Many of you know that squawky-voiced celebrity Adam Carolla has a penchant for Datsuns, owning a 510 BRE street replica as well as a Fairlady Roadster race car. You’d think that it qualifies him to be the celebrity spokesman for Datsuns, to defend and extol them to the unwashed masses.
On a recent video, Carolla presents a genuine Bob Sharp Datsun 610 race car to his audience. At first, Carolla seems to be enthusiastic about the car, teaching the co-host a thing or two about Datsuns. Unfortunately, Carolla soon takes on a snide tone and says some not-so-nice things about this venerable rig at the 3:49 mark.
See the vid after the jump. Watch it all the way through and decide for yourself if Carolla is being uplifting or derogatory:
Don’t you hate wasting good alcohol when tippin’ a 40? The solution: start out with a Colt 45 for five extra ounces. For JNCers who live overseas, Colt 45 is an American brand of malt liquor that, due to its cheapness, is far more popular as an ironic pop culture reference than an actual beverage. The brewers, though they would never admit it, obviously got a lot of mileage in name recognition because Colt 45 sounds suspiciously similar to the name of a popular .45 caliber handgun made by Colt Firearms.
Perhaps to prove that many things can be named Colt, Pabst Brewing enlisted the help of a Dodge (née Mitsubishi) Colt, hot rodded in gaudy 70s Corvette Summer style, for a commercial. Also, it’s piloted by star of 70s sitcom Sanford and Son Redd Foxx, who drives it off a ski jump to deliver a six-pack to Billy Van, an even more obscure 70s TV personality. Can one have too much 70s nostalgia? Apparently, yes.
Whoa. We were at SevenStock (and its celebration of Mazda’s victories at the 24 Hours of Daytona) today when we heard the news. Actor/salad dressing mogul/race car driver Paul Newman passed away last night after a long bout with cancer. In the 70s and early 80s, he raced Datsuns in the SCCA Trans-Am and IMSA series, and has competed in everything from the Baja 1000 to the 24 Hours of Daytona. He became so close to the Nissan brand that he even starred in a series of commercials for them and had a limited edition R30 Skyline named after him. We are deeply saddened by this loss. As a tribute, here are some of Newman’s Skyline commercials from Japan.
Purists may balk, but like it or not, Top Gear USA is coming. One of the hosts was revealed to be Adam Carolla, a comic who built his career on making jokes about STDs and hosting shows whose main feature was girls jumping on trampolines. We’re not sure how well this bodes for the Top Gear franchise, but at least we now know that at least two Top Gear hosts own Datsuns.
Carolla owns a BRE replica 510, a race-modified Fairlady Roadster, and his latest acquisition, a ‘72 Bob Sharp 610, as reported by Motor Trend. The article also mentions the rest of Carolla’s collection, which consists mostly of high-dollar Euro exotica, and discusses his hatred for his Mazda pickup and why a 200,000-mile ‘85 Toyota Supra was the worst car he’s ever owned.
If you haven’t been following the giant mudslinging contest known as the 2008 presidential campaign, consider yourself smart, as banging one’s head against a wall repeatedly does tend to kill off brain cells. However, we at JNC feel that its our duty to keep you informed, and at least one vital fact has emerged from the current election season that we’re sure will prove more important than any other issue in the history of American politics: Cindy McCain, wife of candidate John McCain, not only owns a Nissan 240SX – which is totally foxy in and of itself – but she also takes it to the track. To drift. (more…)
Aaaand we’re back, thanks to a new hard drive. We’re still trying to assess the data loss but it’s likely everything since the last backup was destroyed, based on the drive’s horrible scratching noise, which sounded like a school of piranhas chewing on a blackboard. Anyway, onto more nostalgic car news.
In his most recent column for The Telegraph in response to the 100 Ugliest Cars, Top Gear host James May reveals that he has just purchased a Datsun 120Y. You may know it as the B210 or Sunny, but we just call it brilliant! Here’s a guy that is among the most famous petrolheads in the world, a presenter on the number one car show in the world, and a bloke that can clearly afford any car in the world – as evidenced by the Rolls Royces and Bentleys in his stable – and he buys an old Datsun. We wonder if it’s that gorgeous black-on-lime green specimen that was on set in the GT-R episode and on track as it schooled Britain’s finest at the hands of the Stig.
When you think about it though, May is probably the only Top Gear man who would buy a Datsun. Who else would fit the bill, Lambo-owning power-sliding Clarkson? Porsche-loving metrosexual Hammond? Not bloody likely. On the other hand, May’s nickname is Captain Slow, so maybe this isn’t an entirely good thing for our cause. Regardless, May is our new favorite Top Gear presenter. Clarkson can go suck on a Peel P50.
Aaaand we’re back, thanks to a new 