More news on the Toyota/Subaru project that is being called the Toyota Lightweight Sports Car. Although initial (no pun intended) reports suggested that this would be a successor to the AE86, as more news/rumors (neumors?) emerge, it appears as if the new car might have little to do with the legendary hachiroku other than it’s FR layout and feathery mass.

According to Best Car, the new LSC will be built on a shortened Subaru Legacy platform, powered by a 1.5L engine, and sold for under ¥2,000,000 (or $17,280). Apparently, price is the limiting factor the engine size, which is the limiting factor for the weight. The target poundage is somewhere just under 2500lbs and the target date is set for late 2009 or early 2010. The target markets other than Japan that were mentioned, however, are Europe and China. Hopefully, that does not rule out the possibility of a US launch of this ever more certain budget dream car.

[Source: 7tune]

The Import Bible / grandJDM contest has been going great guns, with Kev and Lachy driving themselves to drink with all the entries they’ve been adjudicating over (sounds dirty don’t it!), but none of the entries yet have hit the elusive 100% score.

Plenty have come close—and remember, the prize goes to whoever comes closest—but alas, no one yet has proven to be a classic JDM God of Knowledge.

So if you haven’t yet submitted your entry, now’s the time!

Feast your eyes on a few of the Import Bible tees that will be available to the winners, and remember, the whole IB range will be yours to choose from!

The 1965 Sports 800 isn’t Japan’s first production sports car (the Honda S600 predates it by a couple of years) but it is definitely Toyota’s first foray into a sporting vehicle. With a compact 45hp, twin carbed, pushrod boxer-twin 790cc motor under the bonnet, the plucky little 580kg coupe could be whanged to a Honda S600 matching 95mph. Compared to the Honda roadster, the Toyota car is about 10hp down on power but 80kg down on weight, so the performance in the day would have been competitive. And just like the Honda S roadsters, the Sports 800 was a complete sales flop, only selling 3300 between 1965 to 1969 (to the Honda’s 11,000).

But the thing that people most remember about the Sports 800 are its tiddly, toy-like looks. Even if you see a picture of a real one, it’s exaggeratedly egglike proportions require a double-take to ensure that it isn’t actually a close up of a Choro-Q toy that you’re looking at!

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In preparation for the numero uno most anticipated and heavily spy-shot car in the automotive kingdom, Nissan has launched a minisite to school the non-believers in the ways and traditions of the GT-R.  An ominous, doomsday clock-like countdown ticks away the seconds to the big GT-R unveil at the Tokyo Motor Show this October.  Gentlemen, start your calendars.

[Source: Nissan]

If there’s one thing I always get a massive kick out of while out and about, it’s seeing a new car alongside one of its ancestors. A Z33 gliding respectably next to an S30, a new Corolla passing by one of its ancient forebears, or even—to step outside the JDM scope for a moment—a new Holden VE Commodore charging past an old 1984 VK Commodore.

MotiveMagazine.com apparently enjoy similar moments, and have put together a comparison of the new sixth generation Civic Si and the first. If there’s one clear message here, it’s that there’s plenty of truth in the old adage the more things change, the more they stay the same.

SuperStreet have today thrown up a great little feature on a gorgeous green 190hp TE27 Levin (known as the SR5 in the US), so head over there and check it out.  With so much focus on the better known classic Japanese performers like the Nissan and Mazda offerings, it’s great to see not only a Corolla getting press exposure, but also one in such fantastic condition under and outside the hood.

[via SuperStreet]

The Toyota Corolla has now been in the Australian market since 1967, and today—forty years later—Toyota Australia have announced that they’ve now waved off their millionth ‘Rolla in the suburnt country. Marketing fluff aside (”Corolla has always captured the imagination of the buying public.”), it’s a pretty special day.

While they’re no longer the brilliant subtly designed little rear-wheel-driven machines of yesteryear, the Corolla is an important car in the Australian market and it continues to be a massive seller. Good work, Toyota, but give me the TE27 any day!

[via Aus Car Advice]