Author Archives: Ben Hsu
EVENTS: 2016 All-Toyotafest, Part 05 — Editors’ Choice
For the final installment of this year’s Toyotafest we share the JNC staff favorites. In a show packed with prime Aichi steel, it wasn’t easy to narrow down the field, making the results probably over-long. But hey, it’s a good problem to have, … Continue reading
QotW: What should the next JNC wagon be?
After 9 years of dutiful service it has come time to retire the JNC Cressida wagon. It has faithfully carried the JNC crew to nearly every Toyotafest, JCCS, SevenStock, Nissan Jam, and SEMA — usually packed to the headliner with gear … Continue reading
VIDEO: Watch the Drift King drift a hakosuka GT-R
Keiichi Tsuchiya might be happy smoking new GT-Rs, but he has nothing but admiration for the old ones. In another Best Motoring video uploaded last night Keiichi Tsuchiya climbs into a couple of Victory 50-tuned Hakos and gets ’em slideways like the … Continue reading
Posted in Video
Tagged best motoring, c10, gc10, Hakosuka, keiichi tsuchiya, kpgc10, nissan, skyline, Tsukuba Circuit
2 Comments
VIDEO: Watch a Toyota Starlet destroy an R34 GT-R
Power-to-weight ratio is the key in this old Hot Version race in which Keiichi Tsuchiya and Akira Iida pit a pair of Toyota Starlets against an R34 Skyline GT-R and the Kei Office S15 Silvia. The Drift King puts it all on the table in a classic David … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged akira iida, best motoring, hot version, keiichi tsuchiya, kp61, starlet, toyota
3 Comments
Sokichi Shikiba, 1939 – 2016
Racing driver Sokichi Shikiba died yesterday, May 17, in a hospital in Tokyo as a result of liver failure. He was 77 years old. Born to a hospital manager in Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture in 1939, Shikiba grew up with a generation of young … Continue reading
Posted in Legends
Tagged bugatti, corona, ferrari, japan grand prix, lotus, porsche 904, prince, racing mate, s54, skyline, Sokichi Shikiba, suzuka circuit, T20, Tetsu Ikuzawa, tojiro ukiya, toyota
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EVENTS: 2016 All-Toyotafest, Part 04 — Off-Road Kings
There are three certainties in life: death, taxes, and Toyota trucks. Tales of their indestructibility are told throughout the world, and this year’s Toyotafest saw a variety of Aichi dromedaries from all corners of the globe.
Posted in events
Tagged 4runner, 70-series, back to the future, CB 100, fj45, fj60, fj62, fj75, FZJ80, hilux, Hilux Surf, honda, land cruiser, monkey, RN23, stout, toyota, toyotafest, trucks, utilitas, z50
6 Comments
VIDEO: Best Motoring tests a Mitsubishi Mirage Cyborg
Ever since Best Motoring launched an official YouTube channel, it’s been delivering non-stop JDM goodness. But if you’re absolutely sick of watching S2000 touge battles and Silvias and Chasers duke it out for drift supremacy, then perhaps a video about the Mitsubishi … Continue reading
REMINDER: Nissan Jam is coming
Registration for the fourth annual Nissan Jam is open. The annual Datsun, Nissan, and Infiniti car show will be held on June 12 in a new venue this year, La Palma Park in Anaheim, California. Registration is $35 for any Datsun, Nissan, … Continue reading
QotW: What’s the baddest Nissan-Mitsubishi combo?
Almost exactly one year ago when news of the Toyota-Mazda partnership broke, it seemed like two companies, each excelling at their own particular skill sets, would only make each other better. Our QotW asked what the ultimate Toyota-Mazda combo would be. Somehow, though, Nissan’s … Continue reading
EVENTS: 2016 All-Toyotafest, Part 02 — Straight Sixes
As engines go, the Toyota straight-six is one of the best conceived by humankind. Smooth as Suntory whiskey, as long-lived as a mountain, and capable of stupid amounts of horsepower in later iterations, they are a triumph of automotive engineering. It’s no wonder the … Continue reading
VIDEO: Battle of the 80s track weapons
Long before it was Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, the circuit was sponsored by Nissan and had the 200-horsepower 1984 300ZX Turbo as its official pace car. In a video from the period, the most 80s vehicular battle you can imagine pits … Continue reading
VIDEO: A 240Z built for a 10,000-mile off-road race
You thought Touge California was tough? It was only eight hours, 200 miles, and took place on pavement. This Datsun 240Z was built to tackle a rally that starts in Beijing, China, goes 10,000 miles through the Gobi Desert, Mongolia, Russia … Continue reading
NEWS: Toyota builds an 86 shooting brake
The shooting brake has long been the holy grail of a certain type of car guy. Half sports car, half station wagon, it’s a body style long extinct from the automotive kingdom but not from the hearts of enthusiasts. Google … Continue reading
An interview with NeoClassic Japan’s editor-in-chief
Japan’s Kousoku Yuen magazine recently celebrated their 50th volume. Written for fans of all the lesser loved, non-Skyline, non-2000GT specimens of the Japanese automotive kingdom, it is perhaps the most otaku title of the JDM magazine world. To mark this momentous occasion, as well … Continue reading
Posted in japan, media
Tagged cedric, cressida, crown, gloria, kousoku yuen, mark II, NeoClassic Magazine, nissan, toyota
13 Comments
60 YEAR CLUB: Happy birthday to Akio Toyoda
Today is the 60th birthday of Toyota Motor Corp’s head honcho Akio Toyoda. Even at six decades old, the great-grandson of Toyota founder Sakichi Toyoda shows no signs of slowing down. Over the weekend, he was seen donning a racing suit and getting … Continue reading
REMINDER: Toyotafest 2016 is this Saturday
Just a friendly reminder. The 21st annual Toyotafest is this Saturday, May 7. The celebration of Toyota, Lexus and Scion cars returns to the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. Gates open at 9 am and close at 3 pm, and admission is … Continue reading
Registration for the 2016 Nissan Jam is open
Registration for the fourth annual Nissan Jam is open. The annual Datsun, Nissan, and Infiniti car show will be held on June 12. The event moves to a new venue this year, La Palma Park in Anaheim, California. Thanks to the … Continue reading
