QotW: What JNC fun facts do you know?

Posted on August 27, 2018 by Brandon Kelley

Part of the fun in owning a JNC is researching it, how it came to be, some of its quirks, and so on. As a new series, we’d like to ask about some fun facts you’ve discovered. They could be on a JNC you own; or even just a fact about a JNC you thought was pretty neat.

For example, most people know that the Trueno and Levin names mean thunder and Lightning, but did you know that the J-spec Levin digital gauge cluster that was only available in Japan in kph has a hidden mph display that was never factory activated? So tell us:

What JNC fun facts do you know?

The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s in your JNC glove box right now?” Continue reading →

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MOTORSPORT: The best display of Nissan race cars ever assembled in North America

Posted on August 24, 2018 by Ben Hsu

Never before has a Japanese carmaker been the featured marque at the Monterey Historics. That is, until this year, when Nissan received the honor. As a result, collectors, racers, and Nissan themselves have brought together a truly epic assembly of historically significant race cars, perhaps the best ever gathered in North America.  Continue reading →

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Consider the Following: Infiniti J30

Posted on August 23, 2018 by Ryan Senensky

The Infiniti J30 came out of nowhere in the US, but in Japan it was the successor to the second-generation F31 Leopard, sold as the Infiniti M30 in the US. The angular Leopard, available only in coupe form, was quite popular in Japan, despite moderate sales stateside. It would seem odd, then, that the follow-up would be a confusing change of direction into a four-door sedan with one of the most rounded shapes of its era. It perhaps even unintentionally pioneered the body style of the currently very en vogue “four-door coupe”, the most aggravating term in the automotive lexicon second only to “auto-shift manual.”

To fully understand why, we have to look at its home market, where Nissan had just been put on the defensive, and where a dizzying array of Bubble Era dealership chains. owned by the same manufacturer. Toyota had just come out with the Giugiaro-designed Toyota Aristo, and to compete, Nissan wanted to turn the Leopard into a sporty luxury mid-size sedan.  Continue reading →

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MOTORSPORT: Mazda bringing quartet of four-rotor racers to Monterey

Posted on August 23, 2018 by Ben Hsu

At the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion this week, Mazda will enter four quad-rotor cars into the vintage races. Perhaps the most notable one, however, is the 1991 FC3S RX-7 IMSA GTO, which returns to its ArtNature livery, the colors the car wore when it competed in Le Mans in 1994.  Continue reading →

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The one-of-one Nissan R390 GT1 Road Car makes landfall on US soil

Posted on August 22, 2018 by Ben Hsu

Among the holy grails of Japanese cars from the 90s, the Nissan R390 GT1 Road Car stands heads and shoulders above all. The stuff of Gran Turismo dreams, it was a race car for the road. Nissan made only one, never sold it, and tucked it away in its Zama warehouse when it was still new. Now, it has touched down on US soil for the first time and JNC was there to capture the moment.  Continue reading →

Posted in motorsport | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

JNC LIBRARY: Sam Mitani’s The Prototype is a thriller with Japanese cars at its center

Posted on August 22, 2018 by Ben Hsu

In the world of spy thrillers, full of CIA agents, gunfights, and global power balance-changing secrets that cannot fall into the wrong hands, there typically aren’t a lot of Japanese cars mentioned. However, when the author is former International Editor of Road & Track Sam Mitani, the focus shifts from Aston Martins and BMWs to Lexuses and Nissans. In his debut novel, The Prototype, Mitani draws on his 22 years of experience at one of America’s top auto magazines to weave an action-packed tale in which the worlds of automotive journalism, government agents, and the Japanese auto industry collide like cars in a chase sequence. Continue reading →

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VIDEO: How Toyota USA went from selling a single Land Cruiser in 1957 to making 25 million cars

Posted on August 21, 2018 by Ben Hsu

Toyota USA opened its doors on October 31, 1957. In its first full year of sales, the division sold 288 vehicles total: 287 Toyopet Crowns, and one Land Cruiser. The company almost gave up the US market, but persevered. Today, it’s built 25 million cars in the US.  Continue reading →

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EVENTS: Nisei Week Car Show, 2018

Posted on August 21, 2018 by Ben Hsu

The annual Nisei Festival in the Little Tokyo district of Los Angeles is a celebration of Japanese American culture. Nisei means “second generation” in Japanese, but with its 84 years since the inaugural festival, the event has already been passed down to the third, fourth, and fifth generation and beyond. Aside from the time during World War II when Americans of Japanese descent were placed in internment camps, it has taken place every year, and the Nisei Week car show has become an integral part of the week-long festivities.  Continue reading →

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MOTORSPORT: The Mazda Cosmo Sport and the most grueling race of all time

Posted on August 20, 2018 by Dave Yuan

MdlR1

This article was originally published May 31, 2016. In honor of the 50th anniversary of the 1968 Marathon de la Route today, we are re-publishing this story.

The Mazda Cosmo Sport. This space age sports car from the spunky little company in Hiroshima is now a bona fide blue chip classic, a poster child of vintage Nihon sought after by collectors and auction addicts. It is an exquisite car. Its design was delightfully out of this world, as was its revolutionary engine. It even has racing pedigree: a short but important stint at Marathon de la Route. This race is often mentioned in the same breath as the Cosmo’s history, one of the most epic rallies in motorsport history. It’s a mad mad mad mad race. Continue reading →

Posted in motorsport, racing | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

QotW: What’s in your JNC glove box right now?

Posted on August 20, 2018 by Brandon Kelley


Ah, the glove box. Gone are the days when driving gloves were a thing, and so few actually store gloves in there now. Now, the little compartment on the dash is more likely to contain an owner’s manual, maybe a writing instrument of some sort. We suppose the days of paper maps are gone, but what else is this compartment good for?

What’s in your JNC glove box right now?

The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What car would Japanese Knight Rider drive?” Continue reading →

Posted in Question of the Week, Uncategorized | 15 Comments

NEWS: A Nissan Fairlady Z goes up in flames in Japan

Posted on August 17, 2018 by Ben Hsu

Last week a Nissan Fairlady Z caught fire near Lake Yamanaka in Japan. The area, located by Mt Fuji, is known for its outdoor sports, scenery, and driving roads, and it’s a frequent hot spot for Miatas, Toyota 86es, and the like. Sadly, after this recent incident, it’s home to one less Z.  Continue reading →

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KIDNEY, ANYONE? Nissan Fairlady 240Z-G

Posted on August 16, 2018 by Ben Hsu

Monterey Car Week takes place next week, and we’re seeing more Japan-market classics trickling their way over to US shores. Perhaps the most desirable among this year’s crop is a genuine 1972 Nissan Fairlady 240ZG, a homologation special with factory G-nose.  Continue reading →

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Yurt it up with a Datsun 620 King Cab camper

Posted on August 16, 2018 by Ben Hsu

We just learned about a new Japanese magazine that we are now obsessed with. Outdoor Aso-Kuru, which roughly translates to “vehicles for playing outdoors” is all about cars and trucks that have been modified for camping, and the photo that brought us to it was this Datsun 620 with a custom wooden home on the back.  Continue reading →

Posted in Back Roads | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

MINICARS: A beginner’s guide to JNC Legos, Part 03

Posted on August 15, 2018 by Ricky Silverio

In the final installment of our beginner’s guide to Lego JNCs, we are going to focus on the prevailing style of builds in Japan. In Part 01 we admired highly complex creations comprised of hundreds of pieces where the sky’s the limit. In Part 02 we explored the popular 6-stud builds inspired by official Lego kits. Japan, as usual, prefers to take things to a new level with extremely difficult 4-stud builds.  Continue reading →

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SHOWA SNAP: The Shuto, circa 1969

Posted on August 14, 2018 by Ben Hsu

The Shuto is the beltway system that circles downtown Tokyo, home to many a traffic jam during the day, and fleets of street racers at night. Construction began in 1962, and in this postcard from 1969 or 1970, you can see it when it was still shiny and new. Unlike today, there’s barely any cars on it. On the lower level there’s a white first-generation Toyota HiLux, what appears to be a green 411 Bluebird cab, and maybe an orange Crown taxi behind it. On the upper level, what might be a red Corolla wagon heads off into the distance. Rising up in the background are Tokyo Tower and the Kasumigaseki building, Tokyo’s first skyscraper and which just celebrated its 50th anniversary last year.

Image: 昭和スポット巡り

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ICONS: Driving a 200-mile EM1 Honda Civic Si

Posted on August 14, 2018 by Ben Hsu

Although I wasn’t an avid watcher, I believe people when they say The Wonder Years was one of the best American television programs ever written. Each season of the coming of age story took place exactly 20 years before it aired, so when it debuted in 1988 the show was set in 1968. If you want to feel old, that means if it were rebooted today it’d take place in 1998. And when Kevin Arnold got his driver’s license, his dream car would be a Honda Civic Si.  Continue reading →

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VIDEO: No matter what “it” is, the Land Cruiser gets it done

Posted on August 13, 2018 by Ben Hsu

Toyota has released a short film about the Land Cruiser, and it is pretty epic. The two-minute movie features clips of 70-Series Land Cruisers around the world, simply going about their daily duties of ferrying people and cargo. But as a result, they connect even the remotest corners of Earth to civilization. We challenge you to watch the video below and prevent yourself from searching for Land Cruisers for sale. Continue reading →

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QotW: What car would Japanese Knight Rider drive?

Posted on August 13, 2018 by Ben Hsu


The arrival last week of the Seibu Keisatsu cars at Nissan’s Zama warehouse got us thinking about cheesy 80s TV shows and their vehicular stars. Perhaps the most famous of these was Knight Rider, a “shadowy flight into the dangerous world of a man… who does not exist.”

Long-time JNC readers may know that instead of a Pontiac Firebird, the original Knight Industries Two Thousand was supposed to be a Datsun 280ZX. According to the book Hollywood and TV Movie Cars by G. William Krause, “[Producer Harker Wade] said he was working with Glen Larson (The Fall Guy) on a new action- adventure show that starred a computerized talking car. A Datsun Z was written into the original script…” That’s right, folks, KITT was a JNC.

Alas, it was not meant to be. But at least now we get to have the fun of decided what car from 1982, which is when Knight Rider debuted, that KITT could’ve been.

What car would Japanese Knight Rider drive?

The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s the most important info on the instrument cluster?”  Continue reading →

Posted in Question of the Week | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

We went off-roading with a cadre of Japanese nostalgic trucks

Posted on August 10, 2018 by Ben Hsu

The mountains to the north of Los Angeles are home to some of the best driving roads in America. I had covered Angeles Crest, Glendora Mountain Road, and Mulholland Drive many times. But it was always in a light, rear-wheel-drive car of some sort, an AE86, Miata, or my 5-speed swapped Cressida wagon. Last weekend, some friends convinced me to go up there and test the limits of a completely different type of vehicle, and I came away with a deep, newfound appreciation for Japanese nostalgic trucks.  Continue reading →

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VIDEO: Listen to the revs of this unmolested EG Civic SiR

Posted on August 9, 2018 by Dan Hsu

We periodically like to check in with the Honda Collection Hall to see what the company’s museum is up to. If you’ve visited the facility at Twin Ring Motegi in Tochigi Prefecture, you’ll know that they take great pride in making sure every single car, bike and generator in the collection runs, and they have the videos to prove it. In the latest batch of clips, they take out their 1993 Honda Civic SiR and have a go around the museum grounds.  Continue reading →

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