Dang, did we take a wrong turn at Amesterdam? We are completely smitten by the quaintness of the Danish town of Solvang, site of the annual Datsun Roadster Meet. We wish there was some time to kick back with a nice helping of dyrlægens natmad while listening to some Whigfield, but we have to catch the Z Car Nationals in Silverado tomorrow. It’s the Datsunmania tour!

We’re heading out in a matter of hours, running on no sleep, to bring you coverage of several upcoming events: The Solvang Roadster Show, Z Car Nationals in Orange and TORC Toyotafest in Long Beach.

Yes kids, it’s gonna be a veritable sashimi sampler of nostalgics down in So-Cal, and we’ll be there to drool on them for you. A better way to kick of the car show season we cannot conjure in our feeble minds shrunken like raisins by the cold of winter. Stay tuned for the good stuff!

Possibly the most renowned model in all of Japan, the Skyline was born on April 24, as part of Prince Motor Company’s 1957 lineup. Half a century later, one example of each of the 12 generations have been assembled for a special 50th Anniversary exhibit in Tokyo’s Midtown Garden.

Meanwhile, a pair of spanking new V36 Skylines have taken off from Nissan’s Yokohama factories to travel across the island nation as part of the “Skyline Grand Touring - The Legend and the Future” tour. Each is visiting landmarks of Skyline history as they head towards their final destinations - Satsuma on the island of Kyushu for the West Route and the actual Ken & Mary tree beneath which the fictional couple cavorted in Biei, Hokkaido for the East. You can trace the routes vicariously here and see the details on Nissan’s official blog (Japanese only). The exhibit lasts until May 6.

Happy Birthday, Skyline.

We’ve added a new section called Nostalgia which for now contains scans of some 1979 Toyota brochures. We’ll be adding content on a regular basis, so keep an eye out!

You asked for it, we delivered! From the very earliest days of Japanese Nostalgic Car, our readers have been asking for a nostalgics meet, particularly our readers on the east coast, who not only contend with salty winters but a complete lack of events in the vintage J-car scene.

That’s why we’re proud to announce that we’ve teamed up with GT Live: The Interactive Motorsports Festival to bring you not one, but TWO events to get the motor oil running through the veins of the nostalgic car enthusiast. The Mazda JDM Historics presented by Japanese Nostalgic Car will be held twice in 2007, one on each side of the country. Despite the name, the show is open to all Japanese marques, not just Mazdas. However, Mazda North America is a sponsor and will be bringing out some of their historic vehicles.

The first of the two events will be at Miller Motorsports Park in Salt Lake City on April 28-29, voted “Motorsports Facility of the Year” on November 8, 2006 by the Professional Motorsport World Expo held in Cologne, Germany. We know notice is short, so to sweeten the deal, JNC and GT Live are offering FREE track time if you bring your nostalgic to the show.

• Free track time (6 x 25 minute sessions for race cars, 3 x 20 minute
  sessions for street cars)
• Free admission
• Free garages
• Free parade lap (street cars)

A normal track day costs $300 for 4-5 sessions and many don’t allow street cars. Spaces may be limited, so please let us know if you are interested ASAP.

The second event will be held at Virginia International Raceway on October 6 & 7 this fall. This will be the first event of its kind on the east coast. As with the Miller event, entries will be open to all Japanese cars, split into 2 categories: 25 years and older, and 1983-89. Further details will be available as the date draws near.

In addition, all the events GT Live is known for will be on hand, including Drifting, Time Attack, Circuit Racing, Karting, Stunt Riding and more! Please check out GTLiveTour.com for details.

As you can see, nostalgic events are popping up nationwide as the surge of interest in old school Japanese cars gains momentum. We are thrilled to be part of it and we thank you for supporting Japanese Nostalgic Car!

We have created a Japanese Nostalgic Car group on Facebook.com. To be honest, we are a little old and out of touch with these new-fangled social networking sites, but we’re trying to use every way we can to unite more people who are into nostalgics. Feel free to join and let’s see if we can find some more fellow old school J-car enthusiasts!

Under Australia’s anti-hoon laws have claimed their first victim. For those of us in North America perhaps unfamiliar with the inherently funny word, a hoon refers to a person prone to vehicular antics such as street racing, burnouts and aggressive driving.

Enacted last July, the laws give the authorities the right to permanently confiscate one’s car after three strikes. That’s right, permanently. And on Wednesday, Terrence Lord, a 43-year old man from Victoria was the first to have his ride locked up for all eternity. Mr. Lord’s weapon of choice? A blue 1980 Toyota Corona fastback.

Reports say that some of the charges against Mr. Lord include drunk driving, in which case we say throw the book at him, but please don’t hurt the car!

Unfortunately, articles by local media don’t reveal what will become of his nostalgic cop bait. We hope they will parade it around to set an example like American police forces did with the D.A.R.E. cars taken from drug dealers, or auction it off. We pray it’s not sent to the crusher.

The car shown isn’t of the actual hoon rocket, but a reasonable facsimile caught in the wild. Extremely eagle-eyed readers may recoginze this as the Alaskan Way, the start/finish street in Gran Turismo’s Seattle course, although this particular Corona appeared quite stationary.

If any of our Australian readers have a picture of this man’s car, please, please, please send it our way.

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