The diecast world has long been missing models of several seminal Japanese cars, especially when it comes to larger scales. One that’s been long desired by collectors but never seen before in 1:18 scale is the A60 Toyota Supra. That’s all about to change with an upcoming release from LS Collectibles. Continue reading
Do you like bolted on bubble flares, takeyari shaped like lightning bolts, and blinding dome lights that look like they’re off a 1960s police car except they’re purple? If not, well, maybe avert your eyes so you don’t see the parade of Celicas, Soarers and RX-7s decked out in less-than-reversible mods. If so, then behold a glorious night cruise with the bosozoku. Continue reading
Interiors. In many cases, the interior plays second (or third) fiddle to a car’s performance or exterior panache. Further still, we tend to neglect the rotting carpet or always-covered-in-grime trunk floor. But boy oh boy, a clean interior is a sight to behold, and keeping it in good nick is easier said than done.
In my younger years, I thought I could balance, in traffic, a tall chocolate milkshake on the flat part of the transmission hump of my near-spotless 914 interior (Cup holders? What cup holders?). One good brake check sent the shake on a one-way trip to spillville.
What’s the worst thing you’ve spilled in your JNC?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s your JNC New Year’s resolution“? Continue reading
At the 1972 Tokyo Motor Show the most anticipated race car in Japan was unveiled at the Nissan stand. The Hakosuka Skyline GT-R was the most beloved touring car in the country, but its time was coming to an end. Nissan was unveiling the next generation of Skyline GT-R, the Kenmeri, and was so confident of its ability to continue the legacy that it debuted the car in race guise and gold Kobe Seiko 8-spoke wheels. Except, it never raced. However, at the recent NISMO Festival the revived prototype was given a chance to run, just as it was always meant to. Continue reading
There is no shortage of Toyota 2000GT models in the world, but perhaps they are all too plain in white or not sufficiently capable of showing off your tremendous disposable income. Well, Japanese jeweler SGC might have a solution for you — 24-karat gold Toyota 2000GT, on sale now. Continue reading
In Part 01 of our Mitsubishi Motors retrospective we covered the beginnings of the vast Mitsubishi empire, in which the car company is just a small part. In fact, until 1970 the Mitsubishi Motors we know today only existed as a loose collection of car-making factories and engineers within its massive parent company, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which is itself a part of the colossal Mitsubishi Group that operates in banking, construction, and energy sectors, among others.
It’s so big that the managers didn’t even really want to deal with running the car company, so they created MMC to unite the businesses with the plan of selling to Chrysler and letting them manage the whole thing. Continue reading
In a year of momentous anniversaries, the biggest one of all was Mitsubishi turning 100 years old. What would become Mitsubishi Motors was established in late 1917, meaning it has just passed the century mark. As the oldest carmaker in Japan, its history is illustrious but not without its ups and downs. The cars we’re all familiar with — Eclipses, GTOs both old and new, and Lancer Evos are already well-documented on JNC and elsewhere, so let’s go back in time to the early days of Mitsubishi, and the waning days of the samurai. Continue reading
It’s a new year, people! 2018 is upon us, and that means another 52 weeks, or 365.25 days, or 8,766 hours, or 525,949 minutes, or 31,556,926 seconds to make a dent in the JNC project of your dreams (well, not literally, we hope). Whoops — now it’s 31,556,925 seconds.
What’s your JNC New Year’s resolution?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What did you ask JDM Santa Claus for this year?” Continue reading
Our last inductee to the 25 Year Club for 2017 is arguably the crowning achievement of Mitsubishi Motor Company’s illustrious 100-year history, the Lancer Evolution. Birthed as a pure homologation model for rally racing, it transformed an otherwise innocuous economy car and turned it into a worldwide hero. It drew no quarter and was as close as you could get to having a rally car for the street. Continue reading
Kei cars are cool. Slow and small they might be, but they are feats of engineering ingenuity that extract the most space, efficiency, and usability out of a tightly defined set of rules. And sometimes, the most fun as well. Perhaps nothing embodies this better than Mazda’s Autozam AZ-1. Continue reading
What comes to mind when you hear the words “priceless artifact”? Ru ware of Imperial China? Paleolithic paintings of the Chauvet Cave? In the automotive realm it’s historically significant race cars, unique or outstanding examples of production cars, and serendipitously preserved prototypes. This last category is particularly fascinating. Not only do such cars provide physical connections to an otherwise intangible part of the past, but often their preservation alone is an improbable miracle. We recently got to see one such remarkable automobile: a pre-production Mazda Cosmo Sport prototype. Continue reading
If you’ve been around Japanese cars for any appreciable time, you are probably familiar with Cusco racing parts. For many, the very step into the wide world of mods was a Cusco strut tower brace. What is perhaps less known, however, is that the company has a long history of motorsports because its founder, Yuji Kase, was a rallying fanatic. He was so adamant about racing, in fact, that made his staff go do it professionally. Cusco turned 40 years old this month. Here’s a look at some of their most memorable racing exploits. Continue reading
It was somewhere just west of Omaha that I said to myself, “This car was made for this shit.” I was in the midst of a cross-country drive with nothing but a Lexus SC, a toothbrush, and fewer changes of underwear than days on the road. It was heaven. 1992 was the inaugural model year for the Lexus SC, so before 2017 is out, let us honor one of the most beautiful cars ever to come out of Japan. Continue reading
Kenichi Yamamoto, who famously led Mazda’s “47 Ronin” team that brought the rotary engine into reality, passed away on December 20, 2017. His family made public his passing to the Japanese press on Christmas Day. Yamamoto was 95.
A bona fide legend in the automotive world and a national hero in his home country of Japan, Yamamoto has become synonymous with the rotary engine, having literally written the books on it. His life journey was one of profound inspiration, beginning with his birth in 1922. Continue reading
In honor of the GC Subaru Impreza officially turning 25 years old in 2017, enjoy a Impreza WRX STI Version III on this Boxing Day.
Images of Honda’s show cars have surfaced weeks ahead of the Tokyo Auto Salon in January. The custom car exhibition showcases the latest trends in Japan’s car scene, and wild modifications are no exception. One of the oddest, though, is a Honda CR-Z factory customized with the nose of a 1970 Honda Z. Continue reading
It’s a well known fact that JDM Santa Claus takes off from his home in northern Hokkaido each winter in his shakotan sleigh pulled by eight flying Nara deer, playing not just Jingle Bells on his throttle, but “Carol of the Bells” in its entirety, as he brings rare parts and collectibles to all the good JNCers.
What did you ask JDM Santa Claus for this year?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “How do you ‘baby’ your JNC?” Continue reading
Wishing all JNC readers a safe and happy holiday season. May you have many meaningful moments with your loved ones, whether they be human or automobile.
Today there’s a second “first Toyota dealer” story on the interwebs, but this one comes from Florida rather than France. The story of how Dave Zinn in 1965 opened the Sunshine State’s first showroom for a then-obscure brand called Toyota is an interesting one, and the barikan Toyota Corona played a pivotal role. Continue reading
