Author Archives: Ben Hsu
Nissan Silvia revival is the “dream” of new global product chief
The Nissan Silvia, the once abundant sports coupe and darling of the drift community, was recently name-checked by Ivan Espinosa, the company’s new chief of global product planning. Espinosa has been in product planning since 2017, and starting in 2019 … Continue reading
Is this the new Mazda logo?
Mazda may be updating their logo, according to new trademark filings in Japan. The logo began circulating on Japanese social media on Monday after users unearthed it from the Japan Patent Office. It appears to follow the trend of “flattening” … Continue reading
QotW: What car do you not regret selling or letting get away?
Every car enthusiast has a few stories of the cars that got away. Perhaps it was a car you regret selling when times were hard. Maybe it was a car you should’ve bought but didn’t. On the other end of … Continue reading
Mitsubishi car chase compilation from ‘Gorilla: Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Investigation Unit 8’
In the late 80s much of Seibu Keisatsu‘s original production team, actors, and directors reunited to create a new TV show. Gorilla: Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Investigation Unit 8 sought to recapture the feel, action and popularity of Japan’s most … Continue reading
Posted in News
Tagged debonair, eclipse, Galant VR-4, Mirage Cyborg, mitsubishi, pajero, starion
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The 1983 Nissan NX-21 concept was dead wrong about 21st century cars
At the 1983 Tokyo Motor Show the star of Nissan’s booth was a prediction of what an 21st century sedan might look like. Its hopes were right there in the experimental saloon’s name, the Nissan NX-21. As we know now … Continue reading
A Toyota Celica takes on 1970s sports coupes plus a Daihatsu Taft in Hong Kong’s ‘No U-Turn’
The 1981 film No U-Turn is a car-centric romp with an 8-minute illegal race as its centerpiece action sequence. In it, an orange A20 Toyota Celica races a “who’s who” lineup of performance cars of the era, including a BMW … Continue reading
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This 1973 Datsun promo video makes us want to travel back in time
Created to introduce its audience to the Datsun brand, a 1973 Datsun promotional video serves up loads of drool-worthy imagery. The 20-minute short film presents a primer on Nissan history dating back to the 1930s before going behind the scenes … Continue reading
Posted in Video
Tagged 310, 510, 620, b210, bluebird 610, c210, cedric, Cherry E10, datsun, nissan, Rallye Monte-Carlo, s30 z, safari rally, skyline, sunny
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This Lincoln Continental Mark IV kaido racer makes every day Independence Day
One of the most shocking kaido racers ever built recently stepped onto the scene in Japan. Instead of the typical Nissan or Toyota base car, it uses a 1973 Lincoln Continental Mark IV as its foundation. Though Tokyo streets can … Continue reading
A Hakosuka Skyline gets obliterated in ‘Did the Red Bird Escape?’
The 1973 film Akai Tori ni Geta? (Did the Red Bird Escape?) was an avant garde work that differed vastly from Japan’s typical crime dramas. Rather than heroic cops taking down bad guys, it was a tragedy about aimless youth … Continue reading
Nissan’s next restoration will be a Z31 Fairlady Z NISMO rally car
With the restoration of its WRC Pulsar GTI-R complete, the next project Nissan will tackle is a third-generation Fairlady Z rally car. The Z31 claimed the All-Japan Rally’s 1985 championship, despite missing the first two races of the season. The … Continue reading
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Flying Mitsubishi police cars chase a Mazda Grand Familia in one of Japan’s worst cop shows
The wild success of Seibu Keisatsu spawned a lot of similar cop shows. In Novemberr 1980 one short-lived series titled Hashire Nekketsukeiji (translated literally as “Run, Spirited Detective!”) followed the same format: police in the big city, hard luck stories, … Continue reading
Posted in Film/TV
Tagged Eterna Lambda, Eterna Sigma, Galant Lambda, galant sigma, Grand Familia, mazda, mitsubishi, rx-3
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The FC Mazda RX-7 Convertible was the Miata before the Miata
When the Mazda Miata debuted in 1989 it was heralded as a rebirth of the once-common British-style roadster. But Mazda may have already been attempting to resurrect that segment before the MX-5’s arrival. The FC Mazda RX-7 Convertible was described … Continue reading
Kamen Rider’s Ridoron had mandibles and a top speed of 932 mph — Guess the Tokusatsu Car!
Y’all thought you were so smart figuring out that Inazuman’s Raijingo was an Isuzu Bellett based on the shape of the windshield frame? Good luck guessing what car lies beneath the Ridoron, the vehicle from 1988’s 47-episode Kamen Rider Black … Continue reading
‘Toyota’s Child’ is a novel in which Akio Toyoda time travels to meet his grandfather
A new book about Akio Toyoda has been published in Japan, but it’s not your typical biography. Eri Yoshikawa’s Toyota no Ko, which translates to “Toyota’s Child”, is a science fiction novel in which the current Toyota chairman travels back … Continue reading
Akio Toyoda is so badass he flipped a GR Yaris rally car
When Chairman Akio Toyoda spoke recently at the opening of Toyota’s new R&D center, he did it standing before a wrecked GR Yaris rally car. It was one he overturned himself while hot-shoeing it at the newly built Shimoyama Technical … Continue reading
Kujira Crown gets painfully shot up and crashed in ‘Alice in Borderland’ car chase with Nissan President
The fourth-generation Toyota Crown is a rare car, even in Japan, which makes its destruction particularly agonizing to watch. In a car chase from the Netflix Japan series Alice in Borderland, a gunman in a 250 Nissan President gives chase … Continue reading
Posted in Film/TV
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This 1986 Mazda 626 GT review is surprisingly similar to that of modern Mazdas
It’s almost eerie, but Motorweek‘s review of the 1986 626 GT could be describing a modern Mazda. Take out the prices and horsepower figures and you can basically copy/paste the parts about how it handles and feels into any Mazda … Continue reading
Inazuman’s Raijingo flew at Mach 3 and had a mouth — Guess the Tokusatsu Car
The 1973 series Inazuman featured one of the most memorable cars in tokusatsu history. Called the Raijingo, the convertible sports car had a reptilian mouth from which it could fire missiles. But perhaps more impressively, it could transform into a … Continue reading
