Last year, we asked what your mom thought of your own JNC and received both fanfare and eye rolls. Maybe dear ol’ mom isn’t big on worn seats and 30-plus-year-old bushings. The smell of fuel in the interior might be a bit off-putting, too. So, we ask:
What JNC would your mom actually enjoy driving in?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s your greatest tale of JNC acquisition?”
For the past week, you’ve graced our comments section with some amazing finds, like the baja-prepped Honda N600 of Tim Mings; or the unfortunate luck of Dutch 1960, who at least keeps a light heart about the ones that get away. Tyler Roland struck gold early with his first car purchase of an S-Cargo! That’s a hard experience to beat, but this time, the tale from Luke who actually got the “give me a call if you want to sell” note to work takes top comment. The fact that the owner got back to you, twice, and that your family is happy to have it in the garage is a great acquisition indeed!
My little ’84 Mazda truck was in a wreck and I was looking for a new ride that would fit a growing family. One day I spotted a beige ’84 Mazda GLC sedan in a mall parking lot. I peeked in the window and it only had a little over 68k on the odometer. I left a note on the window asking them to contact me if they wanted to sell the car. The lady that owned it did contact me and said she had been thinking about selling it because she was trying to move to Germany; if I remember correctly. Her plans changed and she needed to keep the car. A few months went by and she called me out of the blue and asked if I was still interested in the GLC. Of course I was. She sold me the car for $1,300. I have had it for over eight years now and it has been truly a great little car…some of you might catch that. Unfortunately, a few parking lot dings have been added in that time but so have a lot of modifications. My daughter really likes the car and laughs with excitement when I give it some gas. She named it Cheesey because of the color…it fits.
Omedetou! Your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop.
A Datsun fairlady 2000 as she loves little cute convertibles
Probably a nice Prince Gloria.
If it had an automatic, she would love to drive a Kenmeri, because her daughter was Mary.
This is made simpler by my mom actually having had owned a JNC. And so the answer is a Datsun B210/Nissan Sunny fastback with the 5-speed. Since she owned one, and loved it as much as someone could love a car. Sadly when it met its end, she got the American version of what -looked- like the same kind of car, a Pontiac 1000/Chevy Chevette. (Narrator: It was nothing like the Sunny.)
Oops the Skyline Mary is the wrong address.
https://www.facebook.com/8855gogonissan/
Toyota Tercels. She had four of them growing up, one which served as my first car.
In succession, there was an ’80 three-door 5-speed that gave up 3rd, 4th and 5th in a spectacular way at 450k miles–a family friend pulled off the hatch and used it at his junkyard for a parts getter for another ten years until it rusted away.
Then there was an ’86 5-speed three-door which ran to 300k before rust got out of control.
Followed by an ’87 4WD 6-speed which even had A/C–great for volcanic Chicago summers, though 4WD offered no discernible advantage over the others in slush.
Last was an ’89 three-door 3-speed auto, which was my first car and then my brother’s. It had no rev limiter or tach, but would rev up to what sounded like ~9k RPM–perfect speed for neutral drops. I beat the hell out of that car and it always wanted more. Drove like a shopping car with a stuck front caster–boring but simultaneously wayward.
My wife (who’s also a mom) loves early LS Lexuses and TRD widebody Starlets in candy colors.
Oh man, this mother’s day stuff made me panic for a second thinking I’d forgotten – in the UK it falls in March rather than May…
It’s an easy one for me though. My mum has considered getting an MX-5 before, so that’d be my answer. I’ll convince her it’s the right option eventually…
Easy the Toyota Century, but more like ride in the back passenger side seat, legs through the pass through. Ask me how I know, haha. The only vehicle were she was actually impressed.
I did not grow up in a household of J-tin lovers. My parents’ cars were American and mostly Oldsmobile in my early years.
My mother’s pride and joy was a 1984 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser station wagon. Despite at least 3 transmission rebuilds and multiple other mechanical issues, it is still affectionately referred to (by her) as the PSW™ – short for “Pretty Station Wagon”. I believe the rest of the family referred to it as “The Tank”. It was blue with requisite wood siding. (Well…you know, wood sticker siding.)
I believe in the intervening years I have begun to endear my mother towards Toyota. Therefore, I conclude that the JNC my dear mother would be most enthusiastic to own and drive would be a ’78-80 Toyota Cressida station wagon. Who wouldn’t want one of these?!
http://toyotanews.pressroom.toyota.com/images/toyota/photo//1998001_1978_Cressida_Wagon_color-prv.jpg
https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/78-wagon-1280×915.jpg
From all the stories I’ve heard, my family’s always been (for the most part), 100% Toyota. From a Tamaraw (Kijang) used as a family car in the Philippines to a KP61 Starlet that my grandmother owned here in the US.
But, knowing my mom, she’s all about SUV’s with plenty of features. There was even a point where she almost bought brand new SW20 MR2, but opted for a 4Runner instead.
She’s always talked about how she wanted to get a Land Cruiser, and I think a J80 may be the perfect fit right alongside her current 1st gen Sequoia! 🙂
Well, if we were richer…
I would definitely get us an AE86, as it’s the only JNC she likes as of now, and she is also a bit of a leadfoot. (Secret Initial D fan too *laughs*)
Next thing would be a Daihatsu Feroza, as she recently has been a traveler, taking us to long trips, especially with that removable rear canopy, it would also be a perfect candidate.
After driving (and hating) full-sized Chevy conversion vans for a decade, my mom bought a two-year-old Mitsubishi Diamante wagon in 1994. Say what you will about their slightly offbeat styling, or their Americanesque ride quality, but Mom flat-out LOVED her Diamante…loved the steering feel, loved the comfortable seats, loved its reliability. (Unbeknownst to her at the time, my dad and I also loved the Diamante Wagon for its ability to swallow vast expanses of rural Texas two-lanes at 100+ for hours on end…you think your so-called Q-ship is stealthy? Ha. The Diamante was utterly INVISIBLE to cops.)
Actually, maybe my mom DID know that.
Mom’s gone now, but if she were still around, I don’t think it would be hard to get her into a now-Nostalgic Diamante again. She had Fiats and Oldsmobiles and even an early-Elvis Cadillac, but the Mitsu was her favorite by far.
My mum always used to say that the tail lights on the R31 Skyline were her favourite. She loved the stove plate design and thought they were the most effective in terms of advising other road users of braking.
I owned an R33 Skyline a while back. I think she liked it…
My mom had an E70 two-door (not sure if it was a sedan or a liftback) before she married my dad, but I doubt she’d want to own it now. I was actually giving my dad a hard time about it the other day. He hated that car, but now he’s driving the Avalon that my grandmother recently left him. Thirty-five years ago, he couldn’t wait for Mom to get rid of her Toyota, but now he’s jumping through all sorts of hoops with the insurance company and DMV to keep the Avalon.
My mom enjoys the cuteness & boxiness of my 1986 Honda Civic Si. It is a relateable car from her time as it is an economic form of transportation & thats all that was around on the streets, even though in her time & region I cant imagine many people having cars because they lived in a poor little town with dirt roads. Also, her father (my grandfather) enjoys the car too because of its simple design & perhaps it was a car he would have liked to drive or own in its time. I imagine the only time they would see newer cars of their time was when they would visit the capital city of Zacatecas, MX. They seem to have an invincible connection with the car, perhaps its because it invokes a nostalgia within them & they’re happy that it reminds them of their earlier days when times were simpler. I also enjoy the fact that my mom & her father both have an appreciation for the boxy Civic, normally cars would annoy her but since the car was stock at that point she found it cute. I cant say she feels the same way about my 1985 Nissan 200sx turbo haha.
This is an easy question for me to answer, as I know what JNC my mum enjoys driving – the 1993 JZX90 Toyota Mark II Tourer V which she’s been using as her daily driver for over 10 years now! Like many of us who love cars, my collection of “interesting” old vehicles eventually outgrew my available parking, so I asked my mum to keep a couple of the cars at her house. She wasn’t initially overly thrilled at this prospect (and truth be told, the slowly rusting RX-7 convertible parked in the front yard is still grumbled about), but once she got behind the wheel of the Mark II, it quickly became her favourite car ever. I think it’s the combination of the discreet, elegant styling and the wonderful 1JZ-GTE straight-six engine that she finds so endearing. Not only is the turbo power a big step up from any previous car she’s owned (hey even mums like boost!), the Toyota practicality and reliability make it an easy car to live with day-to-day. Anyway, for whatever reason I know my mum loves the Mark II, because anytime I hint at possibly wanting it back someday, the look of disappointment on her face makes me immediately reconsider and reassure her that the car is hers for as long as she wants it. Which I’m sure will be at least another 10 years…
We always had new Chevys, usually loaded Caprices, every year when I was growing up, as my grandfather owned a dealership in Middle Tennessee for several decades. I remember that my mother had a friend who owned a designer dress shop in Knoxville, Tennessee, where we live, while I was in high school in the late 70s, and worked for her for several years. Marcia’s husband was an eye surgeon, and they had several very nice cars, always the latest and greatest high end luxury and sports cars. One afternoon in late fall of ’77 (a year before I got my license), my mom pulled up at school to pick me up in a brand new copper colored ’78 Honda Prelude. I bombarded her with questions, she said Marcia had sent her on some errands, and told my mom to drive her new car. It was a five speed, had a sunroof, and my mom absolutely loved it! The following year, my mom came home from work one evening, and told my dad, brother and I to come outside, Sitting in the drive was a new ’79 Datsun 280ZX, burgundy red with red leather interior. Marcia had gone on a buying trip to New York and had my mom drive her to the airport in her new Z, and told my mom to just use the car over the weekend. It was a mind blowing experience for a 16 year old who had little to no prior experience with Japanese cars (or import cars of any kind), but my mom loved the Z even more than the Prelude she had driven the previous year. If her father had not been a Chevy dealer, we probably would have been driving J-tin back then!