Following on the heels of the Kmart-Datsun 510 promotion is another mail-in offer from Hot Wheels. This time, the free car (except for shipping) is an exclusive 1987 Toyota Pickup, complete with metal base and knobby, rubbery off-road tires. Continue reading
QotW: Take the JNC Challenge, Part 04 (UPDATED)
Update: Hi folks, sorry for not updating the QotW earlier, I was on assignment at Mt. Fuji for an interesting project that I cannot disclose yet. In the rush to get out the snow-capped icon, we left the actual QotW on the workbench. Never-the-less, the QotW challenge part 4 is below:
After juggling offers from your two admirers of the Shuttle, you decide to keep your chariot and instead give gymkhana a go. Knowing that we still have that $350 in our pocket, how would you prepare the Shuttle for its maiden voyage on the tarmac? The gymkhana event is going to be in a conned off parking lot on a Sunday, and you will need to make sure you can leave the in one piece. The tire are worn, but not bald. The suspension is functional, but soft. The engine runs, but let’s face it, it’s no rocket. So tell us:
How do you prepare the Shuttle for a gymkhana event with $350 in your pocket?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “QotW Challenge, Part 3“.
EVENTS: New Year Meeting 2017, Part 08 — Leaving in Style
The New Year Meeting is an magical festival of vehicular awesomeness, but what happens when the party’s over? Most owners drive their cars home, but sometimes you want to ship your precious cargo. With many areas of Japan more crowded than the middle seat on a Spirit Airlines flight, you need some pretty ingenious ways of loading and unloading cars. There’s a reason why Transformers were invented in Japan. Continue reading
EVENTS: New Year Meeting 2017, Part 07 — Motorbikes
The New Year Meeting is an amazing show, but there is one element missing, one that’s just as much a part of Japanese classic culture as the cars we love: motorbikes. Unlike in the US, where two-wheelers are mostly a weekend toy, in Japan bikes have been used as transportation both personal and commercial for decades. As such, the diversity in type, modification style and aftermarket support run just as rich and deep as that of cars. Continue reading
NEWS: Toyota Yaris GRMN revealed at Geneva
With its debut at the Geneva Motor Show this week, we finally have news about the hopped-up Toyota Yaris GRMN. And great news — It’s going to be the full package that everyone was hoping for and potentially the most exciting hot hatch to wear the Toyota name since the Starlet. If you thought the car was going to fight a Fiesta ST, you’d be wrong. Apparently, it is going to be more even radical than that. Continue reading
MINICARS: Hot Wheels X JNC Datsun 510 Bluebird Wagon “JNC Surf Patrol”
We at JNC recently received a very special surprise from our friends at Hot Wheels — a JNC surf patrol wagon! These photos, taken from one of the conference rooms at the Mattel design center in El Segundo, California, show the 2017 mainline release of the ’71 Datsun Bluebird 510 Wagon casting in its latest colorway. We had no idea the design team was planning something like this, so forgive our inner 5-year-old as we embark on a complete freak out. Continue reading
VIDEO: Celicas, Civics, RX-7s and Sunnys, racing together, in modern times
Last month in Australia was the Bathurst 12 Hour, an enduro packed with Nissan GT-Rs, BMW M6s, Vipers, Porsches, and Lamborghinis duking it out for supremacy. Nobody cares, though, because the supporting races, filled with JNCs, were about a million times more exciting. Continue reading
Posted in motorsport, Video
Tagged a20, ae86, australia, Bathurst, celica, civic, Civic EG, daruma, honda, Improved Production Challenge, toyota
8 Comments
VIDEO: See the Prince R380 on US soil for the first time at the Amelia Island Concours D’Elegance
As far as we know, the 1966 Prince R380 has never been shown on US soil. That’s about to change this weekend when this pivotal Japanese race car makes its North American debut at the Amelia Island Concours D’Elegance. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged infiniti, japan grand prix, nissan, prince, r380, s54, shinichiro sakurai, skyline, Yoshikazu Sunako
1 Comment
MOTORSPORT: Tomiko Yoshikawa, pioneer in Japan’s racing world
In honor of International Women’s Day, this is the story of Tomiko Yoshikawa, a race car driver and pioneer in the Japanese racing world. Born in 1954 in an Aichi Prefecture, Yoshikawa was a self-described furyou shoujo, a “bad girl” who dreamed of being a softball pitcher. When she realized this dream would not be achievable, she rebelled. She dropped out of high school, began wearing her hair in a hard perm emblematic of disaffected youth of the time, and spent her days “raging with no goal.” Then she got into cars. Continue reading
Posted in motorsport
Tagged civic, honda, le mans, nissan, sunny, Tomiko Yoshikawa, ts cup
3 Comments
EVENTS: 2017 Tokyo Auto Salon, Part 01 — Legends of Rally
The Tokyo Auto Salon this year was its usual bacchanal of outrageous VIP luxury sleds, retina burning drift machines, and European exotics dripping money and diamonds out of their exhaust pipes. But in the midst of the madness, some companies actually brought out honest-to-god works of automotive art in the form of rally cars. Continue reading
Posted in events
Tagged 240z, a60, brz, celica, datsun, nissan, S30Z, safari rally, sanitora, st165, st185, subaru, sunny truck, TA64, tokyo auto salon, toyota, wrc, WRX STI
10 Comments
NEWS: Coming to America, the Honda Civic Type R
This gallery contains 14 photos.
Honda is finally bringing the Civic Type R stateside. The production version was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show this morning, promising what Honda does best — blistering performance in a front-wheel-drive package. With the decades-long clamoring fanboys now answered, here’s all … Continue reading
EVENTS: New Year Meeting 2017, Part 06 — Trucks, Wagons, Vans, and Kei Jidosha
One of the great things about the New Year Meeting is that in addition to all the brilliant classics and street machines, commercial vehicles are welcomed as well. There aren’t many places on the planet where you’ll see such a gathering of classic Japanese work trucks, vans and wagons. Continue reading
Posted in events
Tagged 620, AC Courrèges, acty, AD Van, b110, b120, c10, c110, Cabstar, carol, corolla, daihatsu, Datsun DB6, e10, fellow max, Hakosuka, hilux, honda, ke10, kei, kenmeri, Life PIckup, ln360, mazda, minica, mitsubishi, new year meeting, nissan, publica, sambar, sanitora, skyline, subaru, subaru r-2, sunny, sunny truck, T1500/T2000, today, toyota, trucks, vans, wagons
11 Comments
VIDEO: Australia, a RWD Toyota paradise
Imagine a world just like ours, except that RWD Toyotas are everywhere, people still refer to their cars as “good ol’ girl,” and the “Oh What a Feeling!” jump at the end of Toyota ads never went away. The dream of the 80s is alive in Australia. Continue reading
QotW: Take the JNC Challenge, Part 03
Welcome back gang to the third installment to the QotW Challenge. If you need a refresher, we took suggestions on what JNC daily driver would you buy with a budget of $2000. The result was a Civic Shuttle.
Afterwards, we needed to select how it would be used. The majority felt a show and shine car would best fit the Shuttle. Having a roof rack and other small details kept the clean appearance while still maintaining the daily driver theme.
Now, onto the challenge. We have a Honda with a relatively clean appearance and in running condition. Monthly income is tight but you have about $350 a month of spending cash to do as you will (gas, food, bills, etc. are already covered).
You run into two Shuttle fans at the local car club meet that just have to have the shuttle. Both offer a trade on the table.
Option 1: Trade for a 1st gen RX-7 that runs but “uses a little oil”, Manual, 120,000 miles on the clock in a faded yellow. Steering needs an alignment.
Option 2: An Isuzu Impulse 2.0L Turbo, 4-AT with 150,000 on the clock but engine was refreshed at 85k. silver color with much of the interior rotting away. Tires are as bald as Uncle Les.
Option 3: Keep the Shuttle with ideas to auto-x it in a month’s time using the $350.
You have $350 in-pocket so it can be used for diagnosing and/or fixing the options above as well. Choose wisely! Must back up your choice for consideration! The condition that you must daily drive it still applies.
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What car should my fiancée get?” Continue reading
EVENTS: New Year Meeting 2017, Part 05 — Nissan & Mitsubishi
This year was a special milestone for the New Year Meeting, as it was the show’s 40th year. It was quite a milestone for the event, which started in 1977 at the Tokyo Prince Hotel, a much smaller venue. Back then, no one would have guessed that one day Nissan and Mitsubishi would be in cahoots. A lot can happen in 40 years. Continue reading
Posted in events
Tagged 510, b10, b110, bluebird, c10, c210, cedric, cedric 130, csp311, datsun, fairlady roadster, fairlady z, fto, galant gto, Hakosuka, mitsubishi, new year meeting, nissan, s110, s130, s30 z, safari rally, silvia, skyline, sunny
5 Comments
EVENTS: New Year Meeting 2017, Part 04 — Aichi Steel
After visiting the New Year Meeting’s swap meet and club display we ventured into the main car show area, where Isuzu and Hino were the featured marques this year. While that may have satisfied the approximately four Isuzu and Hino fans out there, here’s something for the Toyotaku. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged a10, a20, carina, celica, corolla, corolla levin, crown, daruma, E40, E50, e70, new year meeting, s50, sprinter trueno, te27, te47, TE55, toyota
11 Comments
REMINDER: 2017 Toyotafest registration opens
Just a quick reminder that Toyotafest registration has opened. Actually, it opened yesterday but the site experienced some downtime, so if you tried to register but couldn’t, you should be able to now.
The show takes place on Saturday, May 6. Please note that there’s a new location this year, Marina Green Park in Long Beach, California. It’s very close to the old location.
The show takes place from 9am to 3pm and admission is free. It’s open to all Toyota, Lexus, and Scion vehicles. Registration is $50 and can be completed online here.
VIDEO: Gerard’s Subaru GS-R Coupe and Subaru Ranch
There are people who collect classic Ferraris or Volkswagens. Some people are named Jay Leno and collect everything. Then there’s Gerard Kleyn, who collects classic Subarus. Specifically, he collects cars that utilized the 4×140 lug pattern, predating Legacys and Imprezas. Grass Roots Garage, an outfit from Australia that documents the local car community, paid a visit to Gerard’s Subaru Ranch recently and made a video of their trip. Continue reading
EVENTS: New Year Meeting 2017, Part 03 — Isuzu and Hino take center stage
Each year the Japanese Classic Car Association celebrates a different featured marque at the New Year Meeting. Cars belonging to the featured marque are gathered for a concours d’elegance competition with awards voted on by judges from various Japanese automotive publications. However, for 2017 the spotlight was shared by two automakers, Isuzu and Hino. Perhaps the JCCA felt that the rarity of these two nameplates required dual spotlights, but that fear was unwarranted. Continue reading
Posted in events
Tagged 117, bellett, contessa, elf, florian, gemini, hino, isuzu, new year meeting, Renault 4CV
10 Comments
NEWS: Here’s the new Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross in all its glory
Before the advent of science, some cultures thought that an eclipse meant demons were eating the sun. Well, here comes another Eclipse. We warned you it would happen. Behold the all-new Eclipse Cross. DSM fanboys may want to skip this one. Continue reading
