JCCS Preview: See you all at the Japanese Classic Car Show this Saturday

Posted on September 13, 2018 by Ben Hsu


The 2018 Japanese Classic Car Show is just two days away, and we are excited for what promises to be a new era for the country’s premier gathering of Nihon steel.

After 13 years at the Queen Mary, the JCCS moves to a new location this year, Marina Green Park in Long Beach, California, in order to better accommodate show cars and spectators alike.

We at JNC have some exciting things happening at our booth. We will have some never-before seen Hot Wheels castings on display, and there will be some special surprises for a few lucky fans. Author and legend of automotive journalism Sam Mitani will be autographing copies of his debut novel, The Prototype. And, we will debut our latest shirt, Vintage Barrels Zero, a revisiting of our original design from 2010.

Please stop by the JNC booth this Saturday, September 15. The show goes from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. For reference, this is the same location as Toyotafest the last couple of years. Hopefully, the new location will solve many of the problems with spectators finding parking. See you there!

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JCCS Preview: Come see new Hot Wheels castings of Japanese cars at the JNC booth this Saturday

Posted on September 13, 2018 by Ben Hsu

Our friends at Hot Wheels will be bringing a bunch of never-before seen diecast cars to the JNC booth at the Japanese Classic Car Show this Saturday. Some are recolors, like the ones shown above, but some will be completely new castings. We would love to tell you what they are, but we can’t. You’ll just have to come see them for yourselves. But wait, there’s more. Continue reading →

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MARKETWATCH: 2018 Monterey auction round-up

Posted on September 13, 2018 by Patrick Strong

The collector car auctions that occur each year as part of Monterey Car Week are a widely accepted barometer of the state of the marketplace, perhaps even more so than the January auctions of Scottsdale. The clientele in Monterey represents the absolute cream of the car collector community crop, and sale prices there can establish worldwide valuations. This year, several high-profile Japanese classics and exotics were offered alongside the usual parade of Ferraris, Jaguars, and Packards, so we felt it was time once again to dive into the glamour of the Monterey auction scene to evaluate JNCs’ place in the collector car firmament. Continue reading →

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JCCS Preview: JNC Vintage Barrels Zero

Posted on September 12, 2018 by Dan Hsu

At JCCS this year we at JNC are proud to debut our latest shirt design, Vintage Barrels Zero. Printed with silver ink on navy blue and a red JNC logo on the sleeve, it showcases the Top 15 old school wheels for Japanese cars.

The design might look familiar to long time JNCers (the original debuted in 2010), but the wheels on VB Zero are different from our original Vintage Barrels and Vintage Barrels II shirts. Even if some of these wheels have appeared on older designs, most have been re-drawn for accuracy and detail. We believe this shirt will set a new standard for the definitive list of classic racing wheels for the golden age of Japan’s tuning scene.

Sizes range from S to XXL. Printed on 100 percent cotton. Stop by the 2018 Japanese Classic Car Show at Marina Green and look for the red JNC booth. The show takes place Saturday, September 15, from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. Quantities are limited.

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Sam Mitani put Tuner Era dream machines into the mainstream

Posted on September 12, 2018 by Ben Hsu

If you grew up in the pre-internet age, “buff books” like Road & Track were your bible. Magazines of its ilk were the only reliable sources of automotive news, but they were mostly concerned about cars that came fresh off a showroom floor, not from the grungy garage of some mad scientist with a socket wrench. If you did find a story about modified cars, the names Saleen or Hennessey inevitably crowded the title. That all changed in March 1995, when Sam Mitani penned the seminal piece “Distant Thunder,” about top-end tuners from Japan. We spoke to Mitani about his years as International Editor for R&T and his experiences in Japan. Continue reading →

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EVENTS: 2018 Japanese Automotive Invitational

Posted on September 11, 2018 by Ben Hsu

It has been a banner year for Nihon steel at Monterey Car Week. The annual series of ultra-prestigious automotive events have traditionally excluded Japanese cars, but 2018 saw, for example, Nissan become the first carmaker from Japan to be honored as a featured marque at the Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca. On the southern end of the peninsula, upscale sibling Infiniti held an event of a different sort, bringing the first-ever Japanese car show to Pebble Beach. Continue reading →

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Happy 910 Day from JNC

Posted on September 10, 2018 by Ben Hsu

Crack open a can of Coca-Cola Light and have a great September 10 with a photo of Nissan’s Super Silhouette Bluebird 910 race car. The 570PS monster won the championship in 1982 with Haruhito Yanagida behind the wheel. Memories of this badass Bluebird have outlasted its main sponsor, Coca-Cola Light, which ended sales in Japan in 1999. Happy 910 Day from JNC.

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QotW: What would you like to know about getting started with JNCs?

Posted on September 10, 2018 by Brandon Kelley

For those that may be new to JNCs, we want to encourage any and all to post questions related to the history, buying or repair of JNCs. We all have to start somewhere, so why not here with a wealth of knowledge (and proven mistakes!) to learn from? Feel free to ask questions in our first beginner’s corner post, along any other tips you’re looking for in general. On the flip side, we also encourage our readers to comment on those questions and requests.

What would you like to know about getting started with JNCs?

The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What part did you install that is completely unnecessary?” Continue reading →

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NEWS: Nissan chief designer “excited” to be working on new Z

Posted on September 9, 2018 by Ben Hsu

Nissan is working a new Z, or at least a concept. The revelation comes from none other than the company’s most senior designer, who said he was under “huge pressure” but at the same time “completely excited” at the prospect of working on the legendary Z. Continue reading →

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MOTORSPORT: The most epic gathering of historic racing Datsuns we’ll see in our lifetimes

Posted on September 7, 2018 by Glenn Chiou

We cannot overstate the importance of this year’s Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. It the first time a Japanese carmaker was celebrated as the featured marque since the event’s inception in 1974, and Nissan’s brought a tremendous display of racing heritage, but an even more impressive showing came from the legions of privateers, drivers, and crew who raced Datsuns in period. It was the largest gathering of historic Nissan race cars in North America, and a feat that almost certainly will never be repeated in our lifetimes. Continue reading →

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SHOWA SNAP: Nakagin Capsule Tower, 1972

Posted on September 6, 2018 by Ben Hsu


Designed by Kisho Kurokawa, the Nakagin Capsule Tower is one of Tokyo’s most famous buildings, and a symbol of Japan’s post-war emergence as an innovator of industrial design. The building consisted of two concrete towers and 140 modular capsules, each of which could be a standalone unit or linked with other capsules to create larger spaces. If one needed to be replaced or modified, it could be done so by removing it and not affect the rest of the building. It was like life-sized Lego blocks you could live in.

Construction finished in 1972, just as another then-futuristic design was hitting the streets — that of the Kujira Toyota Crown, the red car in the foreground. Its bizarre tiered grille was as avant garde as the Nakagin Capsule Tower, and both served as signs of a hopeful era. An E10 Corolla, HiAce, and what appears to be an older generation Crown wagon also sneak into the scene, making it a four-for-four Toyota snapshot.

Unfortunately, the Nakagin Capsule Tower has since fallen into disrepair. It occupies a very expensive plot of real estate in the Shimbashi district of Tokyo and was almost demolished in 2006. Architectural preservation organizations have managed to stave off a tear-down, but have not raised enough money to properly restore it. It currently sits in limbo, awaiting its fate.

Image: eBay.

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MOTORSPORT: Mazda’s Le Mans FC3S RX-7 rides again

Posted on September 6, 2018 by Ben Hsu

Mazda’s most famous Le Mans story centers around that of the epic 787B and its historic victory in 1991, but there have been other contenders from Hiroshima. The humble Mazda RX-7 has been sent into battle many times, mostly in the form of the SA22 chassis prior to Mazda’s age of dedicated Circuit de la Sarthe challengers. There was, however, that one time a second-generation FC3S RX-7 competed in the famed test of endurance.  Continue reading →

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MINICARS: Tamiya releases new R/C HiLux based on real Hilux based on old Tamiya R/C Hilux

Posted on September 5, 2018 by Dave Yuan

Remember when Toyota UK created a real Toyota HiLux inspired by the old Tamiya 4×4 Pickup radio control kit? Tamiya was so impressed that they released a new kit based on that truck. And because it is Tamiya, no detail is overlooked, with the kit sporting even the same license plate as the real truck.  Continue reading →

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NEWS: Honda to release retro Neo Classic kit for S660

Posted on September 4, 2018 by Ben Hsu

We first saw the Honda S660 Neo Classic Kit at the 2016 Tokyo Auto Salon, but it quickly got lost in the heaps of automotive absurdity the show is known for. Unlike most of the concoctions there, however, Honda will soon begin making this kit and actually selling it at dealerships in Japan.  Continue reading →

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QotW: What part did you install that is completely unnecessary?

Posted on September 3, 2018 by Brandon Kelley

Sometimes, we just want to make our cars a bit more unique, a little touch that says this JNC is mine. Those touches can be everything from a sticker to some vintage barrels that haven’t been curbed so many times it resembles sandpaper. Back when I found my first JNC, I installed a Momo steering wheel with a TRD horn button, but I also felt the need to add a carbon fiber horn button surround ring. It looked nice and tied the interior together but I also had to avoid it for fear of scratching it while I battled the weekly traffic on the 5. Ultimately, I sold it and reduced my blood pressure by a few points.

What part did you install that is completely unnecessary?

The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What JNC fun facts do you know?” Continue reading →

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VIDEO: Mazda classics prep for a 5,000-km rally across Europe

Posted on August 31, 2018 by Ben Hsu

Mazda Germany is back with the second season of its “Mazda Garage” YouTube series. Last year, the first season followed the restoration of a Mazda Cosmo Sport, which then went on to participate in the Hamburg-Berlin Klassik Rallye. This season the driving becomes even more ambitious, with three classic Mazdas going on the 5,000km (3,100 mile) European Challenge from Munich to Amsterdam by way of Spain.  Continue reading →

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MINICARS: Japan Post honors Mazda RX-7 with commemorative stamp set

Posted on August 30, 2018 by Ben Hsu

Japan Post has issued another commemorative postage stamp set, this time honoring the first-generation Mazda RX-7. The set consists of 10 standard ¥62 stamps, each with an image depicting the SA22 Savanna RX-7. Notably, the set includes a shot of the Turbo 12A rotary engine, which was a Japan-spec model never offered for sale in the US.  Continue reading →

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SHOWA SNAP: A daruma Celica under Mt Fuji

Posted on August 29, 2018 by Ben Hsu


So far Showa Snaps have only taken a look at cityscapes. Today’s ventures far out into the stretches between Japan’s major metropolitan areas. This stretch of pristine expressway is most likely between Tokyo and Nagoya, which passes beneath the shadow a snow-capped of Mt Fuji.

As luck would have it, a lone driver in a Toyota Celica passed by just as the photo was snapped, preserving the coupe’s newness for all of eternity.

Who knows where the car may be now. Preserved by its original owner, purchased by another and modified into a street machine, or dissolved into red dust that floated away on a breeze molecule by molecule? Perhaps there is a little bit of that Celica in all of us.

Image: eBay.

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VIDEO: How Toyota revolutionized mass production

Posted on August 29, 2018 by Matt De Mangos

Toyota is not only one of the most respected and efficient carmakers in the world, but one of the most respected and efficient manufacturers of anything, period. Companies from Boeing to Intel have adopted Toyota’s Just In Time manufacturing technique, which allowed it to become the first carmaker on the planet to produce more than 10 million vehicles annually.  Continue reading →

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NEWS: Mazda was likely testing a rotary sports car as recently as eight months ago

Posted on August 28, 2018 by Dave Yuan

Somehow this slipped past our radar, but it seems that Mazda was testing what is likely a rotary powered sports car as recently as December 2017. Spy photos captured a prototype based on a Mazda RX-8, a car that has been out of production since 2012, making it quite curious why it would be testing about eight months ago. Only a few US media outlets seem to have caught onto it, and it really should have created more fanfare than it did. Here’s why. Continue reading →

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