No Really, this is a Mitsubishi Eclipse Spider and it's Powered by a Subaru Turbo Boxer!

Don't let the Nissan 350Z snout and the Infiniti G35 Coupe (JDM Nissan Skyline V35) rear end design fool you; the glitzy painted roadster model you're gawking at is in fact a JDM Mitsubishi Eclipse Spider - possibly a third generation model. But before you try to digest all that info let us quickly add that Paint Star's Tokyo Auto Salon project car also hides a Subaru-sourced 2.0-liter turbocharged flat-four engine under its 350Z-shaped hood. See the rest of the photos in our image gallery after the break.

Photos: Phil Alex / Carscoop

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Ex-cop Busted for helping to Illegally Import JDM Cars, Including one that Starred in Fast & Furious

Recently there was a situation in California involving an ex-Orange County Sheriff's deputy, some illegally imported Japanese cars, and what seems to be a plot from one of the rejected Fast & Furious scripts. One Daryl Alison, a 45-year old former law enforcement officer and entrepreneur of sorts, was charged with removing the markings from an imported Japanese domestic market (JDM) vehicle.

According to court documents, the cars, which included several Nissan Skylines and other Japanese right-hand drive cars as well as one that appeared in the fourth installment of "Fast and Furious" franchise, were disassembled, shipped to the States, and then reassembled at a place called Kaizo Industries out on Costa Mesa. If that's not the backdrop for the next F&F movie, I don't know what is.

Once assembled, the cars allegedly gained fake VINs and were sent on their merry way. When US Customs raided the Costa Mesa company that employed Alison this past summer they found a dozen cars values at over $450,000.

Now, Alison is potentially facing a year in prison and a $100,000 fine. Let this be a lesson to everyone: A) crime doesn't pay, and B) be smarter about the fake VINs you're using when dealing with cars obviously not from around here.

By Phil Alex

*The 2002 GT-R racer shown in the picture is from Nissan's archive

Source: OC Register and L.A. Times

Access Evolution Dips the Nissan Skyline / Infiniti G37 in Charcoal

Jon Sibal, in what appears to be a wheel search for a new Challenger 'chop (can't wait) has some pics of this JDM Nissan Skyline V36, or as we know it here in the States, the Infiniti G37, done-to-to-the-bone by Access Evolution. Those spider webs inside the tires are Forgiatto GTRs, and they're not getting any love from anybody...except me. They look like they belong on a futuristic sports car, but certainly look nice on the Skyline.

The rest of the body kit comes from Access Evolution's Exclusive Sport collection: badgeless grille (￥68,750 / $805), carbon fiber front lip spoiler (￥99,750 / $1,168), carbon fiber trunk spoiler (￥52,500 / $615), fiber-reinforced plastic trunk spoiler (￥36,750 / $430), and two brake kits. The big kit features 355 mm discs / 4-piston calipers (￥268,000 / $3,139), and the smaller kit has 2-piston calipers and 320 mm discs (￥59,000 / $691).

For me, the whole matte black thing is way past done, resulting in the coolest detail of the whole car being those loud green calipers (very similar to the color highlighting the interior of Techart's Panamera Concept One). Definitely neat.

By Phil Alex

Source: Access Evo , Via: Jon Sibal

Infiniti said to Offer G25 with Smaller 2.5-liter V6 in the States to Compete with BMW 328i and Lexus IS250

The team over at Inside Line is reporting that it has learned from an unnamed high-ranking source within Nissan that Infiniti will launch a new entry-level version of its 2011 G sedan equipped with a smaller displacement V6 engine in the U.S. this fall. According to the report, the North American Infiniti G25 will be powered by the same 2.5-liter V6 unit found in the sedan's JDM sibling, the Nissan Skyline.

In the Skyline 250GT sedan, the VQ25HR is rated at 225 horsepower (IL says 210HP, but Nissan announces 225HP) and 26.8 kgm or 193.8 lb-ft of torque.

This means that the Japanese V6 is slightly less powerful than the BMW 328i's 3/0-liter inline-six that generates 230HP and 200 lb-ft inline, but stronger than the Lexus IS250's 2.5-liter V6 with 204HP and 185 lb-ft, who are the G25's most closest rivals.

The report goes on to say that for the time being, the smaller V6 is planned only for the sedan and not the Coupe or hardtop Convertible variants of the G Series.

Via: Inside Line

Nissan to Show Nine Models at Tokyo Auto Salon, Including Skyline Sports Sporty Package and 2010 GT-R Nismo

Nissan, together with Autech Japan and NIMSO have announced that they will be displaying a total of nine models equipped with the latest custom and after-market parts at Japan's equivalent of the U.S. SEMA Show and Europe's Essen Motor Show in Germany, the Tokyo Auto Salon to be held from January 15-17, 2010 at the Makuhari Messe.

Nissan's range of standard road cars stylized with the latest factory aero body-kits will include the Roox Highway Urban Selection and the 2010 Skyline Coupe and Sedan facelift equipped with the Japanese firm's new Sporty Package.

Autech Japan will show its Rider Series comprising of the Nissan Serena, Cube and Note cars.

Last but certainly not least, NISMO plans to exhibit the Xanavi GT-R race car, the Fairlady Z Version NISMO (370Z) and the 2010 GT-R model with the Club Sport Package and the newly developed "NISMO Data Logger Kit", which it says, makes it possible for the driver to download their driving data via USB and view it on a computer.