Author Archives: Matt De Mangos
KIDNEY, ANYONE? 17,000-mile 1972 Datsun 1200 Coupe
Right now on Ebay there’s a 1972 Datsun 1200 Coupe for sale, with a claimed mileage of only 17,181. Nissan USA marketed it as a fuel saver back in the day, with ads trumpeting its ability to drive from New … Continue reading
Friday Video: Nostalgic Nissan art by Osamu Samurai
Now that we’ve found Mary perhaps it’s appropriate that we share a video full of tricked out kenmeri artwork. Well not a video per se, but these frames of customized Skyline and Fairlady Z renderings by Osamu Samurai are nevertheless killer. They’re … Continue reading
Posted in Art Corner, Friday Video, nissan
Tagged 240z, 260z, 280z, Art Corner, c10, c110, fairlady z, Friday Video, gc10, gc110, Hakosuka, kenmeri, kpgc10, kpgc110, nissan, Osamu Samurai, s30, skyline
10 Comments
Turn your Datsun into a Champion with the 210ZX!
It’s as if the planets have aligned. Just as we posed a QotW about Japan’s ugliest car, a reader unearths this long-forgotten piece of motoring history. Behold, the Datsun 210ZX!
Ye Olde Zokusha from the United Kingdom
Well it was only a matter of time. The cultural reach of the zokusha has extended to jolly old England. We saw a banzai flagged Lada last year, but never in our wildest dreams did we expect a turaichi shakotan … Continue reading
Posted in bosozoku
Tagged austin princess, bosozoku, longchamp, longchamps, MkIII, sharknose, ssr, volvo 244
14 Comments
Food Poisoning, Anyone? Mitsubishi Galant GTO gum
How hard core a Mitsubishi fan are you? Hard enough to chew a pack of 42-year old peppermint gum? This beautifully packaged promotional item for the Galant GTO is suspected to hail from a Motor Show circa 1970 but, hey, … Continue reading
Kidney, Anyone? 35,000-mile 1972 Toyota RT90 Corona Coupe
Ben says the RT90 Corona Coupe is ultra rare. However, I’ve found him about three to four examples floating on the lists of craig. This black-on-red ’72 is similar if not identical to the one owned by the Toyota USA … Continue reading
Behold, the Mazda Cosmo AP RX-5
The Mazda RX-5 is easily the most unloved “RX” car ever sold. When Mazda decided to revive the Cosmo name on a 2+2 GT at the height of the mid-70s luxo-barge craze, it dropped the “Sport” altogether and gave it … Continue reading
Kidney, Anyone? 1972 Mazda Luce 1800
A number of alert readers informed us of this ultra-rare 1972 Mazda 1800 sedan over the weekend. For those well versed in JDM Hiroshima steel will recognize this as the pre-rotary Mazda Luce, one generation before the 13B made it the … Continue reading
Friday Video: The Datsuns of New Zealand’s Shellsport Series
There’s an island nation halfway around the world where Sunnys and Starlets were regularly raced in a premier racing series back in the late 1970s. Fans flocked to see these small-displacement machines battle it out, and the cars achieved such … Continue reading
Posted in motorsports, nissan, toyota
Tagged 910, b110, b310, bluebird, cherry, datsun, new zealand, shellsport, starlet, sunny, toyota
16 Comments
Kidney, Anyone? 1984 Toyota FJ43 Land Cruiser for nearly $70,000
The FJ43 Toyota Land Cruiser was sold, at least in our hemisphere, in South America. The Bandeirante, as it was called by locals, split the difference between the FJ40 (90 inch) and the long-chassis FJ45 (105 inch) with a 96-inch wheelbase … Continue reading
Art Corner: Fisch’s Datsun 200SX Appeal
The 1977-79 Datsun 200SX was widely derided as one of the ugliest cars ever to hit the American market. That was because we never saw it the way it was intended by Nissan — as the S10 Silvia with flush JDM … Continue reading
Custer could have made his last stand in comfort with the Plymouth Arrow “Tepee”
Despite their notable absence from JCCS, on the streets, and in the collective memory of the American public, the Plymouth Arrow was actually quite a popular car. And you could have easily been the big man on campsite with this … Continue reading
Hondas for Guys & Girls
Continuing on the theme of youthful, frolicking couples in nostalgic automotive ads, here’s a 1960s Honda print ad featuring products for “Guys & Girls” — a Honda N360 and E300 portable generator for camping families, and a Monkey Z50M on which you can … Continue reading
Friday Video: Hwang Jang Lee Drives a Datsun 280ZX
What would a 1970s Korean taekwondo master, capable of beating up a whole gang of poorly synchronized bad guys using only his two feet and a groovy chicka-bow-wow soundtrack, drive? A Datsun 280ZX, of course. Watch the video on YouTube … Continue reading
Posted in nissan, Video Games
Tagged 280zx, datsun, fairlady z, hwang jang lee, nissan, s130
4 Comments
C31 Laurel
John and Ben posted the C32 earlier this week. But this C31 Laurel is badasser. Pillarless, check!
510 Day Observed, in San Diego
The first ever Datsun meet put on by the San Diego 510 Crew (Ismael, Miguel & Ramon). This meet was conceived not only as a tardy 5-10 day celebration, but as a way to get any other Datsun models out … Continue reading
BRE Reunion Dinner Video Availalble Now
From the video description: Experience the BRE Reunion! In the Fall of 2008, BRE (Brock Racing Enterprise) team members reconnected en mass for the first time since the end of the 1972 race season. The BRE team changed the perception … Continue reading
Posted in datsun, motorsports, nissan
Tagged 240z, 510, bluebird, bre, datsun, datsun roadster, fairlady roadster, fairlady z, nissan, peter brock, s30 z, scca, trans-am
2 Comments
TOM'S Racing Motorsports History
Here’s a cool video showing the history of TOM’S Racing. The Toyota-authorized tuning house was founded in 1974 by Nobuhide Tachi and Kiyoshi Oiwa (TOM’S stands for Tachi & Oiwa Motor Sports). There’s some excellent footage of their Chaser and … Continue reading
Kidney, Anyone? 1960 Datsun 1200 Van VPL221
Just when you thought you’d seen every Datsun sold in North America, a 1960 Datsun 1200 Van shows up on ebay in La Grange, California. We at JNC have been around a lot of Datsuns, but none of us had … Continue reading
