dimanche 15 décembre 2013

Winter is coming ...

… and my OEM wheels came back from painting, with their Nokian tires (and the new center caps I bought some months ago).

In my father's garage, waiting to be clean up ...
After a (very) quick wash, in the winter last daylight.
In my last post, i was talking about pursuing the upgrade of the skyline or buying an "oldie" aside.
Since then I thought more and more about it and then came the opportunity to buy a 1976 Mazda 818 coupé (known as "Grand Familia" in Japan, 808 in US, ...) in very good condition.


My new toy. A 1976 Mazda 818 Coupé "Deluxe".
Thanks to my friend Eric for the picture.
So I took it : I didn't want to miss such an opportunity to find a clean old japanese car.
On the european market, it is everyday more difficult for a reasonable budget to find a pearl like that.


I will keep the skyline but i think that I'm done with upgrade/modification part .
Now that the car is stable from a mechanic point of view, I just want to enjoy it (and replace/renewed the older/most worn parts).

Some hours ago, in the already black night, I was quietly driving back to my flat, listening the soundtrack of Format67's documentary "We write the streets". 
The blue lights from the dashboard (again thanks to AKI for the idea) and gauges were slighty glowing in the car and I thought "That's it".

 It's difficult to explain but this simple moment was one of those which nearly erase all the difficulties that happened before.

I really do appreciate sport cars (as photographic subject and from a technical point of view) and I still want to test my R33 on a track but I'm not sure that I will really appreciate it so much.

Of course, speed and power are generally the first thought that comes at mind, when you look at documentaries such "We write the streets" or internet sites as "Speedhunters", but you can also just enjoy the car for what it is and the whole story within it.

As I already said it before; I was not a huge fan of the Skyline at first. It was, for me, just a rare (on european scene) japanese sport car. That’s all. 
But, after all the time I spent working on it, it slowly became my car (and not just "a" car).
Even if I didn't exploit it to its maximum potential, I appreciate being behind the wheel and that's all that matter.


P.S.: 
For those who did'nt know Format67 yet, I recommand Daniel Michaelis's channel on you tube :
http://www.youtube.com/user/fastmichaelis?feature=watch
And the soundtrack I was talking about:
http://grooveshark.com/#!/album/We+Write+The+Streets+Part+2+Soundtrack/8611046












2 commentaires:

  1. wow! what a cool old car! You are truly a connosieur - looking forward to whatever you will be doing with the Mazda. As for the Skyline, yes, keep freshening it up, too many people modify in the wrong way, so keeping it close to original is a great idea!

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    1. Thanks AKI.
      Not much work foreseen for the mazda as it is quite good for its age.
      As for the skyline, it will be more a refreshment work than heavy modifications/upgrades. The only "extras" that I will alowed myself are a set of 14" inch Watanabe wheels for summer and a new paint (still in grey but probably a more modern one like "aluminium metallic" from actual Mazda) and that's all.

      I had a lot of ideas for an old car (mostly inspired by the US scene) but given the original state of the Mazda, I will keep them if another oldie come in a few years.

      P.S.: Merry christmas and a happy new year (and thanks again for sharing all you ideas on your blog :) )

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