Author Archives: Ben Hsu
2011 Hot Wheels Holiday Hot Rods Datsun 240Z
There’s one more Hot Wheels car we have to mention, and that’s the 2011 Holiday Hot Rods Datsun 240Z. Each year Hot Wheels selects a few castings to don Christmas themed apparel, and this year the Datsun 240Z made the … Continue reading
Friday Video: Osaka JDM’s Wonder Civics
Okay, so you’re unlikely to see an S800 at the Norm Reeves Honda show tomorrow, but what about the E-AT Civic? The third-gen Civic is a wholly under-appreciated chassis among hipster Honda kids, despite the fact that it was largely … Continue reading
MOTORSPORTS: The not-so-famous Yoshimura-tuned Honda S800 racers
Like we said yesterday, the Honda S800 was one of the premiere Japanese race cars of the Sixties. The yellow-and-red 1968 S800 RSC is the most famous, but many more have buzzed down Suzuka’s main straight. Some of Japan’s most … Continue reading
Posted in honda, motorsports
Tagged hayashi, hideo yoshimura, hiroshi fushida, honda, moto kitano, motorcycles, rsc, s500, s600, s800, suzuka, suzuka 1000km, suzuki, yojiro terada, yoshimura
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MOTORSPORTS: The famous 1968 Honda S800 RSC
In a quiet corner of the Honda Collection Hall at Twin Ring Motegi circuit sits what is arguably the most famous Honda S-car of all time, the 1968 Honda S800 RSC. As any collector of Japanese diecast or player of … Continue reading
Kidney, Anyone? 1977 Datsun 710 Wagon
Actually, for the extremely reasonable price of $1,500 this 1977 Datsun 710 Wagon may not require a vital organ at all. The green goon, lovingly named “Kermit” by its seller, appears to have been well cared for and sparingly operated. … Continue reading
Posted in for sale, nissan, wagons
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Friday Video: Vintage Japanese cars cold blown to smithereens
And now for something completely different, various clips from Japanese film and teevee, in which cars that are not Nissan Cedrics get blown to kingdom come. If you have a weak stomach for rare nostalgics — Centuries, hakosukas, kujira Crowns, … Continue reading
Purple Hakosuka is your maximum strength dose of old school Japan
We’ve been on a new car tear, reporting on neo-hachirokus, retro Honda kei cars, and even classic bikes from the Tokyo Motor Show. And that’s left you handcuffed to a bedpost with the shakes, hankering for some old school smack. Well this … Continue reading
Yamaha Y125 Moegi is your retro 1955 YA-1 motorcycle
Our final report from the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show looks at another retro-styled concept from a Japanese manufacturer. The Yamaha Y125 Moegi is a lightweight motorcycle designed after the 1955 Yamaha YA-1. Its 125cc SOHC four-stroke single-cylinder engine gets 80 km/l, or an astounding … Continue reading
Posted in Auto Shows, Motorcycles
Tagged moegi, motorcycles, tokyo motor show, y125, ya-1, yamaha
11 Comments
Honda N Concept 4 is your retro N360 kei car
With all the hubbub surrounding the Toyota 86, another car banking on the nostalgia of its predecessor was largely overlooked at the Tokyo Motor Show. The Honda N Concept 4 is a near-production-ready evolution of the Honda EV-N from 2009.
Hot Wheels selects AE86 Corolla to represent the 80s in “Cars of the Decades”
Hot Wheels‘ “Cars of the Decades” is a special edition series that selects one iconic model to exemplify the decade in which it was born. Each car comes in special packaging and paint schemes reflecting that period — flower power … Continue reading
This is the new Toyota 86
So it’s happened. A nickname coined by gearheads based on a chassis code uttered among only the otaku-est of drift/touge/rally nerds has been plucked from obscurity to become its own actual model name. Over the Thanksgiving holiday ToMoCo announced that … Continue reading
Occupy Tokyo with your Zokusha on Doukoho
It’s time for our yearly commemoration of Doukoho. On November 22, 1978, over 3000 bosozoku motorcycles and cars swarmed the streets of Tokyo, cruising, parading, revving and generally causing a ruckus. They were out to celebrate the end of an era.
Posted in bosozoku, japan
Tagged bosozoku, Doukoho Eve, garuchan, motorcycle helmet law, tsurikawa, zokusha
4 Comments
Classic CM: Nissan Sunny Lexprix to the rescue!
The 1982 B11 Nissan Sentra was, even by the most generous metric, not a beloved car. Like most automakers Nissan had emerged from the Decade of Disco bruised, battered and choked with performance-sapping emissions equipment. The early Eighties were known for … Continue reading
Friday Video: 1972 Japan Grand Prix Touring Car Race
It’s a sweltering day at Fuji Speedway and the grid is packed with TE27 Corolla Levins and Nissan Sunnys and (front-wheel-drive!) Cherrys. Watch Nobuhide Tachi win this round of the 1972 Japan Grand Prix Touring Car championships in his famous orange-on-white Toyota Celica 1600GT. … Continue reading
Posted in Friday Video, motorsports, toyota
Tagged 1600gt, celica, fuji speedway, ta22, toyota
16 Comments
What would you buy if the US changed its import ban from 25 years to 15?
Here’s a cause we can get behind. There’s a petition at the White House website asking for two things. 1.) That the Department of Homeland Security stop wasting tax dollars seizing grey market imports, and 2.) that the DOT and EPA lower … Continue reading
