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Posted
Sep 05 2011, 12:30 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 10 comment(s)
I've spotlighted some pretty exotic machinery from my time in Monterey, but here's something a little different. I came across this customized Volkswagen Type 147 at the Concours d'LeMons and thought you guys might get a kick out of this rare VW....
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Posted
Feb 07 2011, 03:35 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 25 comment(s)
As I mentioned during my Grand National Coverage last week, there were a few customized vans that popped up around the show. There was one van, however, that stood above them all. In fact, this ridiculously cool hauler was my personal favorite vehicle of the entire show. Meet Van Go....
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Posted
Nov 30 2010, 09:00 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 11 comment(s)
Among the various sizes of minvans that roam the streets of Japan the Nissan Elgrand has always been the one that appealed to me the most. Nissan has always described it as the "King of Minivan," sitting at the top of the premium van market with only the Toyota Alphard as a direct competitor. Despite being a big toaster on wheels, it always got the nod from car guys. Those with expanding families didn't need to sell out completely when trading in the sports car for a people mover, the...
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Posted
Nov 30 2010, 12:35 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 39 comment(s)
Have you guys enjoyed haulers and sedans month? I for one sure have, and as we wrap it up I wanted to do a quick post celebrating one of my favorite people haulers of all time - the third and fourth gen JDM-spec Honda Odyssey. Even in stock form, the sleek, low slung lines of these vans give them lots of character. With a little (or a lot) of customization and they look even better......
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Posted
Nov 20 2010, 06:00 AM
by
Patrick McGrath
with 15 comment(s)
Technically this isn't quite a car spotlight but checking under the available categories it would appear we don't have a van spotlight so car spotlight it is ! Actually, it's not too far off a car despite it's rather generous proportions. Originally built as Supervan 2 in 1984, the van is actually based on a Ford C100 race car chassis with a scaled down MKIII Transit body dropped on top. When it debuted in 1984, it was powered by a 590BHP Ford Cosworth DFL engine, a longer stroke...
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Posted
Apr 23 2010, 11:47 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 5 comment(s)
Well, the streets of the Long Beach waterfront have ceased to be a racing circuit and are now to back to being just.....streets.
It's been a great couple of weeks in the LBC, and I want to wrap up my Grand Prix of Long Beach of coverage with some final photos and observations from both on and off the track....
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Posted
Mar 25 2010, 03:32 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 12 comment(s)
It's been some time since a hot looking Japanese van has been posted here, no?
Here's a very tasty looking dark green Odyssey found in the vast Minkara archive.
Oh Honda, if you could just import the J-Odyssey to the USA, that'd be swell.
-Mike Garrett...
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Posted
Feb 18 2010, 11:28 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 82 comment(s)
How many of us were taken through the streets of childhood in a minivan? I was, and I hated it, I couldn’t dare be seen in it. At the tender age of six my family bought a 1993 Mazda MPV and used it for everything from towing the boat to shuttling our stuff across the border during our move from Canada to the States. Ten years later when I got my driver’s license, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that I would inherit the dreaded minivan......
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Posted
Jun 29 2009, 06:06 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 11 comment(s)
Here's another bit of printed treasure that I picked up during my recent stay in Japan, and another magazine title that fits well with this month's theme - Style Wagon. Since I bought my own van earlier this spring, I've been keeping an extra close eye on this magazine along with some of the other wagon and van publications available in Japan. Van dress-up and customization continues to be extremely popular in Japan, so naturally Style Wagon has a large following there....
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Posted
May 14 2009, 05:05 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 11 comment(s)
I spotted this decked out pop-top VW bus and trailer combo at a local Volkswagen gathering here in Central California last month and thought some of you guys might enjoy seeing this interesting creation. Although these old buses make a Toyota Prius look like a Ferrari when it comes to performance, I think stuff like this is certainly worthy of a mention here on Speedhunters. Do you agree when I say that it might impossible to find cars with more character than vintage VW vans?
There's got to be a reason why cars (or vans) like this one put more smiles on people's faces than high dollar custom show cars or spot-on restos...
-Mike Garrett...
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Posted
May 05 2009, 04:46 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 11 comment(s)
I suppose it's not too surprising that there are some nicely done VW Tourans to be found in van-crazed Japan.
A bit cooler than the much larger Chrysler-built VW Routan that we get here in the USA isn't it?
Found on Minkara
-Mike Garrett...
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Posted
Mar 02 2009, 06:33 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 7 comment(s)
If you've been reading Speedhunters for a while, then you might remember that I did a short story about Toyota's "Megaweb" in Odaiba last year. In case you haven't heard of it, Megaweb is a huge showroom where you can check out the latest Toyota models and even test drive them around a special course that's setup outside. It's a worthy stop for any car enthusiast who's visiting Tokyo.
With it being Toyota month and all, I figured it would be a good time to take another trip to Megaweb to see if there was anything new. Visiting Megaweb is also a great way to get a look at Toyota's current JDM car lineup. ...
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