Author Archives: Ricky Silverio

MINICARS: 2016 Hot Wheels X JNC Datsun 620 Car Culture series

Today is 6/20. And as it happens we received the latest pre-production Hot Wheels samples at the doorstep of JNC HQ, and it’s is none other than the Datsun 620. 

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VIDEO: Jerry Seinfeld will drive the hubcap off a Mazda Cosmo Sport

In the trailer for the upcoming season of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Jerry Seinfeld drives the hubcap off a Mazda Cosmo Sport. This marks the first Japanese car to appear in the series, if you don’t count the completely pointless … Continue reading

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VIDEO: Legendary Skyline drivers drive legendary Skylines

If you read our interview with Yoshikazu Sunako and found yourself itching for more of Japan’s racing heroes slinging Skylines around racetracks, you’re in luck. Back in 2001 Best Motoring produced a Skyline special reuniting three drivers with their respective cars, among the most famous … Continue reading

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VIDEO: The original Back to the Future Toyota Pickup

We’ve seen many replicas of the iconic Toyota 4×4 from Back to the Future, most recently at Toyotafest, but also at shows like the JCCS. Hell, we’ve even seen Lego versions, and Toyota even made their own last year. However, there’s … Continue reading

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JNC VAULT: The Skyline Legend

Last week we published one of our favorite JNC stories of all time: the interview with Yoshikazu Sunako, one of the original Skyline GT drivers at the 1964 Japan Grand Prix and a man who not only witnessed, but participated … Continue reading

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EVENTS: Nostalgic2Days 2016, Part 04 — Odds and Ends

One of the excellent things about a show like Nos2Days is that there are plenty of things for sale. You never know what you’ll come across, which can make browsing the aisles rather dangerous to your wallet. From new-old-stock center … Continue reading

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EVENTS: Nostalgic2Days 2016, Part 03 — The Fast & the Fastidious

In this installment, we take a look at two very different types of cars: original barn finds and restorations whose every last nut is factory correct, and those that were treated like instruments of war. In other words, all the stuff that’s prized by predictably … Continue reading

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EVENTS: Nostalgic2Days 2016, Part 02 — Tuning Houses

For our second installment of the 2016 Nostalgic 2 Days event coverage, we’ll take a look at some of Japan’s kyusha tuning houses, beginning with our friends at Star Road. The Tokyo-based specialists of classic Skylines and Fairlady Zs typically holds court … Continue reading

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VIDEO: A brief history of the Honda Serial One N600

Honda has released the second installment of its video series documenting the restoration of the first car it built for the US market. If you’ve been keeping up with the story, the extremely brief video is unlikely to shed any new light on the … Continue reading

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MINICARS: Matchbox Hakosuka Nissan Skyline

Matchbox has just teased a new casting for 2016, and it’s none other than the hakosuka Nissan Skyline. Technically, it’s a 1971 Skyline 2000GT-X, complete with the surf line over the rear wheels and it’s still in prototype form (that’s what those numbers … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2016 All-Toyotafest, Part 01 — A preview of what’s to come

Now in its 21st year, the All-Toyotafest has become quite possibly the most popular Japanese car show in southern California. How popular? Online registration for the 2016 gathering — all 450 spots — sold out just eight hours after going … Continue reading

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Happy 5/10 Day from JNC

2016 marks JNC‘s 10th anniversary. The 510 has been an important car for us over the years, including serving as the subject of our very first feature story. As such, we’ve decided to celebrate 5/10 Day by taking a look at the most memorable … Continue reading

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VIDEO: 2016 Cannonball Festival

Though billed as a music festival for greasers and rockabilly types, the Cannonball Festival includes an impressive car and motorcycle show as well. The show is held on opposite ends of the country, Hiroshima and Chiba, and draws a wide array of bosozoku bikes and sleds … Continue reading

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MINICARS: So Hot Wheels went and made a dekotora…

Normally even the most hard core Hot Wheels collectors are happy to pass the tractor trailer sets onto their kids, but fans of Japanese steel are going to want to keep their eyes peeled for the latest rig. Because Hot Wheels has gone and … Continue reading

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VIDEO: It’s still fun to drive a stock R32 Skyline GT-R

Matt Farah is a guy who drives highly tuned cars on a regular basis, but one of his favorites is a car that is very nearly bone stock and over 25 years old. In fact, he liked it so much he … Continue reading

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TRA Kyoto’s new Boss kit turns FDs into RX-3s

One of the most photographed things at last year’s SEMA Show was the TRA Kyoto Boss kit that grafted a Datsun Sunny-esque nose onto an S14 Silvia. Now, its makers have applied the same principle to a Mazda, namely, melding a stylized Savanna … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2016 New Year Meeting, Part 04 — The Streets

In the last two installments of our 2016 New Year Meeting coverage, we prowled the parking area to find as much diversity in marques and models as there were in customization styles. In our final installment of the 2016 New Year … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2016 New Year Meeting, Part 02 — The Parking Area

In Part 02 of our New Year Meeting coverage, we delve into the parking area to unearth gems as good as anything inside the show. Some of them aren’t able to make it simply because of the age cutoff, others perhaps … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2016 New Year Meeting, Part 01

The New Year Meeting is Tokyo’s premiere classic car show and it takes place at the end of January. You’ll likely never see a gathering of J-tin so diverse anywhere else, and the magic begins with a line of cars at the … Continue reading

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PROFILES: The ultimate BRE 510 tribute

There are occasions, as any enthusiast will tell you, when whatever you are doing, no matter how important, must be immediately and emphatically dropped in order to turn around and look at a car. That’s the situation our fearless leader Ben and I found … Continue reading

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