We all love our cars, but sometimes they fight tooth and nail against being a good li’l JNC by refusing to stay fixed. Brakes just not wanting to seat correctly, electrical gremlins in the taillamp circuit, even trim that breaks if you looking at it the wrong way. No matter what you do, those issues just don’t stay away for very long. Tell us,
What part of your JNC just refuses to stay fixed?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “Does the current state of a marque affect how you feel about its classics?”
Seven days ago, we asked if you were hyped or soured by the current state of a marque. Some, like Mazda, have good standing in the motoring community, but caught flak from Dutch 1960 getting too zealous with the adage, “out with the old, in with the new” in terms of their NOS parts.
Others, like BlitzPig (and Dave, and vballin, and Negishi no Keibajo) longed for days past from powerhouses such as Nissan and their near-perfect run of exciting enthusiast machines from the late 60s through to the 2000s.
Yuri took the QotW and put it on it’s head. Instead of looking back, he ran through the vehicles we have in today’s ranges and made a case for how there’s still hope, despite regulations and environmental constraints that seemingly all but extinguish the idea of fun, fast, and low-hooded vehicles.
I think we’ve actually got it really great right now, and it makes me proud to think that the cars on the market today are reflecting the zeitgeist of nostalgic cars.
We’ve got modern day Trueno/Levin twins (FRS/86/BRZ) and are even managing to get some of the JDM forbidden fruit models (BRZ tS.)
Toyota is bringing a new Supra forth, as well as a cool 5-door Corolla hatch with a manual. In the Lexus brand, there is the amazing LC, as well as F-sport variants of almost everything.
The WRX/STI are still going strong, and we can even get the RA in the US.
We’ve had GTR’s here long enough that they are getting down in value to where someone with an average decent-paying job can purchase a used one.
If you have a lot of money, you can even get a Nismo new.
Oh, and the 370Z is still around, and offers a cool heritage scheme as well as a NIsmo model.
The Skyline is offered here as the Q50, and with the V6 it’s pretty amazing. Even more so if you get a Redsport. You can even get the Q60 coupe with a turbo 6 and AWD, which sticks to the GT-R formula without being a GT-R.
I also have a soft spot for the little NV200 delivery van.We have the best Miata built to date (and this is coming from someone who’s owned 3 NA’s) in both soft top and retractable fastback form.
Honda gave us not only a new NSX, but a Civic Type-R.
Both Toyota and Nissan have interesting trucks still, with TRD and Nismo offroad versions.
If you prefer weird small and quirky, Mitsubishi still offers the Mirage with a 3-cylinder. I test drove one and it was really odd, but I could see it easy being able to form an attachment to.
When I was a high school kid playing Gran Turismo in the late 90’s, I could only dream that we’d have this much cool stuff on offer.
Except for Kei cars, full size vans, and the odd limited edition, we get pretty much everything Japan offers.
In some cases, we even get something better. The USDM BRZ tS is a kouki patterned after the JDM zenki model, and the closest Japan gets to a full-blast kouki tS is the STI-sport which is lacking much of the content of the USDM tS.If we’re talking solely about what we can buy new in the US from Japanese manufacturers, this is quite possibly the best we’ve had it.
Mark my words, this is a golden era of Japanese cars in America.
Omedetou! Your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop.
Sorry. My JNC is a 1979 Honda Accord, so rarely does any part fail. And when one does, the replacement part fixes things first time every time and stays fixed. Hey, it’s a Honda, not a Triumph or an MG or an Austin or…
Oh, wait…the struts have been replaced twice in the last two years. The ones for the rear hatch, not the suspension ones. You just can’t get really good hatch struts for a 79 Accord hatch.とても厄介な (totemo yakkaina)
The distributor of my 4AG, in my AE86, broke on me 4x. One of the sensors inside would come loose and the trigger wheel would strike it and damage it. Take note that the sensors were factory installed and adjusted, never tampered with. I must add, however, that it would only happen when I am about 7000 RPM. Needless to say, after getting stuck on the racetrack for the 4th time, I decided to scrap the factory dizzy and use a trigger wheel system. So far, after several years of racing, it hasn’t broke on me.
Oh nostalgic RATTLING.. I hate you, I hate you so much.
We all have it and there’s no escaping those pesky little buggers. The interior of my CRX has a a random dahsboard rattle somewhere.. I’ve tried wedging pieces of cardboard and squeezing in little rubber grommets here and there, but to no avail. Over the years, I’ve given up and have conceded to their evil doings.
Adds character, though, right? If you don’t agree, just turn up the volume on the cassette player.. problem, solved! ?
Ditto. My ’84 Mazda GLC has rattles in the back door, front passenger seat and dash. Most of them can be fixed; just haven’t got around to it yet. Oh, and my hazard lights switch doesn’t like the LEDs I am using now for my turn signals. Thankfully, everything else is solid.
1988-on Crx? Dashboard would creak one way on acceleration and then back the other way on braking. Also, the foam headliner would squeak against the roof until I lined it with felt. And it was so loud over 100 mph you couldn’t hear yourself think.
They’re just a part of life.
I have 2007 Honda Element with barely 81K and have 2 that I cannot locate. Worse in winter, of course.
What part keeps failing? The body. Every time I patch up one rust hole, I find another only inches away. Rust is the worst.
I agree. My local municipality switched to salt in the winter recently because…. I’ll stop right here.
Your illustration reminds me that mice kept putting acorns in the heater blower squirrel cage in our 1975 Civic 1200. Made it really out of balance until you cleaned it out. How did they get in? Cowl vents below the windshield?
Exactly the item in the diagram above; Heater assembly with non-standard hoses and ducts, multiple cammed plastic actuators hooked up to two foot long (worn) Teleflex cables terminating in inaccessible control facia mounts. Do I have to get a welder to change this motor? In a Ferrari; maybe. In a JNC?! I wound up taking the whole dashboard out.
I have a rotary.
I have been dealing with water leaks in the back hatch of my RA29 since the day I bought it. It leaks through the hatch seal, through the tailights, and most of all through the glass seal. Ive bought new high quality rubbers for everything, made some custom taillight gaskets and it just refuses to seal. Ive tried adjusting the position of the hatch, spreaders for the glass seal, Ive had the glass out and repaired all the rust on the hatch, ive tried to reinforce the hatch seal by filling it with stiff foam and rubber hoses, 4 years of owning this car and it is still driving me up the wall, and having the car getting rear ended a year and a half ago only made it worse… and to top it all off I live in Vancouver Canada with no Garage, uuuuuuuuuuugggggggggh…
They’re just a part of life.
I have 2007 Honda Element with barely 81K and have 2 that I cannot locate. Worse in winter, of course.