Going strictly by land mass, Japan is about 10 percent smaller than California, and a full 70 percent of its terrain is mountains. That’s why the twisting passes that cut through the ridges known as touge provide Japan’s preferred method of hooning. When the Toyota 86 came out in 2012, the company produced a 157-episode series called, simply, Touge to highlight each of Japan’s best driving roads. Continue reading
We’ve discussed which automaker had the best year, but which year had the best autos? Prior to 1970, Japanese cars were either grossly overpriced or built for a populace just graduating from a moped. By the turn of the decade, the automakers were filling that middle ground with actual cars we’d be familiar with today, and the earning power of the average Jun had reached a point where they could afford them. Suddenly cool cars were everywhere. Nissan had the Z, Toyota had the Celica, Mazda had the Capella RX-2, Mitsubishi had the Galant GTO, and Honda had the 1300 Coupe 9. Innovation, optimism, and kick-ass designs came to the forefront. It was the best of times.
What was the greatest single year for Japanese cars?
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,”Which Japanese automaker had the best single-year lineup?” Continue reading
As if you needed any more evidence that the Datsun 240Z is the “it car” of the moment. Hot wheels is likely going to drop yet another S30 casting soon, this time based on Sung Kang’s Fugu Z. Continue reading
If you’re an enthusiast of a certain age, there is a very good chance you got your first taste of JDM cars from a pirated copy of a Best Motoring VHS tape. It would be inaccurate to call it a show since it was never broadcast over the airwaves, but the monthly videos — released first on tape when they debuted in 1987, then DVD — were hugely popular in Japan. Eventually, they even crossed the Pacific divide before the days of internet. Continue reading
One of our favorite series on the internet right now is by Shannons Insurance of Australia. In the latest episode, they explain why you should go out and buy a first-gen Civic immediately. Continue reading
As if the ND Miata needed any more accolades, it has just won Japan Car of the Year. Praised for its purity and sporting driving experience, it earned 442 points, beating out the second-place Honda S660, which garnered 401. The BMW 2-Series came in third with 177. Continue reading
Los Angeles has three major institutions on what the tour guides call Museum Row: one for art, one for natural history, and one entirely devoted to cars. The Petersen Automotive Museum is the Temple of the Car in what is considered the car culture capital of the US, possibly even the world. It reopened last week after a $125 million remodel, but for JNCers the news is that there’s a new push to have (slightly) more Nihon steel represented. Continue reading
Models come and go, and some generations are better than others. However, once in a lifetime, maybe twice, cosmic forces just align and an automaker knocks it out of the park like the 1996 Chicago Bulls. Wrong metaphor? I don’t know sports. Anyway, take Toyota in 1985, for instance. They had everything from a mid-engined sports car to a go-anywhere SUV, each and every one a winner. You could cold walk into a showroom and have your pick of the A-dub MR2, AE86, X70 Cressida, A60 Celica or Supra, solid axle Hilux, detachable top 4Runner, or FJ60 Land Cruiser. Thirty years later, all are highly sought after. But, like Levar Burton says, you don’t have to take our word for it.
Which Japanese automaker had the best single-year lineup?
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, “How do you prepare your JNC for winter?” Continue reading
If you’re watching the 25 Hours of Thunderhill this weekend you might see a very familiar livery blasting around the northern California circuit. Mazda has sent a quartet of ND Miatas into the longest enduro in America and, fittingly, they’re wearing the battle paint of the first Mazda endurance racer in North America, the 1979 RX-7. Continue reading
Remember Toyota’s close-to-production sports car concept from the Tokyo Motor Show? Now it’s a close-to-production race car concept. Either they modified the show car real quick, or there are multiple examples of these buggers floating around the studios. Continue reading
A couple months ago we showed you the first three cars in the 2016 Hot Wheels Japan Historics line. These premium models will feature the JNC inkan in classic red, along with features such as metal chassis, highly detailed paint, and rubber tires. Today we are proud to announce that the remaining two cars that will round out this 5-car series. Continue reading
Forget Deloreans, what would a time traveling car in Japan look like? A kujira Crown, apparently. In the drama Time Taxi an MS65 cab takes people back to rectify their mistakes — as long as they have the dough. Continue reading
Now that the dust from the 44th Tokyo Motor Show has settled and we’ve had a chance to contemplate the implications of the unveilings, there has emerged one clear winner: Mazda. For years, enthusiasts fantasized and clamored for Mazda to bring back the bad-ass rotary sports car. Pessimists insisted that it couldn’t be done, analysts mused that there was no bean-counting sense for it. Mazda itself played along, coyly denying plans for a future rotary sports car — until they dropped this striptease for the RX-Vision. Continue reading
And now for your viewing pleasure, a metric buttload of kyuusha leaving a car show in Japan. Every single one is a proper, old school Japanese sled. Also note the immaculate smoothness of Japan’s roads, which makes these shakotan rides possible. Watch the video below. Continue reading
As temps drop, weather gets precipitous and the dreaded salt spreaders come out, our driving patterns change. In LA the only difference is that we might have to actually check the weather report for the chance of rain. The rest of the world, however, may need to cope.
How do you prepare your JNC for winter?
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, “How do you park your JNC?” Continue reading
For most, the term “Sunday drive” means a leisurely excursion, to no place in particular, just a way to exercise the family car. In Japan, it can include a number of things — blissfully empty touge, kohi (coffee) and kuruma (car) at one of the many PA (parking areas), exercises in regional eating (this is Japan after all), straight line expressway blasts, and scenic seaside roads. For one Sunday drive, we decided to combine a few of these Japanese pursuits, including — I was promised — the best fresh fish breakfast in all of Kanto. Continue reading
Mazdafarians far and wide came to the recent SevenStock 18, the premiere showcase of rotary-powered Hiroshima heroes. Held at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, the all-day festival mixed a car show, track day, and basically anything that was Mazda rotary-themed. Continue reading
Given that we’ve just finished a three-part series on the art of parking, we’d like to hear how you park your JNC. Do you seek out the least ding-prone spot in the lot, or is it a garage-only, “point A-back-to-point A” scenario, or do you hard park it like a yak? Do you always back in, Japanese style, or do you pull in, nose first like some kind of barbarian? We want to know.
How do you park 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, “Which concept from the Tokyo Motor Show should be built?” Continue reading
Welcome to the final installment in our multi-part treatise on short-term automobile storage in Japanese society. In Part 01 of the investigation we studied what was within and without the bounds of the law, as well as the ubiquitous steel-bar-rising-up-out-of-the-ground parking lots. In Part 02 of the dissertation we considered the boom-gate lot and the car elevator building. Here are the final three practices by which you can leave your vehicle unattended. Continue reading
As the broader collector car world has finally recognized the worthiness of Japanese classics, model car companies have followed suit. We’re seeing a steady increase in the number of nostalgics available in the more popular premium diecast scales (1:18 and 1:43), which is an exciting but not unexpected development — a model car collector can only acquire so many Ferraris and Porsches before they start to get a little stale. Continue reading
