Category Archives: toyota

We drive the new Toyota Pro/Celebrity TRD Scion FR-S, despite being neither Pro nor Celebrity

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Ben Hsu

Since 1977, Toyota has been putting celebrities with varying degrees of track experience into race-prepped cars and unleashing them onto the streets of Long Beach. The carnage that unfolds is, thankfully, limited primarily to the sheetmetal of two dozen freshly … Continue reading →

Posted in motorsports, toyota | Tagged fr-s, gt 86, long beach grand prix, scion, toyota, toyota 86, Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race | 8 Comments

EVENTS: 2013 Nostalgic2Days, Part 01

Posted on March 6, 2013 by Guest Writer

The latest dispatch from guest writer David Lovett of Classic Car Nagoya covers Part 01 of the annual Nos2Days event, where we first encountered CCN years ago. —Ben There’s one show every year I absolutely refuse to miss. Nostalgic 2 Days happens every year … Continue reading →

Posted in events, honda, isuzu, nissan, suzuki, toyota | Tagged 300zx, a70, alto, beat, bellett, contessa, corolla, crown, csp311, daihatsu, datsun, Datsun Type 16, fairlady z, hino, honda, isuzu, levin, ma71, midget, mooneyes, ms51, nissan, nos2days, Nostalgic 2 Days, nostalgic hero, os giken, publica, Publica Sports Concept, r381, s50, s600, s800, silvia, sports 800, sprinter, supra, suzuki, te27, toyota, trueno, yotahachi, z31 | 18 Comments

QotW: What’s the best mod you can make to a classic car?

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Ben Hsu

Last week’s QotW broke records for having the most answers since we started doing our weekly polls. JNCers had opinions both plentiful and strong about the absolute worst mods that could be foisted upon classic cars. Well okay then, smarty … Continue reading →

Posted in Question of the Week, toyota | Tagged QotW, Question of the Week, toyota | 42 Comments

2013 Toyotafest Registration is now Open

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Dan Hsu

It’s time to get your Toyota ready for the 2013 All-Toyotafest. The date is May 4, 2013 at the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California, but registration will close on either April 10 or when all spaces are filled, whichever … Continue reading →

Posted in events, toyota | Tagged toyotafest | 2 Comments

EVENTS: 2013 JCCA New Year Meeting, Part 04

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Ben Hsu

We continue with more parking lot finds in Part 04 of our 2013 New Year Meeting coverage. Our previous installment featured some bosozoku style rides that caused some controversy, despite their important place in Japan’s tuning culture. Today’s shakotan style … Continue reading →

Posted in events, mazda, nissan, toyota | Tagged 2000gt, 240z, 240zg, 260z, 280z, a20, a60, b310, c10, c110, c230, celica, celica xx, datsun, dr30, fairlady z, gc10, Hakosuka, kenmeri, kgc10, kgc110, kgpc110, kpgc10, laurel, mazda, mf10, nissan, r30, racing hart, rx-3, s30, savanna, skyline, ssr, SSR MkII, SSR MkIII, sunny, supra | 13 Comments

Every Toyota Ever Built in One Enormous Family Tree

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Dan Hsu

How do you keep a Toyotaku occupied for days? Well, 2013 is The Toyota Motor Corporation‘s 75th anniversary and as part of the celebration, they’ve released a ginormous interactive family tree that shows every Toyota model ever built. Ever. Sort … Continue reading →

Posted in toyota | Tagged family tree, toyota | 8 Comments

EVENTS: 2013 JCCA New Year Meeting, Part 03

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Ben Hsu

We sure feasted our eyes on beautiful examples of Nihon steel in Parts 01 and 02 of our 2013 New Year Meeting coverage. The real show, however, is in the spectator parking area, which is packed full of shakotan sleds … Continue reading →

Posted in events, mazda, nissan, toyota | Tagged 230, 240z, 240zg, 260z, 280z, 330, 510, a20, a60, bluebird, bosozoku, c10, c110, cedric, celica, celica xx, datsun, fairlady z, fb, gloria, Hakosuka, kenmeri, kgc10, kgc110, kpgc10, kpgc110, mazda, nekome, new year meeting, nissan, police, ra28, ra29, racing hart, rx-7, s30, sa22, savanna, shakotan, skyline, ssr, supra, toyota, yonmeri, zokusha | 8 Comments

EVENTS: 2013 JCCA New Year Meeting, Part 02

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Ben Hsu

In Part 01 of our 2013 New Year Meeting coverage, our photogs arrived on the scene in Odaiba, Tokyo. Nihon steel was shot, the swap meets was perused, and legends of Japanese motoring were admired. We see no reason not … Continue reading →

Posted in events, honda, kei, mazda, mitsubishi, nissan, subaru, toyota | Tagged 130 cedric, 240z, 240zg, 260z, 280z, 710, a20, b110, c10, cedric, celica, corolla, daruma, datsun, e10, events, fairlady z, Hakosuka, hayashi, hayashi street, hilux, honda, honda 1300, jilba, ke10, kei, kgc10, life, lonchamps, mazda, minica, mitsubishi, new year meeting, nissan, porter, s30, s600, s800, skyline, speical six, subaru, subaru r-2, sunny, ta22, toyota, violet | 5 Comments

Happy Valentine’s Day from JNC

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Ricky Silverio

A chocolate Tomica is either the perfect Valentine’s Day gift for the car lover in your life or a diabolical plan to drive die-hard collectors insane. You can’t keep this one Mint in Box, but it would sure taste good … Continue reading →

Posted in honda, minicars, nissan, toyota | Tagged 2000gt, 240z, 260z, 280z, c10, corolla, fairlady z, Hakosuka, honda, kgc10, kpgc10, levin, nissan, s30, s600, s800, skyline, sprinter, te72, tomica, toyota, trueno | 9 Comments

Tetsuya Tada Reveals How the Toyota 86 was Born

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Ben Hsu

“Forget about minivans. You are now working on the sports car project.” That’s how the Toyota 86‘s chief engineer Tetsuya Tada was brought in to the venture that would transform way automaking was done. According to an article on Toyota … Continue reading →

Posted in toyota | Tagged ae86, brz, fr-s, gt 86, hachiroku, scion, Shinzo Kobuki, subaru, tetsuya tada, toyota, toyota 86 | 9 Comments

MINICARS: Hot Wheels X JNC Toyota AE86 Corolla

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Ricky Silverio

We weren’t supposed to show you the latest Hot Wheels car featuring the JNC logo until much later. However, collector sites have leaked the car already so we might as well put up our official announcement.

Posted in minicars, toyota | Tagged ae86, corolla, hot wheels, levin, minicars, sprinter, toyota, trueno | 20 Comments

EVENTS: 2013 JCCA New Year Meeting, Part 01

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Dan Hsu

It’s a winter wonderland in Tokyo, but the blinding whiteness did not come from new-fallen snow. Instead, it emanated from the gleaming shiro paint jobs of rows upon rows of kyuusha. Two of JNC‘s intrepid photographers recently braved Japan’s icy … Continue reading →

Posted in events, kei, minicars, mitsubishi, nissan, Prince, suzuki, toyota | Tagged 30-series Cedric, 31-series Cedric, 906, b110, butaketsu, c10, c130, Carrera 6, carry, cedric, corolla, daihatsu, Devil Japan, europa, fairlady roadster, galant gto, gc10, Hakosuka, JCCA, kgc10, kpgc10, kunimitsu takahashi, L50, laurel, levin, lotus, mira, mitsubishi, new year meeting, nissan, porsche, prince, rs watanabe, s54, shadow, skyline, sprinter, sunny, suzuki, te27, tomica, tosco, toyota, trd, trueno | 10 Comments

VIDEO: Rocky Auto’s Lexus V8-powered Hakosuka

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Ben Hsu

Many of you loved the cars in the last video we posted but found the music controversial. Prepare yourself for the opposite. It’s hard to take offense to a Temptaions-esque free use Motown groove, but the accompanying car is one … Continue reading →

Posted in nissan, toyota, Video | Tagged 1uz, c10, Hakosuka, kgc10, kpgc10, lexus, nissan, rocky auto, skyline, v8 | 21 Comments

GRAND TOURING: Driving the Chubu Touge, Part 02

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Skorj

In Part 01 of our Chubu grand tour, we escaped Tokyo by expressway northwest into the mountains. Our return trip took us on roads less traveled, over some of Japan’s most famous winding passes known as touge. We had made … Continue reading →

Posted in Grand Touring, honda, isuzu, mazda, mitsubishi, nissan, Prince, subaru, toyota | Tagged 240z, 260z, 280z, ae86, b110, b120, bellett, c10, carol, chubu, corolla, coupe 7, datsun, datsun 221, fairlady z, familia coupe, gc10, Grand Touring, Hakosuka, hillman, honda, honda 1300, honda 145, Ini, isuzu, kp47, levin, mazda, miler, minica, minx, mitsubishi, n360, nissan, prince, s30, sanitora, skipper, skyline, sprinter, starlet, sunny, sunny truck, touge, toyota, trueno, usui | 11 Comments

NEXT VERSION: Lexus LFA in Toyota 2000GT Yatabe Speed Trial livery

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Ben Hsu

If you were one of the lucky ones who ordered one of 500 Lexus LFAs before production ended in December 2012, you could have ordered it an any color under the rainbow. Pearl Yellow wouldn’t have been our first choice, … Continue reading →

Posted in Lexus, Next Version, toyota | Tagged 2000gt, lexus, lfa, toyota, yatabe | 10 Comments

ART CORNER: The least resilient Land Cruisers you’ll ever see

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Ben Hsu

Yesterday we saw Toyota FJ40s fetching some high prices at the recent Arizona auctions. These, on the other hand, are the cheapest Land Cruisers you’ll ever encounter. They’re also some of most easily destructible ones too, as they’re made completely out … Continue reading →

Posted in Art Corner, toyota, trucks | Tagged Art Corner, fj40, fj45, fj55, land cruiser, papercraft, toyota | 5 Comments

QotW: What Japanese car is the best investment?

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Ben Hsu

It’s car auction season, and collectors with more money than sense are flocking to Arizona to pay the highest possible prices for the cars of their dreams. Our buddy Jeff Koch is covering the auctions for Hemmings and reports that … Continue reading →

Posted in Question of the Week, subaru, toyota | Tagged ae86, corolla, hachiroku, levin, QotW, Question of the Week, sprinter, subaru, subaru xt, subaru xt6, toyota, trueno | 26 Comments

VIDEO: 1972 Fuji Masters Super Touring Race

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Matt De Mangos

One of the greatest rivalries from the heyday of Japanese motorsports was that of Nissan versus Mazda. After the Savanna RX-3 snatched Nissan’s much anticipated 50th victory from the Skyline GT-R in December 1971, a blood feud was born. The … Continue reading →

Posted in mazda, motorsports, nissan, toyota, Video | Tagged c10, capella, fuji masters, fuji speedway, gt-r, Hakosuka, kpgc10, Masuda, mazda, Motoharu Kurosawa, motorsports, nissan, prince, rx-2, rx-3, savanna, Takashi Yorino, Video, Yasuhiro Okamoto, yojiro terada, Yoshimi Katayama | 11 Comments

EVENTS: Mooneyes Hot Rod & Custom Show

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Ben Hsu

There’s no event on Earth that captures the the fusion of Japano-American car culture quite like the Mooneyes Hot Rod & Custom Show. Everything from Baja Bugs to T-Buckets are represented, with the majority of cars shown are imports to … Continue reading →

Posted in events, isuzu, mitsubishi, nissan, subaru, toyota | Tagged 230, a30, cedric, chevy, crown, daihatsu, datsun, datsun 720, debonair, faster, fr-s, gloria, gt 86, hijet, hilux, isuzu, kujira, kuzilla, luv, mitsubishi, mooneyes, Mooneyes Hot Rod & Custom Show, ms41, ms51, ms65, nissan, pickup, prince, quest, rs46, rs56, s40, s50, s60, scion, subaru, subaru 360, toyopet, toyota, toyota 86, wagon | 12 Comments

EVENTS: Fundraiser for ex-Toyota 2000GT driver Scooter Patrick

Posted on January 11, 2013 by Ben Hsu

This is just a quick post to let you guys know that Scooter Patrick, former driver of the white-and-red #33 Carroll Shelby SCCA Toyota 2000GT, has a case of rapid onset Alzheimer’s disease. There’s a fundraiser happening January 12, 2013 … Continue reading →

Posted in motorsports, toyota | Tagged 2000gt, Riverside International Auto Museum, Scooter Patrick, toyota | Leave a comment