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
Three Koichi Inouye books about 1960s Japanese sports cars have been translated into English and published as e-books. The works cover seminal automobiles from Japan’s largest automakers, the Honda S-Series, Toyota 2000GT and Sports 800, and the Datsun Fairlady roadster. Continue reading
With the Initial D series winding down those craving more tales of the touge will have to wait for the feature film reboot this August. However, some JNCers have suggested the idea of a new story instead, one focused on the background of Takumi’s mysterious guru of a father.
What would Bunta drive in an Initial D prequel?
According to MyAnimeList, the sleepy-eyed chain-smoker is 43 or 44 years old during the series. That means he would have come of age smack dab in the middle of Japan’s automotive golden era. A TE27 Sprinter Trueno seems like the logical predecessor to the hachiroku, but then again Bunta doesn’t seem like the brand loyal type.
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, “Which JNC is the rarest coelacanth?” Continue reading
On the heels of another Toyotafest, let us return to the series where we check out some examples of modern retro-inspired cars along with the JNCs they mimic. In this post, we turn to a quintessential classic Toyota, the Crown, and a special model that was built in commemoration. Continue reading
The anime that brought touge culture to US screens is coming to an end. Initial D, in manga form, concluded its 18-year run last summer. Now, the animated account of the story is following suit. Animax will air a total of four 30-minute episodes wrapping up the story of the humble tofu delivery boy who became a mountain racing legend in his Toyota AE86. Continue reading
We’ve lamented the fact that AE86s have nearly all been drifted into oblivion, but what about its cross-town rival? The Nissan 240SX sold in larger numbers, but finding an unmolested one can still be a challenging proposition these days, especially when it’s a one-owner car with less than 44,000 miles on it. Continue reading
The Los Angeles Times recently published an article about the rising costs of classic Japanese cars. And while it’s likely not breaking news to JNC readers, it provides an interesting outsider’s perspective to something you know intimately. Plus, it profiles everyone’s favorite kyuusha power couple, Koji and Terry Yamaguchi, founders of the Japanese Classic Car Show. Continue reading
The coelacanth was a species of deep-sea fish thought to have gone extinct 66 million years ago, during the age of the dinosaurs. That is, until 1998 when the L. menadoensis species of coelacanth was rediscovered in modern times by a UC Berkeley marine biologist at an Indonesian fish market. Not knowing how rare it was, he did not buy it. We think it’s an appropriate term that can be used in the automotive world as well.
Which JNC is the rarest coelacanth?
At Toyotafest we spotted an all-original 1974 Toyota Corolla SR-5 with only 27,600 miles. It was the top-spec version of the TE27 offered in the US, equipped with a 2T-C mated to a 5-speed manual — one more gear than the standard — but with the factory metal fender flares found on the twin-cam 2T-G version sold in Japan and never exported to our shores. Most were driven into the ground or converted to race cars. Some were brought back to life and nowadays Japan-spec examples have slowly migrated to our shores, but a bone-stock USDM version? We thought there weren’t any 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 the last QotW, “Which JNC should Cameron keep?” Continue reading
Although there are still quite a few of these old workhorses around, they’re never in this kind of shape. Typically, Isuzu Troopers were rode hard and put up wet. They were used for transporting people and ab-used while hauling stuff. So today, most early two door originals come up for sale in despicable condition with “mechanic’s special” disclosures, and low prices to match. But not this one. Continue reading
The cars at government auctions usually aren’t this interesting. In Fukuoka, Japan the Regional Taxation Bureau is trying to unload a Honda S800 Coupe with less than 12,000 miles. Yes, that’s miles, because this is something rare, even for Japan — a left hand drive export version of Soichiro’s first-born. Continue reading
For our final installment of Toyotafest coverage, we bring you the museum-worthy cars that put meaning to the word classic. Whether its racing provenance, rarity, pop culture status or just a stupendously fantastic specimen, these are the cars that are should be exhibited and preserved as inspiration for posterity. Continue reading
In honor of the Miata’s 25th birthday Mazda has created just one hundred MX-5 25th Anniversary Edition roadsters. A special website will open for orders in just a few hours, on May 20 at 10:25 am Pacific Time. UPDATE: Well, that was quick. All 100 sold out in 10 minutes. We can’t praise Mazda enough for recognizing their heritage when many Japanese companies seem hesitant to do so, and were on hand at the Miata’s New York birthday bash last month. That’s where the 25th Anniversary Edition was unveiled and here’s what it has to offer: Continue reading
This week’s QotW comes from long-time JNC reader Cameron V., who hails from Cleveland, Ohio and goes by camshaft in the forums. He wrote us for help with deciding how to cull his herd to just one JNC, a question we turn over to you, dear reader. Will it be the Mazda, Toyota or Nissan? We’ll let him describe his dilemma in his own words. Continue reading
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
