I guess this is what you get if you leave two cars in the same garage together for too long!
More likely it`s what you get from a mechanic with free time, spare parts, & a sense of humour.
Because the engine is in the back of VW Beetles, there must be quite a lot of space under the bonnet/hood in this car - pretty handy.
What do you think of it?
When I went to pick up a couple of friends from the station, they weren`t the only oversized, attention-seeking foreigners I found there - I was super-surprised to spot this mean machine parked nearby.
It`s a 1959 Chevrolet Impala. It must be difficult to park - it`s about two metres just from the back wheel to the back bumper! Actually, it must be hard to do anything in this car on small Japanese roads, it`s so long.
It`s easy to look at though. Niiiice car!
* click on the picture to enlarge
Actually, this car is not really cool, but it gives me a chance to tell you that a camera crew from local TV station ICC came to our school recently. They filmed a segment featuring Samantha`s small kids class.
Do you get ICC? If so, please watch it!
番組名： いちのみやTV
(30分番組)
コーナー名：いち★コレ
チャンネル：ICCチャンネル 地デジ12ch(121ch)
放送日 ：１１月１４日（月）〜１１月２０日（日）
放送時間 ：9:00am
/ 12:00pm / 16:00pm / 20:00pm / 23:00pm
This van belongs to the DJ who was at the wedding that I went to last week.
I didn`t talk to him, but I guess his name is Kei Wong (it`s written on the big yellow stickers on the side of his van). That`s interesting, because I have a friend in Nagoya whose name is Wei Kong!
I have no idea what kind of van it is. I`ve never seen one like this before.
But I think it`s interesting & pretty cool. What do you think?
From a distance, these look like old-style American jeeps, but when you look more closely you can see the Mitsubishi logo on the front. Otherwise they`re almost the same. Mitsubishi produced them under license from American automobile manufacturer Willys from 1953 to 1998 - a long time!
Even though these ones are not original U.S. versions, they`re still pretty cool, especially the old grey one above - can you see? It has a huge shovel (scoop) attached to the front - excellent! Very handy for clearing snow, building big sandcastles, cleaning up kids` toys, re-arranging furniture... What else can you think of?
I didn`t realise I needed a car like this until I saw this one.
Hubba Hubba!
I spotted this baby in a side-street while riding my bicycle home from Ichinomiya station recently.
I`m still suffering from whiplash.
It`s a 2009 Dodge Challenger SRT8, a modern interpretation of the original models from the early 70`s. I think I prefer the retro originals, but it`s a hard choice - this is definitely a nice car.
These caravans are soooo retro & cool. I`m not sure if they`re for sale or not - there is a company sign nearby (`American Trailer Develop` - you can see it in the bottom right photograph, under the horse). However, I first noticed them a few years ago, and nobody seems to have bought any. Maybe they`re a private collection? Nice hobby!
The number plates are interesting too; `South Carolina`, `California` & a frame with `Have Fun Squaredancing` on it - haha!
When we were at Ichinomiya Tower Park on Saturday, there was this 60`s VW `kombi` van which had been converted into a mobile cafe/restaurant - cool, don`t you think?
My younger brother used to have an orange kombi van. He really wanted to be a hippie.
I wonder if he still has it.
I wonder if he`s still trying to be a hippie...
After we walked on the beach, we went to an Italian restaurant for lunch, and look at what was in the carpark - WOW! One of my all-time favourite car designs - an old Porsche 356 Speedster (1955? 56? 57?). Actually, I suspect this one may be a replica, not an original (it didn`t taste right), but it`s still a beautiful car.
Veeeeery nice.
One of our students is a mechanic & used car-dealer. We were talking about cars & I mentioned to him that I liked retro cars like the Nissan Pao, which I featured on my blog recently. So the next week he kindly brought to school a Nissan Figaro which he is working on at the moment. Cool!
The Figaro was built in 1992 by a Nissan special projects group called Pike Factory, which also made the Pao. Like the Pao, the Figaro has a stylish retro dashboard; the design of the dials reminds me of old fob (pocket) watches.
He`ll be selling it soon, so if you`re interested, let me know!
Ah... I wish I could buy it.
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