Mitsubishi announced today that they were all but killing off their Ralliart division due to the global economic slump. In honor of that once great performance arm, let’s take a look at the triple diamond mafia’s flagship nostalgic, the Galant GTO. Mitsubishi actually exported it officially to the UK of all places, and JNC reader dwlee even dug up the 1976 brochure.

Note that the official name is the Colt Galant GTO 2000GSR, and that the UK subsidiary is simply called The Colt Car Company. The catalog makes a big show of the 125hp 2.0-liter four’s counterbalancing silent shaft technology. And we also now know that the styling aesthetic is something called “Dynawedge.” How cool is that?
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We hope you have some time to kill because Kyuusha Maniacs is a Japanese blog with tons of JDM brochure scans going back to the 1950s. We stole this pic of from a 1971 Toyota Crown Sedan and Hardtop brochure, but there are plenty more with great artwork. (more…)

We’ve mentioned this before, but if you go to Tokyo you can visit the headquarter buildings of at least three Japanese automakers. Here’s the Nissan home base in the upscale Ginza district. Naturally, the hot new car was the Fairlady Z/370Z and there were no less than five of them on display out front. (more…)

No trip to Tokyo would be complete without a stop to Book Garage. It specializes in old Japanese car brochures, and has shelves filled with them. Want a catalog for a 1971 Nissan Cedric? How about a 1965 Toyota Toyoace commercial truck? They even have some reproduction brochures for really popular models. Everything from the obscure to the new is covered, and if you go, be prepared to spend yen. Book Garage is about a 10 minute walk from Nakano Station, out the North Exit and past the Nakano Broadway mall.

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Look what arrived in the mailbox at JNC HQ today. Nissan has finally begun sending out GT-R brochures to interested parties. In it, there’s a brief history of the Skyline GT-R and, as far as we know, it’s the first time that Nissan USA has ever officially acknowledged the 50-year history of these JDM models. And in case you were wondering: yes, we are very interested in the GT-R but no, we can’t afford one. You can get your own brochure by signing up for updates on Nissan USA’s website.

We often harp on Toyota for not doing much to celebrate it’s 50th birthday here in the US of A, but we kid out of love. Also out of the realization that it’s possible to do even less (we’re lookin’ at you, Nissan). That’s why it’s so refreshing to see the Big T succumb to the nostalgia and reflect upon its adolescence.

On the official Toyota Open Road Blog recently, the automaker took a look back on some of its past brochures to check the features that were trumpeted on those marketing materials. Amusement ensues.

Some of them fall into the “seemed like a good idea at the time category” like the 1963 Toyopet Tiara’s old school linear speedo and turn sig switch on the steering wheel. Others remind you just how sparse these cars were and what kind of features we expect to come standard today. For instance, the 1965 Corona touted its sun visors, inside rear-view mirror, the fact that every door had an armrest, and front seat-belt anchors. The belts themselves were optional, however.

The thing we found most surprising though is that Toyota USA actually kept old brochures to refer to. Ha! We kid, we kid.

[Toyota Open Road Blog]

It’s hard to believe that in all the talk about Sapporos in our forums, no one has ever mentioned this site, msapporo.com, where you can find entire brochures and owners manuals scanned, posted and categorized for your viewing pleasure. Fans of all its variants – Dodge Challenger, Plymouth Sapporo, Mitsubishi Galant and Chrysler Scorpion – are welcome too.

[MSapporo via Jalopnik]

Okay, all you brochure freaks, thanks to our dear reader colhogen, you’re in for a real treat. Prepare to whittle away hours of your once productive life at the Catalog Gallery of Automotive Nostalgia, a Japanese blog that has nothing but scan after gorgeous full-color scan of vintage car brochures. If you’ve ever been to the specialty shops catering to old brochure collectors, you know that this is several used cars’ worth of eye candy right here. Bon appétit, or should we say, Itadakimas!