We are very proud to announce that in 2016, Hot Wheels has created a new premium collection devoted to Japanese nostalgic cars. Called the Japan Historics line, it will feature celebrated cars from Japan’s automotive past. And of course, we are very excited to tell you that the JNC inkan will be featured on all of them. Continue reading
Here’s a Toyota S-FR photoshopped with a Zero theme, some better airflow, and gunmetal Wats. It was sent to us by a fan that shall remain nameless because he works for a car company that is not Toyota. Let’s hope the S-FR sees production so this can become a reality.
While the Yotahachi-inspired S-FR Concept is getting all the attention, Toyota is actually bringing several other concepts to the Tokyo Motor Show at the end of the month, two of them with throwback styling. Continue reading
Toyota has previewed a new sports car concept ahead of the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show later this month. According to the automaker, the Toyota S-FR “continues the proud heritage of Toyota’s fun-to-drive lightweight sports cars.” Of course, this year was the 50th anniversary of Toyota’s first sports car, and though it wasn’t mentioned anywhere in the official statement, the S-FR clearly looks like a modern interpretation of 1965 Sports 800. Continue reading
At the recent annual Hot Wheels convention in Los Angeles, a new model was quietly revealed for 2016. It’s not quite nostalgic yet, but the Acura Integra was a long time coming.
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When it debuted in 1969, the S30 Z promptly redefined the sports car, tearing down any remaining barriers, psychological or otherwise, to owning a Japanese car. It became the first piece of Nihon steel you could own with pride in America, which set the Z on its way to become the best-selling sports car of all time. As such, it holds a special privilege among Japanese classics, sort of like a Corvette among fans of Detroit iron. And as with Corvette fans, some of them are downright obsessive. Continue reading
This year’s JCCS had a higher turnout, truck-wise, than any other in recent memory. Former workhorses that managed to survive — or evade — decades of hard labor showed up en masse on Queen Mary lawn to enjoy their new status as classics. Continue reading
It’s the end of the line for the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. The company is building 1,000 Final Edition cars for Japan and another 1,600 for North America. After that, they’ll be no more. The Final Edition cars will get several trim and mechanical upgrades, and a slight bump in horsepower. UPDATE: the US version will get the Japanese version’s 308 PS (303 hp).
To honor the last of the LanEvos, Mitsubishi has put together a video showing how the car was built at its Mizushima plant and Shiga powertrain factory. Even if you prefer older Mitsus, are a Subaru loyalist, or have a burning hatred for team Emperor, it’s impossible not to feel a twinge of sadness as we bid this iconic rally car for the street a fond sayonara. Continue reading
Subaru recently opened an exhibition of its most iconic cars at its headquarters building in Japan. Loosely translated as “The Finest Cars of the Six Stars,” its name is a reference to the six-star constellation makes up the Subaru logo. If you’re in Tokyo, check it out. If you’re not, some friends from Subaru of America, recently there on a business trip, have got you covered. Continue reading
Have chrome-bumpered bullies been making you feel bad that your urethane-capped car isn’t truly a classic? Tell them to take a chill pill. Now that 1990 is the 25-year cutoff, everything that was built in the Eighties is officially a classic. Continue reading
Mazda is set to unveil a new sports car concept at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show next month. That in itself is already cause to celebrate, but Mazda has gone on to state that this will be a heritage model. Sources from within the company have assured us that JNC readers will not be disappointed. Could it be a return of the rotary? Here’s what we can tell you so far. Continue reading
The march of AE86s coming out of the woodwork continues. Now what could very well be the lowest-mileage Toyota Corolla GT-S left in the world has surfaced in Waxhaw, North Carolina. With just 14,500 miles on the clock, this USDM version of the famed AE86 could very well be the holy grail for the right Hachiroku fiend. Continue reading
In Japan, shakotan is simply means a lowered car. Many different styles of car can technically qualify as shakotan, but if we’re going to steal a traditional Japanese term, we might as well apply it to traditional Japanese cars. You know it when you see it — small-diameter wheels, limited use of body kits, and steel instead of composite fiber. Can you dig it? Continue reading
The piston engine’d version of the Mazda RX-4 was called the Luce in Japan and the 929 elsewhere in the world. Happy 9/29 Day!
Talk about time travel. What were you doing in 1989? In Japan, car enthusiasts were lining up at Hakone Nanamagari Touge like it was a playground slide. A notoriously twisty section of mountain road, it is part of the most famous of Japan’s touge, the birthplaces of drifting. And man, it’s a scene! Continue reading
A very limited Hot Wheels Toyota 2000GT will go on sale this Tuesday (ie, tomorrow). Wearing the livery of the Carroll Shelby SCCA race car driven by Scooter Patrick, it’s the latest offering from the official Hot Wheels Red Line Club for collectors, and it’s limited to just 3,000 pieces.
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Time travel is real, but it only goes to one point on the space-time continuum: Showa Era Japan. For some reason, you have a briefcase full of 1960s-era yen in large bills. You also know of a remote garage in rural Japan that will be undisturbed for 60 years because, well, you’re from the future.
What JNC would you get if you had a time machine?
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 JNC sighting will you remember forever?” Continue reading
No one that walked through the Japanese Classic Car Show last weekend could have missed the astounding collection of half a dozen classic rotaries parked on the Queen Mary lawn. Each one was more pristine than the next, as if we had jumped a few decades back in time only to land in a Mazda showroom. Turns out, the cars belong to Abel and Elvis Ibarra, brothers who built a legendary rotary racing empire. Continue reading
As it embarks on its second decade, the 2015 Japanese Classic Car Show has become a must-attend event, not just for J-tin owners or readers of this fine site, but car enthusiasts everywhere. Nowhere in America will you see a wider array of cars from the Japanese domestic market never sold in the US, the subject of our first installment. Continue reading
I hate red. It’s too loud, it fades to a powdery pink over time, and it’s often too obvious a choice. In Japan, red was forbidden on passenger cars until Soichiro Honda embarrassed MITI with a scathing editorial in the newspapers, thus opening the doors for the color on his S-Series and all other 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, “What JNC would you get if you had a time machine?” Continue reading →