Latest News

Apr 30, 2008

Japanese Muscle: Part 4 of 10. Nissan Skyline GT-R

GT Channel Part 4

Japanese Muscle: Part 3 of 10. Nissan Skyline GT-R

From GT Channel. Part 3.

911 vs some solid object

Apr 29, 2008

Loading Flatrack

Formula DRIFT Round 3: The Gauntlet Moves to Englishtown Raceway;
















April 28, 2008

Formula DRIFT Round 3: The Gauntlet Moves to Englishtown Raceway;
Event will be Held on Original Date of June 14, 2008



LONG BEACH, Calif. – April 28, 2008 – Formula DRIFT Round 3: The Gauntlet has been relocated to New Jersey’s Englishtown Raceway in Englishtown on June 14, 2008. The change of venue is due to the previously announced closing of Wall Township Speedway.

The closure of Wall Speedway only impacts the location for Formula DRIFT Round 3: The Gauntlet. The event will be held on its originally scheduled date of June 14. Englishtown Raceway’s 1.35-mile Road Course will provide the backdrop for the drifting track and will offer drivers and fans a unique course that will host its first major drifting competition.

“The selection of Englishtown not only provides an ideal location for the world’s top drifters to compete, but brings a major championship to this historic raceway,” said Jim Liaw, president and co-founder of Formula DRIFT. “By moving the event to Englishtown, we were able to keep our original schedule and we are confident fans will experience a very entertaining event.”

Ticket prices start at $25 and Formula DRIFT will also be offering reserved seating. Reserved seating will save a purchased seat for the entire event so fans will not have to worry about losing their seat. General admission and reserved seating tickets can be purchased online at www.formuladrift.com.
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The Wall in New Jersey has been talking about closing, and not holding any more events since earlier in the year. This answers the question of the event location.

Apr 28, 2008

Japanese Muscle: Part 2 of 10. Nissan Skyline GT-R

Part 2 of 10

Some cars. Somewhere . Fast and Furious 4 Behind the Scenes.


An old picture on the set of Fast and Furious 4. We provided some of the background cars.  You can see Paul Walkers personal R34 in the background. R32, R34 GTS, R33. 

http://goo.gl/MWd2Lb
http://www.importavehicle.com/inventory.aspx

Apr 25, 2008

Japanese Muscle: Part 1 of 10. Nissan Skyline GT-R

GT-R's

Apr 24, 2008

Irwindale Opening up for more Sunday 1/8th mile Drag Race Dates

Toyota Speedway at Irwindale announced that it will expand the schedule of its Thursday night Test and Tune drag racing program to include an additional four dates (all on Sunday): May 25, June 29, July 27 and August 24. The Speedway’s Test and Tune program is held on its one-eighth mile street legal drag strip allowing individuals with a valid drivers license the opportunity to race their cars, trucks, motorcycles, hot rods and junior dragsters.
Gates will open at 9 a.m. for the Sunday sessions with technical inspection beginning at 10 a.m. Competition will take place from 11 a.m.– 4 p.m. The Thursday sessions are held weekly except during the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Day holidays. Gates and technical inspection open at 4 p.m. with racing from 5–10 p.m. The cost to compete is $20.00 and $10.00 to watch with children five years of age and under admitted for free. Test and Tune program information including competition requirements can be obtained on the Speedway web site at www.toyotaspeedwayatirwindale.com.

Not just Thursday nights. Thursday night out at Irwindale is always fun. Sundays are probably going to be pretty crazy.

OLD-CAR EMISSIONS EXEMPTION NO LONGER THREATENED IN EIGHT CALIFORNIA COUNTIES

SEMA News

Working with California old-car hobbyists, SEMA convinced California Senate legislators to amend legislation that sought repeal of the state’s current emissions test exemption for pre-1976 vehicles registered by new owners in the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District. The District includes eight counties in California’s Central Valley.

Under the original bill, after Jan. 1, 2009, new owners seeking to register a pre-1976 vehicle in these eight counties would have been subject to emissions tests for the life of the vehicle. Under the amendment, the repeal language was removed and the bill instead now requires the DMV to study the state’s special license plate programs and recommend improvements.

For details, contact Steve McDonald at stevem@sema.org.

Thanks to SEMA, another one bites the dust. Support SEMA.

Apr 23, 2008

KPGC10 GT-R - 9.9 million yen



KPGC10 GT-R on Yahoo Auctions 9,903,000 yen. Almost $100,000 US dollars. 36,300 km. It doesn't even really look that clean. About another day or so left. Ends April 25th, its already the 24th in Japan . Its funny how big Yahoo Auctions is in Japan, and how small Ebay is. Yahoo Auctions is no longer around in the US and Ebay is huge.
 
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Apr 22, 2008

KTLA 5 Morning News Skyline GT-R

An old video that I had on tape. Converted it over to DVD, and finally uploaded it. I have a few more that I need to convert. Have to love the ad libbed, trying to describe the car. We gave them notes, they got some of it.

1990 Nissan Motorsports Australia Promotional Video . Gibson R32 GT-R

I know you love the "Two Tribes" Frankie Goes to Hollywood soundtrack in the background

R33 GT-R GTS carbon fiber front grill

R33 GT-R grille

About $230. Good for those guys that grills fly out on the freeway and get run over.

Apr 21, 2008

ARB posts record year for enforcement

ARB posts record year for enforcement
Cases net more than 100 tons of emissions reductions


SACRAMENTO - The Air Resources Board closed over 3,400
enforcement actions totaling nearly $30 million in penalties
against entities doing business in California in 2007, a
five-fold increase over 2006 penalties that resulted in more
than 100 tons of emissions reductions.

State enforcers closed 3,442 cases, collecting $29.8 million in
fines. Three of the cases - Sierra Pacific Industries, Yamaha
Motor Corporation, USA and the Evergreen Pulp Mill in Humboldt
County - accounted for $21 million of the overall penalties
assessed. Most of the money collected was used for localized
emissions reductions programs and to train workers in complying
with state air pollution regulations.
"Businesses that play by the rules and meet their pollution
control requirements obligations can rest assured that we are
catching and fining those that don't," said ARB Chairman Mary
Nichols. "Our rules aimed at cleaning California's skies are
only effective if they are enforced. With an estimated 93
percent of our population still living in areas that fail to
meet federal health standards, we must continue to do all that
we can to ensure our factories, vehicles, engines and consumer
products meet our stringent requirements.”


Over the course of the year, ARB staff inspected over:

* 20,000 heavy duty vehicles;
* 1,500 commercial vehicles and school buses;
* 1,900 locomotives;
* 1,900 cargo tanks;
* 2,500 consumer products;
* 1,900 trash trucks; and
* 9,900 heavy duty diesel vehicles in low income
communities.

Additionally, inspectors checked the quality of more than 915
million gallons of gasoline and 350 million gallons of diesel.
ARB continues to add more resources to its enforcement staff to
ensure that business and industry complies with state air
pollution laws, including several newly adopted and proposed
measures to reduce diesel emissions from trucks and marine
equipment.

For more on ARB's 2007 enforcement accomplishments, go to:
www.arb.ca.gov/enf/enf.htm

The Air Resources Board is a department of the California
Environmental Protection Agency. ARB's mission is to promote and
protect public health, welfare, and ecological resources through
effective reduction of air pollutants while recognizing and
considering effects on the economy. The ARB oversees all air
pollution control efforts in California to attain and maintain
health based air quality standards.

Apr 20, 2008

GTR 700 - Headed Back to the Drag Strip , OZ Record Broken


Jamboree website

"Mark Jacobsen of Godzilla Motorsport in Brisbane, has been working hard in the lead up, to Round 3 of the Toyo Tires Sport Compact Group Drag Racing Series. At the Willowbank March Madness event on March 15, Jacobsen broke the long standing Australian GT-R previous held by the Croydon Racing Developments in the GTR700. The previous record was an 8.273 at 167.5mph and Jacobsen stopped the clock at an 8.271 @171.1mph.

Not content with the 8.271sec pass, Jacobsen hit the track again 6 days later at a Friday night Test & Tune to punch out an 8.11 @ 172.8mph cementing his name on the Quickest GT-R in Australia Title. Checkout the run on Godzilla's website.

Before making the trip down to WSID for Round 3 on May 18th Jacobsen will have another hit out at the Castrol EDGE Tin Top Titles this weekend, April 18th & 19th.

"With the fully prepared track of the Castrol EDGE Tin Top Titles this weekend, we'll be able to screw some more boost into the 2.6 ltr engine comb and see if we can break into the 7's before heading to Sydney for Round 3 of the Toyo Tires Series" commented Jacobsen.

Rumours of Croydon Racing Developments bringing the GTR700 back out were confirmed today after a phone call to them. Croydon told me today they have been planning to bring GTR700 back out and they now have even more reason to do so. It'll be a couple of months before it happens, but you can be assured come Round 4 of the Toyo Tires Series at the Castrol EDGE Jamboree on August 23rd & 24th there will be a GT-R battle like no other. "


Video after the jump.

Apr 18, 2008

RB26 , RB26DETT engine gaskets on Ebay

Eric always has those hard to find gaskets in stock for your Nissan Skyline GT-R. R32, R33, R34 GT-R. Cool

RB26 parts on Ebay

Eric is local, and stocks a ton of RB26 parts.

Targa Newfoundland - Never Quit Racing WRX

Broken arm. Broken transmission. In a ditch. And they still finished.

Targa Newfoundland - Wooden Bridge

A few cars strewn around the road after this bridge. Seems like it caused some issues for some of the drivers.

Targa Newfoundland - Teaser Video

Don't hit a house. Dont go into water. Don't roll over. Thats what I see.

Apr 17, 2008

Mines R35 GT-R FNF4



Just as I was sitting down to eat my wonderful Bakers lunch/dinner tonight, I got a call from one of the guys I know on Fast and Furious 4. They had an R34 GT-R that was having some issues starting. He asked if I could come quick to have a look at the car since the movie can't afford to have cars not to working correctly. I finished off my dinner and hit the road. About two minutes into the drive I got another call , "Bring your laptop".

Well thats not good. My laptop is in Long Beach. The Grid Datascan cable is in City of Industry. Not really on the way. My guy said: "I told them you would be there in about 45 minutes."

No way to get the laptop, the cable and make it to downtown in under about two hours. Forget the laptop, I will just go and check the car out. About 50 minutes later I was parked in the parking structure under the driving range in K-Town.

When I got to the level where they were filming, one of the first cars I noticed was the Mines R35 GT-R. I went and found a couple of the picture car guys. Had a quick look at the car. Nothing too major wrong with the R34. I hung around for a few minutes. Took a quick snap of the Mines R35 with the wonderful Treo at 2x for fine pixelization, and left for home.

IDRC Finals from 2000

An old video that I had, finally put it onto Youtube. Lost to Robert in the SA RX-7. I had broken 3rd gear in the R32 earlier in the day. I tried to beat him with the 1-2-4 gearbox.

Apr 16, 2008

Targa Newfoundland - What not to do video

I really don't think you want to see water like this.

Targa Newfoundland - Paint Schemes



Which looks better. IVOAC build thread. Yellow with Blue - Blue with Yellow. At least it won't get lost in the fog.

Apr 15, 2008

Like the freeway, but its a gas price

$4.05

Targa Newfoundland


I get an email one day asking about R35 GT-R ECU's. A guy is relaying some information to a guy in New Zealand that has an R35. The guy - Mike - also starts asking me some technical questions about an R32 GT-R, tells me he runs a website called Imported Vehicle Owners Association of Canada and that he is planning on running the Targa Newfoundland September 13-20, 2008. He asks me if I want to participate with him.

I have been thinking about it. He offered to let me drive if I want. I could either drive or navigate. I have navigated before in Open Road Racing. Watching a computer, and reading out pace notes at 125 mph in a GMC Typhoon.

So, I was really thinking about it yesterday. I talked to Mike on the phone for a while. Kind of interesting, he is a Kiwi also. He moved to Canada when he was 7 years old in 1981. I moved to the US in 1980 when I was 5 years old. Thinking about the event. Thinking about the time it takes. Thinking about how much money I will spend to do this. I figure it will cost me about $4k-$5k just to tag along in any capacity. Plane flights, food, lodging, safety gear. Making up for other gaps. Probably a few parts here and there.

I ate lunch at Panda Express, and when I opened the fortune cookie, it says " Yes, Do it with confidence."

The fortune cookie tells me to do it. And really, who questions a fortune cookie.

Apr 14, 2008

Apr 11, 2008

Ebay

Apr 10, 2008

Flip a Bitch contest

Whats up with the weak foam blocks ? This is funny. Should be an interesting video to watch.

Apr 9, 2008

Multimedia message

Universal City Nissan

R33 Nissan Skyline GT-R's at Universal City Nissan


A few R33's from Universal City Nissan, prior to the R35 being released in the US. 

Burger King Musica

The two guys on the ends got their heads cut off. I need a shirt with tassels like these guys have.

Apr 3, 2008

California: Police Raid Car Enthusiast Gathering, Generate Revenue


the newspaper.com

Go over to Autoblog and make some comments.
Police raid Riverside, California parking lot to issue modified car tickets at local car enthusiast gathering.

Using $503,000 in federal and state gas tax revenue to pay for overtime, nine police agencies in Riverside, California sent more than one hundred police officers to surround a gathering of automotive enthusiasts. Owners of imported sport compact cars had gathered at the Canyon Crossing shopping center on Friday night to swap stories, talk about their passion for cars and show off the latest enhancements to their rides. At around 11pm police surprised participants by blocking all exits with fifty police cruisers. Officers then began a warrantless search and interrogation operation of the 150 vehicles that were present.

"If you're not into street racing, why would you need that?" Riverside Police Traffic Sergeant Skip Showalter asked an enthusiast during a similar crackdown last year. "Why would you want more power going to your car?"

Police issued a total of forty-eight tickets for "engine modifications" with police accusing the owners of the parked vehicles of being street racers. Another fifty tickets were issued for paperwork violations, dark window tinting and lack of a front license plate. The most revenue, however, will be generated from the fees imposed on twenty vehicles that were confiscated. Despite labeling the parking lot raid as taking place at a "street racing venue," Riverside Police offered no evidence that any street racing actually took place.

Across the state, gas tax funds are regularly used to fund similar crackdowns that generate big revenue. In 2004, the California Highway Patrol issued a total of 101,553 "modified car" citations worth $10.5 million according to CHP data obtained by TheNewspaper.

Other law enforcement agencies participating in Friday night's raid included the California Highway Patrol, Riverside County Sheriff's Department, and police from Baldwin Park, Fontana, Irwindale, Moreno Valley, Ontario and Mount San Jacinto Community College.

NWA said it best.

Mid-Century Modern

Cliff May House

Apr 1, 2008

How not to wire up an engine


If your wiring harness looks like this, keep your hood closed. Don't show people you don't have a clue. Freshalloy Forum. Samurai Sams pictures of the Golden Gardens meet. I want this. VG30 in a Mazda Minivan. This is cool.

How Big Wood Got its Name


Gucci Caddy. Bdubb got his plates.... Big "Fleet" Wood

How Godzilla got its name


Motor Trend

I was working in the office of Australia's Wheels magazine in mid-1989 when Nissan first revealed details of its all-new Skyline GT-R. Back then the car, now known mostly by its Nissan internal codename as the R32 GT-R, seemed like a high-tech road warrior from another dimension.

That made the GT-R cover material for the July 1989 issue of Wheels. I can remember sitting around with editor-in-chief Phil Scott and a couple of Wheels staffers as we kicked around cover lines. Obakemono came up in the discussion. Scott, a hard-nosed newspaper-trained editor with superb tabloid sensibilities, seized on it. He didn't like the word -- no-one would know what it meant on the cover -- but he liked the Japanese monster idea.

It was a simple step from there to describing the GT-R as "Godzilla on wheels". Which is exactly what we did. And a legend was born.

R32 GT-R's never came in a red like this. Its much more of a maroon color.