Japanese Nostalgic Car - Blog

Happy 4th of July, Part II

Ben — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 19:41:55 +0000

We have failed you. How could we have forgotten the most famous (and probably safe to say, only) example of a vintage Subaru painted like Old Glory? Well, our lame excuse is that we don’t get to watch much TV. Luckily, Jalopnik is posting pics of flag-themed cars like there’s no tomorrow, so here’s the BRAT from My Name Is Earl. Eat it, Union Jack-themed Jaguar! Happy Independence Day again!

[IMCDB via Jalopnik]

Happy 4th of July & Nostalgic Hot Wheels

Ben — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:51:23 +0000

Since we’re celebrating the birth of our great nation today, we thought we’d mention one of the most American things around: Hot Wheels. It’s probably safe to say that any red-blooded American who didn’t grow up playing with these small metal cars is likely some kind of terrorist. Since their debut in 1968, they’ve fueled the dreams of many a car nut, and this year is their 40th anniversary.

We had hundreds of them - still do - so we’re happy to bring you some news that made us all feel like little kids again. And that is, in 2009 some kind of vintage import is entering the Hot Wheels lineup.

Which one, we don’t know. A couple of years ago at SEMA we met some of the designers, including Jun Imai, who broke the news. Jun has been an active proponent of getting more nostalgics, such as the Datsun 240Z and Toyota AE86 Corolla, into Mattel’s mix of diecast toys. But as with everything, the number one criteria is that it has to sell. That means it’s something that would must have mass appeal in the US. When we talked with Jun we pitched ideas like the Datsun 510 and A20 Celica, but right now your guess is as good as ours.

Happy Fourth of July, everyone! Hope it’s filled with hot dogs, home-brew, Hot Wheels, and hana-bi.

Sideways Sliding Celica

Ben — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:54:48 +0000

This has always been a dream of ours, to take one bad ass nostalgic and go drifting, one of the few motorsports where style matters just as much as speed. The problem is, we’d never have the nerve to actually do it because 1.) we can’t drift our way out of a used kleenex and 2.) we couldn’t bear to see the toll this would take on hard-to-find body panels and trim. Luckily, Hideo Itakura and HDO Racing Service have no such reservations and have been campaigning this SR20-powered Celica Liftback in Japan’s D1GP drift series. Note the intercooler masquerading as a grille. That’s total awesome right there.

[Speedhunters]

Buy Back Programs Destroying Old Cars

Ben — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:40:37 +0000

Here’s some truly disturbing news for nostalgic car owners. We recently spotted a billboard portraying a Datsun B210 as a generic polluting old car while visiting NorCal for the Motoring J Style show. Turned out, it was part of a California program to buy back cars that fail the state’s infamously strict smog check. For up to $1000, these cars will be “retired” from service, meaning that the government is paying people to scrap old cars. According to a new Detroit News article, this program replaced 16,000 vehicles last year, and unfortunately for us nostalgists, the trend is growing.

The article also reports that Texas has instituted a similar program that offers a generous $3500 payment and has already retired 11,000 cars since January. Three areas in Canada have gotten in on the action as well. Unsurprisingly, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which represents the interests of automakers who want to sell you tons and tons of new cars, agrees wholeheartedly with such programs.

Naturally, we find this a bit distressing. We have a hard enough time finding these vintage machines and their parts. Now the state is sponsoring their mass extinction. Even sadder, check out this article from Hot Rod (thanks, Bob), which proves that there are plenty of perfectly good cars being led to the slaughter by clueless owners.

It’s not that we don’t want to reduce pollution; we think that’s a noble and worthy cause. But we have to wonder, how green is this really? To fully understand the trade-off, we have to take into account the entire lifecycle of the product and ask, “What does it take to produce that new car?”

Think of all the iron ore that has to be mined, plastics created, paints and dyes used, and factories powered. The manufacture of one new car requires almost 40,000 gallons of water according to the US Geological Survey. Not to mention the cost of transporting these materials and delivering the finished car to its new owner, who may have just thrown out a car with years of life left.

The best solution, in our opinion, is to keep that jalopy and for the manufacturers, if they are indeed so concerned about their old products polluting our skies, to offer bolt-in engine swap kits based on their latest motors and let the states dish out cash for that. Who’s with us?

[Detroit News via Autoblog]

JCCS 2008 Registration Open

Ben — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:30:59 +0000

Registration has opened for the 4th annual Japanese Classic Car Show. If you want to show off your ride in front of thousands of kyusha fans sign up now because spaces fill up fast. Also remember, this year the show is in a new, bigger location in Irvine, CA. See you there!

Nissan GT-R Brochure

Ben — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 08:50:01 +0000

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.

1958 Toyopet Crown Sells for $22,322

Ben — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 06:30:44 +0000

We held off talking about this car because we heard that some JNCers were considering bidding on this baby. But now the auction is over and if its description is correct, this is one of the earliest examples of any Toyota - or any Japanese car, period - to exist in the US. It’s a 1958 Toyopet Crown used by the Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco to demonstrate their home country’s top-of-the-line auto. After putting just 28,698 miles on the car, the consulate signed over to the title to the current seller in 1964 and it has sat in a garage since. This is truly an amazing piece of Japanese automotive history, and the selling price of $22,322 definitely reflects that. Let’s hope that the owner will restore it to the rightful condition it deserves. Thanks for the tip, Toyotageek.

[eBay]