Author Archives: Ben Hsu

EVENTS: 2015 Mooneyes Street Car Nationals

Take a dollop American car kulture, filter it through the distance of 5,500 miles and 12 time zones, sprinkle in a dash of home grown Japanese cars, and you get the Mooneyes Street Car Nationals. 

Posted in events | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

QotW: What’s your dream Datsun 510 build?

Yesterday was May 10, or as those of us in countries that still use “inches” and “Fahrenheits” to measure things, 510 Day. The Datsun 510 is one of the most iconic Japanese classics, comes in a variety of body styles, and is … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 16 Comments

EVENTS: 2015 All-Toyotafest, Part 02

Registration for over 400 Toyotafest spaces sold out in under 24 hours this year, a new record. Perhaps it was the fact that it was the show’s 20th anniversary, or that in Japan it was already May 3, Akio Toyoda‘s birthday, or … Continue reading

Posted in events | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

JNC THEATER: See the Paul Newman racing doc Winning in select cities this weekend

Winning: The Racing life of Paul Newman will be opening in select cities this weekend ahead of its official debut. By now you know the story of the man, the actor, and his prolific racing career, much of it behind the wheel … Continue reading

Posted in JNC Theater | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

EVENTS: 20th All-Toyotafest, Part 01

Twenty years. That’s how long the annual Toyotafest has been taking place, making it one of the longest running import-only car shows in SoCal. It’s easy to see why. Toyota is the world’s largest automaker and has accrued many loyal fans along … Continue reading

Posted in events | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 22 Comments

QotW: What JNC is so ugly it’s cute?

This question came up because of an encounter with a Nissan Juke. Sure, it might have the kind of face only a blind mother could love but Nissan still has no problems moving a couple thousand a month. That’s better than the Subaru BRZ … Continue reading

Posted in Question of the Week | Tagged , , | 32 Comments

VIDEO: Honda “I Like Sports” commercial

With the return of the S-Series in the S660, a reborn NSX launching later this year, and new one-make race series based on the funky retro N-One, Honda is looking once again like a automaker with some soul. Their latest Japanese ad … Continue reading

Posted in cm | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

REMINDER: 2015 All-Toyotafest, May 2, 2015

Toyotafest is less than 48 hours away. This year, the show will be celebrating its 20th anniversary. All Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles, old and new, will be welcome. The show begins 9:00am on Saturday, May 2, 2015, at the Queen Mary in … Continue reading

Posted in Reminder | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

EVENTS: Motorsport Auto’s Z-Car Bash

The annual gathering of the Zs at Motorsport Auto took place over the weekend. Despite some unpleasantness early on with traffic cops ticketing every Z in sight and then a rare SoCal drizzle in the afternoon, the show settled into a generally upbeat atmosphere … Continue reading

Posted in events | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

QotW: What JNC stat would surprise non-JNC people?

A few weeks ago on After/DRIVE, I blurted out a statistic about how there are fewer stock AE86s left than Ferrari Enzos. No, I haven’t counted them all, but I can count on my own two hands how many I’ve seen … Continue reading

Posted in Question of the Week | Tagged , | 8 Comments

EVENTS: Behind the scenes at the Paul Newman doc Winning premiere

Last week was the premiere of Adam Carolla’s Paul Newman racing documentary in Hollywood. The movie was stellar, a must see for any Nissan/Datsun fan, and Carolla even brought several ex-Newman cars from his impressive fleet to mingle at the pre- and after-parties at … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

CLASSIC CM: Celebrate Earth Day with Ansel Adams and Datsun

Nissan is currently enjoying bragging rights as the biggest seller of electric vehicles in history, but the automaker’s environmental bona fides didn’t begin with the Leaf. Back in 1972 Datsun USA launched what would be, at the time, its widest reaching advertising campaign … Continue reading

Posted in cm | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

EVENTS: AE86 Nights 8th Anniversary

What started as an small gathering of Corolla drivers in a SoCal Kohl’s parking lot has grown into an annual event attracting hundreds of 86ers. AE86 Nights marked its 8th anniversary over the weekend, and suddenly a car that is almost extinct in … Continue reading

Posted in events | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

QotW: What’s the greatest “green” JNC?

We’ve asked what the greatest shade of JNC green is, but not what the greatest “green” JNC is. Turbo straight sixes and V8s are sexy, but Earth Day is coming up this week so let’s limit this discussion cars with naturally … Continue reading

Posted in Question of the Week | Tagged , , | 18 Comments

JNC THEATER: Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman

There was a 1977 Datsun 200SX race car parked on Hollywood Boulevard last night. Sitting in front of the landmark El Capitan Theater, it looked like either the setup for history’s most epic hooning video or a scene out of Boogie … Continue reading

Posted in JNC Theater | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

QotW: What’s the greatest nostalgic Mitsubishi?

Mitsubishi has begun taking orders for the Lancer Evolution Final Edition. When these last 1,000 Evo X models roll off the assembly line, the last bastion of Mitsubishi’s once proud performance lineup will be gone. What’s the greatest nostalgic Mitsubishi? Sure, there’s still the aging … Continue reading

Posted in Question of the Week | Tagged , | 30 Comments

NEWS: Mitsubishi begins taking orders for Final Edition Lancer Evo

On Friday, Mitsubishi Motors began taking orders for the Lancer Evolution Final Edition. The special edition will commemorate 23 years of the rally-ready rocket before it drifts off into the sunset. Yes, the original Evo hasn’t crossed the 25 year threshold … Continue reading

Posted in News | Tagged , , | 15 Comments

JNC THEATER: Paul Newman Nissan Documentary Winning

The producers of Adam Carolla’s upcoming documentary Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman has extended a special invitation to JNC readers. If you will be in the Los Angeles on April 16, you will definitely want to come to the film’s premiere. The charity … Continue reading

Posted in JNC Theater | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

VIDEO: Toyota Stories from the UK

Toyota UK is featuring a series of Toyota Stories, tales of classic old Aichi steel that have served their owners for decades in areas so remote that the rural dialects of English they speak might as well be Japanese. 

Posted in Video | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

VIDEO: JNC on After/DRIVE

Like a half-finished Datsun B210 project bringing down the property value of an otherwise respectable neighborhood, I made an appearance on After/DRIVE last week. JNC was in town for the New York Auto Show, and it was a great honor to be invited onto … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 26 Comments