We’ve seen the high-end luxocruisers that gave Toyota its reputation of apocalypse-grade reliability and the long-forgotten sports coupes Akio Toyoda hopes will rekindle passions for his great-grandfather’s company, but Part 03 of our Toyotafest coverage is about the everyday cars and trucks that made the ToMoCo kingdom possible. Continue reading
This year Toyotafest fell on a very special occasion — President and CEO Akio Toyoda‘s 58th birthday. Since taking the helm of his great-grandfather’s company in 2009, Toyoda-san has vowed to bring the wakudoki back. What’s wakudoki? “A palpable, heart-pounding sense of excitement,” says Toyota. To do that Toyoda-san, an occasional race car driver who’s done laps in a competition-prepped Lexus LFA, has sworn to imbue Toyota’s lineup with fun, sporty cars the marque was once known for. Wait, Toyotas were sporty and exciting? Here’s a reminder of what was. Continue reading
Hanging like a cloud over the festivities of the 19th annual All-Toyotafest this year was the news that had been leaked to the press a week prior: Toyota USA was moving its headquarters, which had been a southern California fixture since 1957, to Texas. What would happen to the Toyota USA Museum in Torrance? To its vast archives of historic data? To Toyotafest? It was with this uncertainty in mind that we began to explore the fine specimens of Aichi steel that had taken the 57-year journey to the lawn of Queen Mary Park.
Since it seemed like the end of an era was upon us, let’s first take a look at the luxury sedans, grand tourers, and deluxe nameplates whispered in reverence that made Toyota great. Continue reading
Pop quiz, hotshot. Five nostalgic Nissan race machines tear down a straight. You have only the glorious sounds of their motors to identify whether they are the 1971 Safari 240Z, a touring spec B110 Sunny Excellent, the turbocharged 240RS, the OG Prince Skyline GT or the 1982 Safari A10 Violet.
Think you’ve got the chops to tell which is which by sound only? Watch the video below and post your guesses in the comments. Honor system in full effect! Continue reading
Registration for the 2014 Nissan Jam is now open. After the success of last year’s inaugural show, the venue has been opened up to include space for even more Nissan and Datsun cars than last year. Click here to register. All entrants receive a free T-shirt.
Keychains. They will soon be a thing of the past thanks to fancy push-button starters and “smart” keys. Can something really even be called a key fob if there is no key attached?
Well, at least when you drive a JNC you can still get that visceral, at-one-with-the-machine thrill when you rotate a lock tumbler with a good, old-fashioned blade and bow. Plus, they provide another personalizable connection with the car because they can be unique, sentimental or a collector’s item unto themselves, rather than a uniform black oval designed specifically to fly out of your shorts pocket and into the driver’s seat-center console trench because it is smoother than a suppository. What symbol of motoring tradition sways from your steering column as you bomb down the streets of your town and what does it mean to you?
What say you, dear reader? As always, the most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a toy. Click through to see the winner of the last QotW, “Is Toyota making the right move?” Continue reading
A page from the 1962 Mazda Carol 360 brochure, one of Japan’s first family cars. Happy Mother’s Day from JNC.
Just a reminder to cherish your Bluebird on this May 10, our day of 510s. Happy 510 Day from your friends at JNC.
Kaiki Daisakusen (or Operation: Mystery! in English) was a 26-episode Japanese TV series about a team of investigators dispatched to solve cases involving supernatural phenomena. The SRI, or Science Research Institute may have been Japan’s 1960s counterpart to the FBI’s X-Files department, but Mulder and Scully never had a car this cool. Continue reading
Proof again that California does not have a monopoly on classic J-tin comes in the form of this Philadelphia-based 1974 Toyota Corolla 1600 Deluxe. Said to be a one-owner car with just under 19,000 original miles, it is likely one of the least driven E20 generation Corollas in the country. Continue reading
Honda has greenlit the S660 roadster, shown at the Tokyo Motor Show last year, for production. The mid-engined kei sports car will begin rolling off the assembly lines in 2015. Continue reading
JNC on the way to the 19th annual All-Toyotafest, stopping for an early morning breakfast of champions. Supra-size me! Continue reading
Last week it was confirmed that Toyota USA would be moving from its home of 57 years in southern California to new digs in Plano, Texas.
Is Toyota making the right move?
On the one hand, there are dollars to be saved and Toyota will be closer to its manufacturing plants in San Antonio, Mississippi and Kentucky. On the other, it will be leaving the car culture mecca of the US and the only place thus far that has a thriving scene devoted to classic Japanese cars. There are hundreds of other factors at play, and the fate of the Toyota USA Museum is still unknown at this time.
What say you, dear reader? As always, the most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a toy. Click through to see the winner of the last QotW, “What’s the greatest nostalgic Toyota?” Continue reading
Today marks the 20th anniversary of Ayrton Senna‘s death at Imola. Not only was he one of the greatest racing drivers of all time, he was the first gaijin driver to be truly embraced by the Japanese. Here’s why. Continue reading
There are only three days till the 19th annual All-Toyotafest. As usual, JNC will be there with a booth, and we’ll be making the drive in this black 1980 Toyota Supra. Stop by and say hi.
As it happens, the day of the show, May 3, is also Toyota Motor Company president Akio Toyoda‘s birthday. So come down to Queen Mary Park at 9am and get your Toyota on. See you there!
It’s highly unorthodox, at the debut of a new model, to also display a hot rod version painted in a yellow so loud it threatens to eclipse the supposed star of your show. This is especially true when the debut in question is for as important and high-profile a model as the Mazda MX-5 Miata. It’s like throwing a bikini-clad Kate Upton into the middle of a Mother of the Year ceremony.
But in fact, that is exactly what Mazda did 25 years ago with the 1989 Club Racer, an ur-Miata to give showgoers a peek at what trick mods were possible for their new sportster. However, the Club Racer is more than just a pretty face; it’s one of the only surviving pre-production NA Miatas, and a close look reveals a host of design details that never made it into production. Continue reading
This coming Saturday marks two very special events for Toyotaku. Not only is it the 19th annual All-Toyotafest, but it’s also the birthday of ToMoCo President Akio Toyoda! Therefore, we take this opportunity to ask a question:
What’s the greatest nostalgic Toyota?
Just look Toyota’s portfolio and you can see what a monumentally difficult task this might be. 2000GT, Century, AE86, Supra, Celica, MR2, Crown. But then, an eleventh hour report made us consider that perhaps the answer is Toyota USA itself. You see, a report just came out today that Toyota USA might move its entire headquarters to Texas. We’ll have more on this story as it develops, but right now our friends that work at Toyota are still reeling from the unconfirmed but likely true news. UPDATE: Now confirmed.
What say you, dear reader? As always, the most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a toy. Click through to see the winner of the last QotW, “What’s your best fuel-saving JNC story?” Continue reading
Toyota USA might be moving its US headquarters to Texas, unconfirmed reports say. UPDATE: It was confirmed this morning by Toyota in an official press release. The move would put Toyota USA’s executives closer to its manufacturing hubs in San Antonio, Kentucky, and Mississippi. The word is that Plano, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, has been chosen.
The news broke Sunday evening on Bloomberg, leaked by sources within Toyota who did not want to be named. They say high-level employees were informed Friday and were expected to inform their subordinates this week. Continue reading
Just a reminder that at this time next week, you should be at Queen Mary Park for the biggest Toyotafest yet.
This year registration filled up in a matter of days, something that’s never happened before, so you know it’s going to be big!
Join us for the largest gathering of Toyotas, Lexuses and Scions in the country and stop by the JNC booth to say hi next Saturday, May 3, at 9am. See you there!
Click the flyer or this link for more details.
We recently stumbled upon a thread of old Tokyo photos on the architecture site SkyscraperCity. Though the focus was the buildings, we came for the cars. Just look at these pictures and dream of being amongst these machines when they were still new. Continue reading
