European Alliance

I was driving to a old friend's muffler shop a few weeks ago in the vicinity of Lawrence, a town relatively close to Five towns. On the way over I spotted these gems that have been in the same place for over 6 years now untouched.

The first car I spotted was a 70 Mercedes Benz coupe. It looked to be a 280 series car. The headlights gave away that of was a early 70's W11x model and the single touring  fog lamp was still affixed to the bumper of this one time beauty.  The rust condition of the body seemed pretty decent for a car that's parked less than 10 mins from the Atlantic Ocean.  This is one car I would own and possibly retro fit a newer Japanese power plant.  *CoughJzCough* . Hell, l wouldn't even mind LSX power behind the grille.

Parked directly across the street from the Mercedes was what appeared to be a Triumph or a Jensen. I don't know my quirky British sports cars that well so you'll have to excuse me. The fact that it was locked behind the fence of a body shop didn't help.  It didn't appear to be wrecked or used for parts so I can only assume it was probably the owners or a workers car that like most British cars has serious electrical issues.  And like most cars with that disease, they are parked until some other happy go lucky bastard tries to resurrect it. As I said I couldn't get closer to snap better pictures but judging that it is sitting in a grassy patch I'm sure the floors are non existent.  This is the point I drive away, I'm stupid, but not that stupid to purchase a old ragged British sports car. 

Fivetowns Fbody

On the way to work I decided to stop by a Michaels arts and crafts store in five towns, turns out there was no longer a Michaels there but now a Modells. So I decided to see if this thing was still there. 

It looks like a 1983-84 Camaro Berlinetta. Automatic car. No idea if it's a v8. Sam can prob shed some light on this fact.  Its been here for the past 5 years that ive known of it. The last time it was registered shows 05. Paints faded but the interior is still pretty clean.  The car seems like the rear shock mounts might be failing as typical fbodies do. Parked on that angle doesn't help.  Maybe Sam might buy it. I ended up leaving five towns with some shawarma and these pics, not a bad trip.

Sandy Shovelnoses

A few years ago when Sam worked at Arch in Far Rockaway he told me about a old Corona sitting at a shop. I came by one day thrilled to go see it, to more surprise it was more than one they had 3 sitting here.

The owners just started to collect them for a unknown reason. They were Rt40s till I looked closer. One was a Rt40 sedan two were rare Rt52 coupes. Right away I locked my sight on the yellow coupe because it the most complete.  They gave me a price, but life was in the way.
I kept checking on them to make sure they still existed. They weren't going anywhere.

Aftet Sandy last year I feared they were washed away like the rest of Far Rockaway,  but they stood their ground. A friend of ours showed interest this week when he called looking for a Corona. Reluctantly I told him about these under one condition. It would be mine after he's tired of it . We came to a agreement.  I went by this morning to make sure they were still there. If the stars line up we'll be going back this week to strike up a deal for that Canary Yellow 1968 Toyota Corona 1600 GT. Huge smiles from behind this keyboard about that.

Dragon tales.

About a year ago a few other coworkers were telling me about a guy who worked at Newark who had a old supra. Didn't really get anywhere cause I couldn't meet him.

Fast forward a few months . He transfered to JFK and we got to talking.  He did indeed have a old supra. Turns out it was a 1981 Celica Supra. Known as the Mk1(MA47)  they're super rare nowadays and really un supported.

The car was built in the late 90s early 00s. With a 7mgte and r154 the car was fast as hell. They used a Grand National intercooler and the dashboard looked like a autometer catalog. I went to go see it. It sat with the hood open since 2006, the door was left open, I was deeply saddened. Sitting in the backyard it was severly overgrown with brush. He said to just take it. I waited a little too long to jump.

Fast forward another year now. I stopped by to see it again. Its still there overgrown even further. Offer still stands. This one is coming home soon to the retirement home to be resurrected as a 7mgte Mk1 again.

Hiroshima moss.

I've been driving past this car for atleast 8 years now and today I decided to stop & knock on the door of its resting space.

Rounding up our little spotlight on Mazdas, specifically 82 model year cars, we have this gem, err.. specimen.  A 1982 Mazda 626 sedan, otherwise known as a Mazda Capella outside of the US.

I spoke briefly to the owner who said he purchased the once fine automobile new in 82. He drove it till about 93 where he parked it in the current spot that it sits in. Since then it has been neglected and started to decay pretty badly.

Wearing the same bolt pattern as first gen rx7's this car was equipped with steelies with trim rings and center caps. It had a tattered Beige/ white cloth interior & automatic transmission. 

The last one I saw was a 82 coupe with a 13b inside & weld drag lites.  There is hope for this car. Not much though, it may be better off sacrificing itself to put another 626 on the road. That being said I left my number so that when the owner decides to sell, maybe ill consider it. He said it might be soon as they were looking to install a new fence around the property & do a little landscaping.  Maybe I shouldn't have left my number.

IMSA GTU Champion 1982

Sam & I headed out to Lynbrook today to check out a 82 Celica Supra today. Meh, little to be said about that.

After that ordeal we ended up at Tarmac Motorsports to drop a friend off and say hello to the guys at the shop. As we pulled up there was this gem sitting outside that the guys recently acquired.

A black 1982 Mazda Rx7 GSL. (Ironic how we checked out two 82 year cars in the same day) Its a 82, so that makes it a FB3S, not a true Sa22c with the metal bumpers and thermal reactor for emission controls. A GSL trim model so it came with a "1.2 liter " carb'd 12A, backed by a 5spd gearbox and a Limited slip differential. The astethics of the GSL trim included a pretty big metal sunroof that was motorized to slide outwards. Nifty & cool looking.
Pretty clean exterior with a recent black respray, even though I am more of a fan of the original copper this one was clad in.  Clean brown interior thst was in very good condition for its age.
The 12a had been tuned up and started up without the typical rotary coaxing.

Damian let us drive it today, it brought back a little nostalgia of driving one again. The last time I was behind the wheel was just a little over 8 years ago during high school after a friend had purchased a 84 GSL.  It felt just as I expected, tight & nimble, a true sports car feel. The more I sat inside the more I wanted to drive it home.

As I returned the keys to Damian he told me they were selling it. I was quickly tempted to drop the cash on it and drive it home the same night, but I passed as I have something else I want right now. However it still is forsale and very decently priced for the conditon of it. For more info. if you feel the urge to drive a spinning triangle, or for ANY custom fabrication work, contact the guys over at Tarmac by calling (646) 853 1191 or by TM-SPL.com. Just mention Travis or Sam sent you

Bushido

Saw this today at the supermarket.  Suzuki Samurai 5spd. The owner is in the process of restoring it.

Maserati lol what.

Girl I do it to the maximum, Nissan.

So I'm a bit of an 80s Maxima fan girl. So this will be a Maxima post. Was my favorite car when I was a kid. My dad had two, and I was just attracted to the boxiness of it. 

So yesterday Travis called me at work and said "you're gonna shit yourself."  Said he found a 85 Maxima SE in Jamaica. Gave me the location and I scoped it out earlier. 

Last year, Travis and I were rolling around the streets of Southside Jamaica. Randomly driving and I gasped. Words were not found. I spotted an 88 Maxima SE in a yard. Looks to have been parked there for over 10 years. After the bushes died out in the winter, I noticed there was another car parked in the back. It was a 87 or 88 Maxima GXE that was t-boned. 

I spent months driving by looking at it. I even knocked on the door.  Nothing. I asked some neighbors who told me about the car. And that the person who lives there is an old man who's now in a home. I almost had a few leads on it, but they all went nowhere.  A few months later I walked into the yard to check the SE out. It's a 5 speed with 80k on the clock. It saddened me. I wanted to
rescue it so bad. 

A few months after that, driving around in Wakefield, I saw a man outside his house. In the driveway laid an 87 Maxima wagon with old liberty plates on it. For over 10 years passing by I've always seen this car. Never seen anyone outside. So I had to stop. Spoke to te owner, an older gentleman who was surprised I was so interested in the car. We spent about a half hour talking about it. He's restoring it as he's owned r for so long. I was glad to find out it wasn't gonna be a waste. 

Another one found in Southside Jamaica. Hit on the rear wheel. Has insane camber. 85 or an 86 GXE. 

Back in April, found this parked in Flatbush Brooklyn. I left a note with interest in buying it. But never got a call. 87 SE 5 Speed. 

For about the last 4 years I was informed of a Maxima parked in a yard in Richmond Hill. There was actually two at one point. A few of my friends asked about the cars but they always got the door slammed in their faces. They ended up scrapping all of the cars in the yard except this black 87 SE. 

For about the past three years I was told a rear louver existed for these cars. I have a louver fetish so I spent hours at a time trying to find info on it. Nothing. Was pointed to a website that had a picture of one but no info on buying it. Then one rainy August morning of 2013. I saw it. I finally had my proof. I was already 25 minutes late to work so chasing the guy down to speak to him was out of the question. 

I'm gonna end this post here with pictures of my Maxima. I have a few more I spotted but I'm starting to get annoyed typing on this phone. 

My first Maxima. 88 SE. Automatic with 96k on it. Cold ass R12. Bought in the summer of 2011. Sold January 2012. 

And here's my current Maxima. 88 SE 5 Speed. Bought with 99k on it. Cold ass R12. Been following this car for 3 years. I kept in contact with the owner. I randomly called him this past July. Asked if he still wanted to sell it. Two days later I came with cash and it was mine. 

- Sam

Expedition Portal

Found this yesterday parked on the street.  1987 4runner Sr5. Clean body with the factory stripes still in good shape, Piaa offroad lights & 31s. Time to find this guy and persuade him to sell.

Super Celica

Earlier this week a co worker called and asked if I could come by and help get his friend's 85 celica running again after it just shut off.

I went by yesterday morning. HOLY SHIT. Obviously built in the early 90s this thing was straight out the "cars that go boom " video.

It started life as a 85 gts convertible that the drug dealer previous owner grafted on a mk2 supra front chassis, body panels and 5mge onto. For some reason it had a 82- 83 top.  Painted school bus yellow with a kaminari kit moulded onto to it along with a hood wing & trunk wing shopping car handle.The interior was redone in black & yellow leather with the back seats deleted in lue of a pair of Cerwin Vega monster subs. Continuing the entertainment was a 10" tube tv in the dash with a vcr. YES A VCR. oh year and a playstaion also, the original. The motorized trunk was filled with gigantic phoenix gold amps with a crazy enclosure.

Motivating all of this with the 5m was probably ok, but they added a trd header & pacesetter exhaust to it. To assist the system, 5 yellow top batteries & 2 alternators.

To sum it up. It was wild and unique. I wouldn't mind hearing some JJ Fad knocking through those speakers though.  

New update on an old car.

So three years ago when this thing was hot and fresh, we updated very often. We got busy, said we'll update and eventually forgot. Now we have smart phones we can do this shit straight off the iPhone. 

Remember the 85 Cressida with the Maxima Kaminari kit? Well we found it again, this time sporting a new color. And it was for sale. But we fought the urge off and kept it moving. 

However I did consider it so I could finally have the Kaminari Maxima I always dreamt of. 

- Sam

Mcfly's family truck

Little progress today on the 4runner. Washed all the grime off of it, 12 years of pollen, dirt & grease. We fixed the rear tailgate dent that prevented the rear window from coming down fully. A few weeks ago I rebuilt the fuel pump hanger with a walbro pump & new lines.  Fired right up after a 12 year slumber. Almost forgot what 12 year old varnish smells like.