Toyota isn’t the only company getting nostalgic for the 80s with its latest batch of TRD trucks. Hot Wheels‘ latest line of premium collectibles is the Cool Classics series, and with 25 of the 30 cars released it was looking like your typical parade of Detroit iron. Then suddenly, a 1987 Toyota Pickup! Continue reading
The Honda CB750 was earth-shattering when it debuted in 1969 that a new word had to be coined to describe it. And lo, the superbike was born. Soichiro Honda rocked the world with his large-displacement, transverse-mounted SOHC four-cylinder, unheard of in a mainstream bike at the time. Called the “King of Motorcycles,” advanced features for its time, like front disc brakes and electric starter, revolutionized the motorcycle industry in much the way Honda’s NSX jolted the supercar establishment 20 years later. Early CB750s can trade for $40,000 to 50,000, but this particular bike recently sold for a whopping $148,000. Here’s why. Continue reading
Our friends at TORC have just released their 2014 All-Toyotafest flyer. Here’s everything you need to know about the 19th running of this fantastic yearly gathering of Toyota, Lexus and Scion enthusiasts.
When: May 3, 2014, 9am – 3pm
Where: Queen Mary Park, Long Beach, California
Admission: Free for spectators
Registration: Begins March 1, with very limited spacing. Register here.
Mark your calendars! There’s a larger version below. Please help spread the word to make this the biggest and best Toyoafest yet. Continue reading
Mazda knew when they unveiled the Miata at the 1989 Chicago Auto Show that they had built a true driver’s car, one whose stated purpose was to create joy. That was 25 years ago today. What they couldn’t have known was that it would become the best selling sports car of all time. Soon the likes of Toyota, Nissan, Honda, BMW, Mercedes and Audi all tried to emulate the formula, but it was only Mazda that sold 1 million drop top smile generators to loving owners all over the globe. Today it officially becomes nostalgic. Continue reading
Badge engineering. It’s one of the dirty little schemes of the auto industry that continuously surprises us, not by the Mitsubishi parts when you thought you were buying a Dodge, but because it continues to fool the average consumer.
What’s the worst example of badge engineering?
One of 2014’s greatest tragedies will surely be the fact that the Toyota Cavalier is less than 25 years old and thus ineligible. We also considered the Dodge Challenger-badged Mitsu and Chevy Nova-badged Corolla, but we think the 1988-91 Nissan Ute takes the cake here. It was actually a XF Ford Falcon, a real 1970s old school sedan. Up front sat a 4.0L, 110hp straight six with a 4,500 rpm redline while a live axle and leaf springs supported the rear bed. It was a total sales flop, since no self respecting redneck is gonna drive a Japanese truck. Smart people realised that the three year Nissan warranty was better than the one year Ford warranty. Wiser bogans were buying Nissan Utes, then going to Ford to buy a $25 blue oval badge to stick on the grille. Imagine if, in the 1980s, Nissan USA slapped Nissan badges on a Ford F-150 and tried to sell it to rednecks.
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 JNC rivalry?” Continue reading
It’s back, baby! Reports out of Australia say that the show-stopping Toyota FT-1 concept unveiled last month at the Detroit Auto Show has been confirmed for production as the next Supra. Even better, it’ll be in the first of an entire lineup of sports cars set to hit the streets starting in 2016, nearly two decades after the last Supra left US shores. Continue reading
Though it came out in 1992, there’s still plenty of 80s car-nage in Kinji Fukusaku’s Someday Into the Glare (English title, The Triple Cross). Fukusaku’s ultra-violent crime stories were a staple of Japanese cinema in the 70s and 80s, but by 1992 a new crop of new filmmakers had rose to prominence. Fukusaku wanted to prove he still had what it took to compete with the young bloods after a few years dabbling in ancient samurai and horror flicks, so he returned to the subject he knew best — bank robbers, bullets and betrayal. Naturally, there are plenty of car chases. Continue reading
One a giant indoor dirt course at the Chicago Auto Show today Toyota Racing Development celebrated 35 years in the US by launching a new lineup of TRD Pro trucks. Though Toyota’s in-house tuning skunkworks has been responsible for everything from IMSA Celicas to NHRA top fuel dragsters, this was a celebration of their off-road racing heritage. Continue reading
So despite earning $15 million last year for his Game of Thrones series, author George R.R. Martin drives an FB Mazda RX-7, which Yahoo cyberstalked and found parked outside his Santa Fe, New Mexico house. His personalized license plate has his initials, “GRRM.”
No, you haven’t traveled into the future. The Toyota Alphard isn’t nostalgic yet, but to ignore them would mean turning a blind eye to a huge part of Japan’s car culture. Custom minivans are serious business in Japan and the Toyota Alphard (along with its twin, the Vellfire) is the king daddy of them all. Continue reading
Over the weekend Nissan did something very unusual. They took their priceless, one-of-a-kind concept cars all over SoCal to meet the public face to face. This would’ve been a ballsy move for any concept, but for the Nissan IDx siblings, the most talked-about show cars of the year? This was unheard of. Continue reading
A new Initial D movie is in the works, and the release date has just been announced. It will hit movie theaters in Japan on August 23, 2014. According to Initial D World, the film will be the first of a trilogy. Initial D Legend 1: Awaken, will be a retelling of the 1998 anime’s first stage in which Takumi Fujiwara goes from bored tofu delivery driver to touge racer in his Toyota AE86. Continue reading
Now that the SuperBowl is over, it might be time to ask what was the greatest ever contest of wills involving at least one classic Japanese marque. There have been many throughout the ages. Datsun vs Alfa Romeo in SCCA Trans-Am 2.5. Subaru vs Mitsubishi in rallying. AE86 vs Silvia in drifting. Toyota vs Nissan in sales.
What’s the greatest JNC rivalry?
As usual, we’ll go for the easy pickings, that of the Mazda RX-3 and Nissan Skyline GT-R. In the early 70s the hakosuka GT-R was absolutely dominant in Japanese touring car racing and had a fan following that would make the Seattle Seahawks jealous. Nissan was so confident that it would win a 50th victory in December 1971 that it preemptively took out ads in Japan’s major newspapers telling race fans to watch them clinch the deal at the upcoming Fuji Tourist Trophy. Then along came Mazda with a fleet of RX-2s and the newly developed RX-3 and, after a nail-biting battle, denied Nissan their much hyped win. Of course, Nissan did go on to claim that 50th win and more, but it was a surprising upset for fans and a stark reminder not to count your chickens before they’re hatched.
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 coolest factory decal package?” Continue reading
A quarter century ago today, the Subaru Legacy went on sale in Japan. In Part 01, we studied its origins, but despite its humble family sedan appearance, Fuji Heavy Industries intended for the Legacy to go racing right from inception. This is a fitting place to discuss the origins of Subaru Technica International (STi) and how it relates to the Legacy. Continue reading
In Part 01, we headed up to Gifu to visit a shop called Standards, which had a mind-blowing amount of Showa goodies hidden in every nook and cranny. After going into Showa overload, Yokoyama-san, the owner, asked if we wanted to see his backup lot. Yes, please! So we hopped in his car and set off. Continue reading
1976’s Boso Panic: The Big Crash was your typical action movie from the era. All the gritty ingredients were there: bank robber anti-heroes, a femme fatale, gunfights, and loads upon loads of car chases. What sets it apart is the fact that it was filmed in Japan, and thus the car-nage consisted of the exact cars JNCers know and love today.
200 cars were used in the filming. Of those, 20 were incinerated and an additional 30 were crashed. Likely filmed with sponsorship from Toyota (many Japanese films of the period got cooperation from a major automaker if cars were involved in any way), meaning the rides that met their bitter ends included a Hilux, Stout, a parade of S40 Crown police cruisers, and the hero car, a gold MS51 Crown Hardtop. Continue reading
In the 27 years Chris Hoffman has owned his 1987 Honda CRX Si he’s seen his model of choice transform from econobox to tuner king to Japanese classic. Now his well-preserved car is also the subject of Petrolicious‘ latest video, titled “Original Fanboy.” As it happens, Chris is a friend of JNC and Honda owner in triplicate, who goes by “The Black CRX” around these parts. Watch his inspiring video below. Continue reading
So you have the most badass — and expensive — Japanese classic ever built. Why not take it to the track and mash on the pedals like they’ve got spiders pouring out of them? It’s exactly what one Japanese driver did with his then-not-quite-million-dollar Thunder Silver super-nostalgic, executing a couple of really nice slides in the process. This should slake the rabid cries from the “It’s meant to be driven!!!11!” crowd for about six minutes. Continue reading
Throughout 70s and 80s decal packages were a fact of life. Some were awesome, some were awesomely bad, but they were emblematic of the era.
What’s the coolest factory decal package?
We don’t know if it’s the greatest, but Mazda‘s 1977 RX-3 SP stripe kit was added to give the aging sport coupe a bit of zing before it was to be replaced by the game-changing RX-7. The decals and concomitant spoilers added nothing to the bottom line performance of the rotary housed within, but it is a sought after edition today and something unique to the North American market.
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 would you do with a Nissan IDx?” Continue reading
Standards is a little known shop hiding up in Gifu Prefecture. We would have never been aware of had it not been for some internet digging by a friend in a desperate bid to find some rare Mazda Carol 360 parts. Not only did the shop have the elusive bits in stock, but physically going there to pick them up was an experience we wouldn’t soon forget. Continue reading
