Author Archives: Ben Hsu
Bless Your Car, JDM Style
Some Japanese believe that if you have your car blessed by a Buddhist priest, you will avoid accidents, tickets, and possibly even bird droppings. Kawasaki-Daishi is one of the temples that has a parking lot for this exact purpose. The … Continue reading
Suzuki Mario Bros.: Those Koopa Troopas don’t stand a chance when Mario and Luigi are behind the wheel of Suzuki Carry. The kei truck feasts on turtle soup tonight. [Reddit via Jalopnik]
Posted in kei, suzuki, trucks
Tagged carry, kei, mario, super mario bros., suzuki, trucks
3 Comments
No Rotors Here: Mazda 616 Coupe
It’s March in SoCal. That means the weather is warming and meets are ramping up. We rolled down to Cypress, California (home of Mitsubishi North America HQ) in the ol’ JNC wagon on Sunday to check it out. It was … Continue reading
Honda Love Cub 50 Bikes On Sale
You know the BMW Art Cars, Chicago’s Cows on Parade and Washington DC’s Pandamania, right? In 2008 the venerable Honda Super Cub had its 50th birthday, and to celebrate Honda gave 60 of these best-selling bikes — one for each … Continue reading
Reader Build: Mitsubishi 360 Van
Congrats to JNC reader Nakazoto for getting his 1967 Mitsubishi 360 Van project featured on both Jalopnik and Speedhunters in the same week! David lives in Nagoya, Japan and came across this kei commercial vehicle rotting away in a field. … Continue reading
Friday Video: Detective Story Corolla Crash
What is it about criminal masterminds? Even in Japan, they can’t just kill off the hero with a point-blank gunshot to the head. Instead they string him up to elaborate yet escape-able death traps, such as this runaway Toyota that … Continue reading
Posted in toyota, Video Games
Tagged corolla, corolla e30, detective story, japanese cop show, ke30, toyota, yusaku matsuda
1 Comment
1976 Mitsubishi Galant GTO Brochure, in English
Mitsubishi announced today that they were all but killing off their Ralliart division due to the global economic slump. In honor of that once great performance arm, let’s take a look at the triple diamond mafia’s flagship nostalgic, the Galant … Continue reading
Posted in catalogs, mitsubishi
Tagged brochure, catalog, colt, dynawedge, galant, gto, mitsubishi
7 Comments
Honda Releases "CR-X – A Nod to Legend" Video
It’s really amazing how Japanese automakers are suddenly all about their heritage. When the JNC Blog started two years ago, we basically bitched non-stop about how they were sitting on an untapped gold mine of good will. Though we would … Continue reading
No Pistons, No AWD: Mazda RX-7 Rally Car
The first-gen Mazda RX-7 has competed in many forms of motorsport, from IMSA enduros to drag racing to touring car challenges. Here it is on dirt, with gratuitous helicopter tracking shots. Video after the jump. Hat tip to Andrew P.
If a Tree Falls on a Nissan…: Today’s zen koan comes from Australia, where, as Kev informs us, there are indeed trees. And sometimes they upend themselves on some poor sheila’s newly restored Datsun 610. Zoe Michalski had just purchased … Continue reading
Father & Son: AE86 and Toyota FT-86
At long last, Toyota is bringing out the nostalgic guns. Accompanying the Toyota FT-86 Concept‘s arrival at the Geneva Motor Show last week comes these official images. Unless you’re steeped in Toyota history you might have missed the significance of … Continue reading
Posted in toyota
Tagged 2010 geneva motor show, ae86, corolla, ft-86, geneva motor show, hachiroku, levin, project 086a, sprinter, toyota, trueno
18 Comments
Friday Video: Mitsubishi Starion vs Toyota Crown
Poor Sgt. Daimon. It seems that no matter what TV series he’s in, he is always called upon to dispatch a ridiculously over-armed bad guy with a single shot worthy of Vasily Zaytsev, after which he must solemnly watch their … Continue reading
Posted in mitsubishi, toyota, Video Games
Tagged amg, crown, debonair, galant, guerilla group 8, japanese cop show, mitsubishi, seibu keisatsu, starion, tetsyua watari, tokyo police, toyota, vr-4
5 Comments
South Australia's All Japan Day
The license plate on this Datsun 1600 says it all. If you have a penchant for Simmons wheels, oddball two-door wagons, and rear window blinds, then head to the JNC forums for photos from South Australia’s All Japan Day. Ta … Continue reading
Kidney, Anyone? 1974 Mazda RX-4 Hardtop
This is going to be an expensive week for endocrine organs because this 1974 Mazda RX-4 is as mint as they come. The pre-facelift RX-4 is arguably the prettiest of all the early rotaries, and it’s hard enough finding an … Continue reading
Kidney, Anyone? 1972 Datsun 1200
Datsun 1200s of any condition are rare enough, but gaze upon the minty freshness of this 1972 example of the USDM Sunny B110 on craigslist. According to the seller, the previous owner worked at a Datsun/Nissan dealership for 33 years. … Continue reading
Honda CR-Z Ad Glimpses Soichiro's Genius
The Honda CR-Z went on sale in Japan last week. It may not be the long-awaited reincarnation of the CR-X, but the accompanying commercial gives us glimpses of past greats like the Super Cub, T360, S600s both roadster and coupe, … Continue reading
Toyotafest 2010 Registration Open
Mark your calendars, Toyotaku — Toyotafest 2010 is open for registration. Come gather at the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California for the biggest Toyota show in the US! Meet your fellow Toyota enthusiasts! You will not see a bigger … Continue reading
Posted in events, toyota
Tagged celica, corolla, cressida, crown, land cruiser, toyota, toyotafest, toyotafest 2010
3 Comments
Friday Video: Pontiac's The Bug and the Beetle
The Bug and the Beetle was a 1972 propaganda film by GM meant to whip workers into shape by stoking fear of foreign competition. How can you take a day off work when Germans and Japanese are pouring their cars … Continue reading
JNC Site Running on All Cylinders Again, Hopefully
So as you probably have noticed, the JNC site experienced some technical difficulties this week. Our webhosting service claims it was a software issue with the blog. We think it was a spam attack, as virtually nothing of importance changed … Continue reading
Posted in jnc
20 Comments
Volk TE37V on Impulse AE86 Corolla Levin
The Volk TE37V is an exciting development because it shows that companies like Rays Wheels are keen on making new products for the nostalgic scene. However, the JNC staff is still torn between whether these are proper wheels for old … Continue reading
