These washer nozzles are no doubt a car meet conversation starter
JDM parts and wheel importer Bo Gaut, who goes by @Bo_Gaut on Instagram, recently started sharing videos of his one-of-a-kind JDM accessories, the latest one being this Sanko Washer Nozzle replacement in the shape of a boy doing a number one.
Check out the quirky washer nozzle below.
“Today we have a Windshield Wiper Nozzle replacement,” Bo narrates. “It’s a model of a small child. You can use your imagination how this is going to work.
Like most replacement accessories, this is universal so you can mount it on just about any vehicle that uses traditional washer nozzles.
Bo’s mounted this Sanko small child washer nozzle on one of his recently imported Nissan 240s.”
As the style of the box and confirmed by Bo himself in the comments, this one-off accessory was probably made around the 1980s.
Here are the google image translations of the front and back of the box.
As weird as this accessory is at first glance it’s, by far, not anything new and has some interesting history behind it.
Quirky water features, specifically styled after a kid, trace its history back to ancient times where, as early as the 1400s, Puer mingens-styled art was all the rage.
Symbolism ranging from boy-ish playfulness to fertility, Puer Mingens-style attracted all levels of artists.
The most famous water feature ala Puer mingens is the Manneken Pis in Belgium.
Embed from Getty ImagesIn modern times this style of art is commonly found in garden water features often bought as a gag gift or, as many Amazon reviews suggest, to piss off wives.
Seeing how Euro culture often influences Japanese products, it was only a matter of time before a car accessory maker like Rookie stared at a washer nozzle long enough and combined the two, Puer Mingens art and a washer nozzle replacement.
A quick search of the phone number on the box reveals that, at least as of 2019, Rookie Co. Ltd, the maker (or distributor) of this Sanko Washer Nozzle, is still in existence.
This is what 1073-1 Obuchi, Midori-ku, Sagamihara-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture looks like on Maps.
Rookie Co Ltd’s website is linked here.
It appears Racing Team Rookie supported their motorsports endeavors by repairing cars and, in this case, selling quirky car accessories.
As per Bo’s comments, he isn’t selling this one and, seeing how old it is, you probably can’t find another one, at least online.
Seeing how ubiquitous Manneken Pis statues are, if you’re really hellbent on this unique washer nozzle, I don’t see why, with a bit of rapid prototyping and CAD know how, you couldn’t design and 3D print one.
But considering how super PC everyone is today, perhaps it’s best to leave this style of washer nozzle in the past.
