Our friends at Import Bible have once again turned out a new collection of fresh threads, this time for hachiroku heads. The “Old School” T-shirt has stuff like Work Equip 03s and an AE86 headlight switch in lieu of those pesky vowels. Vanna White would approve. You can order them here.

Despite a flagging global economy that’s hit Japan particularly hard and reports of the world’s auto manufacturers bailing on this year’s Tokyo Motor Show left and right this year, there are now some surprising rumors surfacing. If true, the 41st Tokyo Motor Show may be a retro revival of sorts.

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You knew this was coming all along but today it’s official: Lexus LF-A hooning, Toyota 2000GT rallying Akio Toyoda is the new Prez of Toyota. All hail! Is it a well timed leak or mere coincidence that on the same day, news came that a Supra successor will be unveiled this fall at the Tokyo Motor Show? The rumors are nothing we haven’t heard before – based on the FT-HS concept, V6 hybrid drivetrain, yada yada yada – but a 2011 sale date? The Lexus LF-A is also supposedly showing at the TMS so hopefully this isn’t a case of mistaken identity. If not and the rumors are true, all this plus the Project 086a is enough to make our Toyotaku heads explode.

Thanks to RoadsterViking for the tip!

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…)

May 17, 2009, Mission Bay, San Diego, CA

Southern California hardly ever disappoints for the sheer number of nostalgics it contains. Case in point is the Old Skewl Meet today in gorgeous (overcast) Mission Bay in San Diego. This was just a get together, a free event, but it attracted not only locals, but a few guys from Los Angeles and even the Bay Area!

510’s and Ae86’s always show up to these events, but there were a few other surprises as well. (more…)

We’re still not finished with coverage from Japan. During our visit we had the privilege of visiting Kanagawa Prefecture’s S&A Auto Create. The owner has been doing modern engine swaps in older cars and fabricating the parts needed for almost two decades. As usual, there were several works in progress scattered around the premises. (more…)

You’ve all heard of the stories of Daikoku Parking Area. On weekends, it serves as the gathering area for a multitude of Japan’s outrageous car cultures, from hashiriya street racers to bosozoku bikers to crazy vanners with more fiberglass than metal content on their rides.

Nowadays, the police have harshed the buzz and closed off Daikoku’s nuttiness on weekend nights. You can catch some action on Friday, but it’s still the main rest stop between Tokyo and Yokohama so you never know what you’ll see at any given time. Last Sunday I happened to be passing by and stopped for some photos. Not much in the way of classics, but if you’re from the states here’s some rare JDM machinery nonetheless.

More pics after the jump. (more…)

We love checking out sites created by JNC readers and lately we’ve really gotten into cheater_5’s A B110 Perspective. As you can guess from the title, the man is obsessed with Sunnys, and he owns an uber-cool sanitora, or Sunny Truck. But in a recent post he visited Tama Autos, an Auckland, New Zealand-based Toyota AE86 specialist, where he snapped this E70 Corolla panel van on the lifts.

I don’t know what it is, but this car just calls out to me like a siren. Yes, it’s a Toyota, it’s a wagon, and it’s a vintage work vehicle — three things that instantly get my heart pumping — but there’s more to it than that. Maybe it’s the classic Techno Phantoms or that perfect shade of retro powder blue, brilliantly matched to the two-door wagon body style. Whatever it is, I want to see the completed car on the asphalt.

One more pic of the Tama Autos garage after the jump, complete with another dangerously enticing wagon. (more…)

Hachiroku, the digits 8 and 6, are legendary in the annals of Toyotaku by simply being the chassis code for last of the great FR Corollas. The car’s demise left a gaping hole in Toyota’s lineup that couldn’t be filled by FF Celicas and high-dollar Supras. Eventually, those disappeared too. For 20 years fans pleaded for a comeback, and in 2007 rumors of a modern-day revival for the bare-bones touge-runner, built jointly with Subaru, began circulating.

But when the global economy entered meltdown, its fate was questioned. Our hopes were pinned on Akio Toyoda, self-professed car enthusiast and racer that was favored to take the reins at Toyoda. Well he got the job, and apparently one of the new President’s first orders of business was reassuring fans that the project was still on during a speech at the Tokyo Auto Salon. (more…)

We’re back from the SEMA MPMC conference, in one piece no less. So why not close off the week with something really cool, like this slammed Stout pickup? Once in a while the folks at Mini Truckin’ unearth a gem like this 1973 model owned by Masairo Shirato of Chiba Prefecture.

Equipped with an air suspension, this pre-Hilux Toyota pickup was slammed a whopping nine inches by Janis Car Service. Compare the ride height with this stock one that Toyota displayed at the SEMA show a few years ago. You may also notice extensive body work done to the bed, which had 3.5 inches lopped off the top and another three inches stretched between the cab and rear axle. Incidentally, that axle is from an AE86. The resulting stance and painted steelie/whitewall look give the truck a killer “rat” look. JNC approves!

For more madness from Mini Truckin’, check out this Datsun 620 and a pair of NL320s.

More pics after the jump. (more…)