Nismo Festival 2005

[HS30-H]

A few days ago I got back from a business trip to Japan.

Whilst there I attended the 2005 NISMO FESTIVAL at the recently refurbished Fuji International Speedway, which took place on Sunday 4th December. I was lucky enough to be invited to be a member of the pit crew of 'NP35' - headed by my friend Matsui san, and we were looking after two customer cars. One was the Fairlady 240ZR replica of Mr Terashima, and the other was the KPGC10 Skyline GT-R of our friend Dr Shimizu - which was making its first ever runs after being completely rebuilt by Matsui san. This car had not turned a wheel under its own power in over 20 years.....

Set-up and practice on Saturday afternoon enjoyed glorious late Autumn weather, but Saturday night was very windy and some exhibitor tents and shelters were blown away. Sunday dawned clear and crisp, but by lunchtime the clouds gathered and it started to snow!

Being part of the 'show', we stayed until the bitter end ( and I'm very glad we did ). After packing the cars, spares and equipment back into the transporters we had quite an eventful drive home to say the least.

Being part of the pit crew, I couldn't get out and about as much as I would have liked - but I did take quite a few pics from the pits which might be of interest. If Mike or Victor can create a section for them in the Gallery ( 2005 Events? ) then I will start some uploading.

Cheers,

Alan T.

[26th-Z]

Oh boy! Is this going to be fun!

[gogriz91]

I will go one day...one day not soon enough.

[Ron Carter]

great photos, can't wait to see the gallery....Thanks Alan.

[v12horse]

Thanks a lot Alan. I really look forward to seeing more pictures. It looks like you took part in something very special. The KPGC10 looks beautiful. I am glad you got to see it drive on the track for the first time. I bet the owner and builder were very happy.

Regards,

Ben

[26th-Z]

That was great, Alan! I hope my computer screen comes clean after seeing your pictures of the R380. So, on a scale of 1-10, how much fun did you have?

(Edit) Oh !! !! I'm sorry. Should have paid attention to your title. A business trip, eh?

[Fun_in_my_z]

Where do you work? Do they pay you to have so much fun!

I want to go so bad. one day maybe some of use could get together and go...

[g72s20]

Thanks so much Alan. :classic: :knockedou

Do the organizers ever release a video record of events such as this? As great as your photos are, (and probably because of them!), I'm really starting to crave some quality video vision and sound of these cars, particularly the S20 powered beasties, and those of the Prince & Skyline racing lineage history; the R380,R381, R382, anything with an L6 set up to run hard.....aww lets face it, I love ALL race cars of this era

I'm with you Bill, we gotta get there sometime. Tell you what, if I ever win the lottery.. I'll shout ya! I just gotta remember that they insist you buy a ticket first:laugh:

Thanks again Alan, this kind of stuff really keeps me interested.

Cheers,

Jim.

[HS30-H]

Mike has kindly created a folder in the '2005 Events' Gallery section for the photos, and I have uploaded most of them now. I accidentally loaded some of them into my Gallery area, and I have tried to move them back into the correct section now. Sorry about that. See them here:

http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=3260

26th-Z, v12horse, Ron, Bill - thanks for the kind comments. It was a business trip - honest!

Do the organizers ever release a video record of events such as this?

Hi Jim,

Yes, the NISMO Festival is usually filmed by the crew from '2 & 4' ( the people behind the Best Motoring series ) and they usually put out a video and DVD a few months after the event. They were there again this year with lots of in-car camera setups being rigged - so you can expect another top quality production from them. They should have got plenty of good material on the Saturday practice day and on the Sunday before the snow came.......

As great as your photos are, (and probably because of them!), I'm really starting to crave some quality video vision and sound of these cars, particularly the S20 powered beasties, and those of the Prince & Skyline racing lineage history; the R380,R381, R382, anything with an L6 set up to run hard.....aww lets face it, I love ALL race cars of this era

Well, the video from the Nismo Festival should be pretty good, as they had in-car setups on the R380, R381 & R382. But you might want to look out for the new Best Motoring 'Racing History' series vol.1, which comprehensively covers the R380 thru R383 with lots of rare original race and testing footage, interviews with the key figures and tests of the R380, R381 & R382 machines that were present at the Nismo Festival. It is wonderful stuff.

There's also a very good new 2-volume compilation DVD of original films that were made by Mazda at the 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971 & 1973 Japanese Grand Prix meetings. Apparently, Mazda were closely observing Nissan's activities during this period, and went head-to-head with Nissan using the Capella Rotary Coupe. I am told that Nissan obtained the original films from Mazda, but I don't know the full story.

A total of 123 minutes of super-rare footage with the emphasis on Nissan machinery, and covering most of the race classes. Includes really good stuff on the SP/SR Fairladies, the Works S30-series Z race cars ( although nothing on the '70 & '72 seasons sadly ) and the Bluebirds and Skylines too. It is published by 'M3 Entertainment', and the 2 DVD compilation set is product no. MMDK-0003.

Cheers,

Alan T.

[Ed]

Alan, you ARE a lucky person! Either lucky or you have a great job .

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers!

[NZeder]

Just checked out the photos in the Gallery, very nice. Would love to go someday also, will have to purchase the DVD for now and be happy with that.

Thanks again Alan.

[AChev]

I realize this is a bit nosey, and if you do not feel comfortable with a response statement on an internet board I completely understand.

My curiosity has gotten the best of me, but could you tell us about your job? I know everyone else on here is wondering the same thing