COVERAGE> Wekfest Weekend in J-Town SF, Pt.1
Anyway, the Weksos Wekfest event was pretty crazy... TONS of cars, TONS of people in attendance, and a line of impatient people that stretched around the block. Seriously... that was a pretty long line! Read more...
RANDOM DOPE> S30 Fairlady 240Z by Jan Trondsen
AMAZING. Now THIS is what it's all about. This is a 3D sculpted rendering of a 1972 S30 240Z, which apparently has ZG flares and a standard Z432 nose with a BRE front chin spoiler.
The artist behind all this is actually an old school friend of mine; his name is Jan Trondsen (pronounced yawn, like you're sleepy), and he is first and foremost a car guy that's passionate about vintage Datsuns, and he has been that way since the first day I met him, over ten years ago. Nowadays, Jan is an alumnus of the prestigious Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, and a professional 3D sculptor working for a major car company... but it wasn't like that when we first met. When we first met, we were just a bunch of super broke car enthusiasts from the SF Bay Area that frequented the illegal street races, hardly able to scrape together enough funds to buy rebuild kits for the Mikuni 44phh carbs we wanted for our cars.
Nothing makes me happier or more inspired than seeing good people like Jan progress in their careers, all without losing focus on what made them passionate about cars in the first place. Let's face it. There are WAY too many corporate schmucks working within the auto industry; men and women that don't give a rat's ass about WHY people devote their whole lives to cars, or what makes cars cool. There are way too many non-car-people out there that scored jobs at big car companies just because they had degrees and were looking for a big corporate job with benefits after college. Jan is definitely not one of those. I'm glad to see there are still some folks out there who are intensely passionate about cars like all of us are (by all of us, I'm referring to the MotorMavens readers). Read more...
COVERAGE> SoCal Roadsters at Datsun Museum
CENTER STAGE> Shakotan S30 240Z
There were so many cars from Datsun/Nissan lineage represented at this year's JCCS, it was hard to focus on them all. Everything from Japanese style G-nose S30s to US market 240Zs were in abundance at the event this year, but there was one Z in particular that had a certain combination of presence and shock value. I just knew I had to feature it on our site... but there was just one problem. The car (and its owner) live in San Jose, California. And they would both be returning to the Bay Area on the morning after the show.
I had to figure out how (and where) to somehow shoot the car before it went back to San Jose - and I knew I didn't want to do one of those "on the grass" photo shoots after the show, because I think photos of cars on the grass are cliche, unimaginative and overdone... especially since there were 236790 photographers from different magazines doing the same photo shoot on different spots on the grass after JCCS.
The owner of this shakotan (super low down) boogiemonster is Yuta Akaishi. Let's pronounce it together. His first name is Yuta, pronounced like "Utah" and his last name is pronounced "Aka-ishi." I was first drawn to this amazing 240Z because it is just so damn low... it's mind boggling, seriously! The car may be showing its age with the presence of surface rust and dents here and there, but hell... to me, it's just a sign that this car lived a full life. It's kind of like battlescars on a seasoned fighter - they actually ADD to the look. 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
COVERAGE> Ratsuns x Japanese Nostalgic Car Meet
COVERAGE> Motorsport Auto Z-Car Nationals 2009
We took tons of photos at the event yesterday, so we'll have to spread out the Z photos into more than one posting. We admired Japanese Classic Car Show organizer Koji Yamaguchi's gorgeous orange 240Z as it basked in the sunlight, with it's straight up Japan-style look, fender mirrors and all.
Click here to check out more of our Z-Car Nationals photos after the jump! Read more...
NEWSWORTHY> Falken Garage Sale at Jtuned Meet!
Jtuned Meet x Falken Garage Sale!
Already makin plans for this weekend, April 25 and 26? You bet. There are plenty of things happening this upcoming weekend in Southern California!
For those of you that live near Solvang CA, or those who are just appreciate Datsun Roadsters, there’s a big Datsun Roadster Meet in Solvang CA (www.solvangshow.com). We hear the guys from Japanese Nostalgic Car Magazine are heading up there to have fun with the nostalgic Datsun community, and although we wish we could join them…
We just can’t miss out on the Falken Garage Sale, which is taking place in conjunction with the Jtuned Super Meet, at UTI in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. Ladies, don’t be scared… we’re not talking about that type of UTI. The UTI we’re referring to is Universal Technical Institute, the automotive mechanic school across the street from Falken’s old HQ on Haven Ave in Rancho. We hear that Falken will selling be TONS of body kits, tons of wide wheels, tons of suspension components, and racing seats from their old competition cars. Actually, we were told that they’re even selling engines, turbos and exhausts! Don’t sleep on this opportunity to come up on top quality parts at homie hookup prices! Mapquest UTI to get directions, and watch out for onetime. I’m sure the Inland Empire po-pos will be on the lookout.
On Sunday, the event to be at is the annual Z Car West Coast Nationals. We haven’t been to one of these annual Z shows yet, but Motorsport Auto in Orange CA holds this event every year, and we hear it’s pretty awesome. We’ll try to go and snap some pics at the show for those of you who can’t be there!
::MotorMavens
