Category Archives: profiles
This 400,000-mile Acura NSX’s owner is our new hero
When it comes to classics, bone stock examples with as few miles as possible are always going to fetch the most coin. But there is another way to live, and that is by putting the most damn miles a person … Continue reading
How one Nissan owner’s love for the Z31 led him to a rare widebody 300ZX
We at JNC have been known to love the third-generation Z-car, although it’s kind of a neglected stepchild of the line. Even Nissan themselves sometimes forgets about them. However, our appreciation of the Z31 is nothing compared to Colorado resident … Continue reading
Behold Miataland, the Miata-themed hotel in Italy
Any tour of Italy would have to include the Ferrari factory collections in Modena and Maranello, the Lamborghini museum in Bologna, or even the Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile in Turin. But if you’re looking for a small slice of JNC worship, … Continue reading
PROFILES: Hiep Dang got these other Nissans instead of an R32
Usually when we dive into the waters of collecting cars, we inherit the gene from a family member or a group of friends, and our interests follow theirs. We usually start off with something simple and move up from there. … Continue reading
This amazing 1976 Toyota Publica was restored by a 12-year-old
Stories of rare car restorations are always heartwarming, but it is especially so when the labor of love is a father-daughter project. Throw in the fact that the daughter was just 12 years old when they began the restoration, and … Continue reading
PROFILES: The first Honda built for the US market, restored
One of the reasons JCCS was so special this year was the special debuts that carmakers had in store. Perhaps the most significant of them all was Honda’s unveiling of the newly restored Serial One N600, the first Honda automobile built for … Continue reading
PROFILES: Dr Hitoshi Kato’s Mazda R100 vintage racers
Racing is an extraordinary human endeavor. It encompasses brains and brawn, heroics at the individual and team levels, with huge amounts of synergy and coordination. And the machines are both technologically advanced and visually magnificent, catapulting us beyond our natural human abilities. For spectators, … Continue reading
PROFILES: Driving Toyota’s Great Race 1970 Corolla
“It’s a bit snug,” says Jamie Bestwick in typical British understatement as he slides his racing seat into position. He bashes into the knees of his navigator, Laurence Foster, who is hunched in the back seat. Bestwick, a 13-time X-Games … Continue reading
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
PROFILES: Take a ride with the Skylines of the Wild Cards
Spanning two states and twenty-plus members, the Wild Cards are one of the first Japanese-style zoku rengo, or alliances, in the United States. With inspiration from Nihon customization styles like bosozoku and kaido racers, many of the Wild Cards cars are the dream machines … Continue reading
PROFILES: Randy York’s rare 1973 Datsun 510
Long before social media, Randy York was one of the first members of the Bluebirds email list. He ran United Five-Ten Owners (UFO) SoCal from the mid-80s through the 90s before it faded, and was a founding editor for the definitive … Continue reading
PROFILES: Sung Kang’s “Fugu Z”
It was right there, lurking ominously beneath a dark gray cover in the middle of the GReddy Racing parking lot. We all knew what it was, and we had a pretty darned good idea of what it was going to … Continue reading
PROFILES: The lost Datsun 240Z Sport Wagon
At this year’s Z Car Club of America’s annual convention, a unique 240Z was unveiled. The Datsun 240Z “Sport Wagon” was borne from the mind of Yoshihiko Matsuo, the original stylist of the Datsun 240Z. Though it was never put into … Continue reading
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PROFILES: Sid Chiang’s 1986 Mugen Honda CRX Si
Sid Chiang is a long-time veteran of the automotive design world. He’s held positions at GM, where he worked on cars like as the C7 and Camaro, and before that Ford, where he was lead exterior designer on the ST44 Probe and Ford GT. Prior … Continue reading
PROFILES: 1989 Mazda MX-5 Miata Club Racer
It’s highly unorthodox, at the debut of a new model, to also display a hot rod version painted in a yellow so loud it threatens to eclipse the supposed star of your show. This is especially true when the debut in question is for as … Continue reading
PROFILES: Touring Osaka in a Seibu Keisatsu Skyline
Driving through Japan in a red-on-black DR30 Skyline festooned with emergency lights is akin to prowling rural Georgia in an orange ’69 Dodge Charger. Or Miami in a white Testarossa. Or Los Angeles in a black ’82 Firebird with a … Continue reading
Posted in nissan, profiles, Uncategorized, Video Games
Tagged 117, co10t, corona mark II, cosmo, crown, daihatsu, Hiroyuki Narazaki, isuzu, mazda, nissan, osaka, president, r30, r31, rx-5, Ryu Asada, seibu keisatsu, skyline, toyota, x20
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PROFILES: Mooneyes’ 1JZ 1970 Toyota Crown Hardtop
With 14 consecutive generations and counting, the Toyota Crown is the standard of Japanese sedans. In its 58 years of continuous production, it’s inhabited many guises — saloon, wagon, pickup, ambulance, and even police pursuit vehicle — but the most … Continue reading
PROFILES: JDM Legends’ 1967 Prince Skyline 2000GT-B
Skyline. Just say the word and it conjures visions of Japan’s greatest motoring icons. From unobtainable high-tech monsters christened “Godzilla” by western journalists to sepia-toned commercials in which teenagers fell in love, the name evokes a meaning for everyone. However, … Continue reading
PROFILES: Tom Knudsen, Nihon Classics Ambassador
“Japanese cars will never be classics.” That was a sentiment commonly expressed by traditional collectors when we founded JNC in 2006. Despite huge strides in recognition made since then, there are people who still think so. Tom Knudsen is not … Continue reading
PROFILES: Jun Imai’s 1971 Datsun 510 Wagon
We see a lot of cars here at JNC. A lot. Every so often, however, there’s that one singular car that comes along and truly blows our feeble minds. Jun Imai‘s 1971 Datsun 510 Wagon is exactly one of those cars, and … Continue reading
