Author Archives: Ben Hsu
Tokyo Auto Salon 2011: Electric Boogaloo
There’s a lot to see at the 2011 Tokyo Auto Salon, but let’s start with something both electric and nostalgic. Proving electricity can be fun, the Toyota Sports EV Twin weighs 700kg (1543lbs), can go 160kph (100mph) and has a … Continue reading
Posted in nissan, toyota
Tagged 2011, datsun, ev-twin, nissan, sanitora, sports 800, tokyo auto salon, toyota, truck, up15, watanabe, work equip 01, yotahachi
6 Comments
Defi Gauges for Nostalgic Cars
The onslaught of vintage gear keeps on coming. Shown at the Tokyo Auto Salon, Defi gauges for old school cars! Instead of a hellscape orange or aquarium blue, these glow a cool whitish-green and through a proper vintage typeface. These … Continue reading
Posted in Aftermarket
Tagged defi, gauges, nostalgic, old school, parts, tokyo auto salon, vintage
7 Comments
Friday Video: The Man Who Stole the Sun Mazda RX-7 SA22C vs RX-5 Cosmo
We posted about 1979’s The Man Who Stole the Sun three years ago but the video has since been taken down. Besides, that one didn’t include the car chase in its entirety, so here’s a new one that does. In … Continue reading
Posted in mazda, Video Games
Tagged cosmo ap, fb, mazda, rx-5, rx-7, sa22c, the man who stole the sun
1 Comment
Honda and Mazda Team Up to Make Small Cars Fun (Again)
In recent years, the biggest disappointment for Japanese car enthusiasts has been the lack of fun, especially the affordable kind. Gone are the RSXs and MR2s, and aside from the Mazda MX-5, what else is there for the average Joe? … Continue reading
Posted in honda, mazda, motorsport
Tagged b-spec, fit, honda, mazda, mazda 2, motorsports, thunderhill
10 Comments
Have a Bosozoku New Year with Hatsuhinode, First Sunrise Run
Did you spend your January first running from the cops? Then you are probably a fine, upstanding citizen because that’s the preferred New Year’s tradition of the bosozoku.
Welcome to the New JapaneseNostalgicCar.com!
Welcome to the brand new JapaneseNostalgicCar.com! It’s a new year and a website redesign is something the JNC team has been wanting to do for a long time. The goal was to get the look of site in line with … Continue reading
Posted in jnc
18 Comments
Friday Video: Mitsubishi Galant GTO in 3000km Trap
The 1971 film 3000km Trap tells the story of a young man, played by Jiro Tamiya, whose wealthy businessman father has just lost a golfing bet with the president of a large Hokkaido department store. The wager? The “best sports car … Continue reading
Posted in mitsubishi, Video Games
Tagged 3000 km trap, galant, gto, jiro tamiya, mitsubishi, shadows on the highway
11 Comments
Kidney, Anyone? 1969 Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser
After the 2000GT, the second-most valuable vintage Toyota is not a car at all, but one of the original SUVs, the FJ40 Land Cruiser. Some have exchanged hands for $50,000 plus, and they are one of the few Yotas that … Continue reading
JDM Legends in Hi-Def Video
We see images of incredible nostalgics all the time, but rarely are they captured so beautifully in dramatic lighting, unhurried tracking shots, and high-definition video. Check out the work put into these historic machines by our friends at JDM Legends … Continue reading
Start 2011 Off with a Traffic Safety Omamori
In Japanese tradition, one should visit your local temple for New Year’s. There, for a small donation, you can get a wide assortment of omamori, amulets of silk, wood or metal that will bring you good luck in their respective … Continue reading
Datsun’s Leaping Hare Hood Ornament Wishes You a Prosperous Year of the Rabbit
The 1935 Datsun Model 14 was Nissan‘s first factory production vehicle and the management deemed, as was appropriate for cars of the era, that a sculpture be affixed to the vehicle’s prow. Luckily, the choice of a figure was right there … Continue reading
Friday Video: Nissan Cedric 330 vs Jeep
Nothing goes together like a funk bass and car chases. Seibu Keisatsu has been known to pit its various Nissan products against Detroit iron before, often to disastrous effect. This time, the Nissan Cedric 330 puts up an admirable off-road fight … Continue reading
Posted in datsun, nissan, Video Games
Tagged 330, cedric, datsun, gloria, japanese cop show, jeep, nissan, seibu keisatsu
7 Comments
Isuzu Gemini Castor Cup One-Make Race
Poor Isuzu, known mostly for diesel trucks, perhaps the Bellett, and a weasely 80s spokesman. But from the late 70s to the early 90s, it was master of its own one-make race series. Like in Gran Turismo, this often made … Continue reading
Posted in isuzu, motorsports
Tagged buick, castor cup, gemini, i-mark, isuzu, one-make race, opel
2 Comments
True Gangster: Chinchilla Dash & Seat Covers
The chinchilla is a squirrel-like creature that has the misfortune to possess a thick, warm, velvety coat of evenly-colored fur. As a result, this native of the Andes Mountains region in South America has been nearly hunted to extinction. Around … Continue reading
Datsun 240Z Stars in Russ Chimes' Midnight Club Videos
Being the semi-old farts that we are, we do not know why purveyors of electronica have flocked to the Datsun 240Z as the automobile of choice for their music videos. First it was “Like a G6” and “Rocketeer”, both by … Continue reading
MX73 Toyota Cressida Outpaces Your Bourgeois Euro Saloons
Nowadays nostalgists regard the MX73 Toyota Cressida as a RWD four-door Supra for the shakotan/bosozoku/drift/VIP crowd, but it spent much of its existence as an understated executive sedan, a Japanese alternative to Benzes, Bimmers and Jyaaags in the pre-Lexus days. For … Continue reading
Merry Christmas from JNC!
May your travels be safe and stockings filled with rare JDM parts. And may they arrive by Mazda Bongo, a rear-engined van that is retro-futuristic in a Jetsonian kind of way. The year of Mazda’s 90th Anniversary is almost over, and the … Continue reading
