Author Archives: Ben Hsu
We Love Love Old Cars
One of the many irrational anxieties that haunt us incessantly is the fear that every day, countless nostalgics are needlessly crushed as a result of Japan’s prohibitive auto registration laws, lack of parking space, and fashions that change by the … Continue reading
Posted in japan
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And I Would Walk 500 Miles
Mitsubishi’s fame in the world of motorsport comes mainly from two sources – Lancer Evos hooning it up in the WRC, and Pajeros (Monteros) swallowing sand by the duneful in the Dakar Rally. Successes in these series go down in … Continue reading
Posted in kei, mitsubishi
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All MOD Con
This past weekend the 2007 Mitsubishi Owner’s Day event took place, bringing all manner of triple-diamond metal to Mitsu Motors’s USA headquarters in Cypress, CA. unfortunately, the sauna-level humidity on the east coast has prevented all mobility, rendering us incapable … Continue reading
Posted in mitsubishi
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I Say Amon!
Long before there was japanesenostalgiccar.com, there was just plain nostalgiccar.com, a Japanese site that, as far as we can tell, is a dealer called Amon and trades in minty fresh vintage J-rides. Clearly by being, in fact, Japanese, they didn’t … Continue reading
Posted in japan
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Random Pic: Instant Daruma
At Toyota’s Megaweb showroom, there was a small section teaching the average shopper about the design process, and the specimen chosen to illustrate the journey from concept to finished product was none other than the 1970 daruma Celica. Here’s the … Continue reading
Posted in toyota
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One Kidney is Enough: 1971 Mazda Cosmo Sport
Robert Frost was right. Take the road less traveled, as the Autoblog reader/E-Type owner who submitted this story to them did, and you just might stumble upon a 1971 Mazda Cosmo Sport for $36,000. No location is given. Unfortunately, the … Continue reading
Posted in for sale, mazda
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Crown in 3 Seconds
Rarely do the words “Jay Leno” and “money shot” appear in the same sentence, but for fans of the Crown the planets aligned last night. Here it is, the 1958 Toyopet Crown on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as … Continue reading
Posted in toyota
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The Gray Lady Wants YOU
The New York Times is looking for an owner of a classic Japanese car in the New York area for a new section called Auto Ego. Penned by Richard Chang, it will explore not only the cars but each owner’s … Continue reading
Posted in media
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I Don't Know Much, But I Know I Love What You Do For Me, Toyota
Just when we had posted a complaint about Toyota ignoring their half century of history in the US, they go and turn us into liars. Keep your pants on, pilgrim, it’s nothing to write home about. It’s just that tonight … Continue reading
Crashdance
RIP My Computer, 1999-2007. That’s right folks, the electronic wizardry behind JNC was actually a 700Mhz Windows machine almost eight years old. Our budget is that low. It finally crashed for the last time yesterday, leaving us scrambling like chickens … Continue reading
Posted in jnc
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Skyline Surprise
The irreverent bloggers at Jalopnik have a garage that they’re trying to populate with the 50 coolest cars of all time. Alas, it’s a Fantasy Garage but the idea is so cool that we might have to steal it one … Continue reading
Posted in datsun, nissan
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Random Pic: Crown Town
It seems that Toyota is all too happy to promote their heritage in any country except the US. When the twelfth generation S180 Crown debuted in J-land, Toyota brought out eleven of its ancestors to promote one of the longest-running … Continue reading
Posted in japan, toyota
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Bye Bye Blogger, Welcome WordPress
Now, JNC is new and improved, with 10% fewer preservatives! As part of our recent revamp, we’ve added more details on the latest articles on our main page, provided an RSS feed subscription, and switched from Blogger to WordPress, which … Continue reading
Posted in jnc
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When Life Gives You LeMons
See that billowing cloud of smoke coming from the direction of Altamont, CA? It’s the 2nd annual running of the 24 Hours of LeMons, which, like it’s namesake from Sarthe, has cars. That’s where the similarity ends, however, as the … Continue reading
Posted in datsun, mitsubishi
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Happy Little Trees: The Joy of Painting with Ken & Mary
Ken and Mary are just a happy young Japanese couple who love nature, painting, and their Nissan Skyline. They are characters in one of the country’s most famous ad campaigns of all time, and the couple just couldn’t be more … Continue reading
Posted in cm, nissan
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Back to the Future Force
Many moons ago, drag racers actually bore a greater resemblance to the street cars they were built off of than a Black & Decker 9.6V Cyclonic Dustbuster, and privateers could compete and win with nothing but self-named machines that bore … Continue reading
Posted in datsun, nissan
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Fourth of July Fire Truck
We spent a rainy Independence Day with Dan Banks, Datsun fanatic, Z Car Club of America historian, and owner of a mint ’71 240Z, a 1990 300ZX Turbo, and the oldest known Datsun truck in private hands, which happens to … Continue reading
Posted in datsun, nissan, pre-war, trucks
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The MOD Squad
The press release about the 2007 Mitsubishi Owner’s Day has dropped, inviting Mitsu owners from all over the continent to converge on their headquarters in Cypress, CA. Although Evos and Eclipses comprised most of last year’s 700 cars, the organizers … Continue reading
Posted in events, mitsubishi
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