Japanese Nostalgic Car

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 →

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 →

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 →