Author Archives: Ben Hsu
NEWS: Heavy snow hits Tokyo, disrupts road, train and air travel
A heavy snow storm struck Tokyo Monday, dumping 9 inches of powder on the capital city. According to NHK about 50 cars were stranded on Tokyo’s iconic Rainbow Bridge. The weather interfered with Tokyo’s train schedules as well, and according to Reuters 250 … Continue reading
NEWS: The return of Mazda’s rotary engine
It’s official, Mazda’s rotary engine is making a comeback, but perhaps not in the way sports car enthusiasts hope. Rather than powerful, turbocharged powerplants in a new RX car, the new rotary will serve as range extenders on a fleet of self-driving … Continue reading
MINICARS: Hot Wheels Hakosuka Nissan Skyline Wagon
JNC stopped by Mattel’s design center yesterday and saw what promises to be one of the most coveted Hot Wheels for 2018 — the Nissan C10 Skyline Van. Designer Jun Imai was kind enough to share the final version with us, card art and … Continue reading
Happy 117 Day to all the Isuzu faithful
Today is January 17, or World Isuzu 117 Day. That’s probably not a real holiday, but it should be. Celebrate with a tour across Japan in a 117, or a visit to a 117 specialist shop. There aren’t enough holidays celebrating Isuzus on … Continue reading
JNC THEATER: A drama about a nameless racer, a car designer, and the “Nagoya” 2000GT
Promotion has begun for a new TV drama in Japan that crosses Speed Racer and a A Night at the Museum. Called Midnight Supercar, the star car is a 2000GT and the museum is the Toyota Automobile Museum itself.
MINICARS: A 1:18-scale Mitsubishi Starion, people!
The Mitsubishi Starion is an icon of the 1980s, and one of the great Japanese sport coupes of the pop-up headlight era. That’s why it’s odd that there have been surprisingly few models of it in any scale. Here are the … Continue reading
Tokyo Auto Salon: Toyota reveals Gazoo Racing Super Sport Concept
Toyota has stubbornly refused to show the next Supra at major international motor shows even though prototypes have been photographed countless times. Instead, as enthusiasts cry, Toyota been quietly working on sleek new supercar concept, which it has just unveiled at the tuner-fest known as … Continue reading
Posted in events
Tagged Gazoo Racing, Gazoo Racing Super Sports Concept, le mans, tokyo auto salon, toyota
7 Comments
MINICARS: At last, a 1:18-scale A60 Toyota Celica Supra
The diecast world has long been missing models of several seminal Japanese cars, especially when it comes to larger scales. One that’s been long desired by collectors but never seen before in 1:18 scale is the A60 Toyota Supra. That’s all about … Continue reading
VIDEO: A bosozoku night cruise
Do you like bolted on bubble flares, takeyari shaped like lightning bolts, and blinding dome lights that look like they’re off a 1960s police car except they’re purple? If not, well, maybe avert your eyes so you don’t see the parade of Celicas, Soarers … Continue reading
MOTORSPORT: The Kenmeri GT-R running at Fuji Speedway, just like it was always meant to
At the 1972 Tokyo Motor Show the most anticipated race car in Japan was unveiled at the Nissan stand. The Hakosuka Skyline GT-R was the most beloved touring car in the country, but its time was coming to an end. Nissan was unveiling … Continue reading
MINICARS: This 24-karat gold Toyota 2000GT model is definitely not for kids
There is no shortage of Toyota 2000GT models in the world, but perhaps they are all too plain in white or not sufficiently capable of showing off your tremendous disposable income. Well, Japanese jeweler SGC might have a solution for you — … Continue reading
100 YEAR CLUB: Mitsubishi Motors, Part 02
In Part 01 of our Mitsubishi Motors retrospective we covered the beginnings of the vast Mitsubishi empire, in which the car company is just a small part. In fact, until 1970 the Mitsubishi Motors we know today only existed as a … Continue reading
Posted in 100 Year Club
Tagged 3000GT, chrysler, Diamond Star Motors, Dodge Stealth, Eagle Talon, eclipse, galant, lancer evolution, mitsubishi, mitsubishi model a, pajero, Plymouth Laser, PX-33
7 Comments
100 YEAR CLUB: Mitsubishi Motors, Part 01
In a year of momentous anniversaries, the biggest one of all was Mitsubishi turning 100 years old. What would become Mitsubishi Motors was established in late 1917, meaning it has just passed the century mark. As the oldest carmaker in Japan, its … Continue reading
Posted in 100 Year Club
Tagged arrow, Colt 1000, Colt 600, delica, dodge colt, galant, Henry J, hillman minx, lancer, lancer celeste, Leo, minica, mitsubishi, mitsubishi 360, Mitsubishi 500, Mitsubishi Jeep, mitsubishi model a, Mizushima, PX-33, scooter, Silent Shaft, Silver Pigeon
9 Comments
QotW: What’s your JNC New Year’s resolution?
It’s a new year, people! 2018 is upon us, and that means another 52 weeks, or 365.25 days, or 8,766 hours, or 525,949 minutes, or 31,556,926 seconds to make a dent in the JNC project of your dreams (well, not literally, we hope). … Continue reading
Happy New Year from JNC
さようなら, 2017。あけましておめでとうございます!
MOTORSPORT: A brief history of Cusco Racing
If you’ve been around Japanese cars for any appreciable time, you are probably familiar with Cusco racing parts. For many, the very step into the wide world of mods was a Cusco strut tower brace. What is perhaps less known, however, … Continue reading
25 YEAR CLUB: Lexus SC
It was somewhere just west of Omaha that I said to myself, “This car was made for this shit.” I was in the midst of a cross-country drive with nothing but a Lexus SC, a toothbrush, and fewer changes of underwear than days on … Continue reading
Posted in 25 Year Club
Tagged 25 Year Club, calty, Erwin Lui, lexus, lexus sc, soarer, toyota
35 Comments
