Author Archives: Ben Hsu

Tokyo Motor Show: Mazda’s concepts are simply stunning

In a largely disappointing Tokyo Motor Show, the stars of the Toyota, Nissan, Honda, and Mitsubishi booths were autonomous or electric or overstyled crossovers — sometimes all three. Only Mazda bucked the trend with a couple of concepts that went old … Continue reading

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Tokyo Motor Show: Daihatsu saves the day

The Tokyo Motor Show was largely disappointing this year, mainly caused by high expectations. There was no Gran Turismo reunion of Supras, Zs, and Evos. In fact, Toyota, Nissan and Mitsubishi all highlighted some sort of electric crossover van thingy. It was … Continue reading

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Tokyo Motor Show: Honda’s Sports EV concept will keep driving alive

Honda has unveiled what it believes is the next generation of sports cars at the Tokyo Motor Show. The Honda Sports EV is a concept model that the company says “combines EV performance and AI (artificial intelligence) inside a compact … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2017 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 08 — Best Booths

JCCS has become an international show. For years, the event has been growing, with ever better builds and spectators coming from farther reaches of the globe. This year, however, many top companies from Japan attended, while US-based ones upped the ante with … Continue reading

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JCCS Spotlight: Best in Show goes to the most stunning Subaru 360 restoration we’ve ever seen

The competition has never been harder for a Best in Show award at JCCS. We did the perhaps obvious thing by giving the JNC award to a Datsun 510, but the JCCS judges collectively gave the coveted Best in Show … Continue reading

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2017 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 07 — Trucks

One of our favorite categories of JCCS is classic trucks. The compact pickup is a lost art, and no one did them quite like Japan. As it turns out, the truck category turned out to be the single most diverse this year … Continue reading

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VIDEO: Burnouts and assorted antics with the Wild Cards

After the recent JCCS show, our friends the Wild Cards swung by the Hoonigan offices for a little video shoot. You’ll see cars like Roy De Guzman’s Hako, Jay Kho’s R30, Patrick Soliman’s Kenmeri, and even JNC award winner Gilbert Susana’s 510. … Continue reading

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NEWS: Daihatsu’s retro concepts for the Tokyo Motor Show

This year’s Tokyo Motor Show might see the revival of some legendary models — Supra, Z, S2000, Evo — but it might be Daihatsu that takes the cake for the most charming heritage concepts this year. The compact car specialist has revealed a … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2017 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 06 — Datsun 510 and the winner of the 2017 JNC Award

Every year, the kind folks at JCCS allow us to give one JNC award. This year, we were incredibly happy to give it to a Datsun 510, as 2017 happened to be the 50th anniversary of the Nissan 510 chassis. But which 510? There was … Continue reading

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NEWS: Mazda’s Tokyo sedan concept to set next generation of design, looks rear-wheel-drive

Mazda has revealed some teasers for two concepts that will headline its Tokyo Motor Show display later this month. One is almost certainly the next-generation Mazda Axela (known stateside as the 3). The more far-out one is a sedan concept the Hiroshima carmaker … Continue reading

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VIDEO: Listen to the sound of the Honda RA300 at Monza

Fifty years ago, the Honda RA300 won the Italian Grand Prix. Earlier this year, Honda took its famed racing machine back to Autodromo Nazionale Monza, and cranked its 48-valve, 12,000-rpm V12 for the fans to hear. 

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EVENTS: 2017 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 05 — 80s & 90s

This year the JCCS Street Neo Classics show was put on hiatus because its venue, an area of the Toyota USA campus, is no longer available. If you’ve been following the news the company’s move to Texas is underway, so soon the long-standing Torrance … Continue reading

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VIDEO: B110 Nissan Sunny vs KP61 Toyota Starlet touge battle

“Why no moar horsepower?” is probably the most oft repeated and annoying gripe  leveled at Japanese cars. If you’d like to see a video that answers why, here it is. Japan’s roads are mountainous, tight and a ton of fun in small, … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2017 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 04 — Shakotan Sleds

We’ve shown you the JDM rarities, competition machines and museum pieces of JCCS, but we know what you really came here for — Nihon sleds slammed on some vintage barrels. It’s the quintessential Japanese modified car look, and there was plenty of it on … Continue reading

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NEWS: Toyota will introduce a new Century for only the third time in 50 years

Toyota has released images of the third generation Toyota Century ahead of the Tokyo Motor Show. This is notable, because in the Toyota flagship sedan’s entire 50 year history, there has been only one complete redesign, until now. While minor … Continue reading

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NEWS: More images of Mitsubishi Evo concept revealed

Mitsubishi has revealed two new images of its next Evolution model. Called the e-Evolution, it is said to combine the automaker’s greatest strengths — all wheel drive, electrification, and off-roading prowess. 

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EVENTS: Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 03 — Stock as a Rock

Before we get started on this installment of the 2017 JCCS coverage, let us just say that it has become impossible to capture every click-worthy car on camera. That’s a good thing, a testament to the ever-increasing quality of cars … Continue reading

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JCCS Spotlight: Joseph DeMeo’s 1988 Toyota Celica All-Trac

One of the most mind-blowing cars at this year’s Japanese Classic Car Show was Joseph DeMeo’s 1988 Toyota Celica All-Trac. With just 15,200 miles on the odometer, the rally-inspired AWD coupe was basically showroom and the finest example we had ever … Continue reading

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NEWS: Honda to debut S2000-esque concept at Tokyo Motor Show

Honda has released a teaser image of an upcoming concept to be shown at the Tokyo Motor Show. Called the Honda Sport EV, it appears to be a sports coupe with rear-wheel-drive proportions, with a flowing hood similar to that … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2017 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 02 — Because Race Car

In Japan, you have full-blown vintage racing events devoted to Nihon steel, factory sponsored motorsports festivals, and manufacturer exhibits. These things don’t really happen in the US with Japanese automakers, so JCCS is one of the rare opportunities for competition machines to … Continue reading

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