QotW: What’s your most memorable road trip?

Posted on May 26, 2025 by Ben Hsu

The Friday before Memorial Day is National Road Trip Day in the US. In Japan today, May 26, also happens to be the anniversary of the opening of the Tomei Expressway, a famed route heading from Tokyo to points west. One of the reasons we love cars today is spending formative, pre-flatscreen years on extended interstate drives. I hope to instill that love in my son as well, so selfishly I’m also looking for ideas when asking:

What’s your most memorable road trip?

The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s your best/worst dealership story?“. Continue reading →

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A brief history of the Toyota RAV4

Posted on May 23, 2025 by Ben Hsu

Toyota debuted the sixth-generation RAV4 on May 21, continuing a crossover lineage that dates back 31 years. When the original launched in 1994 no one, probably not even Toyota, predicted how massive a sales success the model would be. Toyota has sold more than 15 million RAV4s in 180 countries around the world. There’s genuine history there and Toyota knows it. That’s why the newest one shared its global debut stage with six other models, including the 1989 concept that started it all. Here’s a brief history of the RAV4 from a Japanese market perspective. Continue reading →

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UD Trucks celebrates 90th anniversary

Posted on May 22, 2025 by Steve Chang

The company today known as UD Trucks was established in 1935. This year they’re kicking off a 90th anniversary campaign to celebrate nearly a century of trucks. The large truck and bus maker was founded by Kenzo Adachi in Saitama Prefecture and originally known as Nihon Diesel Industries. In 1960 Nissan purchased it and renamed it Nissan Diesel. Continue reading →

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Toyota 2000GT and LFA casually appear in Lexus ad with no mention

Posted on May 21, 2025 by Ben Hsu

Here’s a puzzler for ya. A new Lexus commercial features Toyota’s two most legendary sports cars, but neither is mentioned or spotlighted at all. Normally the presence of such revered chariots would hint at the company’s storied history or legacy of high performance machines. Not here. The spot is for the Lexus NX, a competent luxury crossover but not the kind of car that sets your hair ablaze. Continue reading →

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Could Toyota be Nissan’s financial savior?

Posted on May 19, 2025 by Ben Hsu

Last week Nissan announced a new recovery plan to dig itself out of its downward spiral. It announced that its deficit for the fiscal year ending in March 2025 had swelled to $4.5 billion and that it will close seven factories and cut 20,000 jobs (15 percent of its workforce). At the same time a new plan hopes returns is fortunes to the black by 2027, and a surprising new name has been bandied about as a potential backer: Toyota. Continue reading →

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QotW: What’s your best/worst dealership story?

Posted on May 19, 2025 by Steve Chang

Today is apparently the first ever National Automotive Dealer Day. Love ’em or hate ’em, dealerships are a part of life. We suspect that most people don’t like spending a lot of time in them, but  if you love cars sooner or later you’ll have to step foot in one. Even those who wrench their own rides and never buy new will have to visit the parts counter. There’s really no escaping them.

What’s your best/worst dealership story?

The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s the craziest odometer reading you’ve ever seen?“. Continue reading →

Posted in Question of the Week | 9 Comments

Nissan’s mid-engined V6 Micra celebrates its 23rd anniversary with an refresh

Posted on May 16, 2025 by Ben Hsu

Speaking of the Nissan March, Nissan Great Britain has just updated one of its wildest creations. Originally built 23 years ago, the Micra 350SR is what happened when Nissan GB crammed the ubiquitous VQ35 V6 engine midship into the back of the K12 March. To celebrate its ni (2 in Japanese) san (3 in Japanese) birthday, they’ve updated it for the modern age. Continue reading →

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Why SuperGT team owner Masahiro Kondo bought a first-gen Nissan March

Posted on May 15, 2025 by Ben Hsu

To petrolheads Masahiko Kondo is best known as a racing driver and team manager. However, long before his motorsports career he was a teen heartthrob with his debut single Sneaker Blues shooting to number one in 1980 when Matchy, as he was nicknamed, was only 17 years old. It was inevitable that a company would scoop him up as a spokesperson, and Nissan did just that when they launched the March hatchback in 1982. Now over four decades later, despite having raced Skyline GT-Rs, Porsches, and Dodge Vipers at Le Mans, Kondo has decided to buy a 56-horsepower first-gen March and restore it. Continue reading →

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Toyotafest 2025 is coming soon. Get your coupon code here

Posted on May 14, 2025 by Ben Hsu

The 2025 All-Toyotafest will be here in a little over a month. The show enters its 29th year and will be held at Marina Green Park in Long Beach, California on June 28, 2025. Registration is open for all Toyota, Lexus, and Scion owners. Spectators can buy tickets, and the organizers are graciously offering JNC readers a coupon code for $5 off any online ticket orders. Simply enter the coupon code JNC5 to receive your discount. See you there!

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Vintage ANA livery with matching service vehicles

Posted on May 14, 2025 by Matt De Mangos

Here’s a Showa Snap taken by our friend Yoshida-san at Haneda Airport near Tokyo. The Boeing B727 is still finished in the old Mohican Blue livery of All Nippon Airways. Matching service cars include what appears to be a T130 Toyota Corona Van and a Toyota Hilux ramp truck. In 1982 ANA celebrated its 30th anniversary by adopting its Triton Blue livery and began phasing out the Mohican Blue. This photo was taken right around that time. Airline colorways are just as beautiful as the best racing liveries. Could there be a museum of airport service vehicles out there?

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Toyota’s Le Mans livery pays homage to the legendary GT-One

Posted on May 13, 2025 by Ben Hsu

Toyota has unveiled its liveries for the two cars it will enter in this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. As it happens, 2025 marks Toyota’s 40th anniversary of Le Mans competition, which started with the Toyota 85C in 1985. To mark the milestone, Toyota is applying a livery from one of its most famous and beloved racers to one of this year’s entrants. Continue reading →

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QotW: What’s the craziest odometer reading you’ve ever seen?

Posted on May 12, 2025 by Steve Chang

Today, May 12, is National Odometer Day. The modern odometer is credited to William Clayton, a Mormon pioneer who attached a mileage counting device to his horse-drawn wagon in 1847. The device tracked wagon wheel’s number of revolutions as his party trekked west from Omaha to Salt Lake City. Today the odometer is an integral part of automotive life. We’ve gone from analog rollers to digital tickers, and whether on a garage queen or a hoopty, they provide a window into the life the car has lived.

What’s the craziest odometer reading you’ve ever seen?

The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “Why do you like driving?“. Continue reading →

Posted in Question of the Week | Tagged | 15 Comments

Toyota wants all its cars to evoke a “This is it!” feeling

Posted on May 9, 2025 by Ben Hsu

Toyota held its annual financial results conference on May 8. While most of the conference covered boring things like sales projections and the potential effects of US tariffs on Japan, president Koji Sato spoke briefly about the new direction Toyota will be taking with its products. Namely, he wants all Toyotas to conjure a “kodoka!” (Japanese for “This is it!”) feeling of excitement. Continue reading →

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The Infiniti J30 was hard to look at but surprisingly well-appointed

Posted on May 8, 2025 by Steve Chang

If you were alive during the launch of Lexus, you’ll remember the army of naysayers decrying the LS400 as a cheaper version of established European luxury sedans. Infiniti, on the other hand, tried really hard to introduce a Japanese idea of luxury into the marketplace. Unfortunately, the Infiniti J30 proved that what buyers actually wanted was a cheaper version of an established European luxury sedan. Continue reading →

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A Toyota Cressida-based Paragon prototype has surfaced in a California junkyard

Posted on May 7, 2025 by Ben Hsu

An extremely weird car has appeared in a California junkyard. It’s a Paragon sedan, essentially a Toyota Cressida dressed up to look like it’s from the 1930s. Though fitted with skirted fenders flanking an elongated hood and upright grille, as well as a bustle-butt rear, the greenhouse area is unmistakably that of an X60 Cressida. Continue reading →

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Tomica celebrates 55th anniversary by partnering with five actual carmakers

Posted on May 6, 2025 by Steve Chang

This year marks the 55th anniversary of Tomica, Japan’s favorite diecast car brand. To honor this milestone, Tomica worked with actual car designers from five automakers to come up with special anniversary graphics packages for models of their respective marques. Here’s what Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mitsubishi, and Suzuki came up with. Continue reading →

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QotW: Why do you like driving?

Posted on May 5, 2025 by Steve Chang

It’s hard to believe that in all the years we’ve done QotW we’ve never asked the most basic question about why we’re all here in the first place. If we like cars it should stand to reason that we like driving them. Today, May 5, is Fun Driving Day in Japan, as established by the Tokyo Metropolitain Expressway Company, which runs the Shuto. As they say, “Driving in a car allows you to go to places you can’t easily get to, see scenery you normally can’t see, and meet people you normally wouldn’t meet. Enjoying a drive is like taking a step into a new world.”

Why do you like driving?

The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s your favorite car care product?” Continue reading →

Posted in Question of the Week | Tagged | 15 Comments

Mattel Brick Shop Acura NSX features a JNC surprise

Posted on May 2, 2025 by Ben Hsu

We’ve lamented the lack of cool Japanese cars represented in the interlocking brick section of the toy aisle, but that’s all about to change. Hot Wheels’s parent company is launching the Mattel Brick Shop, which offers a lineup of building sets designed to appeal to car enthusiasts. And we at JNC are stoked to tell you that the first Japanese car in the series, the 1990 Acura NSX, will also feature the JNC logo. Continue reading →

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Yoshimura recreates a 1986 Suzuki GSX-R750 race bike, but it’s street legal

Posted on May 1, 2025 by Dan Hsu

At the recent Tokyo Motorcycle Show, Yoshimura unveiled a heavily modified 1986 Suzuki GSX-R750 to showcase its new Heritage Parts program. The idea was to recreate the race bike that Satoshi Tsujimoto rode at the 1986 Daytona 200, but make it legal for street use. Best of all, Yoshimura plans to sell the bike to the public. Continue reading →

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Akio Toyoda doesn’t like EV sports cars

Posted on April 30, 2025 by Ben Hsu

Toyota chairman and racing driver Akio Toyoda has always been brutally honest about the auto industry, especially since he stepped down as the company’s CEO. His most recent sentiments about electric vehicles echo that of many enthusiasts — that he prefers internal combustion engines for sports cars and that EV racing is not exciting. Continue reading →

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