My Skyline Journey!

[zandi2000]

Ok So basically the last 5 years have been spent enjoying by far.. one of the best cars in the world! I thought i'd share some of my pics and memories with this great car and also the places it has taken me! After all the Skyline is more then a car, its a masterful culmination of precisely engineered parts resulting in what can only be described as true genius!

When i arrived in Australia 8 years ago i heard one of these beauties rumble bye.. I remember thinking i'd never heard an engine note quite so racey in my life!

The next 3 years were spent saving!.... It all began here.

I thought i was the luckiest 18yr old in the world when i had this thing! If it weren't for the police attention i'd still probably be driving it now!

I bought my car from the same guy as mark (white 32, some of you may know this car.. later had the rb25 conversion) on the same day.. Ended up modding them together..

As can be viewed in this picture, i had a tough period in my life, which i like to call the "Chronic Bmw Syndrome" ... A common illness which occurs when being over-hassled by police. Luckily this was short lived!

Edited January 29, 2008 by zandi2000

[m3gtr]

thats great and all but..umm.. what does it have to do with life in japan?

[zandi2000]

Eventually I got a little sick of everyday life in Australia and was looking for new challenges.. I was sitting in my office one day with my brother and started having a conversation about which country we would both love to go to.. Coming from a childhood spent deciphering how to un-transform transformers, fix up Tamiya RC cars, and master tracktimes in Gran Turismo it was only natural to choose Japan.. Such a foreign country in my mind.. Within 5 minutes we had both decided to drop our succesful reasonably well-paying jobs in Australia and book our tickets to Japan.. Some people like to shop for t-shirts... we prefer this enviroment.

This particular car lot had over 30 GTR's to choose from.. All top quality, low km's unmodified beauties! Some rare models too.. Even in Japan to get good quality GTR's you have to pay good money! What alot of people don't realise is just how terrible some of the cars brought back into Australia really are.. The silver 32 in the bottom of this picture for example, was a genuine unmodified vspec2 with 16,000 km's of nissan logged services!

Some of you may be wondering why I have such a nervous look on my face whilst staring at a pile of pebbles...This could be explained by the wonder that is "buying a car in Japan"... This picture isnt the aftermath of an Afghan battle scene it is my new car park. Before taking delivery of my car I had to find an agency to find me a spot within a 400m radius of my house. This spot had to be of the physical dimentions to contain the perimeter of my car. After paying obscene amounts of money for documentation, this was forwarded to the police station, who in turn drove their patrol car round to check the dimensions before being forwarded to the city hall who then prepared the next stupidly sized pile of documentation for the car...

After finally taking delivery of our cars.. we took them down to Lake Biwa.. Which is in Shiga-ken not far from Kyoto. This lake was a beautiful location to take the car to about 5 mins from our house... It sported a road called Kogan Doro.. Lake Road. Legally a 50 kmh road but often frequented at 4 times that on quiet night runs... The car shown in front of mine is my brothers evo 7! My Japanese partner in crime...

Edited January 29, 2008 by zandi2000

[zandi2000]

Some photos of our cars up in the mountains...

After work in Japan everyday Friday and Saturday night I would head to the mountains.. Most of the time a place called Sekigahara... which is on the border of Mie and Shiga.. The drive there would take me through deserted, dark and bumpy roads for half an hour winding through small villages before arriving at a 2km long tunnel filled with modified cars, gangs of overaul toting mechanics changing tyres, tweaking engines and having fun! I'll never forget the first time i stood in the darkness of night in a mountain hours from anywhere and hearing the roar of 20 cars screaming up the mountain.. It's an amazing feeling, fear mixed with intense excitement and ending with a genuine respect and admiration for the skill and quality of driving these young Japanese posessed.

Next! One of the beautiful things about Japan is the ease of tracking!.. No special licences needed for us.. We receieved invites from the dealer we bought our car from to attend track sessions, all we had to do was turn up!.. Luckily a track I knew very well from my Gran Turismo days was literally 30 mins away... Suzuka... Here's a pic from one of the track days i attended there. Modified Ferrari's and Lambos, 800hp GTR's and a few one-off's such as the carbon s2000 from C-west and a nice twin-turbo 350z with 650hp were the highlight of this day!

[zandi2000]

On one of my days off i decided to take a drive down to Pheonix Garage.. I was impressed with the proffesionalism and Quality of work this garage performed.. This beast caught my eye sitting outside.. A drag 32 which apparently ran some pretty impressive times.. Inside this shop was an rb26 block sitting on the floor. I asked if it was for sale.. I was responded to with a very firm NO.. on the block were the cast imprint "RRR"... i was advised this was a very rare block and it was not for sale!... Anyone have any idea about this?

You can catch a fair few Gtr's and Evo's being worked on at this shop!

This is a drag 32 they were working on at the time..

[zandi2000]

Osaka Auto Messe!

Having missed out on Tokyo Autosalon due to work commitments I had to do the next best thing! Automesse... heres a few pics..

What is the Japanese obsession with Louis Vuitton...? atleast it is proven to handle high temps i guess...

One thing i really loved about Japan, which actually came as a surprise to me_ was the love for the old, but the integration with the new. Here is an NA rb25 in an old z... not overly powerful, not overly styled... but in my opinion.. overly cool!

A Super tough GTR engine... look at the bracing!

The Fujimura Auto r32 gtr with HKS GT-SS turbos and a nice leather interior. A perfect example of a sharp street weapon GTR. Gotta love that Strut Brace too!

HKS with their beautifully presented 2.8 stroked VCAM engine on display.. Wish i had an extra 20G...

Mr HKS giving me my signed catalogue...

I apologise for displaying this pic up on this forum but you just gotta respect this thing.. its so bloody fast!

[zandi2000]

This part of my Topic is the area where i display some random cars i came across in Japan..

First up.. The old, and the Not quite as old.

Next...American muscle Vs. Japanese muscle. It pains me to state that they do actually strike a remarkable resemblance.

This ones for all you Initial D fans out there.

Fancy a VQ sandwhich?

To his defence: the speed humps were quite high in our town.

A new Veilside shop opened up near my house and i caught a glimpse of this one afternoon. The actual movie car signed and everything! Love the dish!

I was following this guy in traffic one day... can anyone spot whats so cool about his car.... apart from being a 34 gtr ofcourse.

Ahhhh my twin!

[zandi2000]

Beautiful Japan. It would be wrong to simply fill the thread with Car pics, as fun as they are. Japan is a land of extreme untouched beauty. The cities are like none I have ever seen before and the country is equally as amazing in its own right.. Here are a few photos that show the diversity of this beautiful Land.

Cherry Blossom in Omihachiman.

Chomeji Temple.. close to my house.

View from Tokyo Tower.

OK OK i slipped one car shot in, however there is cherry blossom in the background!

[zandi2000]

Ok nearing the end now.. Just some Odd ones!

This was a valentine present from a girl... Is this not the best thing youv'e ever seen! chocolate tools!.. Surely thats marriage material right there.

Next time you spend 5 bucks on a melon at safeways consider yourself lucky please... that equates to around 100 dollars each!!

Some close-ups of the Turbo when i took them out.

A couple more of my car>

[zandi2000]

OK that brings me to the end of my entry. I hope you have found some of my memories interesting. Perhaps it will give some of you ideas. I have spent just over a year and a half in Japan and I can honestly say I've never been to a place with more friendly, welcoming and genuine people. If you are looking for something different in your life, a new taste or just an adventure i can't recommend this amazing country enough. I've left this place with such a sweet taste, i hope all of you get the chance at some point in time to check it out!.. Feel free to ask any questions about it, I would gladly offer some time to help you with any queries you may have!...

So the end of my adventure is here. Our two cars which gave us the best memories around Japan are now sitting in our Garage..What a great pleasure to have such awesome pieces of machinery act as momentos of our time in Japan every single day! Sadly Its come to the point in my life where im going to have to give it up. I'll be moving to Europe next month and selling my car. I have a suspicion that my next car may come from the same stable!

Thanks for taking the time to look at my pictures...

[N/A®]

Nice write up and some nice shots there. What camera are you using?

Thats not you in the first pic is it? If yes, Jp has obviously improved your looks...

Which part of Japan were u in?

Edited January 29, 2008 by N/A®

[m3gtr]

ahhh, now i see what it has to do with the japan section!

awesome stuff.

sorry to have jumped the gun on you there!

[m3gtr]

The prices of fruit are horrendous here.

Those mellons werent 100 dollars ...they were 200!!

great pics especialy the last one.

Thanks again.

Edited January 29, 2008 by m3gtr

[NYTSKY]

What do you both do for a living??

[zandi2000]

Haha Thats not me.. good detective work.. that was an old mate.. I lived in Shiga-Ken about 40 min out of Kyoto.. Its kind of country but i really wanted to experience that side of Japan, plus i couldnt afford the bloody parking in the cities!

I still attribute my accelerated weight gain to the price of fruit in Japan... it had nothing to do with the non-existant exercise, the over-consumption of alcahol/sukiya/yoshinoya and the fact that i drove everywhere...

[zandi2000]

My bro and I work together in video and design...

[N/A®]

Haha Thats not me.. good detective work.. that was an old mate.. I lived in Shiga-Ken about 40 min out of Kyoto.. Its kind of country but i really wanted to experience that side of Japan, plus i couldnt afford the bloody parking in the cities!

I still attribute my accelerated weight gain to the price of fruit in Japan... it had nothing to do with the non-existant exercise, the over-consumption of alcahol/sukiya/yoshinoya and the fact that i drove everywhere...

Think you were very lucky to be with your brother. I would have loved to have your experience.

Looking at your post, sounds like a great journey and you managed to bring the 2 cars (babies) home for memory is great. Also love your shots. Some of them look like the ones out of the montly GTR Magazine. Again, what camera were you using??

[zandi2000]

my apologies for missing your question. i bought a nikon p5000 whilst i was in japan..so the better pics were taken with that. not a bad cam for what it is. ur right about going with my bro...it did make things alot more enjoyable for me..

[m3gtr]

My bro and I work together in video and design...

So what did you do for coin while you were living here?

[Beer Baron]

The prices of fruit are horrendous here.

Those mellons werent 100 dollars ...they were 200!!

great pics especialy the last one.

Thanks again.

21,000 a pair = $100 each. (approx)

anyway, that has nothing to do with the price of melons.

awesome pics, and sounds like you had a great experience in japan too. thanks for sharing them.