Today’s Kidney Car is a sad one, because it belongs to our dear friend Bart Wilkus, JNC contributor and master of all things Isuzu.
How does one even begin to write a “Kidney, Anyone?” for their own car? I guess I’ll start by stating the honest truth: I don’t want to sell my Impulse. I don’t even need to sell my Impulse. But time is short, money is hard earned, and space is at a premium. Such is life I guess, and we all have to make sacrifices from time to time. So here it is. Continue reading
As Nissan designer Ken Lee put it, part of the fun with old Japanese cars is that you have to be in the know to recognize the gem that’s hiding in plain sight. The preponderance of interesting background cars in You’re Under Arrest has led us to think about how amped we get when we see a JNC where it doesn’t belong, ignored by the masses but acting as a dog whistle for people who read this site.
What’s the strangest JNC sighting you’ve encountered?
Many moons ago, there was a show called World’s Wildest Police Videos. It’s goal was to repeatedly caution viewers about the vehicular dangers caused by criminals fleeing from the law, all while gleefully showing you the Hollywood style carnage caused by said criminals. It was America’s Funniest Home Videos but with worse narration. Periodically, the unnecessarily intense host would stand in front of a staged accident, showing you what would happen if you were foolish enough to engage cops in a car chase. Most of the cars used in these faked accident scenes, complete with flashing reds and blues, were junkers arranged like Hot Wheels cars, but one day, lo and behold, there was a bone stock Corolla GT-S flipped on its roof. To the producers, it was just an old Corolla; to AE86 fans, it was a travesty.
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 greatest nostalgic Subaru?” Continue reading
Forget Initial D or Wangan Midnight. Kousuke Fujishima’s You’re Under Arrest (Taiho Shichauzo), is among the best car-themed anime out there. Featuring a pair of Tokyo Traffic cops, Miyuki and Natsumi, who patrol the streets of Bokuto Precinct in a Honda Today with a Motocompo folding motorcycle in the boot, every episode is crammed with awesome cars, plenty of bikes, and all but a handful of episodes feature a car chase. Continue reading
The new Acura NSX will retail for approximately $150,000. If that’s too rich for your blood, we spotted this scale model tucked away in a corner of the Acura booth at the Detroit Motor Show. It will, according to the company, become available when the car does, along with some other accessories like wallets and keychains. Continue reading
A generations-old way of life is about to go extinct. The Daghwah fishermen on the shores of the Persian Gulf haul tons of fish to shore by casting massive nets each morning. Dragging them to shore and carrying them to market are their old workhorses, Toyota Land Cruisers slowly disintegrating from constant contact with saltwater. Continue reading
Michelle Christensen was responsible for the form gracing the second-generation NSX unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show, and is the first woman to hold the exterior designer position at Acura. With the original NSX passing the threshold into classic status this year and an all-out legend in the hearts of many enthusiasts, the job of styling Honda’s next supercar would be a tough act to follow. Here’s what she had to say about the job. Continue reading
The JNC Shop is back up and has a new URL. Thanks for being patient as we upgraded it. The downtime was longer than we expected but this will make the experience better as time goes on. You can make your orders via Credit Card or Paypal.
The Honda RA272 is a legend. It brought Old Man Soichiro his first Formula One trophy in 1965, only three years after his company began building cars. It is such a revered car that the company rarely even shows it in Japan. That’s why we were surprised as anyone to see it in Detroit. Continue reading
When we called 2014 the Year of the JNC, one of our arguments was that Hot Wheels was using every Japanese nostalgic casting in their lineup for that year. This was the personal goal of the godfather of JNC Hot Wheels, Jun Imai, but extenuating circumstances at the retail end prevented that dream from being fully realized. Popular classics like the Datsun 510 and 240Z, which weren’t in the regular line, were slated to be in the 2014 Cool Classics premium line. That didn’t happen, but fortunately, they will live on in 2015. Continue reading
The Mazda RX-3 SP was a US-only appearance package that included unique blacked-out bumpers trim and louvers, a snazzy decal package, and a jutting chin spoiler. Though nothing of note was added to the 12A rotary engine within, the SPs have become highly coveted cars amongst early Mazda collectors just for their sheer rarity and embodiment of 70s styling. Now there’s that has reached $24,000. Continue reading
With the Legacy squarely in the 25 Year Club and Subarus being the best mode of transportation available to much of the snowed-in country right now, it may be a good time to ask:
What is the greatest nostalgic Subaru?
Subaru doesn’t have quite the varied history of a Nissan, Toyota or Mazda, but that doesn’t mean its models aren’t influential. The company might be small, as was their first car, but the Subaru 360 became a symbol of the Showa Era and had a lasting impact on Japanese culture.
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 most anticipated “Class of 1990″ JNC?” Continue reading
After the record prices for JNCs seen in Monterey last year, all eyes were on the gavel-pounding circus that is Arizona in early January. With no less than six auction houses competing for attention and incessant television coverage, it’s like Superbowl of car auctions, complete with all the beer (and beer guts) you can imagine. Humans being humans, there was a cadre of capitalists waiting in the wings to cash in on the J-tin hype. Here’s how they fared.
Continue reading
This 1973 Datsun 240Z has dings, hasn’t been driven in 15 years, and the dash has more cracks than a plumber’s convention. It’s not even a desirable 1970-72 model. Why, then, with just a little over one day on eBay, it’s been bid 30 times up to over $18,000? Because this is how you sell a car. Continue reading
Forget Keats, forget Yeats. An unnamed Mazda RX-7 owner has penned the world’s saddest poem. Found in the missed connections section of Austin, Texas’s craigslist, it tells the tale of a new FC owner that found his formerly original-paint ’88 was no longer so mint. Here, read the poem in its entirety and weep: Continue reading
This is the year the Acura NSX turns 25, and we can think of no better way for Honda to celebrate than unveiling the legendary supercar’s successor. Announced in 2007 but killed after the Global Financial Crisis but then revived again in 2011, it’s been a long wait for the Honda faithful. From what we learned at the Detroit Auto Show, it will be amazing in every respect, but is it an NSX? Continue reading
What you are looking at here is not a kenmeri Skyline. It’s an insanely detailed scale model of a kenmeri Skyline made by a new outfit out of Shizuoka called Ignition Models. They make a variety of 1:43, 1:18 and 1:12 scale cars, but the most interesting one to us is this stunning 1:18 Skyline GT-R, and it has just landed stateside. Continue reading
The Mitsubishi Mirage (aka Dodge Colt (aka Plymouth Champ)) has one of the most interesting transmissions ever built, with as many gear ratios as your first big kid and two shift levers poking out of the cabin floor like a split hair. And while this particular example offered for sale in Raleigh, North Carolina, is just a middle-of-the-road trim level that wasn’t particularly interesting back in the day (or arguably, even now), it is incredibly rare, and at 24,000 miles and change, quite mint. There’s gotta be someone out there that wants it, right? Continue reading
Today is Coming of Age Day in Japan, a holiday in which adolescents become adults. Local city halls in towns across the country invite the newly minted adults for a small ceremony, a tradition that dates back to 714 AD. Of course we at JNC plan to welcome another round of cars into the 25 Year Club, a bit older than adulthood, but you get the idea.
What’s the most anticipated “Class of 1990” JNC?
1990 marks What we have here is a cornucopia of choice, from tuner favorites like the ST185 Celica, DA Acura Integra, and original Mitsubishi Eclipse to sensible sedans like the CB7 Honda Accord. Weird JDM cars such as the Toyota Sera enter the fold, as do supercars like the JC Mazda Cosmo and Acura NSX.
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 question should we ask next year?” Continue reading
It’s not often that you find yourself hurtling down narrow two-lane roads with the guy that designed the very car you’re sitting in. We recently had the rare opportunity to take a ride with Ken Lee, a senior creative manager at Nissan Design America. The car of choice was the 2015 Nissan Murano, a project he birthed, from idea to 2D drawing, clay to sheetmetal, at the company’s La Jolla, California studio. The futuristic-looking crossover is a far cry from 25-year-and-older J-tin, but during our chat Lee revealed a surprise: he grew up with and loves Japanese nostalgic cars. Continue reading
The EA82 Loyale was Fuji Heavy Industries’ flagship model until it was dethroned by the Subaru Legacy. The particular example offered for sale in Cadillac, Michigan is without a doubt the best example of an EA82 we’ve seen stateside, and it isn’t just a base model DL either. With only 59,000 miles on the clock, it would take copious amounts of trail hooning to arrive at the condition most EA82s are found in, but who could do that with such a pristine example of the biggest unsung hero of the Pleiades badge? Continue reading
