Author Archives: Dave Yuan
COLLECTIONS: Inside Mazda North America’s Basement
Talk to Mazda employees about their cars, past and present, and it immediately becomes clear that the company is comprised of people passionate about what they’ve built. This is no small feat, and we have peeked behind the walls of enough automakers to … Continue reading
Posted in Collections, Galleries
Tagged 24 Hours of Daytona, 787, 929, atenza, Bonneville Salt Flats, capella, demio, familia, fc3s, fd3s, glc, imsa, le mans, luce, Luce Rotary Coupe, mazda, Mazda Basement, Mazda2, Mazda6, miata, mx-5, mx-6, MX-R01, r130, repu, rx-2, rx-4, rx-7, rx-792p, rx-8, sa22, savanna
22 Comments
25 YEAR CLUB: The Mazda Eunos Cosmo is officially a Japanese Nostalgic Car
“Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us,” Carl Sagan once said. If there ever was a car as awe-inspiring as the stars, it is the Eunos Cosmo. A forbidden fruit of formidable engineering to those outside of Japan, it’s … Continue reading
JNC THEATER: NHK to air three-part Mazda Documentary
This August will mark the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. To keep alive memories and legacies of the survivors, NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) will broadcast a series of television specials. Three shows are of particular … Continue reading
50 YEAR CLUB: Half a century of the Shinkansen bullet train
Don’t worry, you’re at the right place. As JNC fans, sometimes we find ourselves fascinated by various vintage Japanese machines and the Shinkansen, or bullet train, is perhaps the most historically and culturally significant. The image of sleek white arrow piercing the landscape with … Continue reading
Posted in 50 Year Club, Japanese Nostalgic Train
Tagged 50 Year Club, Bullet Train, shinkansen
16 Comments
EVENTS: MX-5 Turns 25 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
If you just woke up from a coma, we have two things to tell you. First, welcome back. Second, Mazda made a new Miata. Everyone else in the world was bombarded with that knowledge a week ago with an inescapable global unveiling. That, however, … Continue reading
ART CORNER: Fujimi’s Touge Series Box Illustrations
Long after earning driver’s licenses and pinkslips to our rides, some of us still find ourselves mired in plastic model cars. Perhaps it reflects the constraint suffered by many of us on budget, space, or sanity (of ourselves and/or family … Continue reading
Posted in Art Corner
Tagged 2000gt, a60, a70, ae86, chaser, civic, corolla, cr-x, cresta, ef, fairlady z, fc3s, Fujimi, honda, integra, levin, mark II, mazda, mitsubishi, mr2, r31, r32, rx-7, s13, s14, silvia, skyline, soarer, sprinter, starion, supra, sw20, te27, touge, toyota, trueno, x70, z10, z20, z31
4 Comments
BUBBLE ERA EXCESS: The story of Mazda’s M2 brand, Part 02
In Part 01 of our story about M2, we delved into how Mazda set up flashy building in Tokyo’s posh Setagaya neighborhood and invited customers to give them feedback. What resulted was the 1001, a clubman-themed Miata modded straight from the factory. In Part … Continue reading
BUBBLE ERA EXCESS: The story of Mazda’s M2 brand, Part 01
As enthusiasts, many of us feel the urge to voice opinions about our favorite marques. “Honda should do this,” or “Toyota should build that.” If only the they would listen the (automotive) world would be a better place, no? In fact, … Continue reading
QotW: What’s your favorite period-correct license plate for your JNC?
Thanks to California’s Legacy License Plate program we’ve been talking a lot about the proper period-correct license plates for your JNC recently. We’ve been Cali-centric, but we’d like to open the question up to our readers worldwide. What’s your favorite period-correct license … Continue reading
OTAKU OBSESSION: The true history of period-correct California license plates
California’s unique blend of arid weather, car culture, and state law forcing license plates to stay with the car, even when it changes hands, have created a perfect storm for a unique otaku obsession. For sale ads in all corners of … Continue reading
FAUX-STALGICS: 2000 Toyota Origin
On the heels of another Toyotafest, let us return to the series where we check out some examples of modern retro-inspired cars along with the JNCs they mimic. In this post, we turn to a quintessential classic Toyota, the Crown, … Continue reading
FAUX-STALGIC: The MX-5-based Mazda Cosmo 21
The 19th century naturalist Henry Walter Bates discovered caterpillars in the Amazon with gigantic heads resembling those of pit vipers. This type of mimicry is a clever and effective means of survival, but can it work on cars? Given the … Continue reading
Posted in Faux-Stalgics
Tagged 110s, cosmo 21, cosmo sport, mazda, mazda roadster, miata, mx-5
14 Comments
KEI HERO: Remembering the Suzuki Fronte Coupe
Can you name a rear-engined Japanese sports GT with Italian styling and specific output of over 100PS/L? Such a car was real, and it came from Suzuki. Suzuki is a marque with rather divergent reputations in the US versus Japan. … Continue reading
BOOK CLUB: Datsun 280ZX, by Nissan Motor Corp
I purchase books fairly infrequently thanks to libraries. Automotive books are the exception. Information in high-quality books on cars tend to be less immortal than, say, the words of Shakespeare. Sales and circulation tend to be limited, and photos and schematics make … Continue reading
BACK ROADS: Remebering the Honda City
As long-time Honda enthusiasts, it is hard nowadays not to marvel at the many creative and awesome machines that bore the iconic “H” during the 1980s. One of our favorites from those days is the Honda City. An unassuming econobox … Continue reading
