Monthly Archives: July 2015
MINICARS: “Barn Find” Hot Wheels
For almost as long as there’s been Hot Wheels, there have been customizers. Lately the trend in modified Hot Wheels, especially with the new generation of collectors, has been the use of patina to emulate worn out, barn find, or … Continue reading
MINICARS: 2015 Hot Wheels Datsun 510 Bluebird Wagon coming soon in black
An image for the a recolor of the Hot Wheels Datsun 510 wagon was revealed online today. The second issue of the 2015 graphic scheme (the first one having been released earlier this year in yellow) is a sinister black with beige … Continue reading
MOTORSPORT: 1968 Honda RA302 replica
Do you wish you could have a 1960s Honda F1 car of your very own? A British outfit called Stuart-Taylor Motorsport is building a life-size replica of the 1968 Honda RA302, an interesting choice considering the original’s morbid history.
EVENTS: Toyota UK’s 50th Anniversary
In 1965, a motorcycle distributor named Pride and Clark became the first company to officially sell Toyotas in the UK. Toyota recently celebrated 50 years in the United Kingdom with a gathering of classics, many of which had their own local flavor and were … Continue reading
QotW: Which JNC had the coolest pop-up headlights?
The pop-up headlight: automotive eyes personified, endearing relic, or just two additional unnecessary points-of-failure? Whatever you think of them, they defined an automotive era. I happen to reap a weird, endless joy from that delay between when you flick the switch and when they actually pop-up or retract. … Continue reading
MINICARS: Should Lego make an official Land Cruiser kit?
Do you want to see a Lego Land Cruiser set? There’s a 40-series up for evaluation right now, and if it gets enough votes it could become an official Lego kit.
MINICARS: How J-tin will save Matchbox
The news came down this morning, dropping like a bombshell in the diecast world. For 2016, Matchbox will add two Japanese icons to its lineup. The first is a no-brainer: the ND Miata is Mazda’s latest sportster and the most … Continue reading
MOTORSPORT: The Mazda RX-7 that won the 24 Hours of Spa
With a small but passionate maker of sporty cars and oddball engines taking center stage at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, all manner of Hiroshima steel could be found on the show grounds. A seemingly mundane Mazda RX-7 looked like any number of cars … Continue reading
A Brief History of the Nissan 510 Bluebird Coupe
In the first of a series, JNC is teaming up with our friends at Petrolicious to launch simultaneously a video and an article about historically significant Japanese cars. Be sure to check out the excellent Petrolicious and their beautifully shot short films about vintage … Continue reading
QotW: What’s the greatest Japanese nostalgic hatchback?
The hatchback. Loved everywhere in the world but the US. Rather than embrace its practicality, we Americans refuse to date anyone driving one and insist on adding a smaller, shallower cargo area that extends over the rear wheels like a portable bathtub. … Continue reading
EVENTS: Old School Love, New School Flavor, Part 02: Datsun
In Part 01 of the coverage we exclusively covered Toyotas. It was a pretty big upload and there were probably too many Toyotas to feature all at once. Datsuns were relatively sparse by comparison, but what they lacked in quantity they made up … Continue reading
MOTORSPORT: 1976 Kojima Engineering KE007
You never know what you’ll encounter at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Meandering through the paddocks, we came across the 1976 Kojima Engineering KE007, a Japanese Formula One car that was poised to become a formidable challenger in F1 a decade before McLaren-Hondas began their domination. … Continue reading
Posted in motorsport
Tagged Cosworth, formula 1, KE007, Kojima Engineering, masahiro hasemi, Matsuhisa Kojima, mazda, rotary engine, suzuki
8 Comments
EVENTS: A tribute to Mazda at the Goodwood Festival of Speed
You know it ain’t no ordinary car show when you tilt your head up to see a pair of Mazda race cars in the sky. Twisting on a lattice of white steel, the Central Feature at the 2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed was … Continue reading
NEWS: Final Edition Lancer Evo bows amidst thousands of die-hard Mitsubishi fans
Over the weekend Mitsubishi Motors has unveiled the very, very last of the Lancer Evolution line. Fans of the Flanked by other great sports cars from the company’s past, the Final Edition Evo made its debut at the Mitsubishi Owners’ Day … Continue reading
Posted in News
Tagged 3000GT, delica, galant, Galant VR-4, lancer evolution, mitsubishi, Mitsubishi Owners' Day, Mitsubishi Van, Montero/Pajero, starion
19 Comments
QotW: What’s the best shade of JNC yellow?
If July could be a color, it would be yellow. With the golden light of our sun shining brightly as ever, beating down on us, and giving Superman his powers, it is perhaps time to ponder a hue not so common … Continue reading
KIDNEY, ANYONE? 11k-mile AE86 Corolla Levin
Take a gander at what is likely the lowest-mileage AE86 hatch for sale in the world. Listed for sale in Osaka, Japan, this true JDM Toyota Corolla Levin GT Apex reads only 18,260 km on the odometer, or 11,346 miles.
JNC THEATER: Maido! Urayasu Tekkin Family
There’s a relatively new anime called Maido! Urayasu Tekkin Kazoku (毎度!浦安鉄筋家族). Featuring extremely short episodes — like under two minutes short — and story lines that are monkey tits insane, but the main characters are from Urayasu, Chiba and drive an S54 … Continue reading
VIDEO: One of the nicest Mazda RX-3s you’ll ever see
Last week we showed you Australian insurance company Shannons’ video about the collectability of the first-gen Toyota Celica. Here’s an earlier one they’ve done about the seminal Mazda RX-3, and it features one of the most stunningly original examples you’ll ever see. There’s … Continue reading
QotW: Which nostalgic feature should be brought back?
The reasons for our love of JNCs are plentiful. Almost as plentiful as questions about why we’d drive a 30 year old Toyota/Honda/Mazda/Daihatsu rather than a comfortable new car. Many of those reasons, however, are actually good: simplicity in design and engineering, greater outward … Continue reading
