Hirstのブログ一覧

I'm using a friend's car at the moment, it's a Daihatsu YRV. The grey area is where I'm making some repairs, so don't worry about that - it's temporary! It's going to be painted soon.

Chassis code is M201G, I think. It's 2WD with the 1.3L K3-VE 4-cylinder DOHC 16-Valve engine with 90ps, using a 5MT gearbox. The engine is really good, it seems so powerful for 90ps. In 2nd gear, the acceleration is surprising!

Since my first car was a Daihatsu (Mira Classic Turbo 4WD L510S), this brand is quite special for me. I always liked the design of the YRV, because for a family car it still looks quite cool. I like the excellent engineering quality and powerful small engines of Daihatsu cars.

Some time ago, I considered buying the Turbo model of the YRV. In the UK, they only did one called the YRV "Turbo 130". However, the Turbo model only comes with 4AT paddle-shift gearbox, but as I prefer manual transmission, I decided not to buy one.

However, this regular non-turbo model is easy to drive and uses very little fuel. Maybe it would be a good idea for me to buy this and drive it to the office instead of using the 156 V6 most days. If I did, I could save a lot in fuel bills. Do you know that UK fuel prices are one of the highest in the world? It's even more expensive than Japan. I pay about ¥250/L for Shell V-Power, so it's about ¥12,000 to fill the 156's fuel tank for about 400km of driving...

I saw an eclipse! Not a Mitsubishi Eclipse, a solar eclipse. It was a cloudy day, but I could still see it quite well through the clouds. The next one will be in 2026, maybe it'll be sunny for that one.

Anyway, last weekend I was helping my friend take his old car into the garage for work.



It's a Chrysler 180, which I don't think was ever exported to Japan (or even outside Europe). It's not American, it's by Chrysler Europe which was a combination of Rootes Group UK and Simca France. The car is a mixture of French and British ideas, parts and styling. The factory was originally in France, but later they were built in Spain.

It was released in 1970, but my friend's car is a late model from 1978. It's a large family car, about the same size as a C130 Laurel. Engine is 1.8L SOHC with 97ps, quite good power for that size and age of car, but not a sports car. He got it in 2007, but was very busy after that, so it hasn't been driven for a few years.



We had to push it into the garage as we couldn't get it to start. The engine turns on the ignition, but no fuel. Maybe a problem with the fuel pump, or something blocking the fuel lines. It should be easy to fix, though. With an old car, there's only a few things to check.

This car is rare now, probably only a few hundred worldwide. Maybe 5-6 in the UK. It wasn't very popular for a few reasons, but mostly because British people wanted a British-style car, French people wanted a French-style car, but this was both. I like the appearance though.

There's some more information here: http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/クライスラー・160/180/2リッター



I was using the P11 Primera that weekend. Now it's up for sale, I'm hoping to find a new owner for it soon. Then I'll be using the P10!

I remember this video from a few years ago, but I only found it again recently. In 1975, a small motor racing circuit allowed the public to race their own cars together at the circuit. They didn't need to be racing drivers, they could just drive their own cars onto the track and race with each other. It looks really dangerous!

I'm having a problem making it display on here, so the link is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btXR4ej4QoA



There's a great variety of cars including a Celica (TA20-series), a lot of Minis and some American imports. Also there's a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow.



There's a S30Z too, but I'm not sure if it's a 240Z or 260Z. It seems to leave the race early.



Most of the drivers don't seem to have a helmet. Even in 1975, this is crazy!



The Celica driver goes into corners very aggressively. Later on, he spins out when braking into a corner.

I really like those Celicas. I nearly got one as my first car, it was the 1600 ST model. I could have got it for about £500 (¥90,000). The body was in poor condition though, so I decided not to buy it. Now even a really bad one would be worth at least £3000! They're one of the most expensive classic Japanese cars in the UK. I'll probably never get one now. I still have the photos of that one somewhere...

There's a small monthly car meet I visit for old and interesting cars. It's about 80km from me and takes about 1 hour to get there, but it's a good drive through country roads with mostly 60mph (95km/h) speed limits. Even though it's only a small local meet, I like the journey and a lot of my friends are there, so I go often. This time I took my Prelude BB9.



It's the 2.0i with 133ps and no VTEC, which I think is only available in Europe. It's the lowest specification, with 4-stud wheels and no 4WS system. It's not extremely fast, but it's still good to drive with a smooth engine. The previous owner lowered the suspension, so it's easy to scrape the exhaust system on ramps, but it's good to drive on fast roads. I decided to sell it soon though, so I can use the money to repair some of my other cars. I'd like to try the 2.2 VTEC 4WS one day, though.



At the car meet, there were a few small Nissans together. K11, Z10, K10. The Z10 Cube was imported from Japan, we never got the Z10 or Z11 officially, but I sometimes see used imports. We did get the Z12, though.



This K10 Micra (March!) was in really good condition! It's a 1988 model, which means it has the early type front and 12-inch wheels. The next year, the front grill is different and they all have 13-inch wheels, I think. These K10s were so popular and reliable that you can still see them today quite often.



It's a 1.0 GSX Automatic. From what I remember, the GSX is the top grade of the earlier type model in the UK. We didn't get the sports versions, though I have seen the March Super Turbo imported sometimes. I really want to try one of those, a Supercharger and Turbocharged engine sounds very interesting. I talked to the owner, this car was originally sold from the Nissan dealer in my city and owned by an old lady for many years. He said with the automatic it's quite slow! I guess you would expect that.

The weather was so nice in those photos, I didn't need to wear a jacket. Later that day, it was so cold it started to snow. The weather here changes so often, that's why British people always talk about the weather...

I was thinking about some old racing games today. Then I remembered the time I saw a Ridge Racer machine where you could sit inside a "real" Eunos Roadster. This was almost 20 years ago, so I was thinking maybe I didn't remember it correctly. But then I looked around to see if I could find any information and I found an old brochure. It's true!



It's Ridge Racer "Full Scale". There's a big cinema-type screen and you use the controls inside the car. The speedometer and tachometer work inside the car, too.

When I first saw it, it was about 1995 at Namco Land in a nearby city, Sheffield. I already knew about Ridge Racer, it was a popular game from 1993. I wanted to try this machine, but it was very expensive. In 1995, I didn't have a lot of money. I was still in school! I think 1 Credit on Full Scale was the same cost as 5 Credits on the standard machine.

Since I don't need to visit Sheffield often, I didn't go there again until a few years later. The machine was gone by then, so I didn't get the chance to try it. The entire place is gone now, I think it's a restaurant.

I guess it's an interesting piece of history for the NA6/NA8 Roadster, though. Maybe it's still around somewhere.