Author Archives: Steve Chang
Channel your inner Bunta with an official ‘Initial D’ Zippo lighter
An official Initial D-themed Zippo has been released in Japan. The classic cigarette lighter depicts scenes from one of the manga’s most famous battles — between Takumi Fujiwara’s Toyota AE86 against the Todo School’s EK9 Honda Civic Type R — … Continue reading
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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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
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
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
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
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
