Tomica is back with a line of chocolate minicars for this Valentine’s Day. The Japanese diecast carmaker is giving us six cars to drool over, with modern version of two sports car icons — the Nissan GT-R and Fairlady Z — headlining the set. Continue reading
MINICARS: Have some chocolate cars for Valentine’s Day
Posted in minicars
Tagged 370z, fairlady z, gt-r, honda, Hustler, mitsubishi, n-one, nissan, r35, suzuki, tomica, Valentine's Day, z34
3 Comments
QotW: Tell us your tip for battling the winter weather with a JNC
Morning JNCers! In Tokyo, we are hitting single digits, in the US there are huge snow flurries and downright tough weather all around. In high school I used to scrape my windows each day before heading to school in my AE82 Corolla DX. That all changed when i learned to drape a towel over the windows and saved myself scrape time and increased visibility. We ask you all:
Tell us your tip for battling the winter weather with a JNC!
Your answer can be based on a new school or old school tip and hopefully helps everyone reading this to keep their JNCs on the road.
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s What JNC would best represent the New England Patriots?
VIDEO: A Datsun 240Z is the hero car in this 1979 chase movie
1970s Los Angeles was an automotive paradise. Not only did you have a diverse mix of Detroit land yachts, European compacts and heaps of Japanese runabouts, but its freeways ran long and wide. Back then, before the 405 was one giant parking lot, it was a more innocent time, too. A serial killer with a windowless van merely ran his victims off the road, instead of abducting them and doing some weird sex stuff. This was the premise for the 1979 movie Death Car on the Freeway, which took place in LA and featured a whole bunch of J-tin — including a first-gen Honda Civic and, as the hero car, a Datsun 240Z. Continue reading
VIDEO: Could the fifth-gen Civic VX be the best beginner car ever made?
It is 2017, so 25 years ago it was 1992. That year, one of the most important cars to the sport compact movement came to American shores, the EG Honda Civic. In this case, however, we’re talking about the EH2 Civic VX because Honda enthusiasts get too in depth with chassis codes for their own good. Continue reading
VIDEO: Just a reminder that Toyota is cooler everywhere that is not the US
So at this point we’ve seen official ads featuring classic Toyotas in Japan, Colombia, the UK, and Australia. Now, three new videos have emerged Down Under featuring a trio of dedicated enthusiasts and their classic Toyotas. These include the original owner of a 1976 Celica and a girl who found a rare JDM RA35 GT Liftback in Adelaide and has owned more than 60 Toyotas. Continue reading
VIDEO: The only running Toyota 2000GT in the UK
With just 351 built, the Toyota 2000GT is a rare car. According to Toyota UK, this is the only roadworthy one in the country. They’re calling it The Toyota that Lived Twice, a nod to the 2000GT’s starring role in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice and the fact that the owners found a bullet hole in the door during restoration.
EVENTS: Houston Morningstar Meet
You might have heard there was a football game in Houston over the weekend. We were in town for the epic clash — something about classic Fords versus Jeep crossovers — but before the big game the local JNC community welcomed us to a Sunday morning meet. Continue reading
Happy TE27 Day from JNC
When you think of Toyota performance, the color palette that pops into your head may largely depend on the cars you love. Yellow, orange and red for 80s IMSA racing, red and green Castrol for WRC, white and red for TRD’s various exploits and so on. If you’re into TE27s, though, you’re probably a fan of dark green and orange. As you may already know, the names Levin and Trueno mean “thunder” and “lightning” in old English and Spanish, respectively. But a quick Google search seems to reveal that this iconic palette has never been translated to English, so today, on this day of 2/7 2017, we shall.
The official color names for the Corolla Levin were Indianapolis Olive and Monte Rosa Orange. For the Sprinter Trueno, they were Daytona Olive, Haight-Ashbury Orange. The greens were clearly named after famed American raceways but the oranges, as far as we can tell, were named after a mountain in the Alps and the famed San Francisco intersection that was ground zero for 1960s counterculture. We don’t know why they got these names, but we offer you this completely useless bit of trivia anyway. Happy TE27 Day!
For mango madness, revisit our coverage of the TE27 Club Meeting.
Posted in Reminder
Tagged corolla, corolla levin, sprinter, sprinter trueno, te27, toyota
8 Comments
QotW: What JNC would best represent the New England Patriots?
Greetings fellow JNCers! As I drafted this QotW, I was sitting in my Tokyo office feverishly refreshing my browser to follow Super Bowl LI. As the game progressed, turned on a dime, and presented the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history; I wondered:
What JNC would best represent the New England Patriots?
The question is abstract, just as abstract as the team mascots that represent the physical players. So I would ask that you run with the spirit of the question. Does the JNC represent the team as a whole? MVP player? Coach? Gatorade caddy?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW: Which JNC took on grassroots rally racing the best? Continue reading
Perhaps the most thoroughly restored 1977 Celica ever
Inspired by TA22 Day yesterday, we stumbled across what is quite possibly the most thorough restoration of a 1977 Celica ever performed. Technically this isn’t a TA22, but it’s still a first-gen Celica and it’s an amazing story of an original owner’s love for his first car. Continue reading
VIDEO: Let’s not forget how awesome the Legacy RS was
Before the WRX, STI or any of Subaru’s three-letter suffixes for the Impreza became synonymous with rallying, there was the Legacy RS. Here’s a thrilling video of Colin McRae tearing through the 1993 Tour de Corse. Turbocharged first-gen Subaru Legacys are awesome. Continue reading
VIDEO: How the Honda S-Series made its debut to the world
The Honda S-Series sports car — a lineage that consists of the S660, S2000, S800, S600 and S500 — is legendary today, but how did it make its first appearance to the world? After all, Honda is one of the few automakers whose first passenger model was an actual sports car and its launch was of historic import. Luckily, an old Honda-produced short film shows us that exact moment, and the road leading up to it. Continue reading
NEWS: Tokyo Motor Show may be a reunion of Japanese sports car icons
If the multitude of rumors are true, this fall’s Tokyo Motor Show could be one for the history books. Nissan, Toyota, and Honda are all said to be reviving sports car icons. A modern Z, Supra and S2000 could be in the works. Continue reading
Posted in News
Tagged fairlady z, honda, nissan, S-FR, s2000, supra, tokyo motor show, toyota
12 Comments
RIP Namco founder Masaya Nakamura, 1925-2017
Video game pioneer Masaya Nakamura passed away on January 22 at the age of 91. News just broke in Japan, leading to an outpouring of love for the man whose company gave the world Pac-Man. However, before the round yellow ghost-hunter became a global phenomenon, Nakamura created several coin-operated ways of bringing kids and cars together. Continue reading
Posted in Video Games
Tagged dax, fuji speedway, honda, Masaya Nakamura, Mitsukoshi, Namco, pole position
6 Comments
Happy 97th Birthday, Mazda!
Ninety-seven years ago today, the Toyo Kogyo Cork Company was founded in Hiroshima. The cork business wasn’t exactly brimming in a rapidly industrializing Japan, so they soon shifted to heavy equipment, including the Mazdago 3-wheeled truck. Then they made some weird cars without pistons and stuff. Happy 97th birthday, Mazda!
QotW: Which JNC took on grassroots rally racing the best?
This week, we’re taking a little break from the JNC challenge, which you can still contribute to here. During the break, I wanted to consider a simple, but possibly controversial question:
“Which JNC took on grassroots rally racing the best?
This isn’t a focus on WRC pro rally, we want to know a good story of local rally racing and the JNC that helped get people into the sport. I know there are some crazy races in Central America and even Africa so bring out your best! If you have a pic, attach or link it! We wanna see J-tin duking it out!
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW: Take the JNC Challenge, Part 2. Continue reading
Happy Year of the Rooster from JNC
Okay, so the logo of the Toyota Century is technically a fushichou, or phoenix derived from Chinese mythology. But, if you trace it back far enough, the fenghuang is also called the August Rooster and according to Wikipedia, sometimes replaces the rooster on the Chinese zodiac. We’ve never seen it happen, but hey, it was either this or an AW11 logo. Here’s a closeup so you can see the detail in all its golden glory. Continue reading
VIDEO: Roadkill‘s $1,500 Japanese car challenge
The last time we saw the Roadkill guys, they were busy being confounded by an AE86 with historic plates. Perhaps seeking to delve deeper into the world of J-tin, they recently filmed an episode in which they each spent $1,500 on a non-Big Three jalopy. What happens when they trade barely running muscle cars for a barely running first-gen Mazda RX-7 and Honda Civic? An entertaining as hell episode, that’s what. Continue reading
Honda T880, an adorable retro kei truck concept
One of the coolest and most unexpected concepts to emerge from the Tokyo Auto Salon this year was the Honda T880. Based on the Honda Acty, it takes the unmistakable look of Japan’s ubiquitous kei trucks and creates a design that is at once charming, nostalgic, and somewhat sporty. Continue reading
