It has been a while since I last went on a tour and last month Ale and his friend and I decided to go for a tour to Mt. Akagi, Gunma. Yes this is the mountain after which the WW2 Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier Akagi was also named after. More importantly though the iconic…
Nissan heritage feat. Skyline GTR
Mid Aug 2020 Nissan released a TV ad here in Japan which I feel is worth a mention as it is definitely containing some feels. Oh and the Skyline GTR of course! One of the most emotional TV ads by any Automotive manufacturer. You can think of it as a The headline quote roughly translates…
The Prince and Skyline Museum – Part V: The fruits of Project 901
In the late 80s Nissan despite it’s initial success in the 70s with the Fairlady Z in the United States was still largely an emerging automotive manufacturer on a global scale. Having proved that they could make a great sports car their next step was to take on the world on two fronts in addition to…
The Prince and Skyline Museum – Part IV: The Interim Years
Apologises for the 2 month or so hiatus. I was taking a short break from the car world and indulging in another on of my hobbies of getting back into PC gaming again. The interrim years characterised by the hiatus of the GTR left fans eagerly waiting upon each model hoping that this model line…
The Prince and Skyline Museum – Part III: Genesis
As this is the Skyline Museum every model is represented. Beginning with the first generation of Skyline. Released to the public in April 1957 and developed by Ryoichi Nakagawa of the dissolved Nakajima Aircraft Company, father of the Zero Fighter’s engine. The first Prince Skyline, ALS/BLS series. They have a very special and rarest of…
The Prince and Skyline Museum – Part II: The Historics
Going down the stairs you first come upon the historic display on Prince and Nissan. In my past article Zeroes to Skylines https://clubgrandtouring.wordpress.com/2020/01/06/zeroes-to-skylines-a-link-to-the-past/ the museum also has a section covering the origins of Nissan Prince Motors and the Skyline. Starting with Nakajima Aircraft. The great grandparent of the Skyline Memorial wall tribute towards Shinichiro Sakurai…
The Prince and Skyline Museum – Part I: An Introduction
The other month Ale and I had the same idea to head up to Nagano to visit the Prince & Skyline Museum. In 1996 in the very location (〒394-0055 Nagano, Okaya, Uchiyama, 字内山４７６９−１４) at Yamabiko Park the annual Vintage Car Meeting. Skyline owners requested that this would be perfect place for Japan’s first automotive museum…
Boot, windows and mirrors
My car has been in and out of the workshop a fair bit recently. Following some consultation on my last visit when I picked up my car after fitting my Ohlins. The power window action had bother me for a number of years now as they are getting jerky and made a slight clunky sound….
My Z story
As by now it is well known the reveal of the Z Proto concept has be met with much elation by all. Well overdue for a visit I headed over to the Nissan Pavilion 2 weekends ago. An event area currently just a block South of Nissan’s Global Headquarters. Speaking of which before heading over…
Swedish gold
My previous reason for opting for HKS Hypermax series coilovers was value for money plus the high spring rates afforded by the SP model (12kg front, 10kg rear). HKS’s backyard is Hakone Turnpike and Fuji Speedway with the SP model being further tuned for track work. However with future plans to take the car on…
Tatsumi Times Aug 2020
Seeing as I frequent Tatsumi PA, I thought I’d make this a ongoing feature of this blog. So here is a mid-year compilation of various turnouts at our favourite impromptu cars and coffee location in Tokyo. Here at Grand Touring of course the name of the game is Skylines and GTRs. However we love all…
What do the F40 and the BCNR33 have in common?
These two cars are born under very different ethea. Not to mention they served different purposes. Among these differences lies one detail they have in common… A rear wing logo on one side. This detail was shared by both cars. Perhaps the designer/s of the BCNR33 used the F40 as inspiration? Most of us were…
Grand Touring 