Nissan Facebook Fans Invited to Participate in “Project 370Z,” Helping Define the Ultimate Enthusiasts’ Z® Car

STILLEN 370Z

STILLEN 50 State Legal Supercharger

Nissan has been very active in the motorsports and enthusiast world over the last several weeks, with the NASA Spec Z series announcement, World Challenge, Grand Am, and other series involvement.

Now Nissan is going to be building the ultimate track Z with input from its Facebook fans. This could be really cool, or a disaster.  Hopefully its not some hellaflush fail build.  Knowing whats popular, that is probably how it will end up. All show, no go.  Lets see if I am proved wrong. There are already some pretty good templates out there, the supercharged STILLEN 370Z covers most of the bases, forced induction, brakes, suspension, tires, visual, and cooling.

Nissan 350Z Spec Series from NASA

NISSAN PARTNERS WITH NATIONAL AUTO SPORT ASSOCIATION TO CREATE NEW SPEC Z SERIES
Popular 350Z will be the basis of cost-effective racing program

Nissan North America and The National Auto Sport Association (NASA) are pleased to announce the creation of an all-new Spec Z series that will feature the Nissan 350Z®. The NASA Spec Z class will include all trim levels of the 2003-2008 year model Nissan 350Z in a single classification focused on close competition, parity and cost containment that will showcase driving ability and car setup skills.

NASA Spec Z will offer a comprehensive contingency prize program that will reward both Regional and National Championship competitors. Nissan Motorsports will provide significant support for the series, and their contingency prize program provides cash rewards up to $850 for the top three finishers at each regional competition weekend. Additionally, Nissan Motorsports will provide $6,500 in cash support to the top Spec Z finishers at the 2012 NASA Championships.

BFGoodrich tires will be the control tire for the Spec Z class, and BFG has also created a generous contingency prize program for the series. More contingency prize programs for the Spec Z class are being finalized for the series and will be announced shortly.

"We are very excited about Spec Z,” said Jeremy Croiset, NASA Sponsorship Manager. “We have been working closely with Nissan Motorsports on the creation of Spec Z, and it will be an excellent series for anyone looking to step into a spec vehicle that’s fast and relatively inexpensive to build, maintain and race. With the fantastic contingency prize programs that are being provided for Spec Z, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a more rewarding spec series to race in. We look forward to watching Spec Z grow and flourish in the coming years as more racers adopt this new formula.”

Ron Stukenberg, Senior Manager, Motorsports Marketing Communications, Nissan North America agrees, and adds, “NASA has a proven track record of growing classes from the ground up, so we are excited to be working with NASA on the new Spec Z series. We have a number of competitors already expressing interest in the series, so the potential for this series is very strong indeed. With our Nissan Motorsports Competition Parts Program and comprehensive contingency prize programs, we are looking to make this a strong offering for those interested in stepping into a very competitive spec series racing the iconic Z car.”

For complete details on the new series rules, please visit http://www.nasaproracing.com/rules.

For details on the newly-announced contingency programs for the Spec Z series, please visit http://www.nasaproracing.com/contingency.

About Nissan North America
In North America, Nissan's operations include automotive styling, design, engineering, consumer and corporate financing, sales and marketing, distribution and manufacturing. Nissan is dedicated to improving the environment under the Nissan Green Program 2010 and has been recognized as a 2010 and 2011 ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency. More information about Nissan in North America and the complete line of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles can be found online at www.NissanUSA.com and www.Infiniti.com.

Visit the NISMO performance parts and accessories site at http://www.nissanusa.com/nismo/

Join the Nissan Performance Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/nissanperformance

About National Auto Sport Association (NASA)
The National Auto Sport Association (NASA) was formed in 1991 to deliver high quality motorsports events to enthusiasts at major racing venues throughout the nation. NASA has created programs that allow owners of both racecars and high-performance street-driven vehicles to enjoy the full performance capabilities of their cars in a safe and controlled environment. NASA offers many different programs that will allow you to enjoy motorsports on a number of different levels, including our High Performance Driving Events (HPDE), Rally Sport, Time Trial, NASA-X and Competition Racing programs.

Source: Nissan News

Jeremy Boddy Arrested: Multiple Counts of Fraud : Drift Tuners : JDM Experts

Updated with Peterborough Examiner info.

According to this newspaper article, and the NICO forums, Jeremy Boddy has been arrested and charged with eight counts of fraud.

When the each realized car seller was not able to deliver on their purchase, the incidents were reported to police. Police say eight victims were defrauded of $81,056 in total.
Jeremy Roger Boddy, 34, of Neptune Street, is charged with eight counts of fraud over $5,000.
He was released from custody and will appear in court this Friday (Jan. 27). 

Some more information from the Peterborough Examiner and Galen Eagle. The author managed to talk to several of the people allegedly scammed by Jeremy Boddy.  Not only were some scammed for deposits, but many for thousands more.  The police compared some of what Boddy was doing to a Ponzi scheme.

In an email to The Examiner, alleged victim Michael Holton of Texas said he paid Boddy in 2009 to import a Toyota Supra from Japan to the United States.
“He knew everything there was to importing…and even gave me a couple of people to call as referrals,” Holton said. “As soon as I wired him the money to get my car, I had a hard time getting a hold of him.”

I have been onto this guy, Jeremy, for a long time. His MO is a slick website, and $2,000-$3,000 deposits on cars.  He used a few company names over the years. Drift Tuners, JDM Experts, and Used JDM. . He made a lot of claims of what he did, who he was working with. He still managed to scam people, and live off other peoples money for years. Its a shame.

People just don't want to believe someone with a lot of experience in importing. They always want to take the easy way out, whether its weight loss or importing cars.   If there were some kind of loophole, or easy way, I would have found it, and I would be using it.  However, there isn't and there isn't an easy legal way to import cars until they are over 25 years old for the DOT and 21 years old for the EPA.  If you can't wait, then be prepared for the consequences.

Drift Tuners are back, and trying to scam more people. Watch out. I have been in contact with several people that have given Drift Tuners and Jeremy Boddy money on cars and never got a car. This guy is just continuing to scam people and bilk them out of money. Don't let yourself be a victim to this guy.

http://www.torontonissan.ca/forums/showthread.php?p=58181

Using the JDM Experts Name. And posting yesterday. $2k deposits on cars.

http://jdmexperts.com/

Slick official looking website. Don't get caught up in this scam.

Here are some examples of the lies that Jeremy Boddy put out over the years. Its much easier to get some suckers to send you money, than actually do the work for importation. 

 Check out this email from Jeremy.

"We now offer DOT & EPA imports for U.S. street use which also includes a U.S. title. For more information please call us at 1-866-847-1407. This includes the Toyota Supra, Nissan Skyline R33 and R34 from 1996 through 1998 and the Silvia S13, S14 and S15. We currently are updating the website to include the DOT, EPA and title within the price of our U.S. sales. Call or email us for more info. Our process no longer will include J.K. Tech, LLC. Therefore reducing the overall cost saving you money. Our process is $5,000 vs the $26,000 that J.K. Tech charges.


Jeremy Boddy
General Director"

Nice. $5000 with a title. Anyone that has actually ever even tried to get a title for a imported car, knows you are going to spend a lot of money. Just EPA work and compliance, and you are nearly at $5k.

I wonder what happened between them and JK. Have to follow up on this. These guys are just full of it.

I had an email the other day from someone that said they sent Drift Tuners $2000 for a deposit on a car. They had a lot of problems getting a hold of them after they sent the money. The car they wanted wasn't available, so the buyer found another, as they could not get a hold of Jeremy. I haven't heard if it had been settled, but I am sure that is how this kid is working. Just scamming one person after another.

Source: myKawartha , Peterborough Examiner and NICO

Nurburgring : Drone's Eye View

KIPPENBERGER DRONE SHOWREEL 2011 from christopher kippenberger on Vimeo.
This is pretty cool. Great way to use some of what is availalbe now, to make some great footage. Helicopters, planes, and blimps have been used for years for sports coverage. Now with the advent of cheap planes, cheap cameras, and in some cases even live streaming, get some new views and new takes on events.

This video was produced by German firm Kippenberger, which is looking to bring affordable airborne videos to ze German car scene. Renting a helicopter for the day can cost up to $50,000 before the red tape of arranging air space permits. Drones could be flying at Cars and Coffee tomorrow.

"I am interested in the new wave of car filming similar to what Brainfarm did for snowboarding," Kippenberger tells Jalopnik. "I believe it is time to start rethinking how to bring car visuals like Intersection did for print. There are few guys out there doing it — tangentvector is one of them — they inspire me to break free for the shackles of Top Gear thinking, which is basically a tv format from yesteryear, and go for some newer ideas."

The Sun Rising at Willow Springs

Early one morning at Willow Springs, the DG Spec Scion. Testing out the lights for the 25 Hours of Thunderhill.