“It is the dream of Nissan,” says Hiroshi Tamura, product chief of Nissan’s sports cars and NISMO head honcho, about his GT-R. The automaker is in New York to debut an update of the halo car of not just the company itself, but all of Japan. That’s why the storied company has brought together all generations of their homeland’s most beloved car. Continue reading
We’re live at the New York Auto Show, where Mazda just unveiled the 2017 MX-5 Miata RF. The “RF” stands for retractable fastback, and it’s pretty much the next best thing to a bona fide Miata coupe. The top has a targa setting, but the back window can be retracted as well. See for yourself in the video after jump. More details to come! Continue reading
In about an an hour, Nissan will unveil the 2017 GT-R at the New York Auto Show. Here’s an exclusive preview from the setup day yesterday. Some of these cars came from Nissan’s Zama collection, and are the first time they have been shown in the US. Continue reading
As the CEOs of Japan’s car companies each try to top the next by promising to return to their glory days of automaking, Nissan is left without a champion. Enthusiasts cry out for the lack of an affordable Miata, 86 or S660 fighter, claiming the once storied firm has lost its way, and go back to drooling over Datsuns. What everyone seems to forget, however, is that Nissan has an utterly dominant, supercar-killing heritage model that sets both the world and the loins of fanboys on fire every time its three-letter name is uttered: GT-R. Continue reading
The Honda Civic is adored by Honda lovers of all ages, especially the 1988-2000 EF, EG and EK generations. They’re loved not in the way Toyota guys idolize the AE86, but rather in the way that Mini guys adore the original Austin Mini Cooper, almost as if that was the only offering from Honda. Continue reading
So here’s the situation. You can pick one car, any car, but it’s the only car you can drive for the rest of your life. Money is no object, but you can’t choose a 2000GT so you can sell it and use the money for 50 other cars. You can never sell this car. And you can never buy another one. If you’re going to live the rest of your life in bachelorhood, then go ahead and get that 2000GT! Otherwise, if you have a family you might have to compromise and go with a MasterAce.
If you could only drive one car for the rest of your life, what would it be?
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 heartwarming JNC story?” Continue reading
By the end of Day 03 we’d arrived at Shimonoseki, the southernmost point of Honshu, Japan’s main landmass. As the island on which most of the nation’s major cities — Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Hiroshima — are located, Honshu contains about 60 percent of Japan’s land and 80 percent of its population. Our goal today was to make it to the city of Nagasaki on the western edge of Kyushu Japan’s third largest island. Continue reading
“Experts across the world concluded it had to be a copy of the BMW. It wasn’t… As long as it could be dismissed as a copy, the global car industry didn’t have to face the real threat the Datsun 1600 represented,” declares presenter Joe Kenwright in his latest Shannons Club TV intro. The latest look into Australia’s classic car market turns its attention to the giant-killing Datsun 1600 (or Datsun 510 as we Yanks know it). Continue reading
Years ago, unmolested Cressidas could be found on the List of Craig all day long, at “just a used car” prices barely cracking the three-digit mark. These days, nearly every Cressida for sale has been cut, slammed, or converted into either a drift missile or a halfhearted zokusha. Before the proto-Lexus goes completely extinct, though, you can get this cherry 75k-mile example if you act fast. Continue reading
Last year we showed you one of the most significant Honda automobiles in the world. Many spectators at JCCS walked right by the decrepit Honda N600, not realizing that it was serial number N600-1000001. That makes it the first Honda automobile built for US export, a move that expanded Soichiro’s global reach exponentially. Honda USA has entrusted our friend and N600 guru Tim “Merciless” Mings with the restoration of the car they’re calling “Serial One,” and the first episode of the series just launched. Continue reading
In addition to a new (yet old) name, the lightweight sport coupe formerly known as the Scion FR-S will get a facelift when it transitions to the Toyota marque this fall. Meet the 2017 Toyota 86. Continue reading
When we first reported that Scion was no more we also told you that all its models would be transitioned to the Toyota brand. We reported that when that happened, the Scion FR-S would be called the Toyota FR-S, even though that didn’t really make sense. We were wrong. It happens sometimes, especially when a Scion employee tells you “Yes, the FR-S will retain its name as a Toyota.” Continue reading
In the latest episode of James May’s Cars of the People, the former Top Gear host travels to Japan and drives some JNCs. Specifically, he gets behind the wheel of a Mazda Familia (aka 323) hatchback in its hometown of Hiroshima, and pilots a Toyota Celica Liftback in Toyota City with three of the company’s engineers as passengers. Continue reading
Watch two car cultures collide as Jay Leno and Sung Kang (along with his “legit Asian” buddies) discuss the award-winning Fugu Z. The car may not be everyone’s cup of matcha — one of the builders has an interesting definition of “period correct” — but one thing is undeniable: it’s the first high-profile resto-mod 240Z in North America, a perfect storm of top-of-the-game craftsmanship, wow-factor styling, and a pitch-perfect deployment of marketing strategy. As Leno’s video proves, it’s taking the mainstream car world by storm in the vein of a Boyd Coddington or Chip Foose custom, a first for a Japanese classic. It’s also built with incredible skill and love, a global community of car enthusiasts coming together. Continue reading
What was the most high-tech Japanese sports car of the 90s? Quite possibly the Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4, with its all-wheel-drive, twin-turbos and active aero. Today they seem to be taking a back seat to cars like the NSX, RX-7 and Supra among all but the most ardent Triple Diamond fans, but back when it was new the 3000GT (and its twin, the Dodge Stealth R/T) were awesome, state-of-the-art Nihon rockets. Continue reading
In the last two installments of our 2016 New Year Meeting coverage, we prowled the parking area to find as much diversity in marques and models as there were in customization styles. In our final installment of the 2016 New Year Meeting we find something even better than that — and possibly better than what was in the show itself — JNCs in motion, driving to, around and from the show. Behold the streets of Odaiba. Continue reading
Somehow, old cars inspire tales of friendship, camaraderie, and bringing out the best in your fellow humans. Case in point: this weekend we learned about an entire country that banded together to help one owner restore a Toyota Corolla that had been wrecked by the 2011 tsunami.
What’s your most heartwarming JNC story?
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 best tale of JNC indestructibility?” Continue reading
During Day 01 and Day 02 of our road trip across Japan, it rained constantly. On the morning of Day 03, the weather finally broke. As the clouds departed to the north, we were headed south, and that meant nothing but increasingly clear skies and sunny weather from here on out. Our goal for today was to take the Isuzu 117 Coupé from Matsue City on the northern end of Shimane Prefecture to Shimonoseki, the southernmost city of Japan’s main landmass. Continue reading
Five years ago, waves from the devastating tsunami that struck Japan’s eastern coast swept Masayuki Watanabe’s 1971 Toyota Corolla from its garage. Today, he got that car back. Continue reading
