Japfest and Fast Car Festival

[dollywobbler]

Here follows a quick review of these events, of which I was a bit of. I organised a Retro Japanese magazine display at both events, though the Fast Car Festival display got a bit chaotic, as we'll see.

 

Firstly, Japfest. Hugely indepted to Spotted Laurel and Mash of (or formerly of) this parish, for bringing delicious Datsunness - a Laurel and a Violet 140J NOT A SUNNY.

 

Here we go then. A busy day on Saturday, as crowds gather around such exotic delights as an Autozam Carol and Nissan Bluebird Executive. 

 

Nissan Sunny with Skyline R30-esque stickers.

 

Charade, formerly of this parish, Honda Civic Spoon replica (auto!) and a tasty Celica.

 

Nissan Skyline 240K with very-period paint and wheels, and a Skyline Hakosuka GT-R.

 

Later that day, we got invaded by Alcyone's Piazza. The other car is not a Celica nor a Datsun.

 

Full-on Datsun line-up - 240K, Laurel, 180B estate, Violet.

 

Then it was Fast Car Festival, and the Bluebird found itself surrounded by Porsches and Jaguars. Kelsey Media has many motoring titles, and we had to find space for all of them.

 

Stig doesn't dig Bosozoku pipes.

 

A modern Jag encounters some unusual stablemates. The Cortina was awesome.

 

Here's a closer look at the Bosozoku Sunny just visible in the pic above.

 

Meanwhile, track sessions took place. Yes, that is an Aston Martin Vulcan about to chase down an Escort and an XR2. The XR2 was pretty bloomin' quick!

 

That's that for now. Had a great weekend, surrounded by many very different machines. Hopefully we can encourage more classic Japanese metal to attend the Japfest shows next year, as there wasn't much away from the stand. Not that I saw very much of either show to be honest! 

 

Next stop, Festival of the Unexceptional. Hopefully in the Bluebird.

[fordperv]

Looks some interesting motors there, Are you going to fordfair with Kelsey DW?

[dollywobbler]

No, I only tend to get involved when there's a Japanese angle at the moment. Running these events is hard work!

[Spottedlaurel]

Thank you for inviting me onto the stand Ian, my son and I had a very enjoyable day. I will try and add a few of my photos on at some point soon, as I did have plenty of time for wandering.

 

It was a little different from most shows I go to. Aside from many of the cars being somewhat more modern and/or modified, there were the Time Attack racers and other cars out on the circuit, the drifting, a live stage, ludicrously loud (to the point of being unpleasant to be near it) speaker display truck, planes taking off from EAMA, soundchecking for the Little Mix concert nextdoor and a Police helicopter overhead some of the time due to the latter. And despite all of that, at one point I heard a Skylark (bird not Buick type) happily singing overhead and cutting through it all. Overall, a bit of an assault on the senses.

 

It was great to have the sanctuary of the RJ stand to go back to, and whenever I did return there seemed to be people looking at and taking photos of the older stuff on display. Likewise I think we all found things to appreciate in the other cars in attendance, and it’s thought-provoking that the likes of Nissan Silvia, R32 GT-R etc are 25+ years old now. I didn’t see any Camrys there though.

 

We had a dull and uneventful drive up the A14 and M1 to get there, but made the most of a fine summer evening to go back cross-country via Melton Mowbray, Rutland Water, Stamford and the through The Fens. The Laurel is perfect for that sort of driving, 60-70 on those roads is just enough to get the straight-six making a nice noise and we made surprisingly rapid progress with the roads being so quiet.

 

FOTU will make for an interesting compare and contrast…..

[tooSavvy]

Were I to volunteer the Carina II for a show would it be 'different' from the scene?

 

.... or would I get "Oyy M8... To the station M8!" / "Got the smell of curry out of the upholstery M8?" 

 

 

2nd thoughts... Fuckkem

 

 

TS

[dollywobbler]

My main aim, with both magazine and stand, is to be 'different' to the scene Savvy. With my immersion in the world of Japanese, I've never heard any derogatory comments from 'scenesters' about bog standard cars. There is genuine appreciate both ways, that has frankly made me view modded cars in a very different light. It is very refreshing to be honest. The Jap fans do seem remarkably open-minded after you've spent ten years immersed in the world of British classics...

[dollywobbler]

More Datsun love, with Mash's delicious Violet to the left.

 

Another pic from Sunday, as various makes get crammed together. Honda variety!

 

Both of these cars were utterly delicious in their own ways.

 

The full Skyline line-up from Saturday. Six generations!

[Spottedlaurel]

A few photos as promised. This JDM Skyline was probably my car of the show, it had come to the UK via stops in Australia and NZ over the years.

 

 

 

 

 

1.8-litre 4-cyl powerhouse! It does have twin plugs per cylinder at least.

 

Other oldies:

 

 

 

 

I thought this Civic was nicely done:

 

 

 

Z had plenty of patina and spent a lot of time on the track (pretty quick too):

 

 

 

There were a few large saloons to be seen. Mostly some variant of Toyota Chaser/Mark II, and this President was particularly impressive.

 

 

I love the look of the 4dr R32 Skyline (though I'd prefer mine somewhat less drifty).

 

 

First time I've seen one of these Silvia Grand Prix models. Interesting that he'd come across to the UK when people from here were heading to NL for the Japan Classic Sunday show.

 

 

An interesting and enjoyable day out.

[dollywobbler]

The Sylvia Grand Prix was at Japfest Silverstone back in April too. I actually ran out in front of him to get a photo as he drove in!

[alcyonecorporation]

COUGH: what about the fuggin' IPTOC stand, eh? 

[dollywobbler]

I didn't see it! Barely left the RJ stand.

[Schaefft]

I like the Nissan President, I'm still trying to find its american counterpart (1st gen Infiniti Q45). There was one register here in the UK somewhere near Colchester but I have no idea what happened to it.If anyone knows anything about it let me know, I want it BADLY.

[Spottedlaurel]

COUGH: what about the fuggin' IPTOC stand, eh? 

 

Voila. Six of them!

 

 

 

[cort1977]

I like the Nissan President, I'm still trying to find its american counterpart (1st gen Infiniti Q45). There was one register here in the UK somewhere near Colchester but I have no idea what happened to it.If anyone knows anything about it let me know, I want it BADLY.

 

There's loads here...

 

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=461325853&referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fsearchresults.xhtml%3FstartYear%3D1989%26sortBy%3DderivedpriceASC%26incremental%3Dall%26firstRecord%3D0%26endYear%3D2018%26modelCodeList%3DQ45%26makeCodeList%3DINFIN&startYear=1989&numRecords=25&firstRecord=0&endYear=2018&modelCodeList=Q45&makeCodeList=INFIN&makeCode1=INFIN&modelCode1=Q45

[Schaefft]

There's loads here...

 

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=461325853&referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fsearchresults.xhtml%3FstartYear%3D1989%26sortBy%3DderivedpriceASC%26incremental%3Dall%26firstRecord%3D0%26endYear%3D2018%26modelCodeList%3DQ45%26makeCodeList%3DINFIN&startYear=1989&numRecords=25&firstRecord=0&endYear=2018&modelCodeList=Q45&makeCodeList=INFIN&makeCode1=INFIN&modelCode1=Q45

I know, add the shipping costs, 20% tax and custom fees, plus issues when registering the car because of the non EU-certified headlights, and that 2.5k Q45 quickly becomes a 7k car.