Car | DATSMO

DATSMO representing in Japan! (yes I slapped a DATSMO sticker on a Bluebird!)

Recently, I took a trip to visit the land of the rising sun and met up with NAKAZOTO, who by chance lives less than 1km away from where I was staying, and showed me around!
Nakazoto is a native to the Japanese Nostalgic Car forums and known for his Mitsubishi 360 (can be seen in the 2nd and 3rd pics).

Day 1

Nakazoto took me to Classic Car Nagoya where there are just speechless amounts of classic JDM tin just laying around like nobody’s business. PARTS UPON PARTS UPON PARTS for whatever Japanese classic you can think of! There’s no words to describe the place and I’m sure the pics don’t to the place justice either,but because I’m not a pro photographer, you’re just going to have to deal with the pics I took. Better than nothing, right?

The picture after the bicycle is a random guy that was calculating while driving…yes! That’s a freaking calculator!! WTF, right?? HAHAHA

After Mr. Calculator, is Nakazoto’s daily ride…A pretty rare Nissan March Super Turbo!!! Nissan + Super-Charger + Turbo = FUN! That little thing is quick!

The next stop was Vintage. I happen to know the owner’s girlfriend’s sister, so I was able to take some pics…otherwise, photos were not allowed (LUCKY!!!)
I liked this place, but it felt uptight…like a museum, because that’s pretty much what it was! They had an AWESOME collection in the stable as well as a trio of R32 Skylines. Even in Japan, I still don’t get tired of looking at Skylines! (drool) There was even a Skyline Japan C210 that looked like a clone of what they used in an old Japanese cop show 西部警察 (Seibu Keisatsu)

On the way back, we stopped by a small shop called C&Y, where they do some crazy swaps. It was later in the day, so the lighting was not the best. They seem to like Toyota engines (as one of the mechanics told me) because they put a 2JZ into a Z32 and an RX-7 FD as well as a 1UZ-FE in a Mitsubishi Debonaire that they were painting at the time of my visit. The staff there were REALLY friendly and were not hesitant to talk to us and tell us about their projects as well as show us their cars and let us take pics…it was a shame that it was getting dark already. One staffer told me that SpeedHunters dropped by not long before me! COOL!

DAY 2

As if the first day wasn’t cool enough…first thing in the morning, we head over to the infamous ROCKY AUTO, where they specialize in Nissan (Z, Skyline, etc…) Their lot was SOOO packed with Z’s it was hard to take pics. I was really trying to take pics of the various sleeping beasts but then gave up and started taking general shots. It really would’ve taken me all day to snap good pics of each 😦 Then we go inside the shop where the cream of the crop sit! We sat down with the 社長 (owner) of the place, had coffee and started talking cars. That was cool! Nakazoto said “look behind you…it’s not everyday you get to sit next to a REAL Skyline Hakosuka GT-R!” I turn my head and WHOA! It was fuckin awesome! It didn’t even hit me when I sat down because I saw more Hakosukas in the two days than in my entire life, so I was kinda numb to it already (guess I got used to being in Japan). Anyway, they were in the middle of working on a swap and the tolerances they have are CRAZY! (see pic on that)

We then dropped by another car shop to look at used parts…you’ll NEVER see a set of Watanabe of dirt cheap! (drool)

We then headed back to Classic Car Nagoya to look at the Bluebird parts (same car I stuck a DATSMO sticker on). Look at those door panels! BRAND FREAK NEW…still wrapped in plastic!! I was going to buy them but I wouldn’t have a way to take them home 😦 Next time…I’ll bring a bigger suitcase! Uncracked dash!?!? WHOA!! Also had some weird aftermarket air conditioning.

My last pic is a Hoshino 10″ rim. And yes, they had all four! I took off my shoe to take a pic for size reference (I’m a size 9) so no, it’s not just a really big shoe!

BIG THANKS TO NAKAZOTO! I’ll be seeing you again, man!

Question or comments? Leave them below!
-goki