Author Archives: Ben
VIDEO: Jay Leno’s Garage Gets Down with a Custom Datsun 510
A car nut can’t get much better a gig than working for Jay Leno. And once you finish building your custom Datsun 510, like Tonight Show prop master Greg Elliot, the boss man himself might even feature it on his … Continue reading
QotW: Who’s the Baddest President of a Japanese Car Company?
Since Monday was Presidents’ Day here in the States, we thought it’d be a good time to find out which captains of Japanese industry you admire most. From Mitsubishi founder and real life samurai Yataro Iwasaki to current Toyota head … Continue reading
Happy Presidents’ Day from JNC
And now for your viewing pleasure, a lowrider 1980 Nissan President. An amalgam of Japano-American style created in the UK. It exchanged hands on eBay for £2,750 (or $4,268 USD) recently, which seems like quite a small amount of dead … Continue reading
QotW: What year was the peak of Japanese car design?
The Japanese auto industry has undergone many design eras — the jet setting Sixties, the techno-boxy Eighties, the lozenge Nineties. But like an old curmudgeon you know there’s a single year in your minds after which everything went downhill. What … Continue reading
MOTORSPORT: Remembering Funabashi Circuit
If you’ve ever taken the JR Keiyo train from downtown Tokyo to Makuhari Messe for the Auto Salon or Tokyo Motor Show, you’ve passed over the former grounds of Funabashi Circuit. Like much of Japan in 1965 Funabashi city was … Continue reading
MOTORSPORT: Mazda 787B Named Le Mans car of the 1990s by Automobile Club de l’Ouest Jury
France’s Automobile Club de l’Ouest, the organizing body behind the 24 Hours of Le Mans, recently announced the 10 race cars they believe to be most emblematic of the legendary race. One car was chosen to represent each decade of … Continue reading
VIDEO: Rocky Auto’s Lexus V8-powered Hakosuka
Many of you loved the cars in the last video we posted but found the music controversial. Prepare yourself for the opposite. It’s hard to take offense to a Temptaions-esque free use Motown groove, but the accompanying car is one … Continue reading
QotW: What’s the greatest video game JNC of all time?
Many readers were plunged into the world of nostalgic cars thanks to Japanese video games. The fact that those machines were made of pixels and polygons rather than glass and steel didn’t make our lust for them any less fierce, … Continue reading
