Tag Archives: az-1

Mazda is restoring an Autozam AZ-1 for their museum in Hiroshima

Mazda is in the process of restoring an Autozam AZ-1 for their museum in Hiroshima. This year marked the 30th anniversary of the AZ-1’s debut, and Mazda showed the partially revived car during an AZ-1 owners’ car show at the … Continue reading

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Japanese Classic Car Show 2021, Part 01

To close out 2021, a year where things were finally opening up again, we’re going back to the Japanese Classic Car Show. After a hiatus in 2020 due to the pandemic, JCCS was back in full form. Perhaps trying to … Continue reading

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100 YEAR CLUB: Mazda, Part 03

Among automotive journalists, including many of us here at JNC, Mazda has long occupied a special place in our hearts. To this day, their cars just tick for us. Why? As we near the end of the year that marks … Continue reading

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2019 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 02 — JDM, yo

This year marked the 15th anniversary for America’s premier gathering of Nihon steel. To put that in perspective, at the first JCCS in 2005, the newest Japanese cars allowed for import under America’s 25-year import ban were built in 1980. … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2018 Japanese Automotive Invitational

It has been a banner year for Nihon steel at Monterey Car Week. The annual series of ultra-prestigious automotive events have traditionally excluded Japanese cars, but 2018 saw, for example, Nissan become the first carmaker from Japan to be honored … Continue reading

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VIDEO: Jay Leno drives the Autozam AZ-1

In the latest episode of Jay Leno’s Garage, the car collector gets behind the wheel of another Japanese great, the Autozam AZ-1. The gull-winged, mid-engined, kei-classed sports car seems to charm the host, who actually says he might consider buying … Continue reading

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EVENTS: Radwood NorCal 2018

The Radwood phenomenon is spreading faster than hairspray-induced polyester fire. The celebration of 80s and 90s autodom is now on its fourth show in just two years, and the organizers tell us it was the biggest one yet. We attended … Continue reading

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VIDEO: What it’s like to drive an Autozam AZ-1

“Ridge Racer-feeling” are the words used to describe the Autozam AZ-1, the Mazda-Suzuki collab that was quite possibly the pinnacle of the kei car breed. There’s no such thing as a free lunch, just death and taxes, or something like that. So in … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2016 Classic Japan show in Australia

One of our favourite nostalgic car shows in any country is Classic Japan, which is held in Melbourne, Australia in December every year. Melbourne is 1000 km away from JNC‘s Australian HQ in Sydney, so it’s also an opportunity to … Continue reading

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ART CORNER: Beautiful dioramas of model cars from Japan

Takuji is a Japanese artist who places 1:43 and 1:64 scale minicars into beautifully constructed dioramas. From AE86s on touge roads to Mitsubishis tearing through a rally stage to mechanics tuning Skylines in a garage, each scene is a slice of … Continue reading

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NIHON LIFE: How to park your car in Japan, Part 01

Finding public or street parking in Japan’s major cities is sometimes chotto muzukashii — a Japanese saying for “a little difficult,” said through clenched teeth with a trailing “iiiii…” it essentially means, with typical Japanese subtlety, impossible. So there is naturally … Continue reading

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Wednesday Wall: Mazda watercolors by Miki Nakajima

The Mazda Japan Facebook page has been posting a series of beautiful watercolor paintings by Mazda designer Miki Nakajima. Subjects range from the 1950 Mazda PB-type three-wheeler to the 1970 RX-500 concept to modern favorites like the MX-5. See the … Continue reading

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Merry Christmas from JNC!

May your travels be safe and stockings filled with rare JDM parts. And may they arrive by Mazda Bongo, a rear-engined van that is retro-futuristic in a Jetsonian kind of way. The year of Mazda’s 90th Anniversary is almost over, and the … Continue reading

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The Mazda Family Tree, 1960-Present

In honor of Mazda’s 90th Anniversary, here’s the complete genealogy of every Mazda from 1960 to present day. Three-wheeled pickups from the early days are absent, but those were commercial vehicles. This family tree contains all the passenger cars, stretching … Continue reading

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