QotW: If you could only drive one car for the rest of your life, what would it be?

151-SM1750115_Toyota Master Ace Surf

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

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GRAND TOURING: Driving across Japan in a JNC, Day 04

2177_Car Story Kyushu

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

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VIDEO: Why you should buy a Datsun 510

Shannons Club TV Datsun 510

“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

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KIDNEY, ANYONE? Unmolested 1985 Toyota Cressida

15_1985 Toyota Cressida 75k

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

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VIDEO: Restoration of the first US-market Honda begins

Tim Mings Honda N600 Serial Number 1

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

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NEWS: Toyota 86 to get facelift with new name

Toyota86-2017 02

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

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day from JNC

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NEWS: The Scion FR-S is now the Toyota 86, may get more variants

Toyota 86 01

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

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VIDEO: James May goes to Japan

James May Cars of the People Toyota Celica Liftback

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

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VIDEO: Jay Leno drives the Fugu Z

Jay Leno Sung Kang Fugu Z

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

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VIDEO: The most high-tech Japanese sports car of the 90s

MotorWeek Mitsubishi 3000GT

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

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EVENTS: 2016 New Year Meeting, Part 04 — The Streets

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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

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QotW: What’s your most heartwarming JNC story?

Toyota Corolla TE27 tsunami restoration 02

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

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GRAND TOURING: Driving across Japan in a JNC, Day 03

2059 Sanrigahama

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

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VIDEO: A nation of car enthusiasts helps restore a tsunami-destroyed 1971 Corolla

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

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GRAND TOURING: Tohoku, Part 02

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the twin disasters — a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and devastating tsunami — that struck Japan off the coast of Tohoku in 2011. In remembrance, we are re-running a series of stories that relate to the event’s aftermath. This article was originally published on October 23, 2012.

In Part 01 of our Grand Tour through Japan’s Tohoku region we headed north from Tokyo, past tsunami-devastated villages and deep into Aomori Prefecture. Normally on such trips the nostalgics we encounter are the most beloved — Skylines, rear-drive Corollas, Honda S-cars — but this time we’d been pleased to cross paths with machines less often seen. We pick up Part 02 as we trace Mutsu Bay on the northernmost tip of Honshu, Japan’s main island.  Continue reading

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How Subaru became masters of AWD

Subaru ff-1 1300G Tohoku Power Company 02Subaru ff-1 1300G Tohoku Power Company 01

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the twin disasters — a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and devastating tsunami — that struck Japan off the coast of Tohoku in 2011. In remembrance, we are re-running a series of stories that relate to event’s aftermath. Another version of this article was published on July 9, 2015. Here it is with minor updates.

The story of how Subaru became masters of AWD is one of pure chance. In 1969, Tohoku Electric Power Co., northeast Japan’s power company, was looking for vehicles to replace their fleet of Land Cruisers (in some versions of this story, the vehicle is described as a “jeep-like” truck, which could refer to a Mitsubishi JH). Employees often had to venture into rugged and snowy terrain to repair power lines. The trucks were deemed too uncomfortable and inefficient, especially in winters, when their canvas tops would let cold air in. Continue reading

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GRAND TOURING: Tohoku, Part 01

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the twin disasters — a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and devastating tsunami — that struck Japan off the coast of Tohoku in 2011. In remembrance, we are re-running a series of stories that relate to the event’s aftermath. This article was originally published on October 17, 2012.

For the last year or more, most of our visits to Tohoku have been single minded – helping with the recovery efforts. This trip was a chance to relax, tour the glorious countryside, meet people and, of course, capture some glimpses of nostalgic cars in the wild. For this we traveled northward from Tokyo as far as possible, all the way to the Aomori coast on the northernmost tip of Honshu. Continue reading

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VIDEO: Check out this Honda Head’s massive collection

Honda Kokoro Collection Lance

In a video titled Honda Kokoro (Honda Heart), a collector welcomes viewers into his incredible collection of Honda memorabilia. If the wall of valve covers didn’t clue you in already, it is a collection of epic proportions, from bikes to Hot Wheels, generators to Honda-branded gym socks. Lance isn’t just an otaku, though. He works for the company as well.  Continue reading

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Consider the Following: The third-generation Honda Accord is a great buy

509-1716_Honda-Accord3g-640x427

With the prices of the most popular models entering unattainable status for a lot of younger JNCers, we felt it necessary to highlight some painfully overlooked — often for no good reason at all — yet still affordable (for now) nostalgics. Consider the following: The CA Honda Accord.  Continue reading

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