Currently, California law states that your car must pass a smog test to be street legal if it is 1976 or newer. Unfortunately, that leaves a lot of classics un-registerable or sold for scrap during the Cash for Clunkers program. A new bill, AB-550, seeks to give these cars a second chance. Continue reading
For a number of years we’ve passed a lone Subaru 360 perched atop a rack built from scaffold over a similar-age Sambar truck. I kept thinking, “I must stop and photograph it before it disappears.” Like a Honda S500 no longer to be found in a similar garage a bit further up the Boso coast, it wasn’t going to stay there forever. Continue reading
The Amaro Family of Puerto Rico has one of the finest collections of privately-owned classic Toyotas in the world. In the latest episode of My Classic Car, mustachioed host Dennis Gage takes a break from tailfins and flatheads to take a look at some J-tin. Continue reading
Mitsubishi has begun taking orders for the Lancer Evolution Final Edition. When these last 1,000 Evo X models roll off the assembly line, the last bastion of Mitsubishi’s once proud performance lineup will be gone.
What’s the greatest nostalgic Mitsubishi?
Sure, there’s still the aging fourth-gen Pajero or the Delica D:5 one-box van, neither of which are sold in the US and which offer a different kind of off-road performance, but Mitsubishi cars — with their unusually large four-cylinders, willingness to turbocharge anything, and dirt-chucking prowess — are gone.
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 sportiest Japanese nostalgic sedan?“? Continue reading
On Friday, Mitsubishi Motors began taking orders for the Lancer Evolution Final Edition. The special edition will commemorate 23 years of the rally-ready rocket before it drifts off into the sunset. Yes, the original Evo hasn’t crossed the 25 year threshold into nostalgic status yet, but it is still with great sadness that we mark the passing of a Japanese performance icon.
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I recently purchased a Prince Skyline 2000GT-B. For those unfamiliar with the car, here is an explanation and short video of its historical significance. With interest in landmark Japanese cars at an all-time high, it’s quite possible that the six-cylinder Prince Skyline GTs could be the next blue chip JNC. For those interested in the model, here is a quick reference so you know how to tell the difference between a 2000GT-A and 2000GT-B. Continue reading
What’s mid-engined, twin-cam, hits 11,000rpm, and laps Sodeguara Forest Raceway faster than most things that were on the track at the recent Tokyo Bayside Classic Cup season closer? Continue reading
The producers of Adam Carolla’s upcoming documentary Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman has extended a special invitation to JNC readers. If you will be in the Los Angeles on April 16, you will definitely want to come to the film’s premiere. The charity event will include a screening of the film with many racing legends and a display of at least five historic Nissan/Datsun race cars that Newman drove. Continue reading
Toyota UK is featuring a series of Toyota Stories, tales of classic old Aichi steel that have served their owners for decades in areas so remote that the rural dialects of English they speak might as well be Japanese. Continue reading
As most of you know, Nissan USA’s headquarters is located in Nashville, Tennessee. This past Sunday the local Cars & Coffee event, held near the main offices, was a tribute to a man pivotal in building Nissan’s American presence, Yutaka Katayama, the former president of Nissan USA who passed away earlier this year at the age of 105. Continue reading
Like a half-finished Datsun B210 project bringing down the property value of an otherwise respectable neighborhood, I made an appearance on After/DRIVE last week. JNC was in town for the New York Auto Show, and it was a great honor to be invited onto the program by Mike Spinelli, esteemed Jalopnik editor and distinguished Toyota MR2 Spyder owner whose writing I have admired for years. If you’re interested in watching me blab about old Japanese cars for 25 minutes, or simply have a severe case of insomnia that needs curing, check out the video below. Continue reading
If you arrived at our little corner of the web via coverage of the Touge California, welcome! Founded in 2006, JNC is the first publication in the US devoted to the world of classic Japanese autos. We’re excited to have you as part of our growing community. Continue reading
Last week Nissan announced it was bringing back the 4DSC moniker for the new Maxima. Japan, however, has been making 4-door sports cars from the Prince Skyline to the Lancer Evo.
What’s the sportiest Japanese nostalgic sedan?
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 best JNC for NYC?” Continue reading
We are very proud to announce the latest Hot Wheels car to have the JNC inkan. The Datsun 240Z will soon be available in its second color this year, white with red and blue stripes, gunmetal wheels and gray interior. Continue reading
Up for sale in the San Gabriel Valley outside Los Angeles is a 1973 Toyota Corolla Deluxe Coupe that looks as about as original as one can be. It has a claimed 68,000 miles on a 5-digit odometer, but the lack of tears in the original vinyl seats would seem to back up that claim. Continue reading
Nissan Motor Corporation has just announced the restoration of a piece of their history. Nissan built only 100 units of the two-seater coupe, which featured four-wheel independent suspension and front double wishbones back in 1965, making it rarer than a Kenmeri GT-R. Oh, did we mention it was built specifically for children to drive? It was called the Datsun Baby, and if you were a kid in 1965, that would pretty much make it the coolest car ever built. Continue reading
Peer closely into the boomerang headlights of the 2016 Nissan Maxima and you will notice an small easter egg: 4DSC. It’s a callback to the now nostalgic 1988-94 Maxima and its subtle window sticker that told the world it was no ordinary sedan; it was a “4-Door Sports Car.” Continue reading
Ever since the debut of the Subaru BRZ/Toyota GT86/Scion FR-S, people have been positively begging for a steroid-injected version. The best hope for a pumped up version of the joint Toyota-Subaru neo-hachiroku seemed to lie with Subaru’s boxer engineers, specifically STI, who could turbocharge the bejeezus out of the EJ20 motor and create a hairpin destroying weapon. Well, Fuji Heavy’s performance division has gone and done just that, and that car was just unveiled at the New York Auto Show. Continue reading
This is no April Fools joke. JNC is at the New York Auto Show, going on now, and while the 2016 Maxima hasn’t been unveiled yet Nissan’s designers did lift its skirt to give us an exclusive peek at the headlight. Notice anything? Those who owned or aspired to a 1988-94 Maxima back in the day will remember the “4DSC,” or 4-Door Sports Car moniker. The Maxima has grown a lot in the 28 years since, but Nissan is trying to bring back a lighter, sportier version of its top sedan. Continue reading
The past twelve months have seen astounding prices for Japanese cars at auction, but perhaps none were as astounding as a bone stock Datsun 510 that sold recently at the Raeford Concours D’Elegance for $247,000, including the auction house’s 10 percent fees and commission. That price in itself for any 510 would have been astounding enough, but the fact that it was a 1977 Datsun 510 is positively brain-melting. Continue reading
