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Posted
Nov 06 2009, 03:19 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 30 comment(s)
I was browsing one of my favorite forums, ClubRoadster.net the other day when I found a thread about an LS1-powered Mazda Miata drag car out of Mississippi. Now any time you combine a light weight rear-drive car with a powerful V8 the potential for awesomeness arises, but I noticed something about this car that I don't think the builder intended - it's likeliness to sports car-based drag cars of the '60s....
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Posted
Sep 17 2009, 04:02 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 10 comment(s)
Was browsing through the BMW press photo archive when I found this great shot showing the lineage of the BMW Roadster spanning all the way from the early '30s to the Z8 Roadster of of the late '90s.
We'll have to try and dig up some more open-top BMW's to showcase before the month is up...
-Mike Garrett...
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Posted
Jun 15 2009, 08:37 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 22 comment(s)
I was originally planning on making this part of the "Car Sightings" posts I'm working on, but decided it was strange enough to warrant its own post. I had to do a double take the other day when I saw this SW20 MR2 roadster driving down the street. Now as far as I know Toyota every made a convertible of this generation, so I'm assuming it's an aftermarket kit of some sort.
Whatever it was, I thought it looked surprisingly decent, and know it would look even better with the top down.
Do any of the the Toyota guys know more about this?
-Mike Garrett...
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Posted
May 27 2009, 03:06 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 6 comment(s)
Perhaps I'm a bit biased as an MX-5 owner myself, but I thought this was pretty cool. As part of the car's 20th anniversary, Mazda is hosting a birthday gathering for European MX-5 owners next month at the 24 Hours of LeMans. 200 owners and enthusiasts from around Europe will be invited to a special gathering and car show alongside the famous racing circuit. Most of all, I really liked the press photo that Mazda has supplied for the event, showing a new NC model sitting on the track alongside an original NA with a Mazda prototype racer lurking in the background.
Now if I could just find a way to get my little Roadster across the atlantic for this......
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Posted
Apr 15 2009, 02:45 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 10 comment(s)
Sometimes you just have to love Japanese car magazines and their never ending stream of concept renderings and "insider" information. The guys over at 7Tune.com have just picked up on a Best Car Magazine story that talks about the return of the Honda Beat, the pint-sized kei sports car that was an icon of the early '90s Japanese auto industry. Although the new Beat would be front engined and front drive (unlike the original mid-engined Beat), it would be an interesting to alternative to the Daihatsu Copen.
Rumor has it the new Beat could be on sale in 2011, powered by the same 660cc motor from Honda's other kei offerings. Whether or not the new Beat actually reaches production, I wouldn't count on seeing it exported to many countries outside of Japan....
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Posted
Apr 08 2009, 01:50 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 22 comment(s)
A while back we posted about theparts that Nismo released for the new Z in Japan, but now there's a complete Nismo edition of the 370Z that will be going on sale soon for the US market. Nissan chose to debut both this car and the new 370Z Roadster at this week's New York Auto Show. As you'd expect, the new Nismo Z gets a healthy boost in power, plus chassis and exterior upgrades that set it apart from the normal Z....
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Posted
Mar 13 2009, 09:12 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 21 comment(s)
I'm home.
Our flight from Japan arrived yesterday at San Francisco and after getting to my family's house here in Fresno, I promptly hit the sack to get some MUCH needed sleep. After getting rested up, I spent most of today was spent running around taking care of bank accounts and other things to get reestablished here in the USA. If you can believe it, I've actually been enjoying checking out cars on the road around here and seeing all the new models that hit the market since I left for Japan. Hmmm...USDM car sightings anyone?
Since I knew would be returning to the United States this month, I had spent the past couple months checking out all the online classified ads for car projects. I ended up finding this '97 Miata for sale locally and my dad was nice enough to check out the car, purchase it, and store it for me until I got home (and paid for it of course!). If you look in the background of this shot, you will see his '69 GTO convertible restoration project sitting there. I took the new Roadster out for a spin this afternoon, and I can't even describe how nice it felt to get behind the wheel of my own "sports car" after so long. I only drove down the wrong side of the road a few times!
Well, I have a lot of work to catch up on so I should end this here. It feels great to be back and I'm looking forward to another great year of Speedhunting, USA style.
-Mike Garrett
...
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Posted
Feb 02 2009, 03:24 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 8 comment(s)
I know we are wrapping up Mazda month right now, but I have a few more photos I wanted to post before moving on. Last weekend at HKS Premium Day and the JCCA New Year Meeting, I spotted a number of Roadsters in and around the events, and I thought posting some of the photos would be a good way to close out the month. While these cars aren't the "best" examples out there, I think they do a nice job showing some of the typical Roadsters you'll see on the streets of Japan....
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Posted
Jan 28 2009, 11:25 PM
by
Rod Chong
with 60 comment(s)
Earlier this month, there was a discussion about the roadster community amongst a few of us Speedhunter folks and the subject of the Kinod Photography group came up. I hadn't heard of them previously, so had a look at their site and was rather impressed with what I saw.... One photographer particularly stood out: a young chap named Linhbergh Nguyen. I don't know where he learned to shoot photos but think he has an incredible eye for composition, light and colour.... things that you can't...
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Posted
Jan 27 2009, 09:13 AM
by
Antonio Alvendia
with 15 comment(s)
This past Sunday, I visited the 60th Grand National Roadster Show, which was held at Pomona Fairplex. I thought it was really interesting to revisit the famous Fairplex for a hot rod show. I'm a total newbie to hot rod shows, as this was only the second hot rod show I've ever been to (the first one being the 2008 Mooneyes Christmas Party at Irwindale ). That may sound funny to most of you; to be honest, I kind of felt like a fish out of water. I've spent the past 10 years of my life ...
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Posted
Jan 23 2009, 02:57 PM
by
Antonio Alvendia
with 7 comment(s)
I think SSR MarkII wheels are one of my favorite types of wheels ever... in the history of all wheels ever made. They certainly do a lot to make this NA6 Eunos Roadster look legit. Don't you think? Personally, I'd prefer a wider wheel up front though, for a bit more stretch and more lip. No doubt. Nicely done car. -Antonio Alvendia
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Posted
Jan 23 2009, 09:37 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 9 comment(s)
Nogami Project, or "NOPRO" as it's better known, is one of Japan's biggest Roadster specialty shops. The NOPRO catalog includes everything from hardcore chassis components to GT style wide-body conversions. For a smaller company, NOPRO is extremely active in motorsport, and its biggest achievement has to be the 13B-powered Roadster that ran during the mid '90s in the JGTC (now Super GT) GT300 class. The shop's website has a number of vintage photos of this car in action, and my favorite was this shot of the car being chased by a pair of Castrol Supras and Lamborghini Diablo....
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Posted
Jan 23 2009, 05:36 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 9 comment(s)
For Mazda Roadster enthusiasts in Japan (or J-style roadster fans from around the world), there's only magazine to know. Road&Ster. It's essentially the bible for those who live the "Roadster Life". If someone is fan of Japanese style Roadsters, chances are they have spent a lot of time hunting down R&S issues, and even more time drooling over the stuff found within its pages....
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Posted
Jan 22 2009, 04:34 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 11 comment(s)
Hopefully you guys have been pleased with all the Roadster/Miata content we have been posting over the past couple weeks. I know I've been enjoying it (though maybe I'm a bit worried that the prices for used Miatas and parts is going to go up!). Anyways, this time I wanted to go through my archive and post up some Roadster photos that I've taken in Japan over the past year. I've always thought the Mazda Roadster was the ideal car for driving around Japan. It's small, nimble, and incredibly fun to drive - a perfect match for Japan's narrow and winding roads. There have been countless times when I've been driving our Honda Fit here thinking to myself, "damn, if only I was in one of my old Roadsters right now"....
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Posted
Jan 16 2009, 05:01 PM
by
Antonio Alvendia
with 6 comment(s)
This one goes out to my boy Tuan from Aspec Products, who has a low white NA6. When he and the rest of the crew at Aspec see this roadster, I bet they're gonna click on the link and say "damn, that ish scrapes foo!" From the looks of the background, this pic appears to have been taken at Ebisu Circuit Minami Course, with the signature light blue stairs and pit garages in the background. The name of this driver's crew is apparently Tranquilizer. While I don't personally know...
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Posted
Jan 06 2009, 03:38 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 33 comment(s)
If you look at all of Mazda's sports cars from recent times, the two that stand out the most have to be the RX7 and the MX-5. The "Seven" is of course known for its unconventional rotary engine while the MX-5 is the world's best selling sports car due to its low price and high fun factor. What do you get when you combine both? You get cars like this NA6CE Miata owned by AJ Phelps from the Vancouver, BC area. AJ saw that we were featuring Mazda this month and sent us some photos of his project, and we quickly agreed that this car deserved to be featured here on Speedhunters....
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Posted
Jan 03 2009, 09:23 AM
by
Rod Chong
with 12 comment(s)
.... Found at Clubroadster.net .... that thing sticking up at the rear of the car is the exhaust BTW :> .... Click here to see the video ... :Rod
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Posted
Nov 25 2008, 01:04 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 4 comment(s)
The other day Rod asked me if I could post up some of the Nissans from my diecast and toy collection and, I had to tell him that I don't really have much of a "collection" to post. Here in Japan at least. I have some things packed away in storage back in the states, but the collection here in my apartment consists only of a few random miniature cars and a ton of car magazines that my wife is constantly telling me to throw away......
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Posted
Sep 18 2008, 03:52 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 11 comment(s)
OK, so it probably sounds strange that there is a NEW car model called the "'33 Hot Rod", but I think that the latest offering from Factory Five Racing certainly qualifies as a "new" car. While old school hot rods are not lacking in character or coolness, the antiquated cars leave a lot to be desired as far as chassis design and performance potential goes. Factory Five Racing is well known for their popular Cobra kits and their latest design puts combines all of their sports and racing experience with all the style and simplicity of traditional hot rods....
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Posted
Jul 28 2008, 09:30 AM
by
Antonio Alvendia
with 19 comment(s)
Today, John Brooks, Rod Chong and I passed our time blasting through the Autobahn at top speed, in the air conditioned comfort of our hired Lexus, as we watched the German countryside pass quickly through the side windows of the car. As we bumped Rod's custom "1971" mix of funk and soul music out of the Lexus/Mark Levinson speakers, John called out the names of the artists, and made comments to the likes of "I remember when this song was new" or "Thumbs down! Rod, this...
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