Facebook's "Pick Your Five!" is by far one of the most addicting applications on the site, from the "Five Things I Don't Leave the House Without" (my #1 is my iPhone) to the "Five Biggest Pet Peeves" (my favorite option was Vietnamese people who claim to be "half French") to the "Five People You Want on Your Side in a Bar Fight" (Jesus seems to be on everyone's list. Who knew JC loved fighting?). These top five lists can cover any topic you like making it another bottomless pit of more crap that I would rather not know about my friends. Yet, it's addicting because for some reason Facebook users love creating and filling out these lists, evidenced by my live feed mainly consisting of friends' "Five Favorite Movies of All Time," "Five Bands I've Seen Live in Concert," "Five Albums that Shaped Me," and "Five People I Want to Punch in the Face." Sure, I've done my fair share of top fives but it became endless and grueling until I came across one that actually stumped me: "Five Cars I Want in My Garage."
At first, I thought it'd be easy. I went with the classics: 1) '85 Toyota Corolla GTS, 2) '97 Nissan Skyline GT-R, 3) '57 Porsche 550 Spyder, 4) `71 Datsun 510 2-door, and 5)... I pondered the fifth one for hours as if it were the one high school exit exam question that will either get me the diploma or send me back to the 12th grade, ultimately sealing my fate as the pervy cashier at Starbucks. I was torn between another Japanese classic ('88 Honda CRX, '92 Toyota Supra) or an European throwback ('54 Mercedes-Benz SL300, '65 Jaguar E-Type coupe). The experience was as painful as reading a friend's multiple " Five Places Where I've Lived" list; I got it, dude, you're a freakin' world traveler!
The workday was almost ending when I decided to log out of Facebook and look at new porn videos when I received the assignment to write about Kelvin Hiraishi's RHD '72 Datsun Fairlady Z RHD. It was a definite sign from bar fighting jiu-jitsu Jesus! It was then that I typed in my fifth car and pressed "Submit" because after looking at Kelvin's classic Z, I would be crazy not to want that in my fantasy garage.
Lathered in an orange paint from a '69 Chevy Camaro, the Z is as clean as the day it came out of the Japanese production line nearly 40 years ago. Every body part was painted separately by the Pablo Picassos of the tuning industry, the people at P.J Bonifacio Auto Design Inc., who also restored each component small and large with new replacements. They changed every fastener, latch, rubber trim and weatherstrip material. They also updated the tinted front glass and more importantly, refurbished the fender mirrors, bumper, grille, lens, lighting system, parking brake lights and passing lights all to its original Japanese specs. No details were spared in the restoration of the Z's exterior, and naturally so, since classic cars like this Z should be treated like rare museum pieces. This nod to the past is also what inspired the Z's owner:
"I want to use this Z car to capture wonderful memories from the past, draw former friends together and build new friendships," explained Kelvin, "I also want this car to help overcome product deficiencies with modern technology as reasonably as possible and preserve the history and accomplishments of Mr. Yutaka Katayama, the father of the Z car and former president of Nissan/Datsun USA; Peter Brock of BRE fame; John Morton and Jim Fitzgerald, drivers extraordinaire; and Bob Sharp of Bob Sharp Racing fame."