Tag Archives: imsa

American Honda Collection Hall officially opens at Honda HQ in Torrance, California

In Japan carmakers proudly display their wares at their company headquarters, but that’s not always the case for their American subsidiaries. For years, Honda kept their US heritage collection in a warehouse — a nice one — but one that … Continue reading

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Mazda RX-792P quad-rotor race car, one of three built, is for sale

Mazda’s quad-rotor racing engine is the stuff of legend. It propelled the 787B to a win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans proved Mazda’s rotary engine in the crucible of motorsport. Mazda only ever put triple-rotor engines in road … Continue reading

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Kidney, Anyone? Nissan 300ZX IMSA GTO race cars, one of seven built

While we await the next Nissan Z‘s arrival, and the new era of Nissan is has promised, with engaging, fun to drive cars and bright 90s hues. However, if you want to actually drive the king of 90s Nissans, here’s … Continue reading

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VIDEO: A virtual tour of Toyota’s Motorsports Biography exhibit

The Toyota Automobile Museum’s excellent “Toyota Motorsport Biography: Everlasting Challenge Spirit” exhibit is scheduled to end on April 11. Sadly, travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic have prevented most overseas travelers from seeing it in person. However, the museum … Continue reading

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MOTORSPORT: How the Datsun 510 revolutionized sedan racing in America

The Datsun 240Z is rightfully remembered as Nissan’s most competitive sports car, for sweeping 10 out of 10 National SCCA C-Production Championships between 1970 and 1979. However, the humble Datsun 510, initially expected to be nothing more than an econobox … Continue reading

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The Toyota Automobile Museum has opened a “Motorsport Biography” exhibit

“A harsh environment of competition toughens our people and cars,” said Toyota Motor founder Kiichiro Toyoda once said. It’s a quote framing the Toyota Automobile Museum in Aichi, Japan’s newly opened an exhibit highlighting some of the company’s historic race … Continue reading

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VIDEO: Mazda racing liveries, animated

Mazda UK has released a new video called “Our Greatest Motorsport Liveries” to honor its 100th Anniversary.  The short animated movie goes through several of the company’s famous racing colorways, varying from the Group B RX-7 to the renowned (ha!) … Continue reading

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ART CORNER: Build these retro race liveried Toyotas during coronavirus lockdown

A few years ago Toyota UK created some very cool GT86es to commemorate the company’s 50th anniversary in the United Kingdom. While slapping a wrap and putting some wheels on an otherwise stock car can be a half-assed way for … Continue reading

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MOTORSPORT: Restored Gatorade RX-3 and other classic Mazda racers at Laguna Seca

Monterey Car Week’s centerpiece racing event, the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, concluded this weekend. While there was a noticeable lack of Japanese representation at Laguna Seca as compared to last year (despite the fact that the theme was the 50th … Continue reading

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MOTORSPORT: Sonoma Festival of Speed

Sonoma Raceway, or more widely known as Sears Point Raceway and Infineon Raceway, is one of Northern California’s “old-time” tracks with rich racing history that stretches back to 1968. Often overshadowed by Laguna Seca Raceway, it has long been the … Continue reading

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MOTORSPORT: Mazda still carries the IMSA torch

Mazda has been a dominant force in IMSA since the original 1979 RX-7 won its class at the 24 Hours of Daytona in its debut year. As our resident vintage racer Glenn Chiou mentioned in his recent piece, much of … Continue reading

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MOTORSPORT: When Nissan and Mazda ruled IMSA GTU

There was a time, not too long ago, when the US truly cared about road racing. On Saturdays and Sundays, Americans would tune into the International Motor Sports Association’s contests of speed, broadcast not on some obscure cable channel catering … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2018 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 06 — Mazdas

Vintage rotaries took a prime position at this year’s JCCS, thanks to a classy display by Mazda. Imagine a hillside blooming with brightly colored pistonless wonders from Hiroshima, and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what the Mazda section … Continue reading

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VINTAGE RACING JOURNAL: Why Monterey was so important for Nissan

For one week this summer, Monterey became the playground of Nissan and Datsun fans from all over the globe. For us Datsun racers, it was our opportunity to tell a story, a story of a manufacturer long overlooked in automotive … Continue reading

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MOTORSPORT: The most epic gathering of historic racing Datsuns we’ll see in our lifetimes

We cannot overstate the importance of this year’s Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. It the first time a Japanese carmaker was celebrated as the featured marque since the event’s inception in 1974, and Nissan’s brought a tremendous display of racing heritage, … Continue reading

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MOTORSPORT: Mazda’s Le Mans FC3S RX-7 rides again

Mazda’s most famous Le Mans story centers around that of the epic 787B and its historic victory in 1991, but there have been other contenders from Hiroshima. The humble Mazda RX-7 has been sent into battle many times, mostly in … Continue reading

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MOTORSPORT: The best display of Nissan race cars ever assembled in North America

Never before has a Japanese carmaker been the featured marque at the Monterey Historics. That is, until this year, when Nissan received the honor. As a result, collectors, racers, and Nissan themselves have brought together a truly epic assembly of … Continue reading

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MOTORSPORT: Mazda bringing quartet of four-rotor racers to Monterey

At the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion this week, Mazda will enter four quad-rotor cars into the vintage races. Perhaps the most notable one, however, is the 1991 FC3S RX-7 IMSA GTO, which returns to its ArtNature livery, the colors the … Continue reading

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MINICARS: A beginner’s guide to JNC Legos, Part 02

With the popularity of Legos showing no signs of slowing, it’s a good time to get into building custom JNCs out of these little Danish bricks. In Part 01 of our beginner’s guide, we took a look at some highly … Continue reading

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RIP Dan Gurney, 1931-2018

A true titan of 20th-century motorsport, Dan Gurney has passed away at the age of 86. Considered by many to be the greatest American racing driver in history, Gurney’s contributions to the world of auto racing as a driver, engineer … Continue reading

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