QotW: What indispensable items are in your toolbox?

Posted on December 2, 2024 by Steve Chang

It’s the holidays and we need some gift ideas. So tell us the things that have made your automotive wrenching easier, saved your butts, or are simply so satisfying to use that you want to spread the joy. They can be anything, from tools to JB Weld to a clever hack that every shadetree mechanic needs to know. Bonus points if they’re not as basic as the vise-grips in the lead image, unless there’s some specific brand that outshines their rivals.

What indispensable items are in your toolbox?

The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What automotive things are you thankful for this year?“. Continue reading →

Posted in Question of the Week | Tagged | 18 Comments

Rare TR-series Orient three-wheeler captured in 1958

Posted on November 27, 2024 by Matt De Mangos

Sori Yanagi was a noted industrial designer in the post-war era. His works include everything from record players to bridges, and some of his furniture designs are part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The only vehicle Yanagi ever designed was the TR-series Orient, a three-wheeled truck built by Mitsui Seiki and introduced in 1956. The company still exists but stopped producing vehicles in 1963, and very few TRs remain. However, in 1958 a random photograph on Heiwabashi Street in Katsushika City captured one in its prime. Because of Yanagi’s stature the Orient is one of the few trucks that receive interest from not just automotive historians, but the design community as well. The number of surviving TRs probably number in the single digits today.

Posted in Showa Snap | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Toyota Celica revival confirmed by top exec

Posted on November 26, 2024 by Ben Hsu

Rumors of a Celica return have been circulating for over a year and a half, but we finally have confirmation from the horse’s mouth. Or, rather, the mouth of a top Toyota exec who would know about such things. The admission at a Japanese motorsports event read like an off-the-cuff remark, but often those are the most revealing. Continue reading →

Posted in News | 6 Comments

QotW: What automotive things are you thankful for this year?

Posted on November 25, 2024 by Steve Chang

It’s almost Thanksgiving (here in America, at least), a time when we reflect on the things we’re grateful for in life. In an automotive landscape that can often look bleak, what are some of the silver linings and rays of light that make you glad to be a car enthusiast or owner? Or maybe your perspective is that everything is already awesome. We’d like to hear about that as well! Let’s share some high notes to make this odd community of petrolheads feel some warm fuzzies.

What automotive things are you thankful for this year?

The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s your favorite feat of civil engineering?“. Continue reading →

Posted in Question of the Week | 14 Comments

The Mazdaspeed MX-5 Miata was a product of the tuner times

Posted on November 22, 2024 by Ben Hsu

It’s funny to see how our beloved cars were reviewed when new. In the present we think of the Miata as standing heads and shoulders above rival sport compacts of the era. Cars like the EP Honda Civic Si, Ford Focus SVT, and Dodge Neon SRT-4 are barely an afterthought. But in 2004 Mazda was trying to toughen up the Miata’s cutesy image and put down solid dyno figures to compete, so the put a turbo on the NB. Continue reading →

Posted in News | 3 Comments

Someone donated one of the rarest Mazda RX-7s to the Toyota Automobile Museum

Posted on November 21, 2024 by Ben Hsu

As visitors to the Toyota Automobile Museum in Japan know, it’s not just a hall of Toyotas. The TAM is a museum that celebrates the history of all cars, and just happens to be founded and funded by Toyota. Cars from all different manufacturers call it home, even ones from rival companies. As one of the best car museums in Japan, if not the world, it receives a lot of donations from owners or their families when they are ready to relinquish their cars. That’s how the Toyota Automobile museum ended up with one of the rarest Mazda RX-7s ever made. Continue reading →

Posted in Heritage Collections | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Honda transforms Tokyo headquarters showroom into Hot Wheels heaven

Posted on November 20, 2024 by Ben Hsu

Everybody loves Hot Wheels, but it’s for some reason still rare for an automaker to fully embrace the little toys that create thousands of loyal customers for them. Recently, of all places, Honda Japan set up a homage to Mattel’s diecast cars at their Tokyo headquarters, displaying life-sized classics alongside their 1/64-scale counterparts. Continue reading →

Posted in events | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Watch Lewis Hamilton drive Senna’s winning McLaren MP4/5 in the rain

Posted on November 19, 2024 by Dan Hsu

Earlier this month fans at a rainy Brazilian Grand Prix were treated a rare event. The McLaren-Honda MP4/5 of hometown hero Ayrton Senna took to the track with V10 engine wailing. It was the very car in which Senna, arguably the greatest F1 driver of his era, won his second world championship. This time around, it was Lewis Hamilton, greatest driver of the modern age, behind the wheel. Continue reading →

Posted in motorsport | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

QotW: What’s your favorite feat of civil engineering?

Posted on November 18, 2024 by Steve Chang

Cars wouldn’t be any fun if there were no roads to drive them on. Today, November 18, is Civil Engineering Day in Japan, and it honors those who built the highways, bridges, and tunnels that help us get where we’re going. It was 145 years ago today, in 1879, that the roots of the Japan Society of Civil Engineers was founded. Japan has many incredible civil engineering projects, like the undersea tunnel that connects Honshu to Hokkaido, the Umihotaru rest area in the middle of Tokyo Bay (above), or the building in Osaka with a whole ass expressway going through the middle of it. But your answer doesn’t have to be from Japan. Just tell us a structure that kind of makes you go “wow” whenever you see it, a testament to what humanity can achieve when we put our collective minds to it.

What’s your favorite feat of civil engineering?

The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “Which marque would you never recommend?“. Continue reading →

Posted in Question of the Week | 8 Comments

Is Japan making fun of us by decorating their USDM-style cars with plastic bags and other garbage?

Posted on November 15, 2024 by Ben Hsu

If you ever been to Japan you’ll notice that their cars, even the regular commuter ones, tend to be much cleaner than their US counterparts. Part of it is the strict roadworthiness inspections they have to undergo, but owners also take more pride in ownership. Ironically, lately some Japanese enthusiasts have purposefully spread a bunch of seemingly random garbage in their cars to make them look more American. Continue reading →

Posted in Nihon Life | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Honda celebrates 50th anniversary of Hello Kitty with limited edition Super Cub

Posted on November 14, 2024 by Dan Hsu

The Honda Super Cub and Hello Kitty have a lot in common. Both are Japanese icons, both were among the first in their respective markets to catch fire with non-Japanese audiences, and both have logged sales numbers that would stagger Warren Buffet. Now these two deceptively cute juggernauts have joined forces to celebrate Hello Kitty’s 50th birthday. Continue reading →

Posted in Motorcycles | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Mazda exec says Iconic SP ‘not just an empty show car’

Posted on November 13, 2024 by Ben Hsu

While the prospect of a Toyota-Mazda partnership sounds promising, the car they built together had lost some of that Mazda soul. Toyota needs to let Mazda Mazda, especially if cars like the Iconic SP are what they come up with. Mazda execs recently affirmed their intention to build it. Continue reading →

Posted in News | Tagged , | 7 Comments

2025 CX-50 Hybrid: What happens when Toyota and Mazda join forces

Posted on November 12, 2024 by Ben Hsu

We’ve long wondered what would happen when Mazda and Toyota finally teamed up. Mazda, the enthusiasts’ choice that carries the torch for true drivers outgunned in a cruel market of crossovers and electrification, and Toyota, the juggernaut which for years turned reliable if dull transport into a mountain of cash. When Toyota bought 5 percent of Mazda in 2015, it was interested in shedding its stodgy image with sporty offerings. Could they work together using Mazda’s passion and Toyota’s scale to make something magical? The Mazda CX-50 Hybrid is their first collab and here’s how it went. Continue reading →

Posted in News | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

QotW: Which marque would you never recommend?

Posted on November 11, 2024 by Steve Chang

Earlier this year we asked which marque you most often recommend. We presume that, as car enthusiasts, friends and family will ask you about what car they should buy. But what about the cars they shouldn’t buy? What are the lemons, money pits, brands that normies think are cool but are actually lame? We want to hear which cars you warn people to stay far away from, and why.

Which marque would you never recommend?

The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “Which JNC has the best-looking rear?“. Continue reading →

Posted in Question of the Week | 17 Comments

Motorcycle racing pioneer, father of Prius, and more inducted into Japan Automotive Hall of Fame

Posted on November 8, 2024 by Ben Hsu

The Japan Automotive Hall of Fame has selected its 2024 inductees. In addition to four vehicles of historical importance to Japan’s automotive history, the JAHoF has also selected five individuals whose work in the field are considered significant contributions to the industry. In addition, the JAHoF’s panel of journalists, engineers, and researchers have selected new vehicles for their Car of the Year awards. Continue reading →

Posted in News | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Japan Automotive Hall of Fame inducts Toyota 2000GT, Subaru Legacy and more

Posted on November 7, 2024 by Ben Hsu

The Japan Automotive Hall of Fame has announced its inductees for 2024. Every year the non-profit organization adds four “Historical Heritage Cars” to its list of vehicles that it believes are important milestones in Japan’s automotive industry. The cars are voted on by a panel of judges consist of journalists, engineers, professors, researchers and members of various engineering groups in Japan. Here are their latest picks. Continue reading →

Posted in News | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Official Toyota anime probably not hinting at next-gen Celica, MR2 and Supra

Posted on November 6, 2024 by Steve Chang

In February Toyota debuted a new anime series, Grip, that was all about fun cars like the GR Corolla, 86 and Supra battling against a world of boring, autonomous cars. The second season is out now, and people have been noticing clues pointing to an exciting slate of five future performance cars not-so-subtly hidden in a frame. Is Toyota trying to tell us something with viral marketing, or did the animators just take some creative liberty? Continue reading →

Posted in News | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Toyota Celica GT-Four reimagined in Castrol-colored, AWD, turbo GR86

Posted on November 5, 2024 by Ben Hsu

After many years of dormancy Toyota’s famed Castrol livery saw revivals this year, but on non-Toyota cars, oddly enough. Well, here’s the colorway once again, this time on a proper Toyota. Not only that, but the GR86 wearing the livery is as close to a modern Celica GT-Four as you can get, complete with turbo engine and all-wheel-drive. Continue reading →

Posted in Next Version | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

QotW: Which JNC has the best-looking rear?

Posted on November 4, 2024 by Ben Hsu

Today, November 4, is Butt Day in Japan. Now as you pick your brains up out of the gutter you should know that the holiday comes from the popular children’s character Detective Butt, who is a crime solver with a rump for a head. The official description from Toei Animation states, “While he may look like a butt, he is a great detective with excellent deduction.” As with many special occasions, the day comes from the fact that 11 can be read as ii (11) oshiri (04), which means, “nice butt”. It also happens to be Det. Butt’s birthday. What were we talking about? Oh yeah, cars. In all the time we spend gazing upon them, the angle we view them the most from is the rear. In real life the side view is a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it blur. Front view? Maybe at a car show. On roads, in traffic, in parking lots, the primary perspective is the rear. So it’s fairly important for car designers to spend time on a good looking posterior. The question this week is simple:

Which JNC has the best-looking rear?

The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s your favorite animated JNC?“. Continue reading →

Posted in Question of the Week | Tagged | 13 Comments

Toyota built a retro ‘4Runner TRD Surf’ with two doors and removable roof

Posted on November 1, 2024 by Ben Hsu

The newest Toyota 4Runner debuted with real off-road chops and retro styling, in many ways bettering even its big brother Land Cruiser. Now Toyota has reached even further into the 4Runner’s heritage and created an homage to the OG first-gen. The concept even cuts the number of doors down to two and chops the roof off. The Toyota 4Runner TRD Surf is about as close as one can get to the one that started it all. Continue reading →

Posted in Next Version | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments