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After swapping out the 987S side vents, they needed testing of course.
Details on the work here, but happy to see they vent like a vent should - plus the added benefit (to me), is they look a whole less fussy.
They even calm down the wheels-with-the-most-spokes look...
The weekend started in Boso Hanto and ended in Okinawa, where another white, horizontally opposed, paddle-shifter took over in touge hunting duties...
Umi Hotaru (Sea Firefly) is a PA in the middle of Tokyo Bay.
Part of the Wangan route, as well as being a truck and rest stop, it is also a great place to stop and admire the engineering of the Tokyo Wan Aqualine.
9km of tunnel and 5km of bridge, joined in the middle of the bay by the artificial island of Umi Hotaru.
24hr konbeni, restaurants, part of the TBM used for the tunnel, and great views of both Tokyo / Yokohama one way and Chiba looking the other.
While the 300km/h Wangan racers have stopped - as the road used to be unpoliced - Umi Hotaru still attracts drivers and interesting cars - mostly on a Friday night, Saturday night, or Sunday morning.
If you're looking for a car-focused excursion; some street Porsche, neon Lamborghini, and a smattering of kaido racers, Umi Hotaru is a good place to start...
Chiba coffee stop, then Okinawa coffee stop.
Kei car (yellow plates) are just as ubiquitous on Okinawa as they are on the mainland, for reasons not often understood outside of Japan.
Essentially though; more efficient use of space, shorter journeys, and smaller roads and parking all combine to make the segment support sales of vans, 4WD, pick-ups, cars, trucks, and sports cars. Even snow-tracked versions if you want.
All within the same dimensions, power output, and licensing regime.
Okinawa though is a very interesting place.
A wild mix of Taiwanese, Korean, Japanese, and US influences.
Everything from the food to the buildings and roads all has this bizarro world feel about it.
Not sure a GT86 is the right car for the island, and we only saw one 911, but a small 4WD would be a lot more suitable to the tight roads and jungle tracks.
It wasn't until the 1970s everyone there went from Left Hand Drive to Right Hand Drive.
Bet that was a fun week after on the roads.
Crazy coastlines, strange looking domestic cats, beautiful beaches, cheap healthy food, Japanese whisky, castle ruins, scuba, sailing, etc.
There are even some Okinawans driving around in LHD JDM machines as a result - that's about as strange as it gets...
What does that sign mean? Kids between 12 & 18 years old need to hold their parent's hand or be accompanied by a guardian? Trying to crack down on shenanigans?
What does that sign mean? Kids between 12 & 18 years old need to hold their parent's hand or be accompanied by a guardian? Trying to crack down on shenanigans?
Shenanigans?
Or, maybe some malarkey or brouhaha!
It says, 'Sundays 14:00 to 18:00, Transit Mall from here to Kokusai-dori.'
A transit mall is closed to private cars, but open to taxi and buses.
Pedestrians otherwise...
Back in Tokyo, some errands about town:
Four white-and-black machines at Daikoku Futo on the way to pick up my partner from work in Yokohama.
The driver of the white 987.1 Cayman S did not notice he had parked two cars away from a white 987.2 Cayman S...
The guy in the 911 was having a cup of coffee and a smoke.
The photograph above is in my old street in Shibuya, and the shutter is the basket shop in this vid:
Omotesando weekend traffic (I was trying to photograph the 993).
The 1964 Tange Olympic Stadium in Shibuya is being spruced up for next year (now and a few years ago above).
For two or so weeks, I guess my commute driving past is going to be hell.
Local lunch spot in the countryside; fresh grilled mackerel and pork cutlets.
Amazing I love traveling to Japan and one day hope to tour it by car
That's possibly the best way, closely followed by train.
The trains are of course amazing - clean, punctual, and pretty neat...
I am lucky that I get to drive all sorts of stuff, from Lambo and Ferrari to Probox, but this Sunday was special.
I started in the Cayman S:
And finished in a Ford A model:
I was expecting it to be difficult to drive, but that turns out to be the T model.
The A uses conventional controls, and happily keeps up with modern traffic - or, at least kei in the Japan countryside.
It was a Coupe too.
The rod brakes, and floaty steering require some planning as they say, but over bumps and country roads, the ride is just amazing - smooth, comfortable, and warm with a nice heater like a real Porsche - exhaust manifold fresh air.
Unknown to the owner when he bought it, his wife's family ran a taxi business and had an album full of period photographs, including more A, but mostly Chev it seems?
The destination though was the Tokyo Bayside Classic Cup, and this 911_50 was a rather tasty car park attendee.
The houndstooth interior, chrome grille, and period Fuch-like five spokes have me now wanting a similar set for the Cayman S.
Even the license plate was appropriate.
My 35mm camera, after 15 or more years and 13,000 photographs, needed a service.
More likely due to it being dropped on a recent tour.
With another round of the Tokyo Bayside Classic Cup at Sodegaura Forest Raceway on the calendar, my only other real camera was an old medium format (6x6) Bronica.
12 shots per roll, two rolls of film.
Better make it count.
The empty roads of Boso Hanto are always enjoyable on a Sunday morning, and we stopped for a few photo ops and a fresh coffee in the countryside ...
Like all race meets, the car park is often filled with interesting cars.
This kouki 964 on Fuch looked very nicely configured.
No comment on the bra behind.
This Alfa Romeo 8C reportedly is a multi-million dollar car, and yet the driver was certainly 'enthusiastic' in his driving.
Il Mostro always look nasty.
They sound pretty good flat out too - but all Alfa do that I guess...
Being an ex-S800 driver, the little 800cc screamer always sound good too - especially flat out down the main strait at over 10,000 rpm.
Supposedly, like Mazda Roadster always being the answer, AE86 used to be the same?
Zenki 964, 3.4L single plug.
BTCC Alfetta.
Ginetta Squadron, with their screaming Jag sixes.
The 996 was stripped, lightened, with only plastic windows and no interior, so possibly an ex-time attack machine.
I think the 2.0L S is one of the best sounding 911.
Ragged edge rattles, cammy whirs, and sharp noted exhaust.
This SWB one was certainly driven hard too.
One of the prettiest Italians on the day in the car park.
Always nice to see that badge.
Road companions for the day and a drink stop at an old Showa-era gas station.
Crappy, cheap, harsh, contrasty, industrial Fuji film sorry...
But, this weekend we took a tour of the upper parts of Boso Hanto looking for kura (traditional storage houses).
Most places in Japan, you can find little, and sometimes not so little stashes of cars.
This guy obviously collected early Datsun Sunny, but he also had some classic Japanese favorite Mini laying about too.
We've found piles of Alfa, Sunbeam, new Peugeot (?), and even Porsche (inc. a Gemballa 928) previously.
One of the single line train stations in the area.
You can spend a lifetime exploring the rural train lines of Japan.
Local collective of typically diverse Japanese enthusiast cars.
They were off to Tateyama port in the South for a fresh fish breakfast.
The motorcycles were part of another gathering.
Some of the discovered kura.
Though often in disrepair, they are more frequently being restored as either kura (duh), or apartments, and cafe and restaurants.
I found the rear-engined and horizontally opposed connection in the above three photographs vaguely amusing.
The 911 was badged GT2, but not sure if real, next to the Typ 1 was a very curiously engineering air-intake, and the Subaru 360 famous of course for its quirkiness - a success in Japan for all the reasons that made it fail outside of Japan.
Local streets, more kura, and a thatched roof minka and naya (barn).
One of the bubble-era's kei sports cars - the Autozam (Mazda) AZ-1, gull-wing doors, 3 cylinder, 660cc screamer, that drives like a go-kart.
Great roads for touring, and a raw kura - without its outer coating of lime render that gives them their usual white look.
With the recent public holiday, we were going to do some shopping, but instead decided to take a drive to Fuji-san, and see what interesting things we could find...
Full service gas fills are always enjoyable - clean windows, mirrors, trash clean, and an interior towel to clean everything while you top off.
This is the linear shinkansen test track.
I can only imaging what it looks like when the train passes at over 600km/h.
Closing speed on the regular shinkansen is 500 or so km/h, and that's pretty freaky.
Mount Fuji is so large, it can be seen from countless places, including suburban back streets.
It is always a fortuitous sight.
We found another old minka, though unfortunately falling down due to lack of an owner.
Local thatched roof shrine was in better repair.
Staying away from the crowds on the 'wrong' side of Fuji-san finds many interesting places to explore.
Fuji-san is often elusive, covered in clouds or mists, and you can travel close, and never see.
This day though, it was shrouded with a peculiar blanket of fluffy clouds.
With some work in Kawasaki planned, we decided to take some time and explore the Miura Hanto.
The Cayman can pack in a surprising amount of luggage, and this was of course one of the reasons we bought the S.
Clear open expressways, and the Soul x-pipe can be heard a bit louder at cruising speed (120km/h in some places), but never intrusive.
The open road though, and many tunnels makes a great op to kick the S down four gears and let it sing...
Always fun!
Drop off for work made a good photo op, at least before the guard came over and told me to move.
She was nice about though.
Local stone kura (storage house).
The owner told us another further down the peninsula had been restored and we should check it out...
The restored kura turned out to be the Revival Cafe, and it had been reformed beautifully into a kitchen, classic car library, and cafe with an upstairs eating and lounge area.
Goodwood was playing on the vid.
Great stuff!
Pristine, registered Nissan Leopard.
When released these were high-end tourers with every possible convenience.
I thought the looked radical at the time, but it looks pretty staid now...
The local fresh fish restaurants are famously open for breakfast to time for the fisherman who dock their boats on the other side of the car park.
What looks like a 3.6 Turbo?
The ferry ride from Miura Hanto to Boso Hanto is 45 minutes, and we were home in time for a late lunch...
See ya!
03-06-2019, 06:50 AM
