In 1979 a new Japanese TV show drama was released titled Seibu Keisatsu 西部警察 or “Western Police”. It followed a group of detectives apart of the team “Daimon Gang” lead by Daimon Keisuke. Daimon wasn’t the type of detective to mess with. This wasn’t an average detective drama—it was packed full of action.
What set Seibu Keisatsu apart wasn’t just its gritty storytelling but the sheer scale of the action scenes. We’re talking over-the-top car chases, fiery explosions, and shootouts. They destroyed over 4,500 vehicles in the show’s 238-episode run. They even destroyed over 320 buildings and used over 4.8 tons of explosives. Because of the high budget of the show, it had to secure a lot of sponsorships to make it all possible. Nissan Motor Company provided all of the vehicles used in the show, including the special vehicles.
Some of these special vehicles included cars like Nissan Skyline and Nissan Fairlady Z. Daimon Keisuke originally started off driving a Nissan SKyline 2000 Turbo GT-E named “Machine X”.
Western Police. Wikipedia.
Damion later switched over to a late model Nissan Fairlady Z (S130) named “Super-Z.” It featured gullwing doors controlled with hydraulic dampers, double-barrelled tear gas launchers, and a rear-firing smoke screen generator.
Other members of the Daimon Gang drove around in cars like the Nissan Skyline 2000RS (DR30). The cars were given names like RS-1, RS-2, RS-3, but were collectively known as RS Corps.
On one of my trips to Japan, I had the opportunity to go to a hatsuhinode boso, also known as New Year’s touring. There was a Fairlady Z kaido racer modified to look like the Super Z. The driver also had a similar haircut, aviator sunglasses, and carried around a fake shotgun.
Knowing more about Japanese pop culture references around the 80s and 90s like this TV series can help you appreciate the attention to detail on some of these builds, along with inspire you for your own.
Sources: Wikipedia, Wikipedia JP
