# A peep inside a secret warehouse...



## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)

Last Saturday I paid a visit to a good friend in Japan. He rents an old factory building up in the mountains to store some interesting stuff in, away from prying eyes.

If you're interested in old race cars - as I am - there are layers and layers of fun to be had, digging around and listening to the stories.

I'll drip-feed the photos to make it more like it was in real life... 

First shot: A spare part, never used. Covered in a protective layer that has dessicated over time to make a 'craquelure' finish like an Old Master painting. See if you can correctly identify its original purpose:


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## I.am.Sully (Oct 13, 2015)

R33 Le Mans race car, number 23?


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)

I.am.Sully said:


> R33 Le Mans race car, number 23?


It's year-specific, too... ;-)


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## I.am.Sully (Oct 13, 2015)

PS30-SB said:


> It's year-specific, too... ;-)


it is...



this is 1996 I think.


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)

This panel should be pretty easy too:



...but it's sitting on top of something arguably more English than it is Japanese, and has some French (twice!) history as well as Japanese. First time I personally saw it was in 1990, when it was already pretty much out of date and was sitting in the Harajuku, Tokyo showroom of its title sponsor on display. I used to walk past it every morning and every evening on my way to and from work for months... What is it?


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## I.am.Sully (Oct 13, 2015)

1 of the Pennzoil R34's - could be number 23 again


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)

I.am.Sully said:


> 1 of the Pennzoil R34's - could be number 23 again


Rear panel. White body, ZEXEL/Loctite sponsors. Not Pennzoil (yet....).


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## Simonh (May 24, 2002)

awesome stuff


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)

This is what the white ZEXEL/Loctite/Bridgestone-sponsored rear panel is sitting on: A car I've known in Japan since 1990, and - as you can see from these photos - I've been photographing since around 2003, soon after it was disinterred from the shipping container it had been living in for more than 10 years:


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## Kc350z (Sep 13, 2015)

WOw, how Cool is that ***x1f642;


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)

Le Mans, 1988, pink livery:



Le Mans, 1988, red & white 'Cabin' livery:



1989 Suzuka 1000km:


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)

Next up. Colour should be a clue, as will this front suspension mount shot:


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## I.am.Sully (Oct 13, 2015)

PS30-SB said:


> This panel should be pretty easy too:
> 
> 
> 
> ...but it's sitting on top of something arguably more English than it is Japanese, and has some French (twice!) history as well as Japanese. First time I personally saw it was in 1990, when it was already pretty much out of date and was sitting in the Harajuku, Tokyo showroom of its title sponsor on display. I used to walk past it every morning and every evening on my way to and from work for months... What is it?




this is the rear of the 1988 Le Mans car?


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)

I.am.Sully said:


> this is the rear of the 1988 Le Mans car?


I think I'm in danger of confusing things here.

To clarify, the white ZEXEL/Loctite/Bridgestone sponsor-liveried Skyline rear panel is sitting on the roof of the March/Nissan R88V Group C car, which ran at Le Mans in 1988 and 1989. 

This one:


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## Mookistar (Feb 5, 2004)

can't believe K66 SKY isn't creaming all over this 

Awesome thread!!


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## K66 SKY (Jan 25, 2005)

PS30-SB said:


> *To clarify, the white ZEXEL/Loctite/Bridgestone sponsor-liveried Skyline rear panel is sitting on the roof of the March/Nissan R88V Group C car, which ran at Le Mans in 1988 and 1989. *


Pffft....We want more R33 content pictured here Alan! :bowdown1:


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)

K66 SKY said:


> Pffft....We want more R33 content pictured here Alan! :bowdown1:


The blue whale in post #12 is waiting to be identified...


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)

...so I'll give another clue:


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## K66 SKY (Jan 25, 2005)

PS30-SB said:


> *The blue whale in post #12 is waiting to be identified...*


So is it a Calsonic JGTC I see there? 

If so, _WE WANT MORE PICS PLEASE!!!!!_


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## Mookistar (Feb 5, 2004)

PS30-SB said:


> Next up. Colour should be a clue, as will this front suspension mount shot:


it's rusty as ****. it it MINE?


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## K66 SKY (Jan 25, 2005)

Mookistar said:


> *it's rusty as ****. is it MINE?*


If you Own one of these :-










I'll gladly come over and help you to get it back to its original mint condition Mike!


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)

Blue Whale surfaces:


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## K66 SKY (Jan 25, 2005)

PS30-SB said:


> *Blue Whale surfaces:*


C'mon stop teasing us here, We want shots of every inch of this rare historic vehicle!

_*PLEASE??*_


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)

This car used to be yellow: 



Can you guess what sponsor livery it was originally in?


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## I.am.Sully (Oct 13, 2015)

I.am.Sully said:


> 1 of the Pennzoil R34's - could be number 23 again



this time a 1998 JGTC R33 Pennzoil livery car, number 23?


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)

I.am.Sully said:


> this time a 1998 JGTC R33 Pennzoil livery car, number 23?


Correct! 

It's difficult to untangle the web when 'last year's race car' changes hands and gets a new livery. One of the Pennzoil-liveried cars that Nissan keeps at Zama was not originally one of the Pennzoil cars at all... 

More:


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)




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## lightspeed (Jul 11, 2002)

This is a little slice of heaven.....love it.

I remember watching that R88 at Le Mans. Was more excited be the Jaguar victory at the time. Became much more interested in Nissan after watching the R33s years later.


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## Grizzly (Feb 28, 2018)

Always wondered what happens to these cars, would love a go in a proper calsonic GTR!


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## Jags (May 20, 2007)

Does he own all these cars himself? This is an amazing collection made even more intriguing because it's so hidden away and private


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## Simonh (May 24, 2002)

Certainly a thread full of awesomeness


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## Typhoon (Oct 7, 2002)

this thread is amazing!!


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)

A few more.

Works 34 bonnet:



Unused works tank, made by Yokohama:


A small piece of Leyton House history:


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)

Mooncraft and Takahara. Legends. But these stickers are affixed to a real curiosity...



...the Japanese name of which translates as 'Violet Lightning', and which links it back to a WW2 era fighter aircraft made by Kawanishi. Plenty of clues there. Can you guess?


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)

Who doesn't like a nice Cannon connector or two?


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## matty32 (Dec 18, 2005)

Great thread Alan 

When the 32 arrives feel free to swing by again


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## mark_scenemedia (Jul 20, 2014)

Incredible find - does he just source parts to buy/hoard or does he store 'em for other people & old teams?


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## lightspeed (Jul 11, 2002)

Shiden 77 ?


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)

lightspeed said:


> Shiden 77 ?


Correct! But....the original is long gone. This one's a 'replica' that was built a long time ago on a Kei-class racing chassis:


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)

mark_scenemedia said:


> Incredible find - does he just source parts to buy/hoard or does he store 'em for other people & old teams?


It's an overflow storage place shared with a friend, and both of them store stuff for themselves and for others. Both inside and outside. Complicated...


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## mark_scenemedia (Jul 20, 2014)

PS30-SB said:


> Correct! But....the original is long gone. This one's a 'replica' that was built a long time ago on a Kei-class racing chassis:


That looks incredible! Anymore info on the car/class it raced in? Love it :smokin:


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## K66 SKY (Jan 25, 2005)

PS30-SB said:


> *
> 
> More:
> 
> ...


Great pics but do you know what the future holds for some of these ultra rare vehicles like this one above Alan? 

Also I'd love to know how their interesting journeys _(R33's particularly)_ through life have taken them from the race track to current storage. Will restoration happen? Who removed a lot of their race bred derived parts and why? Will they ever be put back together and grace the track once more?? 

*Sooooooooo many questions?!*

Its a shame cars like these are not on display some where because nerds like me geek out when we get a chance to see such historical racing cars from the past no matter what state they are in currently. 

JM2PW!


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## Sub Boy (Jan 28, 2008)

You certainly get to see some glorious toys from yesteryear Alan! Thanks for sharing.
I'm surprised how much this guy has of Nissan's racing heritage in his shed, although but then all racecars once they were past their level of development were just taking up space and not worth anything.....some people ended up grabbing some treasures!


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)

mark_scenemedia said:


> That looks incredible! Anymore info on the car/class it raced in? Love it :smokin:


It was a Grand Champion Series car, but only raced a few times and was not the great success it had been hoped it would be. Driver Noritake Takahara had won the championship in 1975 and 1976 with his modified March 74S-chassised car, but didn't do so well in '77.

Many of the Grand Champion Series cars were based on proprietary sports car and F2/F3 chassis and components from the likes of March, Lola, Chevron and others, but some of the Japanese teams started making their own monocoques and their own bodies, and the Shiden 77 is an example of that.

Engine was a BMW M12 and transmission a Hewland FG400 - a very common combination in the Grand Champion Series at that time.

I took some rough photos of a report on the car from the May 1977 issue of Auto Technic magazine:


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)

K66 SKY said:


> Great pics but do you know what the future holds for some of these ultra rare vehicles like this one above Alan?
> 
> Also I'd love to know how their interesting journeys _(R33's particularly)_ through life have taken them from the race track to current storage. Will restoration happen? Who removed a lot of their race bred derived parts and why? Will they ever be put back together and grace the track once more??


When it comes to the ex-Works cars, it's very unlikely that any of them will ever run again. Oftentimes they are acquired missing vital parts (engines often belonged to the manufacturer not the team, for example) and in the case of the more complex cars they would be difficult to run without the correct spares package/software/support equipment, even if they DID have a possible purpose. 

The sad truth is that there's just not enough room in the world for all the old race cars, and their ultimate fate after their current state of purgatory is unclear. Some may end up being static 'displayed' somewhere, but that usually requires something relatively complete. There are some in the storage building that would be rebuildable/raceable, but I haven't shown photos of them. Yet...

A couple or three have already had happy endings. Some years back I took photos of an ex-JSS series R31 Skyline GTS-R which had been sitting for some years before arriving in the warehouse. Under the skin it was actually one of the original RICOH-sponsored NISMO Gr.A R31 Skyline GTS-Rs, but had been pensioned off by NISMO and modified by the new owners to suit the JSS series specs. A remarkable survivor. It has now been restored to its original Gr.A spec and livery, but has yet to see the light of day. I was honoured to be asked to source some original race parts for the restoration, which was a fascinating and fun task. I might post some photos of it later in the thread if there's any interest...?


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## lightspeed (Jul 11, 2002)

Interest.......just a tiny bit!!!!


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## nismoman (Jul 13, 2004)

Nice thread Alan and some very interesting comments being made all round . i dont think the majority of people can differentiate between how rare some race cars are , customer racing and works racing are a completely different ball game , yes customer race cars can be rare and valuable ,but its the factory cars that are are so difficult to get hold of ,then try and get one complete is bordering on impossible . The works cars are so difficult to own and run people would just not believe ,as you could never buy any parts as thy are all specially made ,even if there the parts are made by third party's ,thy wont deal with you as there all tied up contractually . People also seem to be under some illusion that if you own a factory car that Nissan/Nismo would be so willing to help to keep these rare cars running , but its the complete opposite to them its yesterdays chip paper there not interested . Some manufactures have now got there historic departments as thy have realized there is a potential to make money , as Nissan have done with there heritage parts ,but dont anyone kid them selves its only because thy see a potential to make money . To me one of the other major problems is the classic/historic world now has been hijacked by the money people so everyone thinks now every thing is worth a fortune ,thats why there is so many unoriginal so called race cars around , i have friends with gt cars group B cars F1 cars and i should say 90% of them are not what thy seem but most people dont know the difference . As im sure anyone who has been to Zama or the Nismo festival may or may not know all may not be what it seems ,you can replicate any race car if you wish ,but originality and history is far more difficult


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)

lightspeed said:


> Interest.......just a tiny bit!!!!


Good.

OK, here's how the ex-JSS series car looked when retired and stored. The wide-arched JSS look is nice in itself, but this car was known to have been one of the works NISMO Gr.A RICOH-sponsored cars (I think there were certainly two, if not three, RICOH R31s) and it was decided to return it to its original 1987 spec:









As you can see, I took these photos back in 2007. It's been a slow old process...


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)

In period:


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## Kc350z (Sep 13, 2015)

I***8217;m so loving this thread/story, bloody awesome stuff.


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)

JSS wide arches removed to reveal:


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## K66 SKY (Jan 25, 2005)

PS30-SB said:


> *JSS wide arches removed to reveal:
> 
> *


Don't be cruel, You cannot stop posting here....We want more!


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)

Ricoh Gr.A R31 Skyline GTS-R resto stages:


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)




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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)

nismoman said:


> Nice thread Alan and some very interesting comments being made all round . i dont think the majority of people can differentiate between how rare some race cars are , customer racing and works racing are a completely different ball game , yes customer race cars can be rare and valuable ,but its the factory cars that are are so difficult to get hold of ,then try and get one complete is bordering on impossible . The works cars are so difficult to own and run people would just not believe ,as you could never buy any parts as thy are all specially made ,even if there the parts are made by third party's ,thy wont deal with you as there all tied up contractually . People also seem to be under some illusion that if you own a factory car that Nissan/Nismo would be so willing to help to keep these rare cars running , but its the complete opposite to them its yesterdays chip paper there not interested . Some manufactures have now got there historic departments as thy have realized there is a potential to make money , as Nissan have done with there heritage parts ,but dont anyone kid them selves its only because thy see a potential to make money . To me one of the other major problems is the classic/historic world now has been hijacked by the money people so everyone thinks now every thing is worth a fortune ,thats why there is so many unoriginal so called race cars around , i have friends with gt cars group B cars F1 cars and i should say 90% of them are not what thy seem but most people dont know the difference . *As im sure anyone who has been to Zama or the Nismo festival may or may not know all may not be what it seems ,you can replicate any race car if you wish ,but originality and history is far more difficult*


Interesting post Shaun, and some good points made, but I'd like to see you expand on the last sentence above.

One of the problems - in my experience - of Zama and the NISMO Festival is that, much of the time, people don't know what they are looking at in the first place. I don't think the staff at Zama or the people at NISMO/Nissan seek to actively deceive anyone about any particular car, and it's more often the case that people assume, misconstrue or plain misunderstand. There are so many people involved, and so many cars involved, that nobody could really hide anything for long anyway. And just like any other big organisation, not everybody working there will be completely au fait with what's what in the first place.

Case in point: Part of the Nissan Heritage Collection held at Zama, a guest car at many NISMO Festivals, Nissan dealership displays and Nissan-sponsored events is a replica of the very first works PGC10 to score a race victory. The original is long gone. This replica was built up from a standard road car which was donated to Nissan's Heritage Collection by the previous owner of my own KPGC10, Dr Hiroshi Shimizu of Kyoto. He owned the two cars for many years. His KPGC10 went to me and his PGC10 went to Nissan. And yet I hear people saying that this replica is 'The Real Thing', the actual works race car. Of course it isn't. It's just uninformed rumour, but it gets repeated and reinforced at every telling. That's the kind of thing I'm talking about. Here it is at the 2013 NISMO Festival:



But I'd be interested to hear what particular cars you are talking about...?


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## nismoman (Jul 13, 2004)

Great post Alan and that,s the type of point i was referring to ,i to don,t think Nissan or anyone set out to deceive anyone but in my experience the vast majority of people look at race cars in museums and major events and assume that what there looking at is the genuine article . There are probably very good reasons as you mentioned above why a car may not be the genuine car it appears to be ,and i think its fantastic that a car should be recreated to be part of a collection if the originals do not exist for what ever reason . Not wanting to say to much on a public forum ,but i have no problem with discussing it personally Alan .Lets just say one of the newer race cars in the zama collection is exactly the same as a car i know that someone owns in another part of the world that is the genuine car . in some ways you could say it doesn't matter because if there wasn't a example in zama then that particular example would be missing from the collection for people to see .


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)




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## lightspeed (Jul 11, 2002)

I love this period of Group A cars. They really related to what the average person might afford to drive on the street.


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## Jesse (Nov 4, 2018)

Cant believe i only discovered this thread now.. Are there any more cars / photos you would be willing to share? Would love to see more. 

It would have been pretty cool when they lifted off those rear arches revealing the original livery still intact. Even if it was already known to be one of the original RICOH cars..


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## profaine (Feb 27, 2017)

Jesse said:


> Cant believe i only discovered this thread now.. Are there any more cars / photos you would be willing to share? Would love to see more.
> 
> It would have been pretty cool when they lifted off those rear arches revealing the original livery still intact. Even if it was already known to be one of the original RICOH cars..


Plus 1 on the continuation of the story! (& seeing the livery!)


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## David (Apr 25, 2003)

PS30-SB said:


> Next up. Colour should be a clue, as will this front suspension mount shot:


Not a clue of the car, but very interested in the front subframe, do you have a picture under bonnet?

Front driveshafts also removed? Given the welded up chassis cut out?


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)

David said:


> Not a clue of the car, but very interested in the front subframe, do you have a picture under bonnet?
> 
> Front driveshafts also removed? Given the welded up chassis cut out?


Best I can do at the moment:



You might recognise the car...


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)

Jesse said:


> Cant believe i only discovered this thread now.. Are there any more cars / photos you would be willing to share? Would love to see more.
> 
> It would have been pretty cool when they lifted off those rear arches revealing the original livery still intact. Even if it was already known to be one of the original RICOH cars..


I'll try to update next month, as I'm due to visit again.


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## David (Apr 25, 2003)

PS30-SB said:


> Best I can do at the moment:
> 
> 
> 
> You might recognise the car...


Thankyou. Can you get some detailed under bonnet pictures if you return


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)

David said:


> Thankyou. Can you get some detailed under bonnet pictures if you return


You understand what it is (was), right? 

Works 2WD GT car.


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## PS30-SB (Jun 13, 2003)

profaine said:


> Plus 1 on the continuation of the story! (& seeing the livery!)


Not the best photos (sorry...) but they at least give a glimpse of the livery and the 99% finished car:


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