It is officially JCCS week, as we look forward to the upcoming Japanese Classic Car Show in Long Beach, California on September 15. The Lamley Group will be there, and is taking the week to celebrate:
I think I should start this post out with an overly dramatic proclamation:
"Ladies & Gentlemen, we are floating in space."
Wait, wrong hobby. I will try again.
"Ladies & Gentlemen, my favorite Hot Wheels model...the Kenmeri Skyline!"
Now, what if I were to ask you if you were stranded on a desert island, what one diecast model would you like to have? Your reply should be, "John, you are an idiot". So I would rephrase the question. "If you had to whittle your collection down to just ONE model, what would it be?" Your first reply would be, "Better question, John.", and then what would your answer be?
My one-car-collection would consist of the Hot Wheels Kenmeri. Jun Imai designed this one, which was released a few months after the hakosuka. Jun must have brought some delicious doughnuts to the suit's office one day to get two Skylines approved, and we should all be thankful. Then he must have taken the suits over to the El Taquito taco truck in Pasadena to get them to approve the design the kenmeri received. Plain white with the Skyline badge and a full tampo treatment on the tail lights and rear. Happy suits = great model.
I really hope we see more versions of this one, and I am sure we will. If for some odd reason we don't, I am very happy to have this one. I am not left wishing a different version was done, and if I want something done to it I will call Scale-Master (hint, hint...check JNC next week).
Hot Wheels seems to really be pushing replicas of signature cars in all realms of the auto world. I don't think it is off-base to lump the Kenmeri in with the 69 Camaro, the Porsche 911, and the Ferrari 250 GTO, to name a few. Honestly, do you know of any other car that got its nickname from its commercials? Another interesting thing? The GT-R version was never raced. The 1973 oil crisis made sure that the C110 never followed in the hakosuka's footsteps. Therefore only 197 were made. Yet any you see at a car show are done up GT-R style. Quite a legacy for a car that never did what it was supposed to.
Other things I love about it? The lines. The slopes. The straight flat hood. The tail lights. They make me happy. I use the word "cool" alot. It is a great word. The Kenmeri Skyline is cool on every level.
And something else has quietly happened. Hot Wheels produces a lot of Camaros, Cudas, Mustangs, Chargers, Chevelles, and look! A lot of Skylines...
Hot Wheels Nissan Skyline H/T 2000GT-R (2011 New Models):
Since we only have one version so far, how about a couple of errors?
And the two gems released in 2011:
