Author Archives: Ben Hsu
Nissan celebrates its 60th anniversary in Mexico
Last Friday Nissan Mexico celebrated their 60th anniversary. Nissan opened its doors to our southern neighbors on September 10, 1961 and laid the groundwork for a rather significant operation. Five years later, they had opened a factory in Cuernavaca, their … Continue reading
QotW: What modifications on cars make you cringe most?
Let’s face it, there have been a lot of bad car modifications over the years. Whether it was a misguided attempt at recreating a race style, a goofy trend that took on a life of its own, or just an … Continue reading
Nissan re-imagines the original Silvia as an electric coupe
Nissan has released an illustration re-interpreting the original Silvia as an electric coupe. The rendering comes from the imagination of Matthew Weaver, vice president of Nissan Design Europe. Weaver was asked to come up with an electric car based on … Continue reading
Toyota thanks fans for 70 years of the Land Cruiser
The first Toyota Land Cruiser went on sale in August 1, 1951. This year, they celebrated 70 years of the well-traveled beast by not only launching the all-new J300 Land Cruiser, but announcing that the FJ40 would be the first … Continue reading
QotW: What’s your favorite car commercial?
On this day 70 years ago, the first Japanese commercial jingle was broadcast. The song “I’m an Amateur Cameraman” made its radio debut on September 7, 1951 on Chubu-Nippon Broadcasting (CBC) and New Japan Broadcasting (NJB) as an ad for … Continue reading
Take an in-depth tour of the Bride Racing Seat factory
Chances are if you’ve been a fan of Japanese cars, you have admired Bride products for many years. As the preeminent racing seat from Japan, there’s always been a mystique about them, one that’s been fomented in part by their … Continue reading
Sonny Chiba gave the Mitsubishi Galant GTO a star turn in Key Hunters
Sonny Chiba, who passed away earlier this month, was synonymous with the Toyota Carina in Japan. For two decades the action star appeared in Carina commercials, and drove Carinas in real life (provided by Toyota, of course). However, there was … Continue reading
Posted in JNC Theater
Tagged colt galant, crown, datsun, fairlady roadster, galant gto, Key Hunter, mitsubishi, ms51, toyota
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VIDEO: The 1991 Toyota Land Cruiser was ahead of its time
No one could’ve known when the J80 Land Cruiser was released just how insane the SUV market would become. And we’re not talking about the popularity of Toyota 4Runners and Ford Explorers that helped killed off sports cars like the … Continue reading
QotW: Why do you love (or hate) the Fast & Furious movies?
We have to admit, the car in the photo above, which is featured in the latest Custom Car magazine, is kind of cool. Obviously, it’s a homage to the Supra from the original The Fast & the Furious, which leads … Continue reading
Mitsubishi revives Dakar Pajero livery for Rebelle Rally
Mitsubishi has never had great marketing in the US. They never really leaned into their illustrious rally heritage to promote vehicles like the Pajero. Now they’re reviving a historically significant Dakar Rally livery to compete in a modern rally. Well, … Continue reading
Posted in motorsport
Tagged Dakar Rally, mitsubishi, Outlander, pajero, Rebelle Rally
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Sonny Chiba, actor, action hero, Toyota spokesman, 1939—2021
Legendary Japanese action hero Sonny Chiba died on August 19 of pneumonia resulting from a COVID-19 infection. Known for his on-screen tough-guy persona, he often played martial arts masters, samurai, and yakuza. The actor in such films as The Street … Continue reading
The Toyota Celica Supra and Mazda RX-7 make amazing transforming robots
You will soon be able to get highly detailed toys of two iconic Japanese sports coupes that transform into robots. Incredibly faithful to the 1980s Transformers they’re paying homage to, these recreations have super realistic automobile likenesses. However, due to … Continue reading
Posted in minicars
Tagged a60, ferrari, Leonardo Fioravanti, Matasaburo Maeda, mazda, Pininfarina, rx-7, sa22c, supra, toyota, transformers, XTransbots, Yukihiko Yaguchi
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QotW: What would you like to know about the new Z?
Nissan is giving us the opportunity to see the new production Z in person this week. This will be an indoor viewing so we won’t be able to drive the car, but anything else is fair game. Ask a question, … Continue reading
Nicholas Cage drives a bugeye Celica in this bizarre Japanese movie
There’s a new trailer out for Prisoners of the Ghostland, a bizarre looking movie that takes place in some kind of Japanese Bartertown. It stars Nicholas Cage and, frankly, looks terrible, but there are at least some notable cars in … Continue reading
Posted in JNC Theater
Tagged celica, dekotora, HG50, luce, mazda, nissan, president, toyota
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VIDEO: Your all-Toyota garage in 1989 needs nothing else
Toyota was on a roll in 1989, with three revised or all-new models that are all highly desirable today. If you bought the entire trio of Cressida, Supra, and Truck you’d have a vehicle for every situation right at your … Continue reading
