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Posted
Jan 03 2012, 11:30 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 34 comment(s)
The third day of January marks the beginning of our S-chassis Festival, where for three days we devote a lot of our space to some of the most loved and modified series of cars that Nissan has ever produced. While the other guys bring you features and spotlights from around the world, my contribution to this first day will be from Daikoku Parking Area... ...where every year a small group of S13/RPS13 enthusiasts organize a small meet. Plus, this being Daikoku, you can always expect to see a very wide...
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Posted
Jul 12 2011, 09:00 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 7 comment(s)
As I was leaving from the RX-7 meeting at Daikoku PA the other day I spotted this S180 Crown Athlete running on 19-inch Work Meister 3-piece wheels. There was no oni camber going on here, it was just an aggressively stanced and subtly modified big Japanese sedan. It would have been rude not to take a picture! -Dino Dalle Carbonare
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Posted
Jul 10 2011, 08:30 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 24 comment(s)
I don't think I've ever had to shoot so quickly at a meet like I did at the 7's Day in Daikoku last week. With the Police making it very obvious that they wanted everyone out as soon as possible, people began to leave pretty quickly once a couple of patrol cars began driving around the parking area. With the rumble of rotary engines being floored on the spiraling exit roads that bring you up onto the Wangan ... ...I started to run around, trying my best to immortalize as many cars as...
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Posted
Jul 09 2011, 06:02 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 23 comment(s)
You will have to forgive me for the delay in starting up this 7's meeting coverage, but over the last few days I've been buzzing around all over the place, spending the day with Nakai-san and Toshi at Rauh Welt on Friday, blasting up and down mountain roads yesterday with a bunch of sport's car loving people and attempting to catch a little shut eye in the interim. But before I show you all some cool widebody Porsches and action from Hakone, let's head back to Daikoku PA... ...for...
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Posted
Jul 07 2011, 04:00 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 45 comment(s)
It never fails to amaze just how much dedication rotary owners seem to have here in Japan. Knowing that things begin to warm up pretty early during 7's Day I made my way down to the Daikoku PA at 5:30 last night and the place was already full! When it comes to word of mouth gatherings there is nothing that comes close to this meeting, with rotary aficionados coming from every corner of Japan for a night of celebrations. The selection of cars was as mouthwatering as ever, with all sorts of Wankel...
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Posted
Jan 03 2011, 09:13 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 28 comment(s)
It wasn't a sure thing, much like last year my trip to Daikoku Parking Area on the night of the third of January was going to be a bit of a gamble. Will owners of S13s really be gathering tonight? Well the answer became obvious the minute I pulled into a parking space; there were definitely a lot of cars present but not the Silvias I had hoped to see. Still, there was no way I was going to pass the opportunity to go for a quick look at the tantalizing selection of JDM goodness that had gathered...
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Posted
Aug 12 2010, 03:00 AM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 40 comment(s)
It's back at Daikoku PA now for a final look at the AE86 Day meeting that went down last Friday. The action, yet again, was abruptly cut short by the Police who by 9 pm had already closed the entrance to the parking area in an attempt to keep more loud bosozoku bikers from entering. Since a lot more hachiroku were meant to arrive the meeting began to disperse as people started heading out to Umihotaru PA on the Aqua Line, the usual back-up location when Daikoku gets shut early. But since I was...
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Posted
Aug 11 2010, 01:00 AM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 39 comment(s)
The AE86 day celebrations might have ended but it sure doesn't mean we can't keep enjoying some more hachiroku goodness this week too. Late last Friday evening I was packed up and ready to head out for the long drive up to Ebisu Circuit for the D1 Grand Prix, but I thought it would have been a pity not to take the detour and head to Daikoku Parking Area (PA) to check out the usual small AE86 gathering that goes on every year on the 6th of August. I arrived a little early and had to wait quite...
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Posted
Jul 09 2010, 12:30 AM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 43 comment(s)
As darkness fell on Daikoku the other night the rotary presence had no intention of dying down, much like the rain. It was obvious people were there to enjoy themselves, and the crappy weather nor the lack of space, was going to stop them. Along with the RE-Amemiya crew was this itasha , one of many I spotted on the night. Talking to people it seems this trend of covering cars in anime characters and graphics is loosing popularity but I seem to see more than ever these days so I don't think that...
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Posted
Jul 07 2010, 08:00 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 63 comment(s)
It's that time of the year again and what a special annual RX-7 gathering it all turned out to be last night. I've been going to these meetings for years now, held religiously every 7th of July or "7-7," at Daikoku PA, but before it all got started I was really getting worried. With the rainy season still doing its best to spoil the summer season here in Japan it was not looking too good with on and off showers throughout the day. The 7's meet gets going very early compared...
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Posted
Jun 21 2010, 07:00 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 66 comment(s)
I have realized we just don't feature enough Honda NSXs on Speedhunters. A true modern classic and probably the first true production supercar to come out of Japan. If you have every driven one of these things you will know just how special they are, the handling, the sound of that transversally mounted V6 screaming behind your ears and most importantly, the steering feel. This is a true driver's car, it might not be the fastest nor the most powerful but it ticks all the right boxes, giving...
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Posted
May 30 2010, 07:30 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 84 comment(s)
It might only be a very long stretch of highway but the Wangan, or Bayshore, is probably the most well known road in Japan. This is where back in the day the hashiriya used to battle each other in the famous high-speed races, and where the Mitto Natto or Midnight club was born. Today things have somewhat relaxed a bit, more police patrols and speed cameras have driven the night racers away but on the right night and at the right time you may still be able to see the odd GT-R and Supra blasting past...
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Posted
May 17 2010, 05:00 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 44 comment(s)
The weather hasn't been too good to us since Rod and I arrived in Sydney yesterday. To cheer me up I looked at some of the shots I took last week down at the Daikoku Parking Area during the monthly meeting me and my friends have. It's always nice to get together and chat with like-minded people but I was far more interested in testing out my new camera that night, like a kid and his new toy. Since the ISO capabilities of these new Canons are simply amazing I purposely left the tripod at home...
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Posted
Mar 06 2010, 02:00 AM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 45 comment(s)
Once again I was down at the Daikoku Parking Area last night for the final meeting of this week, celebrating what is without a doubt the most legendary car to come out of Japan, the Skyline. Even though the all-new R35 GT-R bears no Skyline badges whatsoever, to enthusiasts the link is still very much there. Being a Friday night the PA resembled a meeting out of a Fast and Furious movie rather than the quite gatherings we have seen this past week. I arrived around 10 pm and the place was buzzing...
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Posted
Mar 04 2010, 11:34 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 15 comment(s)
I've dropped by the Daikoku PA four times straight this week and last night, at what could have potentially been the best meet of this Skyline week, the weather turned for the worst and spoiled everything! The rain was coming down so strong at one point I was contemplating whether to bother going or not. But I'm glad I did as a small group of R34 owners had gathered despite the dismal conditions. I counted about 10 cars which, kind of makes this meeting comparable to the R32 one on Tuesday...
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Posted
Mar 03 2010, 07:45 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 17 comment(s)
So it was back at Daikoku last night for the R33 March 3rd meeting that turned out to be pretty good compared to the previous day's R32 gathering. The line-up of cars was great and I was happy to see that not only GT-Rs had shown up but also GTSs in both 2-door and 4-door variants. Cars kept arriving and taking off throughout the night giving a continuous selection of rides to snap away at. There were also a couple of R34s around too, probably checking what the Daikoku scene is like this week...
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Posted
Mar 01 2010, 01:51 AM
by
Rod Chong
with 43 comment(s)
I bet Dino Dalle Carbonare must have bought a big case of Red Bull to help him get through this week. You see, he's about to do something a bit crazy for the next five days: Dino's going to visit the Daikoku parking area on the outskirts of Tokyo each night from March 1st to March 5th. This fervor of activity will also see daily posts from the previous night's shoot. Why is he going to all this trouble? Well to help us celebrate Skyline week of course! Today is March 1st (3-1 get it?...
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Posted
Jan 03 2010, 09:45 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 26 comment(s)
If you live in or around Tokyo the Daikoku Parking Area is the most common place to hold meets. Over the last year we have seen RX-7 owners gather on July 7th (7-7) and AE86s meet on August 6th (8-6), which obviously gets the mind wondering. How many other date-related meetings could there be? A few weeks back Rod asked me if I had heard of any possible S13/S14/S15 gatherings being held on January 3rd, 4th and 5th. My reply was simple, I had no idea! Best thing I could do is head down to Japan's...
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Posted
Nov 26 2009, 04:45 AM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 34 comment(s)
Here is another interesting car I spotted on my recent visit to the Daikoku PA. The Maserati Shamal is a pretty rare sight in any country, so seeing one fitted with what look like bronze Nismo LM GT4s (built by Rays Engineering ) instantly got my attention. Stance wise it was pretty spot on, it could have maybe sat a little lower but the offset was just right. Made the whole car stand out even more. This is another one that get my thumbs up! -Dino Dalle Carbonare
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Posted
Nov 24 2009, 03:30 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 19 comment(s)
When it comes to mean looking station wagons you really cannot go wrong with Nissan Stagea. Like most cars it does take a bit of work to get it to look just right and the owner of this yellow example didn't hold back on the modifications. The R34 GT-R front end conversion really works on the WC34 Stagea and this 260RS model has the RB26 power-plant under the hood to back up the looks. Gotta love Daikoku PA! -Dino Dalle Carbonare
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