As JNCers we often pride ourselves on needing the absolute minimum in order to enjoy our cars. No touchscreens, power seats, or cupholders required. However, once in a while there comes an item it’s hard to live without, such as a Bluetooth FM transmitter and phone charger. It allows you to play media from your phone to the car, all without installing a too-colorful head unit or carrying around a box of 8-tracks. But your essential thing doesn’t even have to be this fancy. We’re just looking for the item that you always bring when driving your JNC. It could be a pair of sunglasses, a trusted tool, or a quart of 10W-40.
What non-car item is essential for your JNC life?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s the best JNC for open-top cruising?”
The question elicited many interesting responses. Many included cars that one would expect, like Tom Westmacott‘s NA Mazda MX-5 or Evil Twin‘s Honda S2000. Others offered choices that normally wouldn’t normally be top of mind for an enthusiast, like CobaltFire‘s NSX-T automatic, Lupus‘s Z32 Convertible, or Dimitry‘s Toyota Corolla Griffith. In the end, the most impassioned answer came from Mr. Bill:
I hold a rather curmudgeonly view, wherein vehicles designed for other purposes should never be saddled with a “convertible option” for the sake of sales. Too many fabulous models have suffered this fate…Zs, Silvias, Eclipses, the 3000GT in your photo, and the list goes on.
Vehicles engineered and designed to be roadsters perform this task perfectly, so naturally I will go with the JNC roadster that helped launch a brand globally, one that captured the essence of the definitive sports car of the era, and one that has a great racing pedigree.
My vote for best JNC open-top cruising goes to the Datsun Fairlady Roadster…hands down.
Omedetou! Your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop.
The most important thing that i’m carrying all the time is a knive. In most cases it’s small Cold Steel folder, rarely some fixed blade. It’s an essential tool for me.
From other gear? Yeah.. leather driving gloves, aviator style sunglasses & a comb are a must. I keep in my car also a bit outdated roadbook of all Europe (from ~1991r. ;), an old russian analog film-fed camera (Smena) & a Sukajan style jacket with tiger embodiered on the back.
Modern stuff i put in my JNC is a MP3 adapter in form of a compact cassette with cord ended with a 3,5mm minijack to plug my phone in, and a small digital camera.
A cup holder in air vent is also present – as homage to Fujiwara’s Hachi-Roku 😉
A jug of distilled water to top off the battery or radiator on a too hot day.
With my old MX-5 it was a rag, to wipe away the leaks…
Gloves, is an essential non-car item.
A Lithium ion battery pack to start the car when the battery has become too flat due to irregular use…
A trickle charger can help here.
Being a fan of simplicity and pursuing the low tech lifestyle, it can be easy to forget how technology can make things so easy sometimes. The one thing I always like to have is a phone with 100% or close charge.
Navigation, speed camera detection, music, windscreen HUD if you want to go retro futuristic, being able to call for help in the case of a breakdown, searching old car forums on the internet because your too stubborn to call for help in the case of a breakdown, eventually giving up and just getting a tow truck so you don’t have to tell your friends your car broke down again…
All possible with even the cheapest smartphone!
Given that we are used to strong typhoons and flooding, and the fact that being stranded sometimes can take for days.. This is pretty much standard for us.
It is that I make sure to always have a bag of necessities under the passenger seat which contains a few shirts, some shorts/pants, and underwear enough to last me a week.
Those and a pair of flip flops in the trunk when the road outside gets too muddy.