Before we found this 1974 Mazda RX-4 on ebay, we thought the letters “GTR” were found trailing the emblems on Nissan Skylines, Isuzu Bellets, and the occasional Toyota Carina.

According to the seller, the GTR was a special edition for the RX-4 in a similar vein as, if less sporty than, the SP RX-3s. He also says there were only a little over 500 made and all were gold, but guess what? No documentation! The blacked out hood and GTR stripe definitely look like a product of that era, but we’re stumped. Any Mazdafarians care to chime in?

In any case, bids start at $600 or a BuyItNow of $1200, a good price for any RX-4 and not exactly a sum for which you need to part with a major organ. But if that extra kidney is burning a hole in your abdomen, there’s always this 1968 Mazda Cosmo Sports. More photos after the jump. (more…)

Doesn’t it seem like 1998 was not that long ago, when in fact it’s been over 10 years already? Back before the formation of D1GP, drag racing was still all the rage in Japan. Drifting was on juuust the verge of bursting out from its underground roots but until then, the tuning giants were throwing down at the drag strip. (more…)

This is hilarious: the 80s British ska group Madness (of “Our House” fame) did a series of Japanese commercial for the Honda City and Honda City Turbo. Note the appearance of the Motocompo folding scooter, which came with the car. Honda needs to revive this concept. A Ruckus in the back of the Element, perhaps?

[via Jalopnik]

Hallelujah, it’s Friday again! Here’s the opening to Keishichou Satsujinka, and if you think that’s a mouthful, in English it would be “Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department: Homicide Division.” It’s about a special inspector tasked with training Tokyo’s finest for the most grisly of departments. Somehow, that still ends up involving waterfront gunfights and leaping from a formation of moving cars. We dig the S60 Crown and Subaru Leone slalom action and cheer for the airborne Subie, yet we weep when the kujira is senselessly carbombed in a subsequent clip. Too bad Keishichou Satsujinka only ran for a single 26-episode season in 1981.

The Cash for Clunkers law we’ve all been dreading passed both houses of Congress and was signed by the President yesterday. Although funding was reduced to $1 billion from its original $4 billion, and is limited to a four-month window, there’s still a lot of damage to be done. (more…)

So Transformers not your style? Here’s our first open kidney offer that doesn’t involve an actual car. It’s a vintage Tomica Grand Prix Circuit set that we came across while skimming the Tomica Fan Club forums. Talk about cool… just look at that gorgeous box art, that beauteous orange plastic! (more…)

Here’s another slew of local car meets where you can take your cars, meet some fellow enthusiasts and have a good time. If we missed anyone let us know in the comments below and we’ll post it up!

(more…)

If there’s two things Japan is known for its robots and cool cars. Put them together and you have Transformers. And even if you’ve been living under a rock for the past 9 months you can’t avoid the barrage of advertising for the new Transformers movie that’s debuted yesterday. Most reviews say avoid it at all costs and bang your head against a gong for 2 and 1/2 hours to achieve the same effect as you would seeing the movie.

Here’s something way cooler. In Japan the franchise is not beholden to General Motors and instead has a tie in with Nissan. It’s called the Transformers Alternity line and now you can get an Optimus Prime that transforms into a Nissan GT-R and a Megatron that changes into a Nissan 370Z. Optimus comes in red, silver and black while Megatron is either silver or blue. True, this is a butchering of the original where Prime is a truck and Megatron a gun, but can it be worse than what Michael Bay has already done?

It’s not Friday yet but in honor of known motorfan Akio Toyoda’s ascension to the top spot at Toyota, here’s a two-part video about the company’s motorsports history. Based on the intro with WRC ST185 and Ironman Stewart pickups, it looks like this video was made in the early 90s. But soon it delves into a brief history of the automobile itself, starting with the Benz trike and the 1907 Takuri.

From there goes on to talk about motorsports with early footage from Indianapolis, Daytona Beach and a 1936 Japanese auto race that even gives a shout out to then-18-year-old Soichiro Honda and his first race car.

From there, we get to see the Toyota AA racing a steam engine, a 1956 Toyopet Crown on a London-to-Tokyo 50,000km drive, and some fantastic footage of a 1957 Crown on the Mobilgas Rally around the Australian continent.

Part 2 after the jump. (more…)

Fueled by the sponsorship of toy car maker Tomica, Masahiro Hasemi’s original fire-spitting KDR30 Nissan Skyline Super Silhouette was at the forefront of every Japanese child’s fevered imagination. The outrageous bodywork inspired legions of bosozoku-style ride-pimpers, countless diecast models, and even made an appearance in Gran Turismo 2. Walk into any hobby shop in Japan and you’ll find at least a few scale replicas of the 570PS monster, emblazoned with the word “Tomica” even if it might be made by a rival minicar company. And now, the iconic livery is back. (more…)