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Honda Bring the N-One to America

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Honda needs a swift kick in the pants, if you ask me. Here are a few things I would do if I were them. First of all I would bring the N-One to the USA. I would dump the kei engine and put the Fit engine in it or something similar. I think the styling is something fresh that would do pretty well in America. I can see them doing an commercial showing the original Civic and then the N-One. I can also see them showing how it’s the perfect second or third car, and is ideal for the city. You know, parking, traffic, and all that jazz.

Second they need to produce a FR sedan to compete with the M3. I think something about the size of the old Integra but with the engine put in the right way, and it driving the rear wheels. None of this front wheel drive BS!

Third bring back the S2000, but try to hit a more Miata like or FR-S/BR-Z price point.

I think that will just about do it. Am I smoking crack or do you think these ideas will work?

Thanks for reading,
ET

Autotaku Podcast: Awesome Porsche Cayman

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A lot of places have cars and coffee type meet up events, and San Antonio, Texas is no different. Today was the first day I made it to one of these events.  It was a overcast day with a little drizzle on the way to the event. Once I got there I grabbed a Chai Latte at the shop and went to the parking area. It was a great turn out, probably due to the fact that it’s spring and people were itching to go for a drive.

This yellow Porsche Cayman was pretty awesome in my book. It’s probably the best looking example that I have seen in real life. Some Porsche 911 purest aren’t a fan of these, but they handle awesomely and might give a 911 a run for it’s money if they had identical horsepower.

Play

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Ok Dodge, It’s Time to Dump the Ugly Designs

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The Dodge Charger has to be the worst looking car on the road! I don’t know what they are thinking? Or maybe they actually aren’t thinking. Do people that buy these cars actually think they look good?

U…G…L…Y… you aint got to alibi, you ugly, that’s right, I said you ugly.

Now the Challenger on the other hand. This is a nice modernized classic design that actually looks great!

Come on Dodge, lets take the Charger back to the drawing board.  If you need someone to help you say “NO” to a crappy design….I would be glad to!

 

Toyota Yotahachi – S800 トヨタ スポーツ800

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The Toyota Yotahachi – S800 トヨタ スポーツ800 is one of the most famous sports cars in Japan that a lot of people outside of Japan have never actually seen or heard of. Well, unless you are an Autotaku like me. I have to admit before I lived in Japan, I don’t remember even reading about these in the car magazines. I read about the 2000GT and the Z-Cars, but never the S800.

Some interesting points about the Toyota Sports 800 aka Yotahachi:

  • It has a boxer engine
  • It is a targa top
  • Aviation inspired styling
  • Products 1965-1969
  • Weight 580 kg (1,279 lb)
  • Height 1,176 mm (46.3 in)
  • Width 1,465 mm (57.7 in)
  • Length 3,580 mm (140.9 in)
  • Engine Air Cooled 790 cc
  • 3,131 Cars Built (300 of which were left hand drive for Okinawa)

If you haven’t seen on in person it’s hard to judge just how small these cars are.  From the video you can tell a bit, but I am telling you they are SMALL!  Toyota says that Sports 800, 2000GT, and AE86, were inspirations for the new GT86/BR-Z/FR-S and I would have to agree.  You definitely see a little bit of all those cars in the new one.  Especially the boxer engine and the FR (Front Engine Rear Wheel Drive) drivetrain layout.

Matt Farah’s Modified Corvette: The Only Way To Mod a Vette

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The Chevrolet Corvette has a long history and great pedigree, but for some reason when people modify Corvette’s they usually do a bad job. Matt Farah from The Smoking Tire and the Drive network on YouTube has modified his 1998 C5 Corvette exactly how I would.

  • Big Brake Kit
  • Larger Wheels (19′s in the front and 20′s out back)
  • Sparco Seats
  • Flush HID headlights
  • Engine Mods
  • Exhaust ( I think I would go a tab bit quieter, just a tad :-)
  • Roll Bar
  • Racing Harness

I think the only things I would change would be so I didn’t copy his car exactly. I would go with a different make and type of wheels. Since I don’t actually have a Vette right now, I would probably wait and see if there were any way to put adjustable Spraco’s or Bride seats.  If that didn’t work I would still rock the bucket racing seats.  Matt lives in LA and a nice thing about living in LA is the weather and the canyons (touge) not too far away in Malibu.

Bang for the buck I think it’s pretty hard to find a car that has the power and potential like a C5 Corvette.  I guess if I had to name one it might be the Nissan 350Z.  Choose your poison :-)

Thanks for reading,

ET

Mazda Museum in Hiroshima

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Wow, pretty soon we aren’t going to have to leave our houses. Actually, I think it’s always a better experience to see these cars in person, but having a virtual tour before you make your way will let you plan. Also the Mazda Museum in Hiroshima, like other museums around the world, rotate their collection so you never know what you are going to see. Well, to a certain extent. Mazda has only made so many cars so the rotation isn’t too regular.

Direct Link to the Mazda Museum in Hiroshima Street View Maps

While we are here you might as well look at a pristine Mazda Carol

Datsun Cherry X-1R

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Datsun Cherry X-1R
Here is a car that I have never seen before. They do have that Datsun or Japanese look for sure, but these have a couple unique things that set them apart. Supposedly the rear brake lights were so popular that they became an item that was added to other cars, and I can imagine some of them magically disappeared from unsuspecting X-1R owners ;-)

No Ferrari, We Are Calling it the F70 Not the LaFerrari!

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I think the internet has spoken and instead of calling Ferrari’s new super car the “LaFerrari”, we are going to call it the F70! We love the car, but we hate the name so the likes of Chris Harris and us at Autotaku have decided to rename it. So, from now on when you see F70 you will know we are referring to the “LaFerrari”.