Japanese Nostalgic Car

GRAND TOURING: Sailing through the desert in an Infiniti QX56

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Ben Hsu

Lawrence of Arabia. The Road Warrior. Return of the Jedi. These journeys into the desert and the hazards that befall their heros were fully seared into our minds as we traveled from Los Angeles to Phoenix, Arizona for the 25th Z Car Convention.

Those of you who attended JCCS this year will probably never forget how skin-meltingly hot it was by the coast in Long Beach. We were headed 400 miles into a barren wasteland in the midst of this record heat wave, and as much as we love the JNC wagon, we love A/C and not turning into a powdery skeleton even more. Continue reading →

Posted in Grand Touring | Tagged 240z, bob bondurant, datsun, fairlady, fairlady roadster, infiniti, L320, nissan, qx, qx56 | 12 Comments

KIDNEY, ANYONE? 17,000-mile 1972 Datsun 1200 Coupe

Posted on November 7, 2012 by Matt De Mangos

Right now on Ebay there’s a 1972 Datsun 1200 Coupe for sale, with a claimed mileage of only 17,181. Nissan USA marketed it as a fuel saver back in the day, with ads trumpeting its ability to drive from New York to Los Angeles for under $30 in fuel (in 1972 dollars, of course). Continue reading →

Posted in for sale, nissan | Tagged b110, datsun, kidney anyone, nissan, sunny | 31 Comments

American Suzuki Motor Corp, 1985-2012

Posted on November 5, 2012 by Ben Hsu

After 27 years American Suzuki Motor Corp. has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. Though it will no longer be selling cars in the US, the motorcycle and ATV side of things will continue on. Continue reading →

Posted in suzuki | Tagged alto, chevrolet, chevy, cultus, geo, metro, samurai, sprit, suzuki, tracker | 24 Comments

QotW: What music do you listen to when driving your nostalgic?

Posted on November 5, 2012 by Ben Hsu

We all know the correct answer is “the engine,” but sometimes you need to rock out to some tunes to fully capture that nostalgic feel.

What music do you listen to when driving your nostalgic?

With songs their bosozoku-inspired costumes and songs like “Boso Skyline Phantom,” “330,” and “Wangan Nocturne,” Kishidan (Japanese for The Knights) is our current playlist favorite. Their songs are steeped in nostalgia for rebellious youth, being outcasts and, of course, vehicular mayhem. The long performance above is from 2006 of a song called “The White Lightning of Route 127.”

What say you, dear reader? As always, the most entertaining or inspiring comment by next Monday will receive a random toy. Click through to see the winner from last week’s question, “What car would you drive across Japan?” Continue reading →

Posted in nissan, Question of the Week, toyota | Tagged 2000gt, kishidan, nissan, QotW, Question of the Week, skyline, toyota | 27 Comments

Reminder: Less than a month to go for Classic Japan 2012

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Ben Hsu

Just a friendly reminder that there’s less than a month to go before the Classic Japan show of 2012 kicks off!

The Melbourne, Australia event will showcase over 200 classic Japanese cars and over 50 motorcycles on the lawn at Como Park in South Yarra, Victoria.

The event is put on by the Toyota Car Club of Australia, but welcomes any Japanese marques built before 1987.

JNC has shipped a package of decals to organizer Adam Laws for any of our Aussie compadres who bring a car to the show on November 25. For more details, go to the TCCAV website, and check out photos from 2011’s Classic Japan show.

Posted in events | Tagged Classic Japan | 5 Comments

Honda Celebrates 30 Years of US-built Accords

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Dan Hsu

Here’s your daily dose of history. November 1, 1982 was the day when the first US-built Honda rolled off the assembly line in Marysville, Ohio. The first car to emerge from the newly constructed plant three decades ago was a gray Accord sedan, which now resides at The Henry Ford museum in Dearborn, Michigan. wearing the license plate “USA 001.” Continue reading →

Posted in honda, kei | Tagged accord, honda, ke, n-one | 7 Comments

Mazda RX-7 reportedly returning in 2017

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Ben Hsu

2017 will be an important year for Mazda‘s rotary engine, as it will mark 50 years since the revolutionary motor’s debut in the 1967 Cosmo Sport. However, our mates at Australia’s aptly named The Motor Report are, well, reporting that 2017 is also the year the famed Mazda RX-7 makes its return. Continue reading →

Posted in mazda | Tagged 13b, 16x, fb, fc, fc3s, fd, fd3s, mazda, nobuhiro yamamoto, rotary, rx-7, sa22, savanna, wankel | 30 Comments

EVENTS: 2012 SEMA Show

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Ben Hsu

It should surprise no one that this year’s SEMA show revolved around a single car, the Scion FR-S. The neo-hachiroku has injected new life into the “sport compact” aftermarket, and this week you couldn’t swing a dead cat inside Las Vegas Convention Center without hitting one. Continue reading →

Posted in events, mazda, nissan, toyota | Tagged 2012, 510, 787, a20, ae86, apache, bluebird, brz, celica, compe, corolla, cusco, cx-5, datsun, enkei, fr-s, gt 86, impreza, koyorad, lamborghini, le mans, levin, liberty walk, mazda, miata, mx-5, nissan, scion, sema, sprinter, subaru, te27, toyota, toyota 86, trueno | 20 Comments

EVENTS: 2012 ZCon

Posted on October 30, 2012 by Ben Hsu

In the automotive kingdom there exists only a handful of models that can inspire a car show at the national level. We’re not talking about marques here; we mean a single model so iconic and beloved that its devotees have formed a national governing body, with regional chapters across the US, and a yearly convention. Continue reading →

Posted in events, nissan | Tagged 240z, 260z, 280z, 280zx, 300zx, black gold, black pearl, datsun, fairlady z, nissan, s130, s30, safari rally, shiro, z31, z32, zcca, zcon, zzzap | 7 Comments

QotW: What car would you drive across Japan?

Posted on October 29, 2012 by Ben Hsu

From Hokkaido to Kagoshima, Japan has some of the coolest highways and mountain passes known to man. We live vicariously through Skorj’s Grand Touring stories, in which he travels across Japan looking for nostalgic cars “in the wild.” Though he owns a Honda S800 it is unfortunately not the most practical steed. So on his excursions he takes a late-model Honda CR-V instead, which begs the question:

What car would you drive across Japan?

What say you, dear reader? As always, the most entertaining or inspiring comment by next Monday will receive a random toy. Click through to see the winner from last week’s question, “Which nostalgic car makes the perfect daily driver?” Continue reading →

Posted in minicars, Question of the Week | Tagged ae86, corolla, hachiroku, levin, QotW, Question of the Week, sprinter, te27, toyota, trueno | 44 Comments

Friday Video: Jay Leno drives Toyota’s 1936 Toyoda AA

Posted on October 26, 2012 by Ben Hsu

What’s it like to drive the first Toyota ever built? Jay Leno answers that question. Leno’s been on a whirlwind tour of Japan. First he stopped by the Nissan design center to drop hints about the 2014 Fairlady Z and take a spin in a 240ZG. Then he swung by Fuji Speedway to take a lap in the Lexus LFA. Next stop, Aichi Prefecture to drive Toyota’s first car, the 1936 Toyoda AA. Continue reading →

Posted in Friday Video, toyota | Tagged Friday Video, toyoda, toyoda aa, toyota, toyota aa | 4 Comments

MINICARS: How to make custom decals for your Hot Wheels hakosuka Skyline

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Ricky Silverio

Many readers have asked JNC contributor Mark “ScaleMaster” Jones exactly how he adds his amazing detail to the custom Hot Wheels he’s shown you how to build. In Today’s article he’ll explain exactly how to do just that by turning the Hot Wheels hakosuka into Kunimitsu Takahashi’s 1971 works racer. —Ricky

This is another “how to” article using a Hot Wheels C10 Skyline to create a tribute to Nissan’s 1971 Japan Grand Prix winning Skyline GT-R. It will contain mostly information about the decals and how to make your own using commonly available tools, materials and computer hardware/software. Continue reading →

Posted in minicars, nissan | Tagged c10, datsun, Hakosuka, hot wheels, kgc10, kpgc10, kunimitsu takahashi, minicars, nissan, ScaleMaster, skyline | 14 Comments

EVENTS: 2012 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 09: Editors’ Choice

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Ben Hsu

It should be no surprise by now that the Japanese Classic Car Show continues to grow each year, but we still weren’t quite prepared for just how much bigger and better it was for 2012. Let’s recap some of the highlights and favorites from this year’s event. Continue reading →

Posted in events, honda, mazda, mitsubishi, nissan, subaru, toyota | Tagged 2012, 240z, 260z, 280z, 510, a20, a60, acura, ae86, bluebird, celica, challenger, corolla, datsun, dodge, fairlady z, fb, galant, hachiroku, honda, hot wheels, japanese classic car show, jccs, jdm legends, jun imai, kei, lambda, legend, levin, liftback, ma61, mazda, mitsubishi, nissan, ra29, rx-7, s30, sa22, savanna, sprinter, subaru, subaru 360, supra, ta22, te27, toyota, trueno, wagon | 12 Comments

QotW: Which nostalgic car makes the perfect daily driver?

Posted on October 22, 2012 by John Roper

Some of us are blessed with enough parking to house multiple cars. Others must choose only one to fulfill all their practical, reliable and/or economical reqs while maintaining a veneer of old school Japan cool. Therefore we must ask:

Which nostalgic car makes the perfect daily driver?

As it happens, we have to haul a lot of gear around to car shows. We’d love to rock a comfy new crossover, but we gots to keep it real on the nostalgic tip, yo. We’ve taken our 1986 Cressida wagon all over SoCal, to Vegas for SEMA, and up and down the western seaboard. Here it is at California Speedway a couple weeks ago for 86Fest wearing faded AE86 steelies. The JNC wagon swallows more cargo than many modern SUVs, draws plenty of power from a nearly indestructible Toyota straight six, and most importantly, has passed that 25-year-or-older threshold. Who could ask for anything more?

What say you, dear reader? As always, the most entertaining or inspiring comment by next Monday will receive a random toy. Click through to see the winner from last week’s question, “What’s the greatest Japanese racing livery?” Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 50 Comments

FRIDAY VIDEO: Wangan Midnight, The Movie, with subtitles

Posted on October 19, 2012 by John Roper

You know the drill. Boy meets Fairlady Z, boy restores Fairlady Z, boy learns Fairlady Z is possessed by a need to kill its owner. Wangan Midnight, the story of the Devil Z and its rivalry against the Blackbird Porsche has been told and retold in manga, anime, live action and video game form. Christine this is not, but you do wonder who is the one possessed, the Z or its owner. Continue reading →

Posted in nissan, Video Games | Tagged 240z, 260z, 280z, 911, 930, blackbird, datsun, devil z, fairlady z, Friday Video, lancer celeste, mitsubishi, nissan, porsche, r34, s130, s30, skyline, wangan midnight | 14 Comments

EVENTS: 2012 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 08: Two-Door Sedans

Posted on October 17, 2012 by Dan Hsu

Some of you may be wondering what the deal with the two-door sedan is. Isn’t that just a coupe, and didn’t we already see the classic coupes at JCCS? The answer to that is, confusingly, no. Continue reading →

Posted in events, nissan, toyota | Tagged 2012, 510, bluebird, bre, corolla, datsun, e20, e30, e70, japanese classic car show, jccs, john morton, ke35, nissan, peanut, peter brock, te21, te72, toyota | 13 Comments

EVENTS: 2012 Formula D Car Show & Drifting Championships

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Jason

Formula D isn’t the kind of event we here at JNC normally cover, but in recent years stateside drifting has grown tremendously, and with that growth it has welcomed with open arms the nostalgics that made all this tail-sliding possible. Continue reading →

Posted in Drifting, events, motorsports | Tagged 240sx, 510, a20, a60, ae86, celica, corolla, cressida, cresta, dai yoshihara, daigo saito, datsun, drifting, e70, events, formula D, fr-s, frederic aasbo, gt 86, hachiroku, irwindale speedway, is-f, ken gushi, levin, lexus, mark II, mazda, mx73, nissan, ra64, rx-7, s13, sa22, sc430, scion, shakotan, silvia, sprinter, taka aono, tc, te72, toyota, toyota 86, trueno, tsurikawa, x30, x70, zokusha | 10 Comments

QotW: What’s the greatest Japanese racing livery?

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Ben Hsu

Graphics. Livery. Warpaint. Originally meant to identify the country of origin and visually distinguish fast-moving cars on the track, they are now the domain of corporate sponsors. Either way, there have been some darn cool ones. Therefore we ask:

What’s the greatest Japanese racing livery?

As tempted as we are to score another one for the Mazda and the 787B’s so-garish-it’s-cool Le Mans scheme, we have to go with the Honda RA272‘s simple red circle on white. Not only did it invoke the hinomaru, but after Honda won the Mexican Grand Prix in 1965 Championship White became the color of choice to distinguish Soichiro’s foremost feats of engineering from plebeian conveyances for the masses.

Posted in honda, minicars, nissan, Question of the Week, toyota | Tagged 240z, 260z, 280z, chaser, choro-q, cressida, cresta, f1, fairlady z, formula 1, honda, mark II, mark x, minicars, nissan, QotW, Question of the Week, ra272, s30, toyota, X100, X110, X120, x20, x30, x40, x60, x70, x80, X90 | 31 Comments

Friday Video: God Speed You! Black Emperor

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Ben Hsu

God Speed You! Black Emperor by award-winning director Mitsuo Yanagimachi is a documentary following junior members of Black Emperor, the infamous bosozoku gang, or “touring club,” as they prefer to call themselves. This is not a car movie by any means. However, if you can tolerate the subtitles and plotless, meandering pace, you might be able to catch glimpses of Tokyo’s automotive landscape circa 1976 — everything from kujira taxis to shakotan Celicas — captured in raw 16mm. Continue reading →

Posted in bosozoku, Video Games | Tagged Black Emperor, bosozoku, God Speed You Black Emperor | 7 Comments

Garage Life: Classic Car Nagoya Diary

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Guest Writer

Today’s guest writer David Lovett lives in Japan and works at Classic Car Nagoya. Here is a dispatch about what it’s like to be employed at what most of us would consider the ultimate dream job. Enjoy. —Ben

Just about halfway between Nagoya and Toyota City is the town of Togo, home to a little shop called Classic Car Nagoya. As the name implies, CCN specializes in classic cars. It’s very much a family run operation with six full time employees, three of whom are related, plus one part time gaijin — me. Continue reading →

Posted in mitsubishi, nissan, prince, Shop Life, toyota | Tagged 510, a60, bluebird, c10, c110, Classic Car Nagoya, compagno, crown, daihatsu, datsun, Hakosuka, kenmeri, kpgc10, kpgc110, midget, mitsubishi, mitsubishi 360, nissan, prince, s20, s30, skyline, supra, toyopet, toyota | 52 Comments