RIP Dan Gurney, 1931-2018

Posted on January 15, 2018 by Patrick Strong


A true titan of 20th-century motorsport, Dan Gurney has passed away at the age of 86. Considered by many to be the greatest American racing driver in history, Gurney’s contributions to the world of auto racing as a driver, engineer and businessman are so considerable that a single tribute seems inadequate to fully capture the magnitude of his success.

A childhood transplant to California, Gurney became a part of his new home state’s burgeoning hot rod scene in the late 1940s. Following a stint in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, he returned to California and quickly found work as a driver for privateer sports car teams. Continue reading →

Posted in Legends | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

QotW: Do you wave at other JNC drivers?

Posted on January 14, 2018 by Brandon Kelley

You’re driving your beloved JNC, and through the sea of blob-shaped crossovers you see a familiar shape. Low to the ground with simple lines, thin pillars and an expansive greenhouse, could it be? You get a little closer. Sealed-beam headlights and an hint of chrome trim. It’s a fellow traveler in Nihon steel.

Do you wave at other JNC drivers?

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 worst thing you’ve spilled in your JNC?”  Continue reading →

Posted in Question of the Week | Tagged | 13 Comments

Tokyo Auto Salon: Toyota reveals Gazoo Racing Super Sport Concept

Posted on January 12, 2018 by Ben Hsu

Toyota has stubbornly refused to show the next Supra at major international motor shows even though prototypes have been photographed countless times. Instead, as enthusiasts cry, Toyota been quietly working on sleek new supercar concept, which it has just unveiled at the tuner-fest known as the Tokyo Auto Salon.  Continue reading →

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Consider the Following: Datsun 280ZX

Posted on January 11, 2018 by Ryan Senensky

In the world of collector JNCs, there is a hierarchy. Ultra-rare, highly sought after blue chips include the Toyota 2000GT, Mazda Cosmo Sport and Hakosuka Skyline GT-R. Continuing down through “affordable” classics like the Celica, RX-7 and 240Z, somewhere towards the bottom are cars that live in the shadows of the aforementioned. This is where the S130 resides, and cars like it are an absolute god-send for people looking for a JNC on a budget. The question is, was the S130 280ZX that bad? Continue reading →

Posted in Consider the Following | Tagged , , , | 19 Comments

NEWS: These are your one-owner barn finds for 2028

Posted on January 10, 2018 by Ben Hsu

A new study has revealed which cars are bought new and kept by their original owners the longest. So, if you’re looking for a well-preserved one-owner car in 2028, this is what you’re likely to find. The good news is, all but one on the top 15 list is Japanese, with Toyota comprising a full two-thirds of it. There is, however, some bad news. Continue reading →

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KIDNEY, ANYONE? 62k-mile 1985 Subaru GL-10 4WD

Posted on January 10, 2018 by Ben Hsu

We at JNC often pass each other cars we’d like to buy, so when Ryan messaged me, “Ben! Give me your kidneys now!” with a link to a 1985 Subaru GL-10 4WD sedan on Craigslist Wyoming (apparently, there is only one domain for the entire state), I clicked immediately. What opened was one of the cleanest top-of-the-line, fully optioned, box-era Subarus I’ve seen in decades.  Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 19 Comments

MINICARS: At last, a 1:18-scale A60 Toyota Celica Supra

Posted on January 9, 2018 by Ben Hsu
LS Toyota Celica Supra A60 01s

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 →

Posted in minicars | Tagged , , , , | 20 Comments

VIDEO: A bosozoku night cruise

Posted on January 8, 2018 by Ben Hsu

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 →

Posted in Video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

QotW: What’s the worst thing you’ve spilled in your JNC?

Posted on January 8, 2018 by Brandon Kelley

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 →

Posted in Question of the Week | Tagged | 16 Comments

MOTORSPORT: The Kenmeri GT-R running at Fuji Speedway, just like it was always meant to

Posted on January 5, 2018 by Ben Hsu

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 →

Posted in motorsport | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

MINICARS: This 24-karat gold Toyota 2000GT model is definitely not for kids

Posted on January 4, 2018 by Ben Hsu

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 →

Posted in minicars | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

100 YEAR CLUB: Mitsubishi Motors, Part 02

Posted on January 3, 2018 by Ben Hsu

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 →

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100 YEAR CLUB: Mitsubishi Motors, Part 01

Posted on January 2, 2018 by Ben Hsu

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 →

Posted in 100 Year Club | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

QotW: What’s your JNC New Year’s resolution?

Posted on January 2, 2018 by Ben Hsu

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 →

Posted in Question of the Week | Tagged | 11 Comments

Happy New Year from JNC

Posted on January 1, 2018 by Ben Hsu

さようなら, 2017。あけましておめでとうございます!

Posted in Holidays | Tagged , , , , | 14 Comments

25 YEAR CLUB: Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution

Posted on December 30, 2017 by Ryan Senensky

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 →

Posted in 25 Year Club | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

25 YEAR CLUB: Mazda Autozam AZ-1

Posted on December 29, 2017 by Dave Yuan

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 →

Posted in 25 Year Club | Tagged , , , , , | 17 Comments

COLLECTIONS: The oldest surviving Mazda rotary car in the world, and its nod to Hiroshima’s nuclear past

Posted on December 29, 2017 by Dave Yuan

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 →

Posted in Collections, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 20 Comments

MOTORSPORT: A brief history of Cusco Racing

Posted on December 28, 2017 by Ben Hsu

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 →

Posted in Aftermarket | Tagged , | 9 Comments

25 YEAR CLUB: Lexus SC

Posted on December 27, 2017 by Ben Hsu

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 →

Posted in 25 Year Club | Tagged , , , , , , | 35 Comments