JNC is honored to welcome a very special guest to our booth at the Japanese Classic Car Show this Saturday. John Knepp was a key engineer on the BRE team (above, 7th from left) who helped build championship cars such as the Datsun 2000 roadster and 510. Continue reading
Are you ready for JCCS this Saturday? We at JNC are having a Fairlady Roadster-themed day to coincide with the debut of Hot Wheels’s newest JNC casting, the Datsun Fairlady 2000. As such, we will be giving away several cars at the show, including a few signed by the Hot Wheels design team that worked on this car. Here’s how the contest will work. Continue reading
Response to JNC‘s Touge California has been almost unanimously positive… almost. There was one group in particular who felt left out of the fun: Owners of 80s cars. That’s because all Touge California cars had to be 1980 or older. Well, take heart, children of the Reagan years, for your moment has arrived. Japanese Nostalgic Car is excited to announce the newest member of the Touge California family: Touge 80s.
UPDATE: the Toyota USA Museum will be open to the public at the finish of Touge 80s. Please join us. Continue reading
We are very excited about the JCCS (four days away!), and the theme at the JNC booth this year will be early Nissan motorsports. To celebrate, we are debuting a new shirt design, called simply “39”. Continue reading
Mazda’s plan for JCCS this Saturday is two-fold and promises something for Mazdafarians of all stripes — a history of high-end models and a tribute to its motorsports legends. Continue reading
This morning, a truck in Nashville picked up a couple of old cars to transport to California, including what is arguably the most valuable car in Nissan USA’s DNA Garage. Continue reading
Unlike many American, British, and German classics, finding new or like-new parts for classic Japanese cars can be very difficult. It’s not like a ’69 Camaro, where you can open a Year One catalog and get everything you could possibly want to build a complete car out of nothing but a shell. This is especially true if you have a JDM model that was never sold on these shores.
What’s the hardest restoration part to find for your JNC?
What say you, dear reader? As always, 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 most confoundingly engineered JNC?” Continue reading
After a longer than usual break between our tours, we decided to take a full week off and continue our Western Coast explorations through the Chubu and Kinki regions. As we embarked, the outer bands of a seasonal typhoon loomed over Japan. We expected some interesting weather and moderate traffic leaving Tokyo on a Saturday (which we usually try to avoid), but also fantastic seafood from the coastal towns, luxurious salaryman hotels, and perhaps some kyusha spotting along the way. We were not to be disappointed, as we found all these and more. Continue reading
Of the 26 Hot Wheels cars that have worn the JNC inkan, the latest is one of our favorites. That’s because the Track Day series Datsun Bluebird 510 isn’t just a wicked diecast race car, but one whose livery was inspired by a wicked real-life race car. Continue reading
Tomorrow will mark the end of an era, as the last Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution goes on sale. After ten generations and 24 years of turbocharged, all-wheel-drive madness, this rally car for the road is sayonara-ing into the sunset. Continue reading
The Rocky Auto 3000GT is a work of modern art. A hand-crafted body draped over one of the finest drivetrains ever produced and screwed together by one of Japan’s top tuners, it’s an homage to a timeless blue chip Japanese classic. Continue reading
Before “Confidence in Motion” and “The Beauty of All-Wheel-Drive,” Subaru was marketed in the US as reliable and economical. But as today’s kidney car demonstrates, the automotive division of Fuji Heavy Industry was long a pro at making singularly awesome and rugged—and, to the initiated, attractive—all-terrain vehicles. Behold this beautiful 1981 Subaru GL 4WD Wagon. Continue reading
Japan’s expressways are famously difficult to navigate. Most are named for the far-away places they head to and are difficult for non-native Japanese speakers to remember. That may all change, the Ministry of Transport is proposes an alphanumeric system to help us gaijin not get lost. Continue reading
Japanese cars are known to be superbly engineered, plainly logical in their construction, and easy to work on (which is weird, since they break down much less than other cars). But after reading your answers about difficult repairs from last week, we know there are exceptions so illogical they would make Spock commit seppuku.
Some are easily explained, like the Toyota 5M’s impossible-to-reach fuel filter due to its master cylinder placement in the change from right- to left-hand-drive. Some can be attributed to sheer stubbornness of philosophy, like the Honda Vigor’s forward-transmitting driveshaft. And some are the result of epic screw-ups when the company is so big that the engine and transmission engineers don’t tell each other which way the drivetrain is supposed to rotate, like on the Twin-Stick Mirage/Colt.
What’s the most confoundingly engineered JNC?
What say you, dear reader? As always, 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 hardest repair job you’ve done on a JNC?” Continue reading
Okay, so Scoot Scoot isn’t a driving game per se, but any time a Honda Motocompo is the star vehicle consider our interest piqued. The premise is simple. Pilot the folding bike from the back of a Honda City around a richly colored parking lot in the shortest time possible. Continue reading
While other Japanese historic racing cars generate equal amounts of enthusiasm and respect, one particular car has sat in relative obscurity for many years. Known only to a few otaku but integral in both the rising dominance of Japanese cars on the global racing scene and in the establishment of the Prince — then Nissan — name in racing, it is the Prince R380. Continue reading
It was announced on September 5 in Japan that Champ Road, the last bosozoku tuning magazine, is suspending publication. The so-called “Bad Boy Bible” has been in print for 29 years, showcasing the bikes, cars, and fashion of Japan’s rebel youth. The November 2016 issue, to be released September 26, will be its last. Continue reading
In 1990 Nissan debuted the Z32 with what was likely one of the most expensive car commercials ever commissioned at the time. They hired the most famous Hollywood sci-fi director in the world, Ridley Scott (of Blade Runner, Alien, and Black Rain fame), aired it only once (during the Super Bowl, no less), and pulled it from the airwaves. Now, the very car that starred in “Dream” can be yours, uncovered almost exactly as it was in the ad some 26 years after the broadcast. Continue reading
In an already packed calendar, a new event has appeared on the Japanese auto show roster. Recently, Tokyo hosted the inaugural Automobile Council, an affair whose stated goal was “Encouraging car culture to blossom in Japan.” That’s a noble aim if there ever was one, especially with the participation of major automakers. Continue reading
It’s Labor Day here in the US, so as you’re enjoying a day off from your real job why not tell us about your other job, the one in the garage? Sure, Japanese cars are famously easy to work on and extremely logical in layout, but once in a while, there’s still a confounding, daunting task that requires blood, sweat and knuckle skin.
What’s the hardest repair job you’ve done on a JNC?
What say you, dear reader? As always, 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 most prized JNC part?” Continue reading
