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Dino Dalle Carbonare'S BIO
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Name: Dino Dalle Carbonare
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Previous Locations: Italy & UK
Career Path: Journalist & Photographer
Previous Carrier Path: Been covering anything and everything car related since my return to Japan in 2000 after finishing Uni in the UK. Collaborating with motoring publications and websites around the world as well as maintaining a couple of my own blogs.
Cars: ‘99 Skyline GT-R V-spec, ‘04 Subaru Legacy Wagon 3.0R, ‘05 BMW 330ci M-sports
Fav Past Cars: ’93 Accord, ’88 Citroen AX, ’87 Alfa 164, ’85 Alfa 75, ’83 FIAT 131 Mirafiori L
Next car: Probably something boring
Car Passions: I have been obsessed with cars for as long as I can remember. Growing up in the UK this love grew and everything I did seemed to revolve around cars. toy cars, RC cars, car magazines, car computer games, cars on TV, car races. As long as there were wheels and some form of propulsion involved, it was for me. Moving to Japan however is where this passion turned into an obsession as I think no other country in the world is the car-craze so widespread and diversified. Became a certified GT-R otaku and as they say, the rest is history. Just recently rediscovered RC cars, more specifically RC drift cars.
Personal Style: I like my jeans, as long as they are Diesel
Favorite Band of the Moment: Wide range of musical tastes, most of which I'm ashamed to mention ;)
Personal Motto: If you want it done right, do it yourself.
4,146
Posted
Mar 18 2010, 11:30 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 29 comment(s)
Only one week to go now before the 2010 D1 Grand Prix professional drift championship kicks off here in Japan. The cold winter months are almost over and we have one hell of a drift-oriented line-up for you all this year. D1 is promising to be as competitive as ever with a few drivers swapping over to new cars mid-season. I will travel across Japan to bring you coverage from the best Japanese tracks like Okayama where I can't wait to see more of those physics-defying rear-end-first entries! Will...
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Posted
Mar 18 2010, 04:20 AM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 64 comment(s)
With this month being dedicated to builds and previews there is one place I knew I had to visit for you guys. You wouldn't be able to find it if you tried, nestled deep in the Chiba-ken countryside, a stone-throw away from the new Sodegaura Forest Raceway. This is where magic happens, you feel it the instant you set foot inside one of the garages where restoration projects are underway. Thanks to people like Ando-san rare Japanese classics are brought back to life here, often starting off from...
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Posted
Mar 16 2010, 07:20 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 27 comment(s)
I'm spending this week driving around Tokyo in a brand new Fiat 500 Abarth esseesse. I haven't had a chance to drive it much but I'm already getting used to its tiny dimensions and massive fun factor. It reminded me of the great cars that have worn the Abarth badge in the past and I had to post some pictures of this 131, my favorite of them all. I spotted this very rare example quite a while back at Super Autobacs, parked up like it was any regular car! The Bertone designed 131 Abarth...
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Posted
Mar 15 2010, 01:40 AM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 26 comment(s)
There are very few shops like RE-Amemiya in Japan. On top of their activity as tuners, catering to everything the rotor-head may require, they have also proven themselves in the competitive racing world with their successful Super GT team, D1 team and at events like the Hot Version organized Touge Battle series. Amemiya-san understands what a performance car needs to offer the driver to both satisfy and be competitive, but he also gives great importance to looks having created, thanks to his great...
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Posted
Mar 12 2010, 12:22 AM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 44 comment(s)
Allen over at Tomei Powered just sent me the link to this Motive DVD video of the Advan/Hi-Octane Racing R34 GT-R testing in preparation for the upcoming World Time Attack Challenge in Eastern Creek Raceway. Enjoy the scream of that RB30!
-Dino Dalle Carbonare
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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 04 2010, 06:16 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 22 comment(s)
Luke of WeAreDrift just released this cool short video of a couple of backward entries at Nikko. As Luke says, if you are not entering corners backwards you're not trying hard enough!
-Dino Dalle Carbonare
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4,146
Posted
Mar 04 2010, 04:34 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 24 comment(s)
I thought I'd show you guys another cool BNR34 which after the Garage Ito/ProStock time attack monster proves just how versatile the Skyline GT-R can be. As the name suggests, this is a complete Top Secret project, a car that one of my friends here in Tokyo had built with a specific set of goals in mind. It didn't need to be the fastest R34 out there, nor the most extreme looking, it just had to be the kind of supercar that you wouldn't think twice about using on a daily basis. Every...
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Posted
Mar 04 2010, 12:34 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 28 comment(s)
The last time I was over at Amuse I saw, probably for the last time, one of the most legendary cars that the late Tanabe-san had every built, the Carbon-R. Tanabe-san wanted to create the ultimate time attack R34 GT-R by taking inspiration from the Super GT R34 GT-Rs. This meant a very responsive and torquey engine and a lot of weigh loss which was achieved through the full dry carbon body and the conversion to rear-wheel-drive. I only saw the Carbon-R in action once at Fuji when Tanabe-san took...
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4,146
Posted
Mar 04 2010, 06:34 AM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 48 comment(s)
You are looking at one of the most far out GT-R time attack projects ever created. It cost a massive $350,000 to build and has yet to see the light of day on a race track. It all started back in 2006 when Hiroya-san, a very good customer of Garage Ito in Osaka, decided to see if he could challenge the lap time record at Tsukuba set by the HKS CT230R. Hiroya-san is a very successful business man, and with his company pretty much taking care of itself he decided to dedicate some more time to his passion...
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Posted
Mar 04 2010, 12:34 AM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 27 comment(s)
Been holding on to this special picture for a while now. March 4th, so this is the perfect time to post it up. This group shot was taken with a few of my friend's R34s, mine is the one in the middle with the bronze wheels. -Dino Dalle Carbonare
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4,146
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 03 2010, 03:33 AM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 19 comment(s)
I got a few requests to post up more coverage from the GT-R track day that I attended back in 2000 at Tsukuba Circuit. I think I'm not the only one that likes to check out pictures of the "old" days to see just how much styles and trends have changed. Seeing it's March 3rd I thought it would be appropriate to open this post with a shot of a nice R33 GT-R getting very crossed up around the in-field hairpin. When I took these pictures the R34 GT-R was still a very new car, probably...
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4,146
Posted
Mar 03 2010, 12:30 AM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 28 comment(s)
To kick off the March 3rd R33 celebrations I have picked one car that I will forever remember for scaring me silly. It all started with one of those phone calls I often get from Miguel at Newera Imports . Sourcing cars for export means Miguel often gets his hands on some pretty cool rides, but this car was something else. Don't let the 400R graphics on the side fool, you this is not one of the 33 authentic 400Rs that were built, but something dare I say more special. Miguel let me have the car...
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Posted
Mar 02 2010, 08:20 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 4 comment(s)
Just added the shot of the Tsukuba GT-R meeting from back in 2000 in the Desktops section. Enjoy. -Dino Dalle Carbonare
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4,146
Posted
Mar 02 2010, 07:20 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 29 comment(s)
After the disappointment of not finding any cars at Daikoku Parking Area on Monday night (3-1) I was beginning to get the same feeling last night. I headed to the famed highway truck stop nice and early and again, there weren't any R32s to be seen. I thought then and there that this Skyline week wasn't as special as we had anticipated so I went into one of the small restaurants on the premises and cheered myself up with a steaming bowl of Daikoku Ramen (yes it's actually called that!...
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Posted
Mar 02 2010, 09:15 AM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 24 comment(s)
For the true Skyline connoisseur there is one model that has for years been enjoying legendary status. It isn't the Nismo 400R or even the Z-tune but a car that was conceived well before these. Back in the early nineties HKS decided to do what RUF in Germany was doing with Porsches, and started to create a high-performance bespoke version of the BNR32, the Zero-R. The idea was to inject the tuning knowhow HKS had accumulated after years of tuning the RB26 and help the GT-R achieve its fullest...
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4,146
Posted
Mar 01 2010, 11:45 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 6 comment(s)
My first contribution to this Skyline week was supposed to be an R31 gathering, a meeting that never actually materialized! Not sure if it was the rain that kept people home but I haven't seen Daikoku that empty in a long time! So to make up for it I though I'd post this random shot of a very clean R31 Skyline I shot in the parking lot of the old Red Park Prince & Skyline Museum in Mitsukaido, Ibaraki-ken. Tonight it's down to the Daikoku PA again, I hope this time round I will not...
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Posted
Mar 01 2010, 11:15 PM
by
Dino Dalle Carbonare
with 16 comment(s)
Well to kick off the Skyline week form over here in Japan I though I'd post a shot I took back in 2000 at one of the biggest Skyline-only track days I ever been to. The location as you can see is Tsukuba circuit, which aside from a small new building in the paddock hasn't really changed much! Back then I was still shooting with film! This is going to be a great week! -Dino Dalle Carbonare
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