Late introduction..

A car that has moved on from the era of typical 80's designs, with its rounded edges and smoother detailing.. but it just sneaks in, and is too cool not to share.

The sixth generation, 1989-1993 Mitsubishi Minica Dangan ZZ!
One of the real Hot Kei's from Japan around that time.. and these are a beast on paper, with its twin cam, 5 valve per cylinder, turbo intercooled, 3 cylinder!
..possibly the only car to ever have 15 valves?

Like all Kei cars, they high tech engines really only produce minimal power - but they are light.

...and this car has 3 exhaust tips..
Three..!

Much love for the little Mitsubishi.
As usual, its no Alto Works to me, but surely fun!

Kanjo Racer-esque EF's!

A pair of neat little EF Honda Civics, currently for sale at a dealer in Japan.

Both look like they're straight out of some EF Honda racing series... or more likely fresh from racing around Japans Kanjo Freeway system..!

Both are 1990 cars, both have B-series honda's in them, and both are wearing what look to be Buddyclub P1's.

This one has a neat centre-exit exhuast, and an agressive wing. The interior is largely complete, with te addition of a fixed bucket seat, cage, nardi classic, etc.
outside, this originally-white car it looking pretty cool with large sections of yellow added. I like it.

Similar story with the green car, but possibly a little more hardcore..!
I love the white cage in it. looks great through the rear windows.

I like them both.
I'd prefer a clean stocker, but these are cool no doubt..!

SSR Wheels

Some vintage catalogue/brochures/advertisments from the always-awesome Speed Star Racing - SSR

fantastic 1984 AW11, complete with SSR EX-C's and optional aero covers..

The 15 INCH from Speed Star.
Years later, only the MarkII (MK.2) and MarkIII (MK.3) are still in production.

Should have ordered a set of Forumla mesh when I had the chance! argh..! :)

Pretty blue '89

Browsing through the computer for pictures to share; and bumped into these from late 2009, of a fkn gorgeous navy AW11.

Its a 1989 Toyota MR2 G-Limited, Supercharger.
Looks to have had a solid clean-up not long prior to the photos, but works too well to care.
The car has obviously been repainted, which has lost the pinstriping on the front and rear; and the wheels have been resprayed entirely silver.. but it just looks so nice.

1989 was the last year for the AW11, so this includes the final updates. it has the power-folding mirrors, mirrored targa-tops, LED spoiler, chrome door locks, etc..

The spotless, matching, blue velour interior. Great to see, as the Japanese seemed to have always ordered these with the black interior.
speaking of which, the targa is also a great touch. Its majority hardtops on the market in Japan.

The Targa or 'T-Bar' roof removed.
The panels actually go beind the seats - one on each side. Toyota even provided straps to secure them.

No engine here!
Japanese-market space-saver spare wheel, complete with its original cover. strut-tower brace is the original fitment unit.

And the first generation 4A-GZE; the 1.6ltr twin-cam 4AGE equipped with an intercooled SC12 Supercharger. Great fun, and plenty of torque for the small engine.

with a little more detail work, this would be near perfect.
I just love these cars so so much.

3 years on, I only hope it is still keeping its current owner smiling. :)

Pre-update Z31.

The era where the Z had really lost its way, but I still like it.

1985 Z31 Nissan Fairlady Z. pre-update, with the agressively sloped front bumper, and none of the rounded edges it had recieved by the later 80's.

 I always liked the headlight setup on these, where they're clearly visible when down, but still are popups. The two-tone makes the lines more interesing too.

Its a shape that would have looked so much nicer if the hatch wasnt so long.
Blame the rear seat passengers; as its headroom for them that has killed that part.
shorter roof, and more angle on that rear screen would have been tops.

Large TURBO decal between the lights there. I really prefer the update Z31 rear end; but this works with the overall sharper lines i guess.
Original Z mudflaps there.

Unsure what the wheels are, which is a bit shameful; but they're nice anyway.
the champagne colour is working well with the two-tone; and those aero-disc centre caps are awesome.
..randomly useless.. but definitely awesome..!

The Fairest of ladies.

Cool '84 - Celica XX

 

Another cool Celica, this time a 1984 *A6* Toyota Celica XX; and some nice sunset/sunrise shots to go with..!

This one has appeared on the market wearing some agressive aero, and some chunky SSR MK1's.

I love the sun glare in these pics..!
From the back we can see the clean white paint, colourmatched rear mudflaps (which look great btw), and a cool exhuast.
I like the fact this one still has its original hatchback too; rather than that aftermarket one that seems so popular (originals rust out perhaps? :p).

..and the interesting rear marker light on the rear quarter. USDM?


Cool car.
Lightly modified, and cllleann...!

Seventh-generation again..

Another R31. But hell, I love em.

This time we've got a 1988 HR31 Skyline Passage; looking great in a single-tone gunmetal grey.

Being a Passage, its got the fantastic hardtop-sedan roofline and frameless, pillarless, glass. 

The wheels almost look like some sort of early Work Equip 03's.

And the powerplant here is an interesting one.
its a RB20ET; the single cam, 2 litre, non-intercooled turbo RB nissan 6.
This crossover/manifold/etc setup is as it was on the Australian RB30ET's, and I've always had a soft-spot for that heatsink crossover pipe.

Thats all really, nothing too 'special', but a solid good buy.

Aahh.. Cordia!

One of those cars I always mourn for.. one of the models of car that were mercilessly thrashed to death..

A 1986 Mitsubishi Cordia Turbo..! Introduced by Mitsubishi way back in 1982, with a variety of powerplants.. but its the Turbo 4G62 FWD spectacular that i remember.
 .. and its definitely rare these days.
The problem is that they were cheap performance.. cheap, delicate, performance.
Throw in the fact it was easy and too tempting to get extra power out of, and the life expectancy plummets. Thrashed examples would have hurt the image/resale of the better ones, and over time they become so cheap that when causing trouble, their remaining value makes it not worthwhile to fix them.
Its been a common path for many early turbo cars.
BUT, after many years of flying under the radar, the last cars have become classics.. and I get a bloody kick out of seeing them!

This very original example recently popped up for sale on ebay aus.. for, as expected, next to no money.
Looks a little rough at first glance, but dont let a little fading fool you. It appears to be a very solid and very original car, with tons of potential. Would be very easy to clean up and enjoy.

Inside appears to be just as nice. great to see it has been left alone throughout.
'TURBO' wheel, factory tapedeck, and a clock in the centre of the passenger dashboard. perfect. :P

5speed too!

I love it, and hope it goes to a caring owner 

Vintage tech..

The original HKS EVC.. the EVC 1.. HKS 'Electronic Valve Controller' boost controller.. hit the market in 1987. 25years ago now.. 

Ignoring the slight variations there; thats the original EVC
HKS are now up to the 6th generation for this product; but the basic task is the same.

and yes.. I just prowled ebay looking for one.. :P