Mitsubishi‘s Astron 2.6-liter was one of the largest inline-fours motors available at the time of its production. It came in Fire Arrows, Sapporos, and even the Chrysler LeBaron, but in the case of this swapped 1974 Colt Galant GT, it is pure aural bliss. Watch it tear up a Targa Tasmania stage in the video below. Continue reading
The weather sucks in much of the country and/or world. Even SoCal is experiencing the strange meteorological phenomenon in which drops of water mysteriously fell from the sky and temperatures dipped into the low 60s. It’s hard out there for a JNCer.
How does a JNCer pass the winter?
Whatever you do, we hope it doesn’t involve salt.
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 rarest special edition JNC?” Continue reading
From a shed in the middle of a burned out lot in 1946 to a small US subsidiary selling motorcycles in 1959 to their first US-sold car in 1970, the company Soichiro Honda founded has come a long way. In Part 01 of our visit to the American Honda Collection, we looked these humble beginnings. But Honda wasn’t done yet, and was about to go farther. A lot farther.
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In addition to being Toyota’s petrolhead honcho, Akio Toyoda has been given Japan’s Best Dresser Award. The man who fast-tracked the Toyota 86, Lexus LFA and Lexus RC F to production was bestowed the honor by the Men’s Fashion Association, which has been giving out the prize since 1972. Continue reading
A 1970 Nissan Skyline GT-R sedan will cross the block at RM Auctions in Scottsdale, Arizona in January. After the floodgates opened in Monterey earlier this year, there has been a frenzy of invisible trans-Pacific activity. Moneyed gaijin are trading their dollars for Nihon steel in hopes of catching the Japanese classic tsunami early. Continue reading
Ever since we founded JNC way back in late 2006, we’ve been waiting for this year. We knew it would be an important milestone, but this particular orbit around the sun has exceeded even our wildest expectations. Here’s why 2014 is the year of the JNC. Continue reading
Look on the back of Honda‘s latest JDM-only kei jidosha and you’ll see “N/” — the letter N and a forward slash. Apparently the way to pronounce that is N-Box Slash. This is the fifth offering in Honda’s revived N-Series and the second retro-styled car in the series. The first was the Honda N-One, which drew inspiration from and existing car, the 1967 N360. The N-Box Slash is more closely related to the Nissan Pike cars, which take design cues from classic cars without referencing them outright. Continue reading
The Japanese love their special editions. Whether it’s celebrating an anniversary, a final run series or just some odd color combo, JNCs have a lot of bizarre option packages on their cars.
What’s the rarest special edition JNC?
In 1975 Dodge introduced the Carousel Colt. The rebadged Mitsubishi Colt Galant featured white paint matched with a light blue vinyl roof, and a blinding white interior with blue and red upholstery. These Colts, especially in two-door form, are already nearly impossible to find to begin with. Are there any Carousel Colts left?
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 are you most thankful for?” Continue reading
Today’s guest writer is Chris Nicholson, who keeps the cars running at the Lane Motor Museum. Chris recently attended a classic car show in Showa Kinen Park.
Every trip to Japan is full of wonder, and every trip to Japan is too short. A free afternoon with a break in the rain led to Showa Kinen Park with its lines of famous gingko trees, whose colors were peaking. There, a collection of early Showa Era cars awaited, all bone stock and exemplifying family cars of the era. Unlike most shows, there was a distinct lack of sports models — no GT-Rs, Fairlady Zs, Celicas, TE27s, or Mazda rotaries — just what you might see on a Japanese city street in the early 1970s, perfectly preserved in time. Continue reading
On Day 01 of our Boso Hanto tour we visited visited hallowed ground, a Skyline specialist shop, and stopped for the night with some curry and a bit of Honda tourism. Welcome to Day 02, where we continued through the peninsula in the trusty Honda S800 Coupe. Continue reading
Pacifico is the first show in southern California by Historic J, who have put on events like the Bayline Gathering, Vintage Auto Salon, and Shokuji J-Tin in the San Francisco area. If the show’s name sounds familiar, you might be thinking of the Pacifico Yokohama convention center, which has held such events as Nos2Days and the Mooneyes’ Yokohama Hot Rod & Custom Show, located at the mouth of Tokyo Bay. But the show wasn’t in Yokohama. It was 5,500 miles across the ocean in Santa Monica. Continue reading
Though symbolized by the turkey, Thanksgiving is all about being grateful for what you have. When what you have is an old Japanese car, however, it may be easier to curse your skinned knuckles than count your blessings.
What are you most thankful for?
It may will definitely sound cheesy, but we are thankful for all our loyal readers — every one of you who have rescued an under-appreciated car from the scrapyard, inspired a friend to restore the old heap in his dad’s backyard, or simply helped a fellow JNCer turn a wrench. A big domo arigato gozaimasu to you all.
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 Honda?” Continue reading
On November 22, 1978, over 3000 bosozoku motorcycles and cars swarmed the streets of Tokyo, cruising, parading, revving and generally causing a ruckus. On the following day a new Japanese traffic law would require helmets for all motorcyclists. So a huge shukai (meet) was held the night before and from that day forth the 22nd of November of each year became a bosozoku Memorial Day of sorts. The Japanese call it doukoho, short for douro koutsu hou kaisei, or Road Traffic Law Change. So strap on yourtsurikawa, pommade up your regento, crank up some Kishidan and tear up the night! Continue reading
Just a friendly JNC reminder to attend SevenStock 17 this Saturday, November 22. It’s at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Stop by the JNC booth and say hi.
Recently Mazda CEO Masamichi Kogai was quoted saying there are no plans for a rotary engined sports car. Fans interpreted that as the rotary was dead as a doornail, picked up their pitchforks and got ready to march on Hiroshima, but if you read the entire the end of the article, then you can see Mazda sees itself as something most automakers do not: a steward. Continue reading
Though Mazda‘s big reveal at the LA Auto Show was the new CX-3 (and a facelifted Mazda 6 (and a facelifted CX-5)), the car that caught our eyes was hidden in an alcove in the back, a 2016 MX-5 Miata in white, like a proper Japanese car should be. Continue reading
Well miracle on ice! You’ll ever guess which Japanese automaker set up a Heritage Corner at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Continue reading
This is the greatest thing ever to hit the internet. MotorWeek, one of the top three automotive TV shows from Owings Mills, Maryland, just put up some “retro reviews.” They review the AE86, S13, and AW11 when new, a good decade before anyone in the US knew the words dorifto or touge, and do so in glorious sexual harassment training seminar format. Continue reading
Ken Takakura, one of Japan’s most famous actors, has passed away at the age of 83. Known as the Japanese Clint Eastwood, he portrayed many tough guy roles, from noble ex-cons to hard boiled detectives to chivalrous gangsters, but you might know him best from his role as Michael Douglas’s reluctant partner in the 1989 film Black Rain.
He won Best Actor in Japan’s version of the Academy Awards for one of the nations’ most famous films, The Yellow Handkerchief, which happens to be an epic road movie. The story follows Takakura’s character, a man just released from prison after serving a murder sentence. On his way to Hokkaido for an unknown reason, his life intersects with a couple of travelers and a 1977 Mazda Familia. Eventually they learn that he’s going to see his wife, and will find out if he’s welcome home only if she’s hung out a yellow handkerchief for him. Continue reading
Our friends at Petrolicious have produced a beautiful film about the Yotahachi, Toyota’s first sports car. Weighing in at only 1,280 pounds thanks to prodigious use of aluminum, it needed only a 45hp two-cylinder boxer to make it a barrel of monkeys. Owner Scott Sylvester talks about what it’s like to own one. Watch the video below. Continue reading
