Author Archives: Steve Chang

Toyota’s revived GR Celica will be mid-engined, confusing fans

It’s pretty much assumed by now that Toyota will bring back the Celica, it’s just a matter of when. But a new report out of Japan comes with an extra dose of “what?” as well. Apparently, this new Celica will … Continue reading

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‘Subaru and Subaru’ promises to unite the worlds of ‘Initial D’ and ‘MF Ghost’

Subaru and Subaru, the sequel to Initial D and MF Ghost, launches in a few weeks. As the debut approaches, the series’ plot summary and setting has emerged. Apparently it will take place after the events of MF Ghost, in … Continue reading

Posted in manga | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Toyota Land Cruisers at Tokyo Outdoor Show to promote 60, 70, and 80 series GR Heritage Parts

Toyota entered the Tokyo Outdoor Show over the weekend with a pair of classic Land Cruisers. The trucks, an FJ40 and FJ60, hailed from the Toyota Automobile Museum’s collection and have undergone impeccable restorations. They were on site to promote … Continue reading

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Toyota built a one-off open-top Century SUV for sumo champions

Is the Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet too common for you? Toyota might just have the ultimate droptop crossover in the form of the Century SUV. The bad news is, there’s only one in the entire world, and you have to be … Continue reading

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Iconic SP will be “a good successor for RX-7” says top Mazda exec

Few companies are making pure, timelessly beautiful sports cars any more. The Mazda Iconic SP might be the very last one that uses gasoline, if it gets made. A few more details about it have surfaced, and it seems like … Continue reading

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Initial D creator to debut Subaru-centric manga set in the Fujiwara universe

With MF Ghost having concluded and the 30th anniversary of Initial D fast approaching, author Shuichi Shigeno has announced a new manga. Subaru and Subaru will take place in the same universe his two previous street racing epics and will … Continue reading

Posted in manga | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Aussies know how to make a Toyota Land Cruiser commercial

A new commercial from Toyota Australia proves that it’s possible to hawk the Land Cruiser. It has just the right amount of heritage and humor, and it shows a bunch of Cruisers tearing through the Outback. It’s much better than … Continue reading

Posted in cm | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

J-tin abounds in Sabrina Carpenter’s latest music video

We suspect most of our readers are not in the Sabrina Carpenter demographic, but there’s no denying she’s one of the biggest pop stars in music right now. Her music video for ‘Manchild’ debuted on June 6 and it plays … Continue reading

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A closer look at the Tommykaira ZZII prototype

At the turn of the century Tommykaira was on the verge of building a Japanese supercar. Gran Turismo players may remember the Tommykaira ZZII as a super light, mid-engined, all-wheel-drive weapon that decimated the competition. Sadly, that was as far … Continue reading

Posted in Video | Tagged | 2 Comments

QotW: What’s the best rig for a novice off-roader?

Carefully plotting every tire placement through a rock-strewn trail at tortoise-like speeds can be just as exhilarating as perfectly connecting apex after apex to shave a tenth of a second off your lap time. And as it happens, today, June … Continue reading

Posted in Question of the Week | Tagged | 13 Comments

UD Trucks celebrates 90th anniversary

The company today known as UD Trucks was established in 1935. This year they’re kicking off a 90th anniversary campaign to celebrate nearly a century of trucks. The large truck and bus maker was founded by Kenzo Adachi in Saitama … Continue reading

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QotW: What’s your best/worst dealership story?

Today is apparently the first ever National Automotive Dealer Day. Love ’em or hate ’em, dealerships are a part of life. We suspect that most people don’t like spending a lot of time in them, but  if you love cars … Continue reading

Posted in Question of the Week | 9 Comments

QotW: What’s the craziest odometer reading you’ve ever seen?

Today, May 12, is National Odometer Day. The modern odometer is credited to William Clayton, a Mormon pioneer who attached a mileage counting device to his horse-drawn wagon in 1847. The device tracked wagon wheel’s number of revolutions as his … Continue reading

Posted in Question of the Week | Tagged | 15 Comments

The Infiniti J30 was hard to look at but surprisingly well-appointed

If you were alive during the launch of Lexus, you’ll remember the army of naysayers decrying the LS400 as a cheaper version of established European luxury sedans. Infiniti, on the other hand, tried really hard to introduce a Japanese idea … Continue reading

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Tomica celebrates 55th anniversary by partnering with five actual carmakers

This year marks the 55th anniversary of Tomica, Japan’s favorite diecast car brand. To honor this milestone, Tomica worked with actual car designers from five automakers to come up with special anniversary graphics packages for models of their respective marques. … Continue reading

Posted in minicars | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

QotW: Why do you like driving?

It’s hard to believe that in all the years we’ve done QotW we’ve never asked the most basic question about why we’re all here in the first place. If we like cars it should stand to reason that we like … Continue reading

Posted in Question of the Week | Tagged | 15 Comments

QotW: What movie or TV wreck makes you cringe?

Carspotting in movies and TV shows is a great pastime, especially when watching older forms of visual arts. Unfortunately, we all know that whenever a car appears on screen there’s always the chance that it’ll meet a grisly end. Even … Continue reading

Posted in Question of the Week | Tagged | 13 Comments

Jerry Seinfeld is a Subaru guy

Jerry Seinfeld is famous for his vast Porsche collection. And his jokes, but his collection of some of the world’s most historic and rarest P-cars, which he stores in a hollowed-out three-story brownstone in New York City, is the envy … Continue reading

Posted in Celebrity Nostalgics | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Autobacs and Blitz will help tune your Toyota GR86 exactly like the one in ‘MF Ghost’

MF Ghost is apparently shaping up to be this generation’s Initial D. The manga and anime is so popular that Japanese aftermarket parts retailer Autobacs is teaming up with tuning house Blitz to create a series of MF Ghost Corners … Continue reading

Posted in Barn Finds, News | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

QotW: When a marque dies, do its classics lose their luster or become more legendary?

What happens when a marque dies? Not that we have anything particular on the mind; it’s just a random topic that came up around the JNC water cooler the other day. Some of us believe that the lack of connection … Continue reading

Posted in Question of the Week | Tagged | 9 Comments