The golden days: traffic jams with classic Japanese tin

9 July, 2017

There’s so much classic Japanese tin slammed by traffic in this one we can’t even name them all. Cedrics, Celicas, Soarers, Corollas, Crowns, Citys, and everything else we’ve missed — all in pristine condition. Yep, this footage is pure bliss. But why are the roads so rammed? Well, it took place during Golden Week — one of the biggest tourism holidays in Japan — back in 1985, where crowds were flooding to the newly opened Tokyo Disneyland.

Surely there is some kind of irony that almost 35 years later we’re sitting here pining over what would have otherwise been everyday family haulers whisking mum, dad and the kids off to the theme park. If the same were to occur today, we can’t say we’d even make it inside Disneyland as we’d be too busy lurking the parking lot …

A star in their eyes – 1968 Ford Galaxie 500

“Everyone asks that until they take a closer look,” says its owner today, Brent Harris of Auckland. “They also ask if I’ve done the restoration myself, and I have to tell them no, it is 100 per cent original. It’s the paint listed in the handbook.”
It was the original condition of the car that won Brent over from the moment he first saw it — that and the fact “it just looks stunning”.
Brent had owned a 1968 Mark II Cortina for four years. It was in need of some work and the question arose whether to spend the money or get something different. You don’t get much more divergent than Ford’s different approaches to its markets in the UK and the USA.

Bob’s Bambina video

Bob McMurray has spent a lifetime inside Formula 1, including 33 years he and wife, Shaune, spent working for McLaren from his earliest days as a mechanic through to watching Scott Dixon’s first Kiwi win at Indianapolis. Bob is now one of our top motorsport commentators and Toyota Racing New Zealand’s ambassador, a role he relishes.
Bob now owns this restored Fiat 500 F. The story of how he became its owner almost by accident and of its restoration is one of those that has ended well, and it was a bit of a laugh getting there. Bob’s Fiat actually has a distant McLaren connection.
This is a short video of Bob’s Fiat Bambina shot by Classic Car magazine