Author Archives: Ben Hsu
Daihatsu 100th Anniversary Editions
Europe’s acceptance of minicars has allowed Daihatsu, Japan’s specialist of small, to thrive. Whereas they packed up their subcompacts (possibly in suitcases) and left the US and Australian markets in 1992 and 2006, the Old World still gets the new … Continue reading
Posted in kei
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Gift Box
While looking through the photos from the UK’s recent Retro Rides Show on Old Japanese Car, this hakosuka Skyline GT-R done up in the paint scheme of the legendary Grand Champion series car that took the checkered flag at Fuji … Continue reading
Posted in nissan, racing
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Cosmo Crammer
As part of Mazda’s 40th anniversary tribute to the rotary engine, the Zoom-Zoomers invited a group of renowned journalists to stuff the very cars the company would display at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca up the California coast, just in time … Continue reading
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Dark Continent Datsun
Old pros Jayant Shah and HW “Lofty” Drews ran their Datsun 260Z in the Tanzanite One Arusha Rally recently, which served only as a warmup to the upcoming Kenya Airways East Africa Safari Classic Rally in November. You might remember … Continue reading
Posted in datsun, racing, rally
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Bridgeport Toyota Meet
Our Forum member QuasiMondo posted this thread about a classic Toyota meet that happened recently in Bridgeport, Connecticut. As you can see from these Photobucket galleries here and here, nostalgics from all Japanese marques showed up for what appears to … Continue reading
Posted in events, toyota
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EVENTS: Monterey Historics Presented by Toyota
Here it is, more 2000GTs than you can shake a camshaft at. [LINK]
Posted in events, toyota
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Civic Minded
We love it whenever a manufacturer celebrates its heritage. Just a few years ago, one would be hard pressed to find official information about models not currently sold. Recently though, many Japanese marques have begun to recognize the importance of … Continue reading
Posted in honda
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Mazda Releases 40th Anniv RX-8 for the US
A couple of weeks ago, Mazda released a special edition RX-8 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the rotary engine. The only hitch was, the car had to be purchased in Japan. Well, now we Americans can get our hands … Continue reading
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Monterey Historics, Part 1
Toyota was the headline presenter of the 34th Annual Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races, coinciding with their 50th anniversary both in motorsports and sales in the US. Appropriately, they’ve gathered the biggest assembly of the legendary 2000GTs ever to be … Continue reading
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I-5 Drive/Monterey Historics
In case you were wondering what’s been happening with the blog, Ben is at the Monterey Historics in California. Only, there’s a catch. The reason it’s taking him three days to get there is because he’s driving down from Seattle … Continue reading
Posted in events, road trip, toyota
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Once Upon a Time Machine
“If you’re gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style?” says Doc Brown. Words to live by, except that a brushed stainless bird tainted by cocaine money and a Renault engine isn’t really … Continue reading
Posted in japan
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The Suzuki Method
Here’s a post about a marque not often discussed in the nostalgic world, Suzuki. Like Toyota, the company started out making automatic looms. Like Honda, their first vehicles were motorized bicycles. And like Mazda, their first mass produced car heeded … Continue reading
Posted in kei, suzuki
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Retro Active
Hirst from Old Japanese Car attended the Retro Rides Show in Kirby Mallory in the UK over the weekend and posted in our forum this fantastic shot of his Daihatsu Charmant parked beside what appears to be a replica of … Continue reading
Posted in datsun, nissan
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Ready to Wear
Speaking of clothing, we had the chance to meet Antonio Alvendia of Cipher Media Group while he was MC-ing at Motoring J Style. Antonio is a super cool guy who has an encyclopedic knowledge of all things nostalgic and drift. … Continue reading
Posted in nostalgic gear, wheels
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Bad Boys, Bad Boys, Whatcha Gonna Do?
Our compadres at grandJDM have unearthed yet another JDM clothing line. They’re Kaminari69, purveyors of “Japanese Badboy Kulture,” They like hakosuka Skylines, skulls, and horns that play music. They’ve been featured in the likes of J’s Tipo, Daytona, and Ignite … Continue reading
Posted in japan, nostalgic gear
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Silvia Successor, Maybe
Hot on the mudflaps of the recent news of an AE86 redux comes a report from Best Car via Autoblog that Nissan has a 60 percent chance of coming out with a lightweight FR sports car of their own. Expected … Continue reading
Random Pic: Dat 70s Show
We were up at our local you-pull-it junkyard today searching for a side window for one of our upcoming projects, and ran across this awesome 1970 Datsun 510. We immediately pulled a U and caught up with the owner, Nestor, … Continue reading
Posted in datsun, nissan
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Random Pic: Classic Corona
We happened upon this cool classic car dealership in Northern Maryland one day. Although it was the metallic yellow Corvette Stingray and bright orange ’67 Camaro that first caught our eye as we sped by, once we pulled a U … Continue reading
Posted in toyota
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Random Pic: Datsun Homecoming
In 1933, Datsun, or Jidosha Seizo Co., Ltd. as it was called, established its headquarters in Yokohama, where Japan’s first real automobile factory would later stand. Three years later, this Datsun Model 15 roadster rolled off the assembly line. With … Continue reading
Posted in datsun, nissan, pre-war
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