Tag Archives: s130
EVENTS: Old School Love, New School Flavor, Part 02: Datsun
In Part 01 of the coverage we exclusively covered Toyotas. It was a pretty big upload and there were probably too many Toyotas to feature all at once. Datsuns were relatively sparse by comparison, but what they lacked in quantity they made up … Continue reading
EVENTS: 2015 Nissan Jam, Part 01
Though only in its third year, Nissan Jam has become a regular on the nostalgic car show calendar. For 2015, the show moved from its former home to a new location, West Covina Nissan. The larger space allowed for more cars than before, as well … Continue reading
EVENTS: Petersen Museum Japanese Car Cruise-In
There are many things to hate about Los Angeles, but its car culture isn’t one of them. As the trendsetting capital of the custom automobile, it holds the motorcar in such high regard that there’s a shrine to it located smack … Continue reading
EVENTS: Motorsport Auto’s Z-Car Bash
The annual gathering of the Zs at Motorsport Auto took place over the weekend. Despite some unpleasantness early on with traffic cops ticketing every Z in sight and then a rare SoCal drizzle in the afternoon, the show settled into a generally upbeat atmosphere … Continue reading
JNC THEATER: Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman
There was a 1977 Datsun 200SX race car parked on Hollywood Boulevard last night. Sitting in front of the landmark El Capitan Theater, it looked like either the setup for history’s most epic hooning video or a scene out of Boogie … Continue reading
JNC THEATER: Paul Newman Nissan Documentary Winning
The producers of Adam Carolla’s upcoming documentary Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman has extended a special invitation to JNC readers. If you will be in the Los Angeles on April 16, you will definitely want to come to the film’s premiere. The charity … Continue reading
EVENTS: Cars & Coffee Nashville, a tribute to Mr K
As most of you know, Nissan USA’s headquarters is located in Nashville, Tennessee. This past Sunday the local Cars & Coffee event, held near the main offices, was a tribute to a man pivotal in building Nissan’s American presence, Yutaka Katayama, the … Continue reading
EVENTS: 2015 New Year Meeting, Part 04 — Shakotan Sleds
The previous installment of our New Year Meeting coverage focused on originality. In Part 04, we travel to the opposite end of the spectrum. But among all of Japan’s customization styles, shakotan is perhaps the most appealing to JNCers. Translated as simply “low,” shakotan cars are … Continue reading
EVENTS: 2015 New Year Meeting, Part 02: Sports Coupes and Sports Sedans
In Part 01 of our New Year Meeting coverage, we looked at the early days of Japan’s infatuation with sizzling Sixties sports cars. In Part 02, we look at the Disco Decade’s explosion of new sports coupes and sports sedans.
EVENTS: 2014 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 02 — JDM
As long-time readers know, the Japanese domestic market was stocked with stunning machinery that never made it to our shores. The Japanese Classic Car Show is likely the only place in the western hemisphere where you can see so many of … Continue reading
Hachimaru Hero ranks the top 80s Japanese cars
Hachimaru Hero (80s Hero) is the Bubble Decade’s counterpart to Nostalgic Hero. Both come from the same publisher but nowadays interest in 80s Japanese cars is picking up speed. Recently the magazine put out a reader survey asking for the … Continue reading
Reminder: ZCon 2014, August 5-9
ZCon 2014 is coming up soon, and this year the organizers have a lot of great thing planned. First and foremost, you should know that this is not a Z-only gathering. While Zs from 240 to 370 are definitely a large part … Continue reading
EVENTS: 2014 Nissan Jam, Part 01
Now in its second year, Nissan Jam is quickly becoming SoCal’s go-to event for Nissan and Datsun fans of all stripes. Take one look around and you’ll see everything from ever-popular 510s and 240Zs to B210s and 240SXes. But forget the alphanumeric soup, let’s … Continue reading
BOOK CLUB: Datsun 280ZX, by Nissan Motor Corp
I purchase books fairly infrequently thanks to libraries. Automotive books are the exception. Information in high-quality books on cars tend to be less immortal than, say, the words of Shakespeare. Sales and circulation tend to be limited, and photos and schematics make … Continue reading
ART CORNER: The custom 1:24 models of Luis Aguilar, Part 02
We met Luis Aguilar at a local AE86 owner gathering and immediately had our brains melted by his astounding 1:24 scale plastic models. It wasn’t just his tremendous attention to detail that caught our eye, but his highly accurate adherence … Continue reading
EVENTS: Meiji Jingu Classic Car Festival & Parade, Part 02
When Toyota holds a car show in the middle of Tokyo’s equivalent of Central Park, people notice. In Part 01 of our Meiji Jingu Classic Car Festival coverage we had the rare opportunity to see the best of Japan’s historic … Continue reading
EVENTS: Naniwa Swap Meet
Among the items on our Japan bucket list was checking out a real swap meet. Turns out, automotive-themed ones are not terribly common there, but we were fortunate enough to have Osaka’s Naniwa Swap Meet coincide with our stay.
SHOP LIFE: A visit to Rocky Auto, Nissan resto-modder extraordinare
Today’s guest writer is David Lovett of Classic Car Nagoya, who recently went on a little field trip to Rocky Auto. The famous tuning shop’s founder, Yoshiya Watanabe, will make a rare American appearance at Vintage Auto Salon this weekend so come … Continue reading
EVENTS: MSA’s Z-Car West Coast Nationals, Part 02
In Part 01 we looked at the broad spectrum of US and Japanese customization styles present at Motorsport Auto‘s 2013 Z-Car West Coast Nationals. In the past, the S30 generation (encompassing 240Z, 260Z and 280Zs) were the beloved stars of the show, … Continue reading