I love all cars, but my soft spot is for the old-school machines from Japan. While I grew up around Alfa Romeos, Fiats, Lotus Cortinas and other Europeans, I yearned for Datsun 510s, AE86 Corollas, and TRD Starlets. Those cars always looked the best at track days and SCCA autocrosses.
Many nights spent roaming the mountains drifting our AE86s blossomed into an appreciation of Japanese car culture in its fuller sense.
When it comes to the American automotive ethos, it's pretty much like everything else out here in the Land of the Free: Bigger is Better!
Perhaps no other event exemplifies this mentality more than the annual SEMA orgy in Las Vegas....
From the bazooms on the models, to the dubs on the show cars, just about everything is large, chromed up, iced out, and in questionable taste. The Halloween-themed WRX in the Subaru display was...ummm...whimsical: But there are some diamonds in the rough. You just have to walk around all day to find them. This Lowrider-themed Camry, dubbed the "Camryder", was definitely one of the coolest concepts I saw yesterday...this thing was totally sweet. Check out the door detail! And I even ran into X-Games superstar and Subaru factory rally driver Travis Pastrana, who was signing autographs alongside his brand new WRX rally car. Pity that I didn't have time to wait in line for the autographed poster! At least he was cool enough to pose for a photo. And here's his new ride:
Any time to party with our friends at WORKS is a good time, and this past Saturday was no exception.
WORKS, NorCal's finest Mitsubishi tuner, has just opened a new full service race shop facility at Infineon Raceway which will give them the ability to do a lot of track testing. and a great home base for their upcoming Touring Car racing season in the brand new FWD Mitsu Lancer race car (silver car in above pic). It was great to see Mitsubishi corporate embracing the WORKS guys and providing factory support for the grand opening. They even brought out some sweet cars from their collection, including the above Starion that appeared at JCCS last month. Apparently this was a car built for road racing at Bathurst in Australia. Pretty sweet! My friend Kirk Harper, Director of New Business Development at WORKS, is a serious car guy, and so there were a lot of different and unique cars that showed up for the party. Dozens of Evos, of course, but there were also some real gems. This 3rd-gen Supra was one of the cleanest ones we've seen in awhile (but frankly I was digging the 4-speed Falcon Sprint Convertible in the background!) We'll be keeping tabs on their progress with the new '08 Lancer race car. These guys are determined to succeed, and they will!
Well, the 24 Hours of LeMons Arse-Freeze-a-Palooza is history, and it's taken me four days to fully digest. Words and static pictures just fail to capture the impact of seeing this event actually happen in real life.
The 24 Hours of LeMons just might be the greatest automobile race of modern times. It is the opus of Jay Lamm, irreverent automotive pundit, Berkeley resident (close enough), and sometime freelance journalist. This is a guy who once brought a Mazda RX2 4-door dressed up as a Tokyo police car on our Double 500 road rally. I heard he also reconstructed the Berlin Wall in his apartment for a recent Berlin: 1989-themed birthday party. Whatever the truth, he's an eccentric. But I'm not sure even Jay himself realizes how truly wonderful his spectacle of bullshite is. For example, witness the total destruction of a late-model 7-series BMW for none other than sacrificial purposes:
All this, of course, as 80+ out-of-control crapcans careen around the bankings and tight switchbacks of the appropriately dubbed "Altamonterring". The silver 7-series BMW suffered the "People's Curse" penalty, one of countless penalties awarded for over-the-budget cars or shitty driving. Believe it or not, it even came back after this punishment to finish the race.
LeMons is, of course, a parody of a race (the 24 Hours of LeMans in France). But make no mistake about it: this is a serious road race, with determined drivers vying for the glory, and, of course, the winning purse, $1500 in nickels. For an in-car glimpse of how intense the on-track action is, check out the following clip from Team Santa Cruz, who ran a Porsche 944:
We'll have in-car video from the MJS MR2 soon, but for now this will have to do!
The winning Black Iron (#65) team, fellow three-time veterans of LeMons, drove a BMW 5-series with most of the identifiable bodywork chopped off. In the closing moments of the race, the Circus Maximus team (formerly known as the Holy Rollers), who appeared to have had the race locked up, lost a tire and went parading around the track. The hard-charging Black Iron boys saw this last-minute vulnerability and upped their pace - at the finish line, after approximately 14 hours of wheel-to-wheel racing, Black Iron emerged victorious with a sub 8-second margin of victory! Spectacular job!
Here we see a typical 4-wide pack navigating the notorious back banking....better get in line before you get pinched at the ridiculously narrow Esses! If you don't, you're liable to run into a large tractor tire strategically placed to aid you in your destruction.
The Motoring J Style MR2/MeR deux Toyota MR2 made its second LeMons appearance, after a solid 12th place finish in July's championship race. We avoided behemoths like this quite terrifying Richard Petty themed Ford Thunderbird (above), and showed the "Canola Rolla'z" (below), how we roll...that's right, Toyota 4AG style and none of that vegetable oil business.
We managed to stay out of the pits for most of the race, which is essentially the key to success in endurance racing...gotta keep your driver circling the track at all times! We had a few incidents, but thankfully none compared to these:
The AMC Hornet's wheel decided it no longer wanted to be attached to the car....and rolled away...
Our friends from Fantasy Junction used this Mazda to run into a lot of things.
Conrad Stevenson's excellent Alfa Spyder benefitting from some late-night repairs.
This team brought an '80s 5-speed Camry, and spent most of the race in the pit next to us doing a clutch job.
And our sister car, the California Mille entry (#34 Alfetta) ran in the top 10 for the first half of the race before the car began a slow death on Sunday morning. They finished 35th. And hey, check out that Conquest TSi and the AE92 in the background!
Before July 2007 race: After October race:
Despite some close calls (and, let's face it, many outright impacts and straight up crashes), the MR2 kept circling. The Motoring J Style team brought the car home 4th overall, a mere 29 laps down from the winning BMW!
We'll be back for the season finale at Thunderhill on December 29-30 to challenge LeMons once more. Is our MR2 bound for even greater glory that it has already achieved? We think so!
On any list of top-drawer enthusiast cars, the Infiniti G models, G35 sedan and G37 coupe, must rank at or near the top, and are priced at bargain levels. A recent test car was the 2008 G37 S 6-speed coupe, in a perfect red with black leather. Buttoned down, but never harsh, with performance that, only a few years ago, would have been in super car territory, plus the low cost maintenance and bullet-proof reliability, make this Infiniti a car you can live with easily. And it never fails to feed your appetite for automotive excellence. Nissan products have generally avoided being bland—think 510, 240Z, 300Z turbo, 240SX. Infiniti has found a clean, bold styling direction. Try one; I predict you’ll find it irresistible. -Martin Swig
As Toyota begins paying more attention to their history and heritage, it seems fitting that they'd want to honor their motorsports champions as well. Toyota as a brand has been an unfailing supporter of racing activites; in recent years, the company has launched major efforts in both Formula One and NASCAR racing. All gearheads should be thankful to them for that; Toyota is helping keep professional motorsports alive!
So it was that Toyota held a dinner dubbed the "Night of Champions" at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum on October 18th. There are currently six historic Toyota racing vehicles from the past 25 years on display at the museum. The exhibit runs through January 2008.
I was most struck upon seeing the IMSA Toyota Eagle MKIII formerly driven by Juan Manuel Fangio II.
This car brought back a flood of memories; I remember being six years old and attending the IMSA Camel GT race at Laguna Seca, where my favorite driver, Juan Manuel Fangio II, beat all the other competition driving a similar car. Fangio II is the nephew of the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio, who won 5 Grand Prix World Championships during the 1950s.
The younger Fangio (left) even made the trip from Balcarce, Argentina, to attend the ceremony.
The fuel-sipping Prius record setter (below) was certainly the greenest vehicle displayed in the house Wally Parks built. It looked somewhat out of place against a backdrop of '32 Ford Lakes Roadsters, Bonneville Belly Tanks, and frenched taillights.
This very rare IMSA Celica was trucked out for the evening of the dinner only. Period driver Dennis Aase was in attendance, but Dan Gurney was conspicuously absent!
Even with Gurney absent, the guest list wasn't suffering too much! There were no shortage of Toyota champions (above), with almost one at each dinner table. Visible in the photo (among others) are "Ironman" Ivan Stewart, Steve Millen, Cristiano da Matta, Alex Barron, Chris Cord, and Frank Arciero. All in all, it was a spectacular evening which provided an opportunity to reflect on all that Toyota has contributed to motorsport in recent years. Thank you Toyota for all the racing memories!
THE 4th Annual CSRG Charity Challenge Vintage Races are in the books, and it was an epic vintage race weekend by all accounts. The field was eclectic as ever, including such rarities as a Maserati 250F Grand Prix Car, a Bugatti Type 59, and an 8C Alfa Romeo. Plenty of others filled out the eight classes, from the most famous and valuable Ferraris to super obscure cars like the French Rene Bonnet D'Jet.
There aren't too many car dealers out there who are also "car guys", but one serious exception to the rule is Gordon Walton of Walnut Creek Honda. That's him above in his gorgeous '67 Honda S800 in Turn 2. Check out his car below:
For once, we didn't have any of our own cars entered, so we got to relax and enjoy all the races from the stands... It was great not having to wake up at 6:30am!
We got to see the Historic NASCAR guys do their impression of a road course:
And there were a few things that made us look twice, like this Audi S5 parked in a fleet of RS4s out near Turn 5:
And a cool early 70s Alfa Romeo Berlina that was parked near all the Audis...
We love Alfas and if you don't, you need some knowledge. The Berlina is a sweet car, kind of like Italy's Datsun 510, with cooler instruments and a twincam motor. I want one.
But, wait, what's that over there?! We spotted this hakosuka Skyline in the Sears Point paddock:
In fact, this was the Skyline GT-X that appeared on the Bay Area craigslist site a month or two ago. Its new proud owner was none other than Jim Froula, who is well-known in vintage racing circles with his 1967 Datsun Bluebird, which he just happened to be racing this weekend:
This thing is immaculate...check it out:
That's one pretty sweet ride!
Don't be fooled: there's no Motoring J Style in the above photo. But the driver of the 912 is my friend Anne. Anne is cool because she actually races her daily-driven, black-plate Porsche 912. And here she's mixing it up hardcore with Alfas and Porsche 356s...you gotta respect that!
Well, that's it for now. Next weekend, look for an update on a rather more degenerate form of racing, the 4th running of the now-infamous 24 Hours of LeMons. Cheers!
Once upon a time, Toyota made some pretty cool "hot hatches" and even...*gasp*...sports cars! There were, of course, the legendary "AE86" Corolla GT-S models, the later front-wheel-drive FX 16s, and all manner of cool Celicas, MR2s, and Supras. Honda had their CR-X, a tuner favorite, which gave way to the softer, less desirable (by our standards) del Sol.
But those days are long gone. Toyota's current lineup is pleasant enough, and the cars are selling like hotcakes...but really...walk into a Toyota showroom, and they may as well have signs saying "Welcome to Dullsville!". And those Prius drivers are a real bother, always driving slow in the left lane and whatnot. Oh well, it ain't the good ol' days anymore.
Toyota's lack of sports cars in the current lineup has opened the door for other companies to attract the enthusiasts that Toyota has essentially abandoned. Nissan is offering tasty cars like the new Altima Coupe and their revival of the Z; Mazda is definitely in the mix with its Miata, RX-8, and MAZDASPEED products. And it's time for Honda to step into the fray with their recently unveiled CR-Z, which harkens back to the original and much-loved CR-X.
The CR-Z is larger than the old CR-X, according to our buddies at Winding Road, who leaked news about the CR-Z concept onto the web on Tuesday. It's likely to be a gas-electric hybrid.
To quote from Honda's press release on their presence at the Tokyo Motor Show: "'CR-Z' stands for 'Compact Renaissance Zero'-an expression intended to capture the idea of a renaissance in the design of compact cars that begins anew from fundamentals.
This design research model of a lightweight hybrid sports car features advanced technologies that deliver enjoyable driving for all while reducing the vehicle's environmental footprint."
We say, emphatically, build it! The renaissance of the Japanese sports car can't come soon enough for us.
If you're predisposed to sitting around wasting your workday looking for new project cars on eBay or craigslist, you've probably seen or heard about the 1971 Honda 1300 Coupe 9 S on eBay. It caused a minor sensation in the online world when the car was listed on ebay last week.
Everyone's favorite tabloid auto-gossip site Jalopnik was all over this like flies on shit automotive journalists at a free buffet. Their writeup of the car can be found here. For some background on what the Coupe 9 is and why it's significant, you might also check out Jalopnik's article nominating the Coupe 9 S to their "Fantasy Garage".
Full disclosure here: We (Motoring J Style) are the sellers of the Coupe 9 S. However, I'm frankly stunned that there are no bids with two days to go. Is everyone holding out until the last minute, or won't the market sustain this relatively modest price?
Time will tell, but I'll be the first to say that if this car gets no bids, I'll gladly put it away until I have time to restore it properly in the future!
As if we needed more proof that vintage Japanese cars outlast, well, just about anything else on the road, Hemmings Motor News reports in their November issue about Vic Pike and his '71 Corolla Coupe, which he bought new.
Looking a little worse for wear today (as usual, the mechanical components seem to have held up better than the body), Pike's Corolla has covered 610,000 miles. We like his style: "At 182,823 miles...I replaced the brake discs and shoes, and those are still in the car. I use the brakes very little; I'll broadside a corner rather than braking", Vic writes.
However, his Corolla is looking rather worse for wear than the Guinness Book of World Records' official high-mileage king, Irv Gordon's '66 Volvo P1800, whose odometer has surpassed 2,500,000 miles. Apparently, those Swedes really had build quality figured out back then!
CSRG (Classic Sports Racing Group) is holding their annual Charity Challenge Vintage Races this weekend at Sears Point Raceway ("Infineon" to you young guys) in Sonoma. This great event brings out the best NorCal vintage racers, as well as people all over the West Coast, to do battle in their nostalgic race cars. This year, the event features Historic Grand Prix and Historic NASCARs, with the opportunity to buy rides during lunch on both days in your favorite race car! Proceeds generated from the event go to local charities.
MOTORING J STYLE has teamed up with CSRG to bring a group of vintage Japanese car enthusiasts to the races! CSRG has kindly given us our own parking area for an MJS Car Corral. We're hoping to see some great old-schools out there! Anyone is welcome, though pre-87 Japanese cars are preferred. Tickets are $20 at the gate, $10 for kids under 16. The ticket is good for both Saturday and Sunday. Corral will be on Saturday from 10AM-4PM. Show up anytime!
To get to the corral after you enter the track: Drive up the hill, turn right across from "Lot 2". This is called the "TV lot",and it overlooks the paddock from the back.
We look forward to seeing you there, and to watching some great races. There may even be a Datsun Bluebird Coupe and a Honda S800 on the track...
Questions? Hit me up at 415.479.9930 or dswig@motoringjstyle.com
The publication that features "All the News That's Fit to Print" has taken notice of the vintage Japanese car scene once again, covering this past weekend's Japanese Classic Car Show. It was especially cool that they gave a shout-out to Motoring J Style, the guys at Japanese Nostalgic Car, and also to Brian Baker of hondasportsregistry.com. The link to the article is below:
The first time they wrote about us was here, where they noted the rising interest in collecting classic Toyotas.
Sometimes, it seems like all the hours spent tinkering with our AE86s has been validated. Japanese cars and their enthusiasts are finally getting recognized properly, and that's a damn good feeling.
I spotted this once-pristine kitted-out RX-7 on a Daly City sidestreet. In white with flared rear fenders, sideskirts, a front air dam, and even a period 80s whale tale, it looked like a Miami Beach pimp/coke dealer's special, circa 1982. But what a sweet remnant of the 80s! Unfortunately, it was a bit rusty. Oh well, at least the whale tail proved to be the perfect place for the resident next door to put his extra car seat and his baby seat while he washed his van.
Hardcore fans of vintage J-cars were gathered together this past weekend at the annual Japanese Classic Car Show, now in its third year. This great show, organized by Koji and Terry Yamaguchi, attracts enthusiasts of all makes from all over Southern California and far beyond. Entries from the past have come from as far as Canada! This year, Rory Baldrey came all the way from Boise, Idaho to steal the show for many with his '76 Nissan Laurel, looking mean in primer black and sitting on some badass SSR MK1's.
Going to LA for a weekend is always a good time and a great chance to catch up with SoCal friends. During JCCS, I hung out with my good friend Antonio Alvendia from Cipher Garage, and ran into Joji Luz from TORC, Ben and Dan Hsu of Japanese Nostalgic Car . I got a chance to meet Ken Miyoshi, something of a godfather in the import scene, which was cool! If you don't know him, he's the founder of Import Showoff and has been in the game forever. Jay Leno even rolled in with his Mazda Cosmo - he parked near the Mazda factory cars. Here he is being interviewed by Barry Meguiar of Meguiar's Car Crazy:
For me, the star of the show was this incredible tube-frame, Hayabusa-powered, carbon-fibre-bodied Honda AZ600 built for some extreme autocrossing. I can't even imagine what it would be like to go buck wild in this thing, but I like it:
Other attractions, such as the R/C drift festival, featured vintage Japanese car themes as well:
A Dodge Colt 2-door in strikingly original 70's white/red two-tone was a real stunner:
And for many, this incredible "what might have been" "Ken Mary" era Skyline was pure perfection:
I was awestruck when I saw the condition of this '74 pre-CVCC Civic:
And I got way more enthusiastic upon meeting Telly Sahara (pictured below), the renowned artist whose incredible works grace the covers of Lightning magazine.
Towards the end of the day, I met up with Antonio and Mike Bumbeck of Jalopnik...we were hanging around with the late stragglers, reluctant to leave, when we came across none other than Steve Kopito who was loading up his genuine Toyota Land Cruiser Fire Truck! This thing beats the crap out of anything made by American LaFrance, and Steve told us (if my memory serves me correctly) that he actually uses this in the Chatsworth 4th of July Parade. Steve is an awesome guy, and even brought his '65 Toyota Publica and his Honda Beat to our Motoring J Style show this past July.
More good stuff...
A sick PJ Bonifacio Corolla
Datsuns everywhere...
Mini-truckin!
What a great show! We can't wait to see what comes out of the woodwork for next year!
Just thought I'd start out with a great shot of my own '72 Datsun 510 'BRE'.
With the BRE paint scheme, bubble-flared fenders, and original 13x7 American Racing Libra wheels, this is one period piece...and an iconic one at that.
Remember, the racing version of this car won the Trans-Am Under 2.5 Litre Championship twice, in 1971 and 1972, with lead driver John Morton and team owner Peter Brock (of Cobra Daytona Coupe fame) calling most of the shots.
As Datsun was considered the underdog team in the Trans-Am series, the people at Alfa Romeo and BMW must have been shocked when the little econo-box 510 (a shameless copy of BMW's 1600) blew them out of the water.
