Author Archives: Ben Hsu

EVENTS: 2013 Nostalgic2Days, Part 03

We begin Part 03 of our Nostalgic2Days coverage with four generations of beautiful ‘Ladies. There’s the Wangan wedge Z31, disco club S130, world beating S30, and the pre-Z roadster spanning two decades of sporting Nissans.

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QotW: What’s the craziest thing you’ve done to get the JNC (or part) of your dreams?

We’ve met a lot of crazy JNC owners over the years and heard even crazier stories. From buying a one-way ticket from LA to Philly in order to drive back with a set of Celica smiley bumpers, to putt-putting a … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2013 Nostalgic2Days, Part 02

Welcome back to JNC‘s Nostalgic2Days coverage, from the Pacifico Yokohama convention center. The building itself might be located in the city’s Minato Mirai 21, or “Future Port of the 21st Century” district, but the cars are all from back in … Continue reading

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We drive the new Toyota Pro/Celebrity TRD Scion FR-S, despite being neither Pro nor Celebrity

Since 1977, Toyota has been putting celebrities with varying degrees of track experience into race-prepped cars and unleashing them onto the streets of Long Beach. The carnage that unfolds is, thankfully, limited primarily to the sheetmetal of two dozen freshly … Continue reading

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PRODUCT GUIDE: Koyorad Datsun 510 Radiator

While we’re on the topic of mods for your classic car, cooling is an important part of keeping your nostalgic in tip-top running order. Stock radiators in older cars were usually pretty flimsy to begin with, and after years of … Continue reading

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QotW: What’s the best mod you can make to a classic car?

Last week’s QotW broke records for having the most answers since we started doing our weekly polls. JNCers had opinions both plentiful and strong about the absolute worst mods that could be foisted upon classic cars. Well okay then, smarty … Continue reading

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MOTORSPORT: 76 Years of Nissan Motorsports

Watch footage from 76 years of Nissan motorsports, starting with the monopoly-piece looking 1936 Datsun racer to the futuristic 2012 Nissan DeltaWing. The video commemorates the new NISMO headquarters grand opening February 26, which will shift the seat of Nissan’s … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2013 JCCA New Year Meeting, Part 04

We continue with more parking lot finds in Part 04 of our 2013 New Year Meeting coverage. Our previous installment featured some bosozoku style rides that caused some controversy, despite their important place in Japan’s tuning culture. Today’s shakotan style … Continue reading

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QotW: What’s the worst mod you can make to a classic car?

There’s purists and there’s everyone else. At least that’s how the purists see things. We don’t expect everyone to keep their JNC showroom original, but there are things that simply should not be done. What’s the worst mod you can … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2013 JCCA New Year Meeting, Part 03

We sure feasted our eyes on beautiful examples of Nihon steel in Parts 01 and 02 of our 2013 New Year Meeting coverage. The real show, however, is in the spectator parking area, which is packed full of shakotan sleds … Continue reading

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VIDEO: Jay Leno’s Garage Gets Down with a Custom Datsun 510

A car nut can’t get much better a gig than working for Jay Leno. And once you finish building your custom Datsun 510, like Tonight Show prop master Greg Elliot, the boss man himself might even feature it on his … Continue reading

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QotW: Who’s the Baddest President of a Japanese Car Company?

Since Monday was Presidents’ Day here in the States, we thought it’d be a good time to find out which captains of Japanese industry you admire most. From Mitsubishi founder and real life samurai Yataro Iwasaki to current Toyota head … Continue reading

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Happy Presidents’ Day from JNC

And now for your viewing pleasure, a lowrider 1980 Nissan President. An amalgam of Japano-American style created in the UK. It exchanged hands on eBay for £2,750 (or $4,268 USD) recently, which seems like quite a small amount of dead … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2013 JCCA New Year Meeting, Part 02

In Part 01 of our 2013 New Year Meeting coverage, our photogs arrived on the scene in Odaiba, Tokyo. Nihon steel was shot, the swap meets was perused, and legends of Japanese motoring were admired. We see no reason not … Continue reading

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Tetsuya Tada Reveals How the Toyota 86 was Born

“Forget about minivans. You are now working on the sports car project.” That’s how the Toyota 86‘s chief engineer Tetsuya Tada was brought in to the venture that would transform way automaking was done. According to an article on Toyota … Continue reading

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QotW: What year was the peak of Japanese car design?

The Japanese auto industry has undergone many design eras — the jet setting Sixties, the techno-boxy Eighties, the lozenge Nineties. But like an old curmudgeon you know there’s a single year in your minds after which everything went downhill. What … Continue reading

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MOTORSPORT: Remembering Funabashi Circuit

If you’ve ever taken the JR Keiyo train from downtown Tokyo to Makuhari Messe for the Auto Salon or Tokyo Motor Show, you’ve passed over the former grounds of Funabashi Circuit. Like much of Japan in 1965 Funabashi city was … Continue reading

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MOTORSPORT: Mazda 787B Named Le Mans car of the 1990s by Automobile Club de l’Ouest Jury

France’s Automobile Club de l’Ouest, the organizing body behind the 24 Hours of Le Mans, recently announced the 10 race cars they believe to be most emblematic of the legendary race. One car was chosen to represent each decade of … Continue reading

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VIDEO: Rocky Auto’s Lexus V8-powered Hakosuka

Many of you loved the cars in the last video we posted but found the music controversial. Prepare yourself for the opposite. It’s hard to take offense to a Temptaions-esque free use Motown groove, but the accompanying car is one … Continue reading

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QotW: What’s the greatest video game JNC of all time?

Many readers were plunged into the world of nostalgic cars thanks to Japanese video games. The fact that those machines were made of pixels and polygons rather than glass and steel didn’t make our lust for them any less fierce, … Continue reading

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