QotW: What are your hobbies?

Today is Hobby Day in Japan, a pun made from combining the numbers shi (4) and yumi (3) to make shumi (“hobby” in Japanese). Of course, one could argue that cars themselves are a hobby, but we’ve found that those who go deep on cars tend to be bet pretty otaku with other interests as well. This time, we’re not limiting the response to just car-related hobbies, but anything that floats your boats:

What are your hobbies?

The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What JNC will never die?“.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the comments became a “greatest hits” list of most beloved nameplates. The first answer out of the gate was the Nissan Z, picked by Jeremy A. and Taylor C. While enthusiasts will keep that car alive ’til the end of time, there was definitely a time between, say, the 370Z’s eighth and twelfth year on the market, that it wasn’t so certain Nissan would continue the model. Similarly, HE HE‘s pick of the GT-R shares a similar fate.

On the other hand, Mazda has sworn it will never abandon the Miata, which Taylor also picked, along with Mark. Hopefully that remains true no matter how many CEOs take the helm. Jim Klein and dankan both cast votes for the Toyota Land Cruiser, which will outlive even cockroaches as individual vehicles, but Toyota was apparently dumb enough to kill off the name in the US.

We appreciated Long Beach Mike‘s unconventional answer, the Subaru Outback, as it seems to be the bread-and-butter car for the company. Similarly, dankan‘s choice of the Civic and Sammy B‘s Corolla nomination are best sellers for their respective companies. In the end, it was Alan‘s comment about the Toyota Corolla that won the week, because he got right to the heart of what makes JNCs so addictive:

In time, each successive generation of Corolla and Camry inevitably become the most common and accessible JNC’s.

I can’t count how many times I’ve lied to myself along the lines of “I’ll never look at a 9th gen Corolla the way I do an E70 chassis”. Well, here we are, and I notice them more than ever.

JNC’s are so practical that even the dullest commuter car example will forcibly invade your heart over a certain timeline. Whether I like it or not, there are automatic FWD Corollas parked among the big Mikunis, sequential turbos, ATTESA’s, 4WS systems, double wishbones, and 8,000 + rippum redlines in my dreams.

Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!

JNC Decal smash

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13 Responses to QotW: What are your hobbies?

  1. Mark Jones (Scale-Master) says:

    My hobbies? More models than real cars now. Used to be about 50/50, but now it’s more like 90/10.
    [img]https://i.imgur.com/IfY20wd.jpg[/img]
    [img]https://i.imgur.com/fCusB5L.jpg[/img]

  2. Ian G. says:

    Mountain Biking and playing pickleball (which I only started doing at the beginning of this year) top my list. I also watch all sorts of sports (football, futbol, baseball, F1). I hang out with my bulloxer dog. I am a cigar afficionado, love craft beers and live music.
    If I spent more time on my ’86 MR2 as much as I do with my hobbies, it wouldn’t be a project anymore. 🙂

  3. Randy Hone says:

    My hobby, besides my 1991 Toyota MR2, is collecting car paraphernalia, be it models, parts or limited edition prints, basically anything car related.

  4. ra21benj says:

    With the high price of everything, I’ve gotten into other hobbies besides classics Japanese cars. Some other hobbies have been freshwater aquariums, collecting music CDs, diecast cars (hot wheels or 1/18 scale), and biking. Modifying bikes is a lot cheaper than cars and riding with friends is a social activity that gets you outside of the house.

  5. Fred Langille says:

    Some of my hobbies have been/are as esoteric as both my S-Cargo and (now) my Mercedes-Benz 230 SLK Kompressor executive roadster. Most have been put on hold, due to the fact that I am still working on the cars … the SLK has some major issues but, what else is new. I have developed a new hobby … car shows! Not just going TO them but, putting them on! As the secretary for the Huntington Region AACA, I’ve had experience in putting on the regional show and, since last year, I’ve been the happy smiling face who has been the Action Officer for the Knights of Columbus show here at our church in WV.

    Both shows will go on this year as well.

    Besides these shows (and the 3 I’m going to … last year the S-Cargo got 3 trophies in 2 shows and 1 parade … not bad), and the attendant turmoil, I have to update my cosplay costume of my character that I’m writing a graphic novel/novel/comic book about, The American Ranger (google it, you’ll learn the whole story).

    Plus reading anything in print and watching the Reds, Bengals and Bulls plus any needed “honey-do’s” needing doing in Casa Del Phred plus, caring for a totally devoted dachshund (who is an idiot!) .. well, i guess its the CARS that keep me NORMAL?!

  6. Jackson DK2M Blue Bengal says:

    Collecting and barely (not) playing my electric guitars and gear.

    Also Rocket League with mates.

  7. Jonathan P. says:

    I love listening to music, every now and then, I burn a CD with MP3’s that I’ve acquired over the years.
    I watch anime and read manga, though not as often as I used to.
    I have a collection of Lego sets mostly consisting of Star Wars and Lego City sets.
    I have a small collection of antique firearms. Most are over 100 years old. I have one from 1907, one from 1911, another from ’34, and one from 1917. There are two others I couldn’t quite pin the dates on, but narrowed it down to one being made somewhere between 1920 and 1929, and the other being made in between 1914 to 1915.
    I also collect the Sunday Comics that come with the morning paper. I have been collecting these since July of 2005 with less than five dates missing, I believe. I have seen several strips come and go, and have even seen some rerun strips in the pages.

  8. Jonathan P. says:

    Spam check. This is what I get for taking too long to type a comment, isn’t it?

  9. Nigel says:

    Buying and building plastic model kits. Say now its 70 percent buying and 30 pecent building.
    The to be built pile is large. (And as a result the collection of 1/24 stuff is quite large).

  10. Land Ark says:

    I wasn’t aware that there were things other than cars to be interested in…

    https://i.imgur.com/pNamPTw.jpg

    I also enjoy listening to music, going to concerts, and dancing. My favorite bands include White Lies, Editors, and Doves – my taste in music is firmly stuck in the mid-2000s.

  11. Steve says:

    Big time model builder here. Also as an “mountain biker” here in Michigan, I ride 1000 trail miles per year as a goal to stay healthy. I still work on my Mazdas for fun and upkeep. But as others say, it is a bit expensive of a hobby, so the model car thing is something that I have been doing since I was a wee lad in single digits.

    I have most of my 1:1 scale cars in kit built form, what is great is the insurance is a lot cheaper as well as the maintenance costs. 🙂

  12. Jono says:

    Snowboarding. I deck my snowboard out with car stickers for an extra 10hp down the slopes.

  13. HE HE says:

    I’m more of a thinker. I think of ideas that usually deal with 1/64 Diecast. Figuring out suspension, body modifications, and things like that. I usually observe race hosts like 3dbotmaker, Chaos Canyon, Monster Motorsports, and Gravity Throttle Racing on their youtube channels.
    https://www.youtube.com/c/3Dbotmaker
    https://www.youtube.com/c/ChaosCanyon
    https://www.youtube.com/@MonsterMotorsportsDiecast/featured
    https://www.youtube.com/@gravitythrottleracing/featured

    I observe what makes a car a winning car from mostly those 4 channels and am trying to morph them together. Once I’ve solved it, I’ll reveal myself with many sudden victories, or at least that’s what I hope.

    Similarly, I compete in VEX Robotics, which is where you build, program, note, and compete against other teams usually in your region. Last season I ended my run in 36th of the top 60 teams. The next season is being revealed next month, so it’s getting quite exciting.

    Other than that I’m big on music, particularly electrical dance. I also brainstorm a lot of ideas because I’m really a lot more of the ingenious and always put in all effort. But that’s mostly what I do.

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