Someone over at this T-shirt site must love Land Cruisers because they have at least 3 shirts dedicated to the old Toyota workhorse. Our favorite one is this one pictured, even though we’re not really sure what it says. The second of the big words on top is “kuruiseru” (though the actual Japanese should read クルーザー) but we’re at a loss for the others. We were simply sold by the tag line “Which way to Mt. Fuji?” The creator sure knows his Cruisers, which in 1951, were the first vehicles ever to reach the sixth stage of the famous Japanese mountain.
UPDATE: We got an email from the T-shirt’s maker, Tim McGrath, who writes that the shirt is meant to say “Fuji Cruiser” and “Japan” but found out later that the Japanese was wrong. He laughs it off, though, telling us, “Oh well. I thought it was kinda funny like those bad English shirts you would see in Japan.” There’s more coming too, including the FJ45 short bed, and FJ43. Thanks, Tim!
In these days of skyrocketing gas prices where you have to take out a mortgage just to fill up your Escalade, how about a 4×4 with two-speed transfer case that gets 50mpg? If you don’t mind putting up with a 358cc two-stroke engine, here’s the SUV for you, a 1972 Suzuki LJ20. At least its 1300lb curb weight won’t hold back the trucklet’s 32hp for a top speed of 55mph. It was never officially imported into the US, but its descendants, the Samurai/Jimny, were until Consumer Reports deemed it rollover prone.
Anyhow, this LJ20 is for sale on eBay right now and has only 25,300 miles on the clock. According to the owner, it’s got no rust, no bondo, and has been kept in a heated garage. Everything works, even the dome light and it’s still wearing shiny, original paint. This baby might be mint, but for some reason we have a sudden craving for mustard.
A lot of our readers have Japanese trucks that they use as daily drivers, workhorses, or parts haulers, so this item may be of interest to some of you. 813,000 Toyota Tacoma pickups were built between 1995-2000, and some of those trucks have experienced excessive frame corrosion. As old Japanese car owners, we are sadly all too familiar with the the dreaded oxide scourge. We’re also poor. But, Toyota’s gonna do you guys a solid and give these Tacoma owners a 15-year warranty protecting against the red cancer, and if your truck has already succumbed to the illness, they’ll even repair it for free or buy it back at “excellent” value no matter what the condition is in. Now, if they would only do the same for our 1970s Celicas and Corollas.
Will Jalopnik’s fascination with dekotora ever cease? We sure hope not. You’ve got the coffee table book, now supplement that with Zenkoku Dekotora Matsuri, a new game for the Nintendo Wii. Piloting a giant chrome truck through the narrow streets of Tokyo has never been this much fun! Navigate low overpasses, add ever gaudier pieces of trim to your classy ride, and avoid running over brake-happy kei cars. It’s even got a Gran Turismo-esque photo mode. The only question now is, Hino Super Dolphin Profia or Nissan Diesel Big Thumb?
UPDATE: Oh Noes! Our resident video game expert MadFlava tells us that the Wii is region-encoded. Cruel Fates, why do you tempt us so?
Say you want a blingy whip but an Escalade just doesn’t cut it in the cargo hauling department. Or perhaps it’s just a few acres short on chrome and a few millilumens short on lighting. What’s a ride pimper to do? Welcome to the Japanese phenomenon of dekotora, short for decoration truck. A new book, called simply Decotora, by photographer Masaru Tatsuki delves into the bright, chromey world of these gaudy customized lorries.
The trend began in northeastern fishing towns, where running near the sea and hauling fish pulled from said sea meant that salt water ate away the trucks faster than a shirtless David Hasselhoff masticating a hamburger. Drivers replaced the easily corroded panels with shiny stainless steel and a movement was born.
The stainless steel panels grew more and more ornate, but the dekatora didn’t hit it big until the 1975 film Torakku Yarou about a hard-driving dekotora pilot on the Tomei Expressway. The look spread like wildfire, getting exponentially garish with each iteration. Eventually, these trucks became show cars in their own right, with their own competitions and culture, which did not involve carrying fish at all. Truly grandiose dekotora even had a full blown love shack in the cargo hold, complete with furniture and chandeliers.
By the 90s, the popularity of the anime Gundam, about giant robots who battle in space, began to influence styling direction. Nowadays, however, a wave of nostalgia has caused the dekotora to return to the roots with retro-inspired machines. We can’t argue with that.
Damn, we’re out of the country for one week and the US loses an entire marque. Isuzu announced on January 31 that in one year, they will completely abandon the American passenger vehicle market after a slow and painful death. To be fair, you could see this one coming from a mile away - check out their website and you’ll see but two models, both rebadged GM trucks.
What started out in 1916 as a tie-up between Tokyo Ishikawajima Shipbuilding and Engineering Co., Ltd. and Tokyo Gas and Electric Industrial Co. to make commercial trucks was eventually renamed to the much more succinct Isuzu after the Isuzu River in Mie Prefecture. Over its tumultuous history, it forged alliances with many other automakers, including Rootes, GM, Honda and Subaru in an effort to gain a foothold into the car side of the business, but nothing really stuck.
In Japan, it’s most well-known cars are nostalgic ones - the Bellet, Florian, and 117 Coupe - but by the 90s they were selling only rebadged Honda Accords and Civics before stopping car sales altogether. In the States, the Gemini compact was sold via Buick under the Opel brand in the 70s, but the car most fondly remembered by Americans will be the 80s Impulse (aka Piazza), a wedge-shaped Giugiaro-styled RWD coupe.
Trucks, however, were always the company’s strong suit, and one of our faves was the futuristic dune-hopper Vehi-CROSS. The Trooper, Amigo and Rodeo also had strong followings, but not strong enough, apparently, to keep Isuzu afloat here in the US. Once Honda began developing its own SUVs, there was no need for the Rodeo-based Passport or Trooper-based Acura SLX, and the crowded market was simply too competitive.
The company will now focus on what it does best - commercial trucks - as the N and F-Series medium duties continue to soldier on in the American market. Sayonara, Isuzu, we’ll be thinking of you next time we’re stuck behind a flat-cabbed box van in traffic.
Over at online magazine Winding Road, they’ve posted the pages of a 1967 Toyo Kogyo brochure. If you’ve been paying attention, that’s the manufacturer Mazda was formerly known as, and it made corks. Each company had its humble beginnings. For Toyota, it was looms; for Subaru, planes; and Honda, motorcycles. Hey, someone had to supply Hiroshima with sake stoppers. By 1967, however, the company had moved quite a bit beyond bottle bungs and had expanded their lineup to include Luce 1500s, Familia 1000s, vans, trucks, buses, three-wheelers and their pièce de résistance, the brand new rotary-powered Cosmo Sports. Fun times!
Someone over at this T-shirt site must love Land Cruisers because they have at least 3 shirts dedicated to the old Toyota workhorse. Our favorite one is this one pictured, even though we’re not really sure what it says. The second of the big words on top is “kuruiseru” (though the actual Japanese should read クルーザー) but we’re at a loss for the others. We were simply sold by the tag line “Which way to Mt. Fuji?” The creator sure knows his Cruisers, which in 1951, were the first vehicles ever to reach the sixth stage of the famous Japanese mountain.
A lot of our readers have Japanese trucks that they use as daily drivers, workhorses, or parts haulers, so this item may be of interest to some of you. 813,000 Toyota Tacoma pickups were built between 1995-2000, and some of those trucks have experienced excessive frame corrosion. As old Japanese car owners, we are sadly all too familiar with the the dreaded oxide scourge. We’re also poor. But, Toyota’s gonna do you guys a solid and give these Tacoma owners a 15-year warranty protecting against the red cancer, and if your truck has already succumbed to the illness, they’ll even repair it for free or buy it back at “excellent” value no matter what the condition is in. Now, if they would only do the same for our 1970s Celicas and Corollas.
Say you want a blingy whip but an Escalade just doesn’t cut it in the cargo hauling department. Or perhaps it’s just a few acres short on chrome and a few millilumens short on lighting. What’s a ride pimper to do? Welcome to the Japanese phenomenon of dekotora, short for decoration truck. A new book, called simply Decotora, by photographer Masaru Tatsuki delves into the bright, chromey world of these gaudy customized lorries.
Damn, we’re out of the country for one week and the US loses an entire marque. Isuzu announced on January 31 that in one year, they will completely abandon the American passenger vehicle market after a slow and painful death. To be fair, you could see this one coming from a mile away - check out their 
In Japan, it’s most well-known cars are nostalgic ones - the Bellet, Florian, and 117 Coupe - but by the 90s they were selling only rebadged Honda Accords and Civics before stopping car sales altogether. In the States, the Gemini compact was sold via Buick under the Opel brand in the 70s, but the car most fondly remembered by Americans will be the 80s Impulse (aka Piazza), a wedge-shaped Giugiaro-styled RWD coupe.
Over at online magazine 