Automotive Archaeology: The beginnings of Drifting in NZ?

While having a snoop at other people's race cars on the awesome Facebook page RCIS (Race Cars In Sheds), these retro photos from around 1998 popped up. They were taken at the excellent Manfeild Racing Circuit in Feilding and according to the post, are of some Japanese students who used to regularly attend the Manfeild "Open Track Days" and slide their cars around the track.

These first photos are of a stock looking 1988 Nissan Silvia S13. These cars are notorious for being perfect drift cars and finding a decent one these days is almost impossible.

Next up is this blue Nissan Sunny B310. The Sunny isn't as well known for drifting as the Silvia, but still appears to go sideways alright when provoked into a powerslide.

Classic Nissans/Datsuns were quite popular back in the day and still are today with this Datsun 510 sedan also being taken 'round the track. Sadly, finding one of these today is tough and decent ones sell for silly prices.

Last but not least is this Ford Escort van. You would think that the van would be the tow vehicle for the other cars but nope, they're out on the track having fun. Awesome!

Unfortunately, due to modern safety restrictions and insurance policies regarding race tracks, these sorts of events can no longer be held and people can't access proper facilities cheaply anymore. These cool images show the much less restricted fun that people had back in the old days where over restricting laws didn't spoil their fun. Of course, some laws are there to protect us but having to spend tons of money to go for a day at the track is not accessible for everyone.

Do you know if any of these cars still exist? Leave a comment below or on our Facebook page. Thanks for reading!