Author Archives: Ben Hsu
Spring Is Here and We're Sprung for Nostalgics
The long winter of our discontent is over, for today is the first day of spring. If you live in the northern half of the country, rejoice! The temperature is on the rise and it’s actually still bright out at … Continue reading
Posted in mazda, nissan, toyota
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NEWS: Hako Concept revealed at NY Auto Show
Ha! You know you’re a true nostalgic nut when the first thing that pops into your head at that headline is, “OMG, A retro car based on the C10 Skyline!” No such luck, compadre. It’s just a new Scion concept … Continue reading
Posted in datsun, News, nissan, toyota
3 Comments
Oh, Nap! '82 Toyota Lite Ace Gets the Bunk Out
The interior of this 1982 Toyota Lite Ace makes us wish we were kids again. Why? Because it has bunk beds! The lower level is formed by folding the rear seats flat, while the upper bed is suspended from the … Continue reading
Posted in cm, toyota, vans
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WANT. '82 Honda Motocompo, MIB, on Ebay
By any stretch of the imagination, the Honda City was a small car. It’s smaller than the modern-day Fit, which is still sold as the City in some Asian markets. That’s why it’s even more surprising that when the City … Continue reading
Posted in for sale, honda
22 Comments
Happy St. Patrick's Day From JNC
First it was the wakaba mark (also called shoshinsha mark), the green and yellow symbol that new drivers in Japan are required to display on their vehicles for one year. Wakaba marks gained popularity in the US when JDM scenesters … Continue reading
Posted in japan
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Some Bike it Hot
Apparently this is quite the hot video meme in Japan right now. We were positively floored by the amazing skills of these Japanese riders, instructors at the Fushimi Techincal Center motorcycle driving school. The Japanese are just as fanatical about … Continue reading
Posted in Motorcycles
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Car Brochure Nirvana
Okay, all you brochure freaks, thanks to our dear reader colhogen, you’re in for a real treat. Prepare to whittle away hours of your once productive life at the Catalog Gallery of Automotive Nostalgia, a Japanese blog that has nothing … Continue reading
Posted in catalogs
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Yet Another Bulbous Speculative Resurrection
Here’s another speculation about the alleged 2010 Supra found in Japan’s BestCar magazine. Ugly, ugly, ugly. The FT-HS concept looked cool because of its angular lines, but this thing just looks like a piece of hard candy that’s been sucked … Continue reading
Posted in toyota
3 Comments
Triumph, the Insult Comic Honda
Honda has often turned to the world of music for its model names – Concerto, Prelude, Jazz, Aria, Quintet, Beat, and the subject of today’s plunge into the rabbit hole of rebadging, the Ballade. Introduced in 1980 as a four-door … Continue reading
Posted in honda
3 Comments
Corolla Chronicles
Yesterday we posted about the beauty of road trips with an old ‘Rolla courtesy of The Truth About Cars. Turns out, they’ve been on a Corolla spree recently, with this article celebrating 40 years of the long-lived compact. Though the … Continue reading
Posted in toyota
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Disappointing Lack of Classics in GT5 Prologue
Our favorite car game of all time has to be Grand Turismo 4. Naturally, the gorgeous graphics and enormous variety of cars and tracks are as fantastic as anything we’ve come to expect from the franchise, but the best part … Continue reading
Posted in Video Games
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Small Japanese Cars Hold Key to Human Mind
Ever since the first warehouse-sized IBMs appeared on the scene, the unattainable holy grail of computer science has always been a man-made machine that mimics the complexity of the human brain. Well, scientists at Japan’s National Institute for Materials Science … Continue reading
Posted in japan
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Zen and the Art of Corolla Maintenance
America ain’t perfect, but damn if she isn’t beautiful. Is there any greater joy in life than taking in this beauty behind the wheel of an old car? Forget voting and the right to pontificate, this is freedom, man. Forgive … Continue reading
Posted in road trip, toyota
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Z Car Grows, 240 to 370 in 38 Years
Time for more unfounded rumors from the Japanese auto tabloids. This much is known. The next iteration of Nissan’s landmark sports car, the Fairlady Z, will have the 3.7L motor currently powering its Skyline/Infiniti G37 siblings. What’s pure conjecture, however, … Continue reading
Posted in datsun, nissan
4 Comments
Toyota Celica Makes Kessel Run in Under 12 Parsecs
When we were kids, we thought Luke’s landspeeder was easily the coolest vehicle in Star Wars. Why? Because it most resembled a car, of course. Well, except for the lack of wheels. But other than that, it was practically a … Continue reading
Ka-Pao! Nissan’s Rad Retro Ride
In the late 80s and early 90s, Nissan teamed up with design house PIKE to create a series of retro-style cars based on the Nissan March. In the West, the most popular one of these cars is the Figaro, which … Continue reading
Posted in nissan, retro
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New Year Meeting: The Movie
You’ve seen the photos, now check out some video of the New Year Meeting that our bloke Kev from grandJDM has uncovered. Ah, the memories!
Posted in events, japan
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Toyota: Building Trust Despite Rust?
A lot of our readers have Japanese trucks that they use as daily drivers, workhorses, or parts haulers, so this item may be of interest to some of you. 813,000 Toyota Tacoma pickups were built between 1995-2000, and some of … Continue reading
Posted in toyota, trucks
2 Comments
Honda F1 Machines at Geneva
Sigh. We wish we had the budget to head over to Switzerland. We’d love to attend the glitzy shindig known as the Geneva Motor Show (which is going on right now), sample some Swiss chocolate, and visit the Swiss Toyota … Continue reading
Posted in honda, racing
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Skyline Racers on Display
If you happen to be in Japan in the next few weeks, be sure to swing by the Nissan Ginza showroom. Nissan’s putting on a special exhibit called “Potential for Your Driving” that will include some of the most legendary … Continue reading
