Hello JNCers, just a quick announcement about the magazine. Starting July 1, prices are going up. Mostly it has to do with the increasing cost of paper, and the fact that we set our introductory prices very low because we were asking you to take a plunge into the unknown with us.

It’s not going to be a huge change, something you could easily recover by making a few less trips to the vending machine or by following our gas saving tips. This is only for new subscribers. Current subscribers will see no change. But we wanted to inform you anyway so all the lurkers and procrastinators out there could have one last chance to get in on the good deal. Thanks for understanding and thanks for supporting us!

Sincerely,
Team JNC

For months JNCer Datsunfreak has been tempting us with updates about how his very own Datsun 510 was recruited to star in a movie. At last, the shooting has taken place and now he’s spilling the beans. His writeup on the experience is a very entertaining read, and an excellent behind-the-scenes peek at how a car is prepared for filming. Cleaning all the dirt off so you can spray on fake dirt? That’s showbiz, baby!

And while “it’s a wrap” here in the US, the film crew heads to Australia next for more shooting, where Aussie JNCer SX-510 will be waiting for them with a matching 510, in LHD no less. It’ll be interesting to see if we can tell the difference between the two cars in the final product.

The movie is called Mao’s Last Dancer and is based on a true story. It doesn’t come out until 2010, but you can be sure we’ll post a reminder here when it opens so all you JNCers can go see Datsunfreak’s car (and a bunch of other actors and stuff) on the big screen. Congrats, DF!

Over the weekend, we finally migrated the grandJDM posts over to JNC. You can find all the archived fabulousity by using the search box to your left. All of the info-rich text is there, but eagle-eyed techies have noticed the pictures, while visible, are still on the grandJDM server.

That’s cause Wordpress (which both sites used) has a stupid system for image management. If anyone is interested in the issue and can possibly help us with a solution, please read on. We’d be greatly appreciative and may even send some nifty JDM swag your way. (more…)

Congrats to Daniel and Zeb, who correctly guessed that two of the cars we were photographing for an upcoming issue of JNC were a Datsun 1600 Fairlady Roadster and a Dodge Challenger (aka Mitsubishi Galant Lambda). Actually, Kev’s post was a big clue for the second one ;). Your mystery box Bow’s Art Puzzle and back issue of Japan’s Kosoku Yuen will be arriving in the mail shortly, along with some JNC stickers.

Thanks to reader “Agent T” for donating the puzzles!

Today we were all over the place, from Concord to San Fran to San Jose. The most exciting moment came when one of our subjects’ cars ran out of gas on I-280 and coasted to a stop in the middle of the right lane. We helped the owner push it onto the almost nonexistent shoulder as SUVs flew by at 80mph and went off to buy a gas can and some fuel. When we returned, one of California’s finest was offering to shove the mint nostalgic to the next exit with his standard issue CHP Crown Vic’s push bar. Luckily, we were able to gas the car up and drive it under its own power. The whole experience was quite scary when you think about all the cars that get hit while pulled over.

Anyway, here’s another sneak peek at an upcoming JNC magazine feature car, which is not the one that ran out of gas. Again, first one to guess the car (make and model) wins a prize when we return. Tee hee!

Today we went up to beautiful Marin County to photo shoot a nostalgic for an upcoming issue of JNC magazine. First person to guess the make and model of the car will win a prize once we return to JNC HQ.

Just before were were about to leave for the Motoring J Style show on Friday, the official JNC wagon experienced a technical malfunction. As a result, in a frenzied last minute decision we had to take a decidedly un-nostalgic car to the show via a another all-nighter drive. Here’s a picture of yours truly at our booth attending to a loyal new subscriber with only 3 hours of sleep. Thankfully, MJS organizer David Swig graciously lent us the Euro-spec 18RG ‘75 Celica Liftback so we’d have some eye candy at the JNC booth. Even though the weather didn’t cooperate, the event itself was great, and we got to see some fantastic cars (pics coming shortly) and meet Peter Brock. We’ll be hanging around the Bay Area for the next few days to do some photo shoots for the magazine and we’ll have a full article and gallery when we get home.