The much-talked-about kit attracted a lot of attention at the Osaka Auto Messe
Osaka Auto Messe 2024 took place from 10 to 12 February 2024. A wide variety of tuned and customized cars, ranging from naughty mini-cars to flashy VIP sedans and more intrepid sports cars, filled the INTEX Osaka venue. Among these, it was the “Minisuka” that drew the most attention from visitors as well as fans of old cars.
Based on a B110 Sunny sedan
When I was parading around Hall 6A looking for a vehicle to interview, I spotted a ‘Hakosuka’ (third-generation ‘Skyline’) out front. As it is the type of car that stops every old car lover in their tracks, the author was drawn to it as well. …… But as I got closer, I realized that it looked a bit smaller ……. The car’s specs board says ‘Minisuka’, not ‘Hakosuka’.
What is this car really? I rolled my eyes and asked
“This is based on a second-generation Nissan Sunny sedan (B110 model), and we made it look like a Hakosuka with an original body kit. It’s a tiny Hakosuka, so it’s a Minisuka.”
said Mr. Nakura of DUOBLAS Corporation, who produced the car.
The 10 parts consist of a bonnet, left and right front wings, grille, left and right light covers, front apron, front bumper, back panel, and rear combination lights (which are generic).
There are already ‘Hakotora’ kits in the world that can make the front face of a ‘Sunny Truck’ (also B110 model) look like a Hakosuka, but this is the world’s first one based on a sedan. The back panel was also newly made to look like a Hakosuka and the narrow (normal wing) specification was chosen over the over-wing specification. The back panel was newly made to make it look like a Hakosuka, and the narrow (normal fender) version was also chosen instead of the over-fender version.
“I love Hakosuka, so instead of making a seriously scaled-down copy, it’s just a deformed car. I started making it in the sense that ‘it would simply be fun to have something like this’. But I also have respect for the Hakosuka, so I commissioned the body kit to be made by Car Service Hiro, a special old car shop in Tokyo.”
The company has already secured around 70 B110 Sunny sedans as base vehicles. The company says it is ready to offer them, but old car shops would question that answer. The reason for this is that there are almost no B110 Sunny Sedans in the used car market in Japan at present, and it is practically impossible to prepare 70 units. So what has DUOBLAS done about it is to pool its stock abroad.
“The cars we displayed this time were brought in from Pakistan. In the past, many cars that were no longer used in Japan were exported to the Middle East and Africa, such as Pakistan (currently only cars within three years of manufacture). These countries still have old Japanese cars on the road. Our company’s main business is importing marble and timber from all over the world, so we have business in these areas.
When we planned the Minisuka, we looked for used car information websites and shops specializing in old cars, but we couldn’t find anything. It’s been several years since the idea was conceived, but by chance, I saw a B110 sedan driving through the streets of Pakistan, one of our trading partners. I was already frantically chasing after the car and got it sold to me. After that, I was able to secure it with the help of a local agent.”
This is exactly what it means to be in the dark under the lamp. Moreover, the fact that Pakistan is a country where right-hand drive vehicles drive on the left also helped. If you don’t give up, your dreams will come true.
One of our goals is to display the car at the SEMA Show
“We started by making a Minisuka, but now we want people from all walks of life to drive it, so we plan to sell it as a base car as it is. In particular, we want young people with a sense of fun to buy it as a fashion item, so we plan to keep the price down to around 2.0 to 2.3 million yen after passing the documentary inspection and with a three-year vehicle inspection. However, it is only a base model and a car that is more than 50 years old. Maintenance inspections and customization are your responsibility. Our job is only to provide the materials. It’s no fun just to have an old Sunny as a mini-skid kit, so we take the stance of providing it as one of the materials to make it more enjoyable.”
In addition to the response from visitors at the Osaka Auto Messe, the company has already received many inquiries and has been talking to people in various fields, from the daily driver of a real Hakosuka owner to a base vehicle for drifting. It has also been decided to produce a GT-R version based on the B110 two-door sedan, as well as a four-door version. When completed, they are planning to exhibit it at the SEMA SHOW, the customized car trade fair in the USA. Minisuka could become a common keyword not only in Japan but also worldwide.
“My dream is to make Sunny the Mini of Japan. The total production volume is selling better than the Mini. And it would be interesting if more of this kind of customization would be popular all over the world. I think the Sunny is the best mass-market car in the world, so let’s just drive it the way we like it, without any troublesome particulars! That’s what I feel.”
The new Sunny globalization project by DUOBLAS. The fact that companies like this keep popping up one after another makes car customization so interesting that it never gets old.
translated by DeepL