WEBMINING> Diary of a Serial Tire Killer
Motor Mavens has never really featured any “build videos” on the site before, but today as I was browsing the internet looking for information about MX83 Cressidas, 5-speed swaps, and 1JZ swaps… I found this video, from the Serial Nine guys in Canada. This has GOT to be the most entertaining, amateur made “build video” I’ve ever seen. Yep, gotta love those amateur videos. Wait… what? Oh… umm, well I mean the video is informative, but it’s funny at the same time! The Serial Nine crew definitely looks like they’d be fun to kick it with.
So what do you guys think…? Some of us were thinking of having a little fun by building a Motor Mavens project car on a BUDGET. Ideally, the car would be inexpensive and also daily drivable on the street without much hassle from cops. Just brainstorming, some of us were talking about maybe building an FC or an S13… but this video is sparking some MX83 dreams… what do you guys think? MX83 build? Yay or nay?
:: Motor Mavens
The Beginning of SERIALNINE. from SERIALNINE on Vimeo.
WEBMINING> AE86 Lap Battle in Okayama
While we’re still hurrying to post our photos and video footage from JCCS, I took a moment to do what I love to do best (surf the web), I came across this video of the lap battle that takes place during the All Japan AE86 Festival on the Okayama International Circuit. Surrounded by awesome AE86s all day – you gotta love it, it’s an AE86er’s dream.
The Lap battle is a part of the Challenge Cup takes place at this annual hachiroku festival. The Challenge Cup is a gateway for anyone wishing to compete and want to move up into semi-pro racing. There are typically 8 rounds held during the season, and all of them take place at Okayama. Enjoy the sights, sounds and action of these sick AE86s screaming around the track.
:: Travis Hodges
WEBMINING> VW Vanagons at Hockenheimring
While I spend most of my free time dreaming about JDM minivans, I often find myself wanting a sport-tuned German kid hauler. Germany seems to have an abundance of Porsche-powered VW Vanagons out there, and the Deutschlanders just love to take these hopped-up vans to the track. Here we have a vid of a blue VW T3 Vanagon tearing it up around the famed Hockenheimring.
While it’s hard to pick a favorite van, the campervan seen at the 0:40 mark is my favorite just because it’s so absurd. Anyone out there want to help my dreams come true by setting up a Vanagon vs. Estima race?
::Justin Kaehler
WEBMINING> H20 is the place to go!
You can call me biased (having been raised with a rust covered MkI Rabbit in the driveway and learning how to drive in a MkII Golf) but in my humble opinion, the Euro scene has some of the best car shows in the country. Especially the VW/Audi crowd or VAG if you prefer. (VAG… hehe)
With that said, my boy “Mooch”, Dave Mucci drove all the way to Maryland this weekend from Chicago in his E30 BMW and he sent over some great photos from the H20 International Fest. I’ll post the photos up in the coming days but I thought I’d start you off with this awesome video from Steven Nawrocki. He did a great job of capturing the automotive onslaught of Ocean City that is H20. Enjoy all of the great cars from the show (Especially all the pristine MkII Golfs that I dream of owning!) Great job Steven!
:: Pat Daly
WEBMINING> Kawabata’s Unbelievable Entry!
I’ve had to watch this video of Kawabata drifting his Toyo Tires S13 in Japan over and over and OVER again at least 10 times just to see if it was somehow a fluke or even possibly faked! When you watch this video, you’ve GOT to agree that he nailed down an absolutely unbelievable entry!
I’m utterly speechless, just shaking my head in bewilderment… so please help me out here and comment below! Wasn’t his entry into that corner just NUTS?! Also, does anyone know which circuit that was? At first I thought it might be Sugo Sportsland, but after watching it again, I don’t think so…
:: Jover Papag
WEBMINING> Sumo Power R33 at Santa Pod
Last year on a trip to the UK, Antonio went to Santa Pod Raceway and came face to face with this pink R33 Skyline drag monster from Sumo Power.
This car is well known in the UK – the R33 stirred up quite a bit of attention from its performance numbers and overall impact! (Not to mention its pink paint job!) We came across this video from our buddy Stephane Benini from Clash Productions (who always produces great work), showing the pink powerhouse in action.
This video is an oldie but goodie! If you live in the UK, you can check out Sumo Power’s Skyline, “Fuujin” in action at Santa Pod next weekend! According to Sumo Power owner Andy Barnes, Fuujin means “God of Wind” in Japanese… so either Andy drives it really fast, or he just passes a lot of gas. Maybe both.
Before I forget, Antonio also did a killer photo set and story on this sick Skyline sometime last year, so don’t forget to cllick through to check it out!
Enjoy!
::Travis Hodges
Antonio’s photos and story of Fuujin, the Sumo Power Drag R33
WEBMINING>Team Battle:Drift by Stephen Brooks
Team Battle:Drift from Stephen Brooks on Vimeo.
I’ve been checking out Stephen Brooks’ work lately on Vimeo. The man from the land of tea and crumpets makes great videos, but this one really stood out to me in particular. It was shot during a team drift event (hence the name) at the Norfolk Arena, which is about 2.5 hours North of London.
Although I’m not too keen on the song choice, I think it matched the content of the video very well. Beyond that, I feel like this piece does a great job to portray all the emotions behind the scenes of a drift event. Don’t worry though, there’s great drifting footage as well!
::Justin Shreeve
WEBMINING> The Thai Drifting Scene
We found this video just clicking around on Youtube… apparently the drifting scene is strong in Thailand too! Check out the Nissan A31 Cefiro police car… convertible?! Crazy! The umbrella girls look pretty cute too… Have a look!
::Yoshi Shindo
WEBMINING> JDM Allstars is hungry!
Drifting at JDM Allstars – Trax 2009 Season Finale from JDM Allstars on Vimeo.
Internally, a few members of the Motor Mavens crew have been talking about this video for the past few days, but we’ve been really swamped with other work this week and we couldn’t get to posting it up until just now – sorry! Everyone in the USA seems to think of Formula Drift when they think about professional drifting. However, we’d like to take a quick moment to recognize the JDM Allstars series in the UK for all the momentum they have gained. Even though JDM Allstars started in 2007 as a small UK privateer series, they have really grown up in the past few years! Now their series is even attracting drivers from other countries within continental Europe!
There’s nothing more inspiring than seeing a group of hungry underdogs rise up and become successful because they’re passionate in what they’re doing!
Much respect JDM Allstars!
:: Travis Hodges
WEBMINING> Cyrious About Drifting
CYRIOUS PRODUCTIONS – Drift Maniacs from Cyrious Productions on Vimeo.
Greetings! My name is Jover! I’ve been Antonio’s homeboy, representing from up here in Canada since the late 90’s, eh! Think of me as his shorter, somewhat similar “brother from another mother” that is also a nut for all things related to AE86s and drifting.
Speaking of AE86’s, Pat Cyr from Drift Posse dominated the podium this year in the DMCC (Drift Mania Championnat Canadien) Series, taking the 2nd place spot in the series and making a HUGE name for himself amongst a field of professionally backed teams, most of whom are running big, bad V8s!
Not bad for an AE86 that still runs a 4AGE motor, on a privateer budget! If it wasn’t for a broken axleshaft in the Quarter Final heat in Toronto, he’d be sitting in the top slot in the points…but that’s racing folks! Look for a feature on this dirty hachiroku, and the equally badass wheelman from Drift Posse soon here on MotorMavens!
For now, enjoy this video his brother, Dan Cyr put together from the DMCC -Toronto Round 4 and the DriftOps Drift Lapping day at Shannonville. This is how we do it up, turn up the speakers!
::Jover Papag
WEBMINING> 1982 Super Silhouette Silvia Turbo
I absolutely LOVE these old Super Silhouette cars! Cars like this look so crazy because of their robotic looking bodywork – it looks like something straight out of a Japanese anime movie. This particular one is a 1982 Nissan Silvia Turbo, which is the same as the S12 200SX in the United States.
Nissan and Mooncraft Japan worked together to create this monster, and somehow, they were able to get over 500hp out of this 4-valve DOHC 4 cylinder turbo motor! Just think… having a 500+ horsepower SR20DET engine is definitely doable with today’s aftermarket engine and electronics technology… but these guys made this car in the early 1980s, when the A-team van and Knight Rider were new shows on television! It never ceases to AMAZE me what these old school Japanese racing engineers accomplished back then.
Also notice that super old school red Recaro racing bucket in the car! DOPE!!! Also notice, this particular Silvia Turbo is sitting on some super wide Impul Hoshino G5 wheels. AE86 guys, please take note – it’s further proof of what I’ve been telling everyone on Club4AG for like 10 years now… Hoshino wheels belong on NISSANS, not Toyotas. Kazuyoshi Hoshino (and his Impul Hoshino wheels) have a history of racing Nissans, so when you put Hoshino wheels on your AE86, it’s like putting Mugen stuff on your Nissan. Or putting TRD stuff on your Civic. Or putting Nismo stuff on your Subaru. Get it?
So if you like the look of the Impul Hoshino G5 wheels that much (ya gotta admit, they DO look pretty damn awesome), then try to find a set of Work Equip 02 wheels, or try to find an R30 or R31 Skyline or S12 Silvia to mount those Hoshino wheels on, if you’re interested in keepin it real. If you don’t care, that’s ok too. Just saying.
Either way, these 1980s Japanese race cars are so incredible. Their incredible and unique style even influenced people to recreate these crazy body modifications on their own street cars – the bosozoku (yanki) cars.
I love Super Silhouette!
Click here for more incredible Super Silhouette video links
:Antonio Alvendia
WEBMINING> WSTO BMW 135i
Not many people know this, but I work at a BMW shop called WSTO. We bought this BMW 135i back in September and I LOVE it. It's not the most extreme build, but for a streetable daily driver it hauls balls and I think it looks dope. Read more...
WEBMINING> Club Outrun in Japan
For Club Outrun from MeZ Productions on Vimeo.
While I was checking out some videos on Vimeo earlier today, I ran across this Mez Productions video from Club Outrun’s Japan trip. Very cool! They show footage of some cool looking AE86s at Nihonkai Maze Circuit, some more 86 action at Nikko Circuit, and then some really cool footage from Ebisu Circuit’s South Course, School Course, and the very famous Touge course!
Let’s all go to Japan already!!!
:: Yoshi Shindo
WEBMINING> Kansai All Stars Tandem Drifting!
I was checking out Roaster Drift today, only to be blown away with some of the craziest multi-car madness I think I have ever seen! Rob said he counted 34 cars on the track at one time. Not 3 or 4… 34!!! Words cannot really describe how insane this video is. Take a look!
:: Andy Sapp
WEBMINING> Toyota Team Europe and 1976 RAC Rally
Almost everyone who’s read even one of my stories knows that I absolutely love AE86s. However, the one type of car that I love even more than AE86s perhaps is the TE27 Corolla Levin, the grandfather of the AE86. TE27 Corollas were sold in the USA from 1971 to 1974, with four different “minor changes” setting each year apart. While video footage of AE86s is plentiful on the internet, video footage of TE27s is extremely scarce.
Check out this extremely rare footage of the Toyota Team Europe TE27 Corolla Levin (1973 model) being driven at the Lombard RAC Rally event by rally legends (RIP) Hannu Mikkola and Ove Anderson back in 1976. Of course, I have a one track mind, so my focus is on the TE27, but the video also obviously includes other AMAZING vintage RAC rally cars… namely, Roger Clark’s extremely popular Cossak Escort RS, Stig Blomqvist’s Saab and Sandru Munari’s Lancia Stratos!
The full length video is available as a DVD from RallyFilmsReloaded.co.uk. I think I’ll need to pick up a copy myself!
Enjoy!
:: Antonio Alvendia
WEBMINING> Elements of Bosozoku Style
Following up on the recent stuff we’ve posted on bosozoku and yanki styled cars, we found this cool old school Option video clip on Youtube that has Daijiro Inada cruising on the street with some bosozoku car owners and taking a closer look at the details of their cars. For those who are interested in making a sharknose car or even just adding a but more flair to your ride (15 pieces of flair is the minimum), this video is a great place to start!
:: Motor Mavens
WEBMINING> Japanese Super Silhouette Racing
Ever wonder how Japanese Bosozoku and Yanki car owners came up with the ideas of how to make their cars look so crazy? Well, according to stories I’ve been told, a lot of these guys began making their street cars resemble the professional Super Silhouette racing cars, and then making them look a whole lot crazier and a whole lot more gangster basically.
Me personally, I love Super Silhouette cars. I wasn’t really aware of these cars in the 80s when they were new, as I was too busy watching cartoons like Robotech (Macross) and playing with Transformers. However, whenever I began going to toy stores that had Japanese car models, I noticed that many Japanese plastic model companies like Fujimi and Tamiya had silhouette racers within their product lines! So awesome. Just another reminder of why I love Japanese car culture so damn much.
So let’s watch the video and enjoy the Super Silhouette racers as they run Tsukuba Circuit and my favorite, Fuji Speedway!!!
:: Antonio Alvendia
WEBMINING> Miniz SR20 & RB26 Trucks Drifting!
We received this link from one of our loyal readers, Shakotan Oscar. Thank you Oscar! We just love the internet for reasons like this. We just posted up some photos that demo car builder David Huang found of Garage Miniz in Japan… and shortly after, we received a video link from Oscar that shows more detail in both trucks!
I especially like the awesome rear mounted radiator in the white RB26 powered one! Not to mention its stance and the incredibly detailed fuel setup in the bed of the truck. Well, both trucks are incredible, but damn… that white one! Aside from me, who else is now interested in building a truck?! Garage Miniz shows the possibilities…
:: Jose Gonzalez
WEBMINING> Balboni on the Gallardo LP 550-2
From this video on the new REAR WHEEL DRIVE Lamborghini Gallardo LP 550-2, we understand what Lamborghini’s legendary former test driver Valentino Balboni meant when he told us last week, “It’s a beautiful life behind the wheel of a Lamborghini.” Balboni said he didn’t even know the rear-driver was in the cards when the company’s engineers started requesting sessions with him, where they would ask him to describe in detail how iconic Lamborghinis like the Countach and Miura handled. Amazing.
::Jeff Yip
WEBMINING> Garage Miniz
Have you ever seen a Nissan hardbody pickup truck that looked this good?! To be very honest, I'm not normally a fan of using "car wheels" on lowered trucks... but damn, there's just something about this truck that makes my jaw drop! It might have something to do with the fact that it's slammed to the ground with big Work Emotion CR Kai wheels filling up the fenders. What a great location for a photo shoot, too. That's the Fuji TV building in Odaiba, right next to the Tokyo waterfront. Read more...
WEBMINING> Japanese Nostalgic Car Chase!
Our good friends at Japanese Nostalgic Car Magazine posted this on their site yesterday – it’s a super cool 1980s car chase sequence from Japan, with a lady cop in a TE71 Corolla Levin chasing down the bad guy, who is driving an S30 Fairlady Z. Lots of great action in this video clip; we’re just sad to see the cars get smashed up!
::Motor Mavens
WEBMINING> If this isn’t awesome…
We're dying over here.
… then we don’t know what is. Do you know why we decided to call this Motor Mavens category “Webmining?” Because when we browse the web and find crazy photos like this one, we think they’re straight up GOLD!
We were searching the web, looking at 240Z photos, when we happened across this period correct photo of this dude and his 240Z – you just knowwww it’s an old school photo! Check the 1973 bumpers on the car, the guy’s puffy afro, the super tight waist bellbottoms, and how could you NOT notice the see thru shirt. LOL We’re wondering how many people are down to drive their 240Zs to the Z Car Nationals or JCCS, rocking period correct outfits such as this one? Nothing we write can do the awesomeness of this photo justice. That being said…
Who can write the best caption for this photo!?
Click the TITLE of this post to publish your caption in our comments box. Come on everyone, show off your GENIUS! We can’t wait to read your comments. We’re freakin dying over here!
The person who comes up with the best caption gets a special prize! We’re not sure just yet what it will be, but we’ll make it something cool and worthwhile, so we know you will love it.
Do it. Do it.
:: Antonio Alvendia
