Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Last Post of the Year!

 So with two new cars joining the Itoh garage this year - my 2016  E52 Elgrand VIP and the 2024 Skyline Nismo - I did not have much time to do much with the R33 this year.  But never fear, yes I do have a few more things I want to do to it next year.

In the meantime - here are some photos I took when I went and picked it up from Omori Factory, where Midorikawa-san of Nissan Prince Fukushima had delivered it after getting the car shakened for this next 2 year cycle.


Meanwhle I also found this beautiful 33 in the showroom too.







Hard to believe they are essentially the same machine. I wonder what the difference is, could it be the 400R hood with those exhaust vents? Hmm... In any case, I have a new list of things I want to fix/try on the 33, so hopefully 2025 will be a good year for that!

Thursday, December 19, 2024

Nismo Festival 2024!

(Please excuse the belated post - I was overseas on a business trip the day after the Nismo Festival (which was on December 1 this year) and I am finally getting caught up...)

I know many of you are not going to like this, but I have been lucky enough to attend the Nismo Festival so many times that frankly, it is beginning to lose some of its luster.

Instead of checking out the latest from Nissan and Nismo - uh yeah well I know as I work at Nissan - at the Festival I am able to meet up with old friends, both car owners and shop affiliated, that I have not seen for some time. 

Of course, from an R33 GT-R perspective, there is some cool things too - check out the Global Auto 400R that was on display.  Seeing a 400R is no longer that exciting but it was interesting to see what it looked like under the hood!




And then walking around I see some privately owned 33s in the parking lot...





It was cool to see the Nismo carrier truck out as well.

The parking lot was sectioned off according to car model - one section for Zs, R32 GT-Rs, R33 GT-Rs, etc... probably organically by the owners too.  In the Skyline sedan section I found this Skyline 400R (JDM version that has the 400ps engine):

I like the paint, but that sticker...nope

And one other interesting thing I saw - at Nismo Festival wtih so many shops sellings stuff, and some shops taking cash only, what happens when you run out of cash? Simple, you go to a mobile ATM, this one operated by 7 and i Holdings, operator of the 7-11 convenience stores here in Japan...


Interestiing products for cars - yeah there were a couple. One shop - Ota Automotive - selling recreations of the Series 3 front blinker grill with cut-out for the oil cooler - but modified to allow air to flow slighlty better (for some reason I can't seem to find the photo I took).  Another shop was selling Nissan OEM interior clips - an entire set for the interior of one car.  I guess I will have to update this blog when I get some photos or the products themselves in hand for me to try out. Stay tuned!!