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 →

Posted in Question of the Week | Tagged | 7 Comments

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 →

Posted in Question of the Week | Tagged | 19 Comments

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.

Posted in Showa Snap | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

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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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 →

Posted in Question of the Week | Tagged | 18 Comments

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 →

Posted in Consider the Following | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

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 →

Posted in motorsport | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

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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