flush with the ground.

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Of course, it’s hard to go wrong with an S-chassis, isn’t it?

Moving down the rows, I realized that one was entirely dedicated to my friends from Inspire USA and cars which their friends brought out. I featured this FD3S before, but it’s since had a number of upgrades that Drew told me were coming.

I’ve yet to meet an owner who says their car is truly finished.

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Four NSXs were lined up here as well, each with a long list of unique parts. A couple have already been featured on Speedhunters, and the other two are definitely worth taking a closer look at sometime in the future. Naturally, a line-up of Hondas isn’t complete without a Civic hatch.

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On the topic of hatchbacks, it was hard to miss this Sheepey Race turbo setup. I couldn’t find the owner, but here’s to hoping this car is properly flogged on track.

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While Japanese cars made up the majority of the older examples at the show, there were some really clean German builds present as well — all of which had at least a bit of Japanese flair to them. This was most prominent in the Sunburst 964; a full feature is on the way.

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Even if most of the builds at this event followed a similar ethos, it was refreshing to see so many different takes on so many different cars. StanceNation NorCal goes to show that within an era, a brand, or even a specific chassis, there are plenty of ways to skin a cat.

I really enjoyed the relevancy of these cars, too, and I found myself cruising through classifieds in the days and weeks after the show, looking to scratch that nostalgic itch.

Trevor Yale Ryan
trevor@speedhunters.com
Instagram: tyrphoto
TYRphoto.com

Additional Photos by Sara Ryan
Instagram: pockowokosara

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1

Finally, photo of that E10 Corolla!
Saw a video of it on IG but couldn't see stuff clearer.

2

What great coverage, I think 10 more cars just got added to my dream garage as i scrolled.

3

Typo in the second sentence. "the mechanical feel of taking a corner a(t) speed"

4

Typo in the first sentence: 'Typo in the second sentence(:)'

5

Even though there are still great new cars for enthusiasts, old cars are the best
I feel so nostalgic for the '80s, '90s and early '00s

6

Its almost as if they stopped making camber alignment kits after the 80s... Weird

7

Its almost as if they stopped making camber alignment kits after the 80s... Weird



It's almost as if this is your first time seeing camber at a car show . . . Weird

8

I usually dislike camber mods but man that R32 is a car that I admire. It might be background pic materiel

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