Japanese Nostalgic Car

SHOP LIFE: A visit to Rocky Auto, Nissan resto-modder extraordinare

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Guest Writer

Today’s guest writer is David Lovett of Classic Car Nagoya, who recently went on a little field trip to Rocky Auto. The famous tuning shop’s founder, Yoshiya Watanabe, will make a rare American appearance at Vintage Auto Salon this weekend so come by and meet him. —Ben

Rocky Auto is one of Japan’s most famous, not to mention most outrageous, Nissan tuners, known for swapping completely modern Nissan RBs and Lexus V8s into Japan’s iconic nostalgic cars. Some might call the creations blasphemous, others might say they’re wickedly cool. No one can deny, however, that founder Yoshiya Watanabe has made a huge impact in the nostalgic car scene in Japan. Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the shop in person. Continue reading →

Posted in nissan, Shop Life | Tagged c10, c110, datsun, fairlady z, Hakosuka, kenmeri, kpgc10, nissan, pgc10, rocky auto, s130, s30, Shop Life, skyline | 22 Comments

GRAND TOURING: Journey to Subaru of America’s History Collection, Part 01

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Ben Hsu

You’d never guess as you drove by, but in a nondescript warehouse just across the Delaware river from Philadelphia lies the most eclectic stash of boxer motored, all-wheel-drive vehicles in the US. Earlier this year, we at JNC had the rare opportunity to visit Subaru of America‘s incredible historic car collection.

Subaru describes the collection as more of an “attic,” where significant concepts, classics and race cars are stored for posterity. With cars stacked on lifts and crammed doorhandle to doorhandle, it’s certainly not a museum, and it’s not open to the public. However, it’s still amazing, and something that we are very glad exists. Continue reading →

Posted in Grand Touring, museums, subaru | Tagged 22B, brat, ff-1, impreza, Justy, legacy, leone, subaru, subaru 360, Subaru Attic, Subaru Collection, X-100, XV Crosstrek | 21 Comments

MINICARS: 2014 Hot Wheels Toyota AE86 Corolla leaked

Posted on August 6, 2013 by Ricky Silverio

Just in time for 86 Day festivities, the Lamley Group has leaked that the Toyota Corolla AE86 Hot Wheels casting will be making a return to the pegs in 2014. This time around, the car will be silver with 80s-vintage graphics. Happily for hachi-heads, it has an appropriate red interior! Expect it to hit the pegs sometime this fall.

Posted in minicars, toyota | Tagged ae86, corolla, hachiroku, hot wheels, levin, minicars, sprinter, toyota, trueno | 3 Comments

NEWS: Happy 86 Day from JNC

Posted on August 6, 2013 by Justin Principe

2013 is a momentous year for the compact, lively and influential car we know as the hachiroku. With Initial D perhaps getting its final curtain, along with the fact that the first AE86 rolled off the production line in Aichi exactly three decades ago, we at JNC would like to wish you a happy 86 Day!

In celebration of this August 6th, let’s rewind the clock back 30 years. Below is a Toyota exhibition video that features a duo of early GT-APEX Levins flown in from Japan (notice they are not Corolla GTs) and driven to their limits by rally drivers Per Eklund and Klaus Fritzinger. Continue reading →

Posted in News, toyota | Tagged 86 Day, ae86, corolla, Klaus Frtizinger, levin, nurburgring, Per Eklund, spa francorchamps, sprinter, toyota, trueno, zandvoort | 11 Comments

QotW: What’s your fondest hachiroku memory?

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Ben Hsu

Tomorrow, August 6, is 86 Day and cities on both sides of the Pacific are gearing up for a celebration of the last FR Corolla. It’s perhaps a special one this year, as the Initial D story has come to a close. Maybe you’re not a fanboy, but there’s no denying the cultural ripples the O.G. drift machine has created.

What’s your fondest hachiroku memory?

There are many among the JNC staff. John remembers it as being the coolest car you could have in high school. Kev tracked one in Oz, long before Project Hako and even the US drifting boom. I crossed the country twice to get the AE86 of my dreams.

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, “Which JNC should be revived for modern times?” Continue reading →

Posted in Question of the Week | Tagged ae86, corolla, levin, QotW, Question of the Week, sprinter, toyota, trueno | 21 Comments

MINICARS: 2014 Hot Wheels X JNC Datsun 620

Posted on August 2, 2013 by Ricky Silverio

We’ve been sitting on this news for months, but now that it’s been leaked, we are stoked to share with you, our dear readers, the latest Hot Wheels wearing the JNC inkan — the Datsun 620! Continue reading →

Posted in minicars, nissan | Tagged 620, datsun, hot wheels, jun imai, minicars | 30 Comments

VIDEO: Wheeler Dealers goes to Japan

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Justin Principe

In Discovery Channel UK’s Wheeler Dealers: Trading Up, campy car trader Mike Brewer journeys across various continents to buy and sell cars for profit. In the fourth episode, he finds himself in Japan and gets a quick lesson in its used car culture. After failing multiple times at bidding on cars during a very fast paced auction, he winds up with a Daihatsu Tanto, which he’s able to sell for a profit after a quick detailing. He then spends his earnings on a white daruma Celica. A good investment, it appears. Continue reading →

Posted in toyota, Video, Video Games | Tagged a20, celica, toyota, wheeler dealers | 18 Comments

JNC GARAGE: Ben’s 1980 Toyota Celica Supra

Posted on July 31, 2013 by Ben Hsu

On Monday Toyota UK posted a history of the Supra. This led at least one major media outlet to wonder aloud whether it had anything to do with rumors of the nameplate’s revival. Sadly, that same major media outlet led off with a photo of a Celica (-_-). Well, this seems a good a time as any to explain the intricacies of the Mark I Supra. Continue reading →

Posted in JNC Garage, toyota | Tagged a40, supra, toyota | 45 Comments

NEWS: After 18 years of touge battles, this is how Initial D ends

Posted on July 30, 2013 by Ben Hsu

The final chapter of the long running manga Initial D was released yesterday in Japan. After 18 years of publication the hugely influential story that introduced touge battles and the glory of RWD Japanese cars to a whole generation of enthusiasts has come to a close. Here’s how it ends (Warning: Spoilers ahead). Continue reading →

Posted in manga, toyota | Tagged ae86, corolla, hachiroku, Initial D, Shuichi Shigeno, sprinter, toyota, trueno | 42 Comments

QotW: Which JNC should be revived for modern times?

Posted on July 29, 2013 by Ricky Silverio

The revival of the Datsun brand didn’t go in the direction many Bluebird and Sunny enthusiasts wanted. We know an exact nuts-and-bolts resurrection of a 510 or B110 would not be practical, but cars with the spirit of those JNCs certainly could.

Which JNC should be revived for modern times?

How ’bout a modern day Mark II to battle Audi? A reborn Celica would, ironically, compete with the downsized, world market-friendly 2014 Mustang. Sure there are the obvious cars — RX-7, Silvia, etc. — but imagine a revived TC Cup consisting of lightweight, RWD equivalents of a revived Sunny, Savanna RX-3, and the Toyota GT86.

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 open top JNC?” Continue reading →

Posted in Question of the Week | Tagged QotW, Question of the Week | 31 Comments

NEWS: Final chapter of Initial D to be published Monday

Posted on July 27, 2013 by Ben Hsu

Eighteen years after a tofu delivery Toyota AE86 drifted onto the scene, author Shuichi Shigeno has announced that the hugely popular Initial D manga will come to an end on July 29, 2013.

Since 1995, the tale of a teenager with a gift for slinging his dad’s old hachiroku on the touge has sold over 48 million copies and made a hero car out of Toyota’s last RWD Corolla. Continue reading →

Posted in toyota, Video Games | Tagged ae86, corolla, Initial D, levin, Shuichi Shigeno, sprinter, toyota, trueno | 14 Comments

EVENTS: Mooneyes Open House, Mitsubishi Owners’ Day, SpoCom 2013 — Attend All the Shows!

Posted on July 26, 2013 by Ben Hsu

Life is soooo hard in SoCal. Gorgeous women dress too scantily, it’s hard to decide between beautiful roads in the mountains and beautiful roads by the coast, and it barely ever rains. And then we have the horrible inconvenience of too many car shows.

That was our dilemma one warm Saturday when we found ourselves confronted with the Mooneyes Open House, Mitsubishi Owners’ Day, and SpoCom. Right. Fire up the Cressy. Continue reading →

Posted in events, mitsubishi | Tagged 720, c110, civic, colt, crown, datsun, delica, dodge, honda, kenmeri, lancer, mazda, mitsubishi, Mitsubishi Owners' Day, mmirage, mooneyes, nissan, rx-3, s50, sambar, skyline, spocom, subaru, toyota | 25 Comments

MINICARS: Kyosho X DMC Limited Edition “Panda” Toyota 86

Posted on July 25, 2013 by Ben Hsu

A while back our friends at DaBox Model Cars decided to make a limited edition car based on Japan’s car of the moment, the Toyota 86. They were looking for a tribute to the original AE86 on which it was based, so we at JNC lent a hand to the design process. Continue reading →

Posted in minicars, toyota | Tagged fr-s, Kyosho, minicars, scion, toyota, toyota 86 | 4 Comments

KIDNEY, ANYONE? Deep Yayoi “Sakura” Barrels

Posted on July 24, 2013 by Ben Hsu

The Yayoi “sakura” wheel has long been considered the holy grail of vintage Japanese barrels. Now, a never-used ultra-deep set can be yours for the low, low price of — pinky to mouth — one million yen ($10,000 USD). Continue reading →

Posted in for sale, wheels | Tagged kidney anyone, sakura, vintage barrels, wheels, yayoi | 12 Comments

VIDEO: The ultimate Mazda fan’s marriage proposal

Posted on July 23, 2013 by Dan Hsu

What’s the most romantic spot for a marriage proposal? This video, which has been making the car blog rounds, proves there was no place better than the cockpit of a Lola Mazda ALMS race car.

Ian Browning and Sarah Bunting are two die-hard Mazdafarians who own a pair of FC RX-7s. At this year’s ALMS race at Mosport Park Ian popped the question while Sarah was in the driver’s seat of the #16 Dyson Racing race car. Spoiler alert: she says yes. It must have something to do with the cool JNC Daytona shirt he’s wearing. Watch the video below. Continue reading →

Posted in mazda, Video | Tagged alms, mazda, proposal | 4 Comments

VIDEO: “I am bad till I die. Is there anything wrong with that?”

Posted on July 22, 2013 by Ben Hsu

We in the west might think of bosozoku culture as part of “true” Japanese car culture where its extreme style and foreignness is unlikely to ever fully make the cross over to the west. The truth is, most true Japanese people hate the bosozoku. They are known for holding up traffic with their antics and if anyone tries to get by, well, that’s what the twirling baseball bats are for.

In this video called, “Underground Hero: Love to Hate Me,” Maiham Media explores the life of a gangster as they bousou around Tokyo. As scary looking as these professional troublemakers are, they are not above letting a cool car sweep them off their feet. Continue reading →

Posted in Video | Tagged bosozoku, lamborghini, Video | 7 Comments

QotW: What’s the greatest open top JNC?

Posted on July 22, 2013 by Ben Hsu

It’s summertime, and what better way to enjoy the sun than to take a drive with the top down? Japanese cars come in all shapes and sizes, but one body style Nihon tends to lay off of is the convertible. Therefore, we must ask:

What’s the greatest open top JNC?

It’s a tough decision, but given the historical significance of the Honda S-series, we’d probably have to go with Old Man Soichiro’s passion project. Not only did it signal the company’s foray into passenger cars, thus launching the Honda automotive empire, but it was loaded with technology found only on Formula 1-level cars at the time. The 10,000 rpm wonder can still be seen racing vigorously in classic events in Japan today, and is one of the most iconic nostalgic cars from the land of the rising sun.

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 most Japanese non-Japanese car?” Continue reading →

Posted in Question of the Week | Tagged alpine, europa, lotus, QotW, Question of the Week | 13 Comments

NEWS: Happy 60th birthday to Fuji Heavy Industries

Posted on July 18, 2013 by Ben Hsu

Rejoice, Subarites, for it is the 60th birthday of your beloved parent company. Fuji Heavy Industries was founded on July 15, 1953, formed when five former companies of the disbanded Nakajima Aircraft Company. The new logo showed five smaller stars behind a larger one, a symbol that graces the nose of every Subaru car. Continue reading →

Posted in News, subaru | Tagged ff-1, fuji heavy industries, leone, subaru, subaru 1000, subaru 360, subaru p-1 | 6 Comments

VIDEO: Teruhisa Inoue’s B110 Sunny

Posted on July 17, 2013 by Dan Hsu

Teruhisa Inoue owns the world’s most famous B110 Sunny. Here is a video of it. Continue reading →

Posted in nissan, Video | Tagged b110, datsun, nissan, sunny, Teruhisa Inoue | 21 Comments

The return of Intelligent Sport” and a introducing a new member of the JNC family

Posted on July 17, 2013 by Ben Hsu

By the time Nobuaki Katayama began work on the original Lexus IS, he was already a rock star within Toyota. He’d chief engineered all-time greats like the Lexus SC and JZA80 Supra and, in his younger days, worked on the legendary AE86. He’d put in five years in the trenches of Toyota’s European motorsports program and in his spare time, according to company lore, was often seen behind the wheel, tail out, on rally stages.

As the so-called enthusiast’s Lexus, the IS 300 had a lot of weight to shoulder. The world was waiting for the still-young brand to prove it wasn’t just a wannabe. You see, Lexus wasn’t just the flagship marque for Toyota. It was, and still is, the flagship marque for all of Japan. With the third-gen IS dropping worldwide, it’s time to look back on Katayama’s legacy, and see whether the latest incarnation is a worthy successor. Continue reading →

Posted in Lexus, toyota | Tagged altezza, lexus, lexus is, Nobuaki Katayama, toyota | 13 Comments