In addition to the hakosuka GT-R at RM Auctions, there will also be a 1967 Mazda Cosmo Sport at Gooding & Co.’s Monterey Historics auction this year. The Cosmo Sport has been restored by noted restoration shop The Finishing Touch of Fountain Hills, Arizona, the same shop that restored the one in Mazda USA’s collection. Continue reading
Thanks to California’s Legacy License Plate program we’ve been talking a lot about the proper period-correct license plates for your JNC recently. We’ve been Cali-centric, but we’d like to open the question up to our readers worldwide.
What’s your favorite period-correct license plate for your JNC?
A visit to Nissan resto-mod specialist Rocky Auto last year revealed a hakosuka GT-R with a a very unique plate. To quote David, “In Japan, whenever a car changes owners or is de-registered its plates are sent in to the rikuunkyoku, or vehicle registration center, and subsequently destroyed, whereupon new plates are made and re-issued. This plate, however, was the original plate, with only one digit on top rather than three, from when the car was brand new. That means that this KPGC10 GT-R is a one owner car!”
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 the last QotW, “Just the tip of the iceberg, or last of a dying breed?“ Continue reading
The hottest concept of the 2013-14 auto show season was the Nissan IDx. A lightweight, rear-wheel-drive car with heritage styling cues from the Golden Age of nostalgics? Take our money, please! Now one of the designers of the actual concept car has created this shirt in collaboration with JNC, which we will be debuting at Nissan Jam. UPDATE: The IDx shirt is now available in the JNC shop. Continue reading
California’s unique blend of arid weather, car culture, and state law forcing license plates to stay with the car, even when it changes hands, have created a perfect storm for a unique otaku obsession. For sale ads in all corners of the US use the term “California car” as shorthand for salt-, moisture- and thus rust-free sheetmetal.
Buyer beware, of course, as cars registered in the Golden State weren’t necessarily California cars to begin with, but here’s the thing — cars coming into the state don’t get the original plates, making the period-correct ones a telltale indicator of exactly how California the car really is. Thing is, California doesn’t even know its own license plate history. Continue reading
We were all saddened by the recent loss of a Toyota 2000GT in Japan, crushed when it passed under a tree at the exact instant the aged beech decided to fall. The good news is, the owner has decided to rebuild it. We have the technology. Continue reading
If there’s one marque that does not get the love it deserves in classic car circles, it’s Isuzu. Despite never producing a 510 or Civic, a car that really took the Japanese motoring world by storm, vintage Isuzus are ripe for crossover collectability from the concours d’elegance crowd. Continue reading
Welp, it’s happened. A 1972 Nissan Skyline GT-R will be offered at RM Auctions this year at the Monterey Historics, the week-long celebration of the automobile during which sheetmetal is admired, coveted and traded amongst kajillionaires like Picassos. After last year’s record sales of a Toyota 2000GT crossing the block at $1.2 million at auction, the floodgates to Japan have been opened. Continue reading
Last week we saw several nice Hondas come out of the woodwork, including newfound appreciation for a Mugen CRX Si with customizing styles way ahead of its time.
Are these just the tip of the iceberg, or last of a dying breed?
It’s a truth as old as the ages: Any Honda with even the slightest hint of performance pedigree has been snatched up and customized, thanks to their affordability, Old Man Soichiro-infused driving dynamics and complete lack of resemblance to modern Hondas. Some have been modded tastefully, some not so much.
We don’t have a problem with putting personal touches on Hondas as long as stock ones continue to exist, and in great enough numbers that the occasional errant beech tree attack won’t dwindle their numbers by too much. Did we just see a few unicorns, or are there more, squirreled away in garages waiting to cross the auction lines at Barrett-Jackson 2020?
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 the last QotW, “What’s your greatest JNC tragedy?” Continue reading
To all the daddy JNCers out there, Happy Fathers Day.
Sid Chiang is a long-time veteran of the automotive design world. He’s held positions at GM, where he worked on cars like as the C7 and Camaro, and before that Ford, where he was lead exterior designer on the ST44 Probe and Ford GT. Prior to today, there were only three known photos of Sid’s Mugen CRX on the internet, all mysteriously taken inside a Ford studio. Here’s how it happened in Sid’s own words. —Ben
I’ve always had the love of sporty cars, especially small displacement 4-cylinder imports. As a teenager in the 70s, my first car was a rusty 1969 Triumph GT6+ that I loved and cherished. I drove it to into the ground and as many teenagers do, ended up nearly killing myself in it. But it didn’t kill my addiction to 4-bangers. Continue reading
Residents of California can now get classic black license plates for their vintage cars. In 2012 the state began taking applications for the Legacy License Plate program, promising to re-issue the classic colors if at least 7,500 people signed up.The black plate, originally produced from 1963-69, just reached that magic number and all systems are go. They will go into production in January 2015.
Unlike this diesel Isuzu Bellel, however, most cars owned by JNCers were built in the 1970s and require blue plates to be period correct. Unfortunately for those, there’s still a ways to go.
Have you noticed? Original, mint-condition, late-80s Hondas have been coming out of the woodwork over the past year. On eBay, right now, there are two Civic Si examples, both incredibly clean, while a similar-condition CRX Si auction just ended. Are we seeing a classic Honda boom? Continue reading
Just a reminder, the 2014 Nissan Jam show will be this Sunday, June 15 in Costa Mesa, California.
There will be over 100 Datsun and Nissan cars at this event, from Sunnys to GT-Rs, hakosukas to Zs.
Special guest MC Alain Montiel will be hosting, and vendors include Stillen Motorsports, Barramundi Wheels, and more.
Stop by the JNC booth — we will be debuting an exclusive T-shirt created by DesignerD, the Nissan designer who created the Nissan IDx!
Doors open at 10am and the show goes till 2pm. See you there!
Location: Connell Nissan, 2850 Harbor Blvd. Costa Mesa, CA 92626
For Japan’s largest automakers, the kei car has outlived its usefulness. The government is aware of this and is ratcheting up taxes on the uniquely Japanese microcars to make their cost of ownership more on par with regular passenger cars. The move could signal the end of the kei car era as we know it. Continue reading
On this day, our day of 610s.
This weekend’s sad news about a 2000GT being at the wrong place at the wrong time got us thinking about the heartbreak our cars cause us.
What’s your greatest JNC tragedy?
Sure, Mother Nature showing us who’s boss by cold dropping a 6.2-foot diameter tree on the most coveted Japanese car of all time is a bummer, but that’s what they call a freak accident. What’s less forgivable is when human hands ruin a 2000GT, on purpose. Now that we’re in the crying mood, we want to hear your automotive sob story. Accidents, forced sales, abandoned projects, make us weep!
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 the last QotW, “What would Bunta drive in an Initial D prequel?” Continue reading
There were only 337 production examples of the Toyota 2000GT built. Now there’s one less. At about 9:00 am this morning in the Gokayama area of Toyama Prefecture, the classic flagship car passed under a 100-foot beech. Unfortunately, that’s the exact moment the tree came down. Continue reading
Can’t find any J-tin on the pegs? You must live in California. However the consensus from other parts of the country seems that miniature Nihon steel is getting hard to find in those areas too. Much like 1968 was a banner year for traditional Hot Wheels collectors, 2014 is turning out to be the most Japanese year in Hot Wheels history. Continue reading
The June 2014 issue of the UK’s Classic & Sports Car pits a Jaguar E-Type against a 1965 Corvette and a Toyota 2000GT to see which continent produced the best sixties sports coupe. Long-time readers know what’s coming next: A genuflecting ode to the perennial British favorite, a car that God himself did bestow on mankind because he felt bad about the whole global flood thing, while the Toyota, created only to pay tribute to the all-great Jaguar, is just lucky to be in the E-Type’s beatific presence.
Except, that didn’t happen. Continue reading
To Americans, the name Okinawa immediately conjures images of US military bases. However, the archipelago located south of Honshu, Japan’s main landmass, is also a popular subtropical tourist destination. Okinawa literally means “a rope in the open sea” and is comprised of a 600-mile chain of over 160 individual islands, only 49 of which are inhabited. But where there are people, there are cars. Continue reading
