Category Archives: events
Suzuka Circuit’s 60th anniversary Fan Appreciation Day
Over the weekend, Suzuka Circuit held its annual Fan Appreciation Day, a festival for motorsports enthusiasts of all stripes. The early spring event has always been an unofficial kick-off to Japan’s motorsports season, but this year it was a special … Continue reading
See the nose-jobbed Nissan Z Customized Proto in action
Cars always look different in motion than they do standing still. Nissan has released a video of the Z432-inspired Customized Proto with its new and improved nose, and it’s worth a look. Well, technically it’s more of a computer render, … Continue reading
Mazda RX-3 Wagon at Tokyo Auto Salon gives off Katayama vibes
While not quite as ambitious as the 6-rotor Eunos Cosmo, another Mazda that caught our attention from the 2022 Tokyo Auto Salon was the show’s sole RX-3 Wagon. Done up in a touring car style that evokes the Savanna RX-3 … Continue reading
Mazda Cosmo 6-rotor makes waves at Tokyo Auto Salon
One car that made a splash at this year’s Tokyo Auto Salon was a JC Mazda Cosmo with a 6-rotor motor. Built by Anniversary Racing Factory, a rotary specialty shop in Tokorozawa City, Saitama Prefecture, the engine consists of three … Continue reading
Daihatsu had the best Tokyo Auto Salon display with ten generations of HiJet
The Tokyo Auto Salon is traditionally filled with over-the-top booths filled with over-the-top builds. But this year, it was humble Daihatsu that took the cake with a lineup of HiJet kei trucks that dated back to 1960. There were 10 … Continue reading
Toyota Century “Lowrider Limo” wins Sedan Grand Prix at Tokyo Auto Salon
One of the most notable displays at each year’s Tokyo Auto Salon belongs to NATS, the Nihon Automobile Technical College. As students there learn automobile maintenance, repair, and customization, they get to build some of the coolest (and most fun) … Continue reading
Nissan Fairlady Z432R-inspired Z gets a nose job at the Tokyo Auto Salon
Over the weekend the production Japanese-spec Nissan Fairlady Z was finally unveiled at the 2022 Tokyo Auto Salon. Joining it on stage at the custom car extravaganza, in addition to the standard yellow and blue, was one very orange customized … Continue reading
The stunning Toyota GR GT3 Concept gives us hope that the Mazda RX-Vision will be built
The Toyota GR GT3 Concept has just been unveiled at the 2022 Tokyo Auto Salon, signaling the Big T’s intention to enter the GT3 class of touring car racing. The car is absolutely gorgeous, hands down the best looking Toyota … Continue reading
VIDEO: Japanese Classic Car Show 2021
The Japanese Classic Car Show Association dropped their official 2021 JCCS video yesterday. While it doesn’t feature all the cars, trucks, and motorcycles that were present (you can see our own coverage for that), it does a great job of … Continue reading
Japanese Classic Car Show 2021, Part 02 – Our Faves
Some time off can do funny things. It can act as a reset. The in-person Japanese Classic Car Show was forced to go into a hiatus because of the pandemic last year, and forced to move to a new location … Continue reading
Toyota Chinook Camper reborn in “Tacozilla” SEMA build
Toyota has revealed its incredible Tacoma-based Tacozilla, a retro mobile home based on the Chinook campers of the 1970s. Unlike the Chinooks of old, which were mostly fitted to 2WD pickups, the Tacozilla rides on a 4WD Tacoma TRD Sport … Continue reading
2021 All-Toyotafest, Part 02 — Supra & Lexus
One of the great developments we noticed this year was the ascendancy of the A70 Supra. We can’t remember seeing such a high turnout of the third-gen Supra at Toyotafest, and it was good to see this important chassis receive … Continue reading
2021 All-Toyotafest, Part 01 — Starlet, Corolla, Celica, MR2
After a year and a half of no major car shows, it was good to be back. The 2021 Toyotafest picked back up right where 2019 left off, although a few changes had to be made due to the pandemic. … Continue reading
For the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Daihatsu followed the torch from Greece to Japan
The last time Tokyo hosted the Olympics, Japan had yet to prove itself as a global force in the automotive realm. The country’s budding carmakers was eager to seize the opportunity that the 1964 Summer Games presented, to introduce the … Continue reading
TAS2021: Here come Daihatsu’s Tokyo Auto Salon cars
Daihatsu has officially taken the wraps off their 2021 Tokyo Auto Salon builds. We saw mock-ups of them last month, but now videos of the finished cars can be seen in motion, complete with jaunty music. This is probably the … Continue reading
Daihatsu’s 2021 Tokyo Auto Salon lineup includes 60th anniversary Hijet camper, Copen speedster
The 2021 Tokyo Auto Salon has been canceled due to the recent COVID-19 spike, but carmakers will be showing their builds in an upcoming virtual event. Ahead of that, Daihatsu has revealed its lineup of five kei jidosha, including a … Continue reading