japancar.km.ru (the site later presented itself under the address JAPANCAR.PP.RU) — a Nizhny Novgorod amateur site about Japanese cars, which began in 2001 as the "Club of Japanese Car Enthusiasts in Nizhny Novgorod"[1] and over time turned into a Web portal — about operating, servicing and repairing "Japanese cars"[3]. The site entered the Nizhny Novgorod Internet through the nn.ru catalog, where it was listed with the description "Club of Japanese car enthusiasts in Nizhny Novgorod... a classifieds board for buying and selling Japanese cars and parts, a forum"[5]. The first web-archive snapshot is dated August 2, 2001[1], the last one known to us — December 6, 2008[4].

Nizhny Novgorod club: 2001–2003

In 2001 the home page fit into a single header line and five menu items: "Title," "Useful information," "Literature," "Guestbook," "Forum"[1]. The header directly named the project's geography — "Club of Japanese Car Enthusiasts in Nizhny Novgorod"[1]. The site occupied a third-level address in the km.ru domain and remained accessible there at least until the end of 2008[4].

By December 2003 the set of sections remained the same, but the header changed: instead of the club and the city — "JAPANCAR.PP.RU — Japanese cars — operation, maintenance and repair"[2]. The city tie disappeared from the header, and the project's main address became japancar.pp.ru; the page at the previous address continued to open[2].

Reference portal: 2006

The snapshot from January 10, 2006 catches the site in its most developed form. The "Operation and repair" section was divided into subsections "General info," "Models," "Manual/automatic transmission," "Engine," "Chassis," "Braking system," "Oils and lubricants," "Electrical equipment," "Fuel system" and "Miscellaneous"; the "Literature" section — by make: Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Subaru, Suzuki, Isuzu and "Miscellaneous"[3]. Alongside the informational part, commercial blocks were operating: "\"Japanese cars\" from Japan!" with the explanation "services for supplying used and new cars from Japan to order," and "Auto/moto shop" — "parts, accessories and more — order online"[3]. There were also a site search, a guestbook, and "Link exchange" and "Our partners" pages[3].

The tone of self-description was typical of home car sites of that era. As the home page put it, the portal was dedicated to "a marvel of engineering and design thought — the Japanese car," and visitors were promised "a sea of other interesting, useful information needed by all owners of Toyotas, Nissans and Mitsubishis"[3]. At the bottom of the page stood the signature "(c) 2001-2005 A!ex" and the contact address intermaster@rambler.ru[3]; in the 2008 version the signature looked different — "2001-2006 © Alexander Osipov," the email address remained the same[4].

Place in the Nizhny Novgorod internet

The site is recorded in our inventory of the Nizhny Novgorod internet via the nn.ru catalog (rubricator /rub/); its rating figure was 801, and no votes were recorded for it in the 2004 Nizhny Novgorod Internet Day contest[5][6]. Its separate position in the Counter.nn.ru is unknown to us. More on the selection methodology and the sources of these figures — in the Archival study of the Nizhny Novgorod internet from the counter.nn.ru rating.

The site was actually Nizhny Novgorod-related in content only at an early stage: the catalog description and the 2001 header speak of a city club with a classifieds board and a forum[1][5], whereas the 2006 and 2008 snapshots no longer mention any city, address or phone number[3][4]. The snapshots show how, over a few years, a city car club turned into a topical reference guide from which geography disappeared entirely.

Last snapshots and the fate of the address

The snapshot from December 6, 2008 shows the site noticeably emptied out. "Japanese cars from Japan" and the "Link exchange" and "Our partners" sections disappeared from the menu, while "News subscription" appeared; part of the rubricator items remained commented out in the markup[4]. The block of partner links, where in 2006 there stood automotive projects — "Volvo S80 S60 and S40 cars," "tires, alloy wheels," "TACHKA.RU — car catalog"[3] — was by 2008 filled with unrelated advertising: an online store catalog, java games and ringtones, DVD movies, summer tires[4]. The site's own commercial sections had disappeared from the page by then.

In total, the web-archive index lists 49 captures for the address japancar.km.ru[5]. The last home-page snapshot available to us is dated December 6, 2008[4]; at the time this inventory was compiled, the address was not responding[5]. We did not conduct a separate check of what became of the second-level domain japancar.pp.ru.

Sources

  1. web.archive.org — Home page, 2001 (archive)
  2. web.archive.org — Home page, 2003 (archive)
  3. web.archive.org — Home page, 2006 (archive)
  4. web.archive.org — Home page, 2008 (archive)
  5. — Archival study of the Nizhny Novgorod internet based on the counter.nn.ru rating data
  6. web.archive.org — Voting results of the Day of the Nizhny Novgorod Internet, 2004 (archive)