We got so much positive feedback from our behind-the-scenes teaser that we decided to treat you to a wallpaper while you wait for the full article in JNC #4. Seen here side-by-side for the first time, the 1967 Toyota 2000GT and 2010 Lexus LFA. Japan’s true first supercar (despite what other car mags might tell you) and its earthshaking spiritual successor, separated by four and a half decades. (more…)

The Friday Video series has touched upon many great Japanese movies and TV programs celebrating the automobile. But while they made their cars brutish and macho and excellent for ramming criminals into submission, they never made cars sexy. Well, turn down the lights and pour yourself a masu of warm sake before hitting “play”.

1972’s Hairpin Circus was the seminal Japanese motoring film. The age of the personal RWD sports coupe was in full swing and Japan was still blissfully unaware of the oil crisis to come. The giants, especially Toyota, Mazda and Nissan, believed that they had earned their place on the world stage with world-class cars. So why not a world-class film dripping with passion and petrol?

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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…)

A few months ago we were jazzed when we heard that Akio Toyoda might be taking the reins at Toyota, succeeding then-President Katsuaki Watanabe. Why? Because after spending the last 10 years killing off all the sporty coupes and GT cars in its lineup, here was a guy who actually loved donning a helmet and fireproof longjohns to take a Lexus out for a lap or two around the Nürburgring. And they’re actually promoting him to President! Of course, it does help when your last name is on all the buildings. (more…)

This month’s Hemmings Sports & Exotic has a Toyota 2000GT on the cover with the title “Bullet Train.” How appropriate! It emerged from the same boom era as the Shinkansen and made just as big an impact. Besides, more press on the most sought after piece of J-tin in the world can’t be a bad thing. Unless you’re saving up for one, we suppose.

[Source: Toyotageek]

If you happened to see a blue Cressida wagon and blue AE86 pulled over on the 710 by the California Highway Patrol on the way to Toyotafest last Saturday, that was yours truly at JNC. We were running late and, shall we say, briskly, but an irate Officer Poncharello thought we were street racing. Somehow, we were able to convince him we weren’t and made it to the show to take the photos in this gallery. Unfortunately, each of us still got one of these: (more…)

Here’s an interesting item found in one of the many small shops in the Ameyoko district near Ueno Station. It’s a glow-in-the-dark shoe featuring a Toyota 2000GT. We’re not sneaker freaks, but we tend to gravitate towards anything vintage and Japanese, and in recent years Japanese sneaker company Asics has been bringing back some of its very cool old school designs under the Onitsuka Tiger label.

A little research revealed that the 2000GT shoe was a limited edition created as part the Electric Tiger Land campaign (the video in the link clearly shoes a 3-D 2000GT being rendered). It’s kind of cool that when they decided to come up with a stereotypically Japanese theme that includes skyscrapers, Super Sentai and subways, they chose the original Toyota supercar to represent the automotive side of things. This campaign ended last year though, replaced in 2009 by a new campaign celebrating the company’s 60th anniversary (this video has a glimpse of a first-gen Honda Civic). But if you want the 2000GT shoe, it’s probably still there at the shop where this photo was taken.

Closeup of the largest of five 2000GTs after the jump. It’s headlights glow in the dark. (more…)

I finally got some free time to go check out Tressa Yokohama, a giant Toyota-owned mega-mall in Kohoku, Yokohama. In addition to your typical shopping mall features like a McDonald’s counter and escalators pointing every which way, showrooms representing all six of Toyota’s sales channels – Toyota, Toyopet, Corolla and Netz, plus subsidiaries Daihatsu and Yamaha – inhabit the consumerist wonderland.

From the outside, it resembles the main drag of a typical Japanese suburb. But the land on which Tressa Yokohama was built actually has a rich automotive history. Shige-san of Mooneyes informed me that back in the 60s, this was the site of not only a huge Toyota plant, but one encircled by a high-speed oval test course. The spot was home to Toyota’s young motorsports R&D department, known simply as “Division 7″ and the group responsible for development of the awesome Toyota 7 race car. The die-hard Toyota nut in me got a chill just knowing I had stood on such hallowed soil.

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We opened up a can of worms last month when we questioned the conventionally held belief that Albrecht Goertz designed, among others, the Toyota 2000GT and Datsun 240Z. If you want to see yet another misinformed article about this piece, or are simply looking for an excuse to bash your head against your desk, by all means read on. (more…)

Time to check in with our friends at Speedhunters, who have had the fortune to see the famous yellow and green Toyota 2000GT land speed record car in person.

If you’ve read Lifelong Pursuit, our profile about Shunichi Kasai’s Toyota 2000GT, you’ll know that in 1966 a prototype 2000GT broke 16 FIA-sanctioned world and international land speed records in a 72-hour endurance run at the now-decomissioned Yatabe test track. Oh, did we mention that it was during a torrential rainstorm?

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