Miki Sugimoto was most known for her roles in 1970s exploitation films that lured viewers into 90 minutes of low-budget cinema with 0.5 seconds of soft-core nudity Sadly, the only cheap thrills we can promise today come from Sugimoto’s S41 Prince Gloria as she chases down a bad-guy-filled ’65 Dodge Coronet. Besides, wouldn’t you rather see streets filled with nostalgics in their prime than a glimpse of side boob? Continue reading
Friday Video: S41 Prince Gloria vs ’65 Dodge Coronet
Posted in nissan, prince, Video Games
Tagged coronet, dodge, gloria, miki sugimoto, nissan, prince, s40, s41
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Automobile realizes old Japanese cars are pretty cool after all
Well lookee here. Automobile, long the bastion of if-it-ain’t-Euro-it’s-crap has suddenly discovered the awesomeness of classic Japanese sports cars. Are we in the bizarro world? Their March 2012 issue even manages to review four cars — Honda S800, Mazda Cosmo Sport, Toyota 2000GT and the Nissan Fairlady Z432 — without once calling them copies of Old World models. With muscle-car-crazy Mattel building hakosukas and our recent quotes in the New York Times, perhaps what we’ve long preached is finally being recognized by the mainstream.
[Image: Automobile]
Behold, the Mazda Cosmo AP RX-5
The Mazda RX-5 is easily the most unloved “RX” car ever sold. When Mazda decided to revive the Cosmo name on a 2+2 GT at the height of the mid-70s luxo-barge craze, it dropped the “Sport” altogether and gave it an “AP” suffix. That stood for Anti-Pollution — this was post-oil-crisis, remember? — and at 2,645 pounds, it pushed the limits of what its emissions-choked 135PS 13B could handle, but hey, it did have a stylish waterfall grille and opera windows in the B-pillar!
Despite all its shortcomings and subsequent unpopularity, however, this Japanese owner managed to build a classy one that appears mostly stock, albeit slammed. Continue reading
Grand Touring: Forgotten steel tempts rust in Aichi Prefecture
A few weekends ago, we were again exploring some outlaying areas outside of Nagoya, and in the middle of the rice fields was a small mechanic who had amazed a sizable collection of varied old Japanese cars. As distressing as it is to see the state of some, it was even more so when they suffered the ignominy of being stacked on top of each other. Continue reading
Kidney, Anyone? 1972 Mazda Luce 1800
A number of alert readers informed us of this ultra-rare 1972 Mazda 1800 sedan over the weekend. For those well versed in JDM Hiroshima steel will recognize this as the pre-rotary Mazda Luce, one generation before the 13B made it the RX-4. UPDATE: More photos and info from the owner below. Continue reading
Friday Video: The Datsuns of New Zealand’s Shellsport Series
There’s an island nation halfway around the world where Sunnys and Starlets were regularly raced in a premier racing series back in the late 1970s. Fans flocked to see these small-displacement machines battle it out, and the cars achieved such legendary status that today many of them are being restored to period correctness and livery. Oh, and they all spoke English (sorta). That island is New Zealand, and the cars were part of the Shellsport Series.
Widened Steels is a great little doc about some of the most renowned Datsun Cherrys, B310s, and Bluebirds that took part in series. It combines great vintage racing tape — you can even spot some Mitsubishi Galant GTOs in the infield and a sanitora track vehicle — with modern footage of what the cars look like today. The series was so beloved that there’s even talk about reviving it today. Watch it after the jump. (hat tip:beeoneoneoh)
Posted in motorsports, nissan, toyota
Tagged 910, b110, b310, bluebird, cherry, datsun, new zealand, shellsport, starlet, sunny, toyota
16 Comments
Kidney, Anyone? 1984 Toyota FJ43 Land Cruiser for nearly $70,000
The FJ43 Toyota Land Cruiser was sold, at least in our hemisphere, in South America. The Bandeirante, as it was called by locals, split the difference between the FJ40 (90 inch) and the long-chassis FJ45 (105 inch) with a 96-inch wheelbase and is considered one of the rarest Cruisers in the US. That’s why the sale is pending at $69,700. Continue reading
Wednesday Wall: Nissan Skyline 55th Anniversary Wallpapers
For the Skyline‘s 55th birthday Nissan has released a series of wallpapers by artist Eizen Suzuki. The gorgeous illustrations depict each generation of the Japanese legend in various nostalgic settings, and a new one will be released every month of 2012. Keep checking back at the Skyline 55th website, where you can also grab a screensaver and take a peek at the JDM V36 Skyline 55th Limited.
Thanks to James D. for the tip!
EVENTS: 2012 New Year Meeting
This year’s New Year Meeting was a bit less exciting as a large number of cars were repeats from previous shows, but hey, it’s Japan and there’s tons of vintage steel. Continue reading
Posted in events, isuzu, mazda, mitsubishi, nissan, prince, subaru, toyota
Tagged 110s, 117, 1600gt, 2012, 240z, 240zg, 260z, 280z, 2t-g, 330, 430, 910, a20, autech, b110, bluebird, c10, c110, c210, cedric, celica, civilian, contessa, corolla, cosmo sport, crown, csp311, datsun, datsun 1200, fairlady z, fb, florian, galant, gloria, gto, Hakosuka, hiace, hino, isuzu, itasha, kenmeri, kgc10, kgc110, kpgc10, kpgc110, levin, mazda, mitsubishi, MkIII, new year meeting, nissan, prince, r30, rx-7, s110, s50, s54, sa22, sa22c, sambar, savanna, silvia, skyline, sprinter, ssr, stelvio, subaru, subaru 360, sunny, ta22, takahashi kunimitsu, te27, toyota, trueno
20 Comments
Lung, Anyone? Star Shark Ashtray
Valentine’s day usually results in a bunch of useless containers shaped like hearts. But here’s a much, much cooler container shaped like a Star Shark! It’s a vintage ashtray, still stamped with the original manufacturer, Colin, on the back. The opening bid right now is a mere ¥24,980, which converts to $322, or roughly the price of a real wheel. Not trying to drop a hint, but if we were to find one wrapped in a bow come February 14, we’d definitely put out. Continue reading
Bonus Video: Mazda Skyactiv gets retro
Not to be outdone by the boys at Fuji Heavy, Mazda has produced yet another look-at-our-awesome-history-of-fun-to-drive-cars montage commercial, but this time without the zoom-zoom. Instead, it’s to get the word out about its new family of Skyactiv motors. The spot is titled “Revolutions,” but despite glimpses of 787Bs and Cosmo Sports ironically/sadly there is no rotary engine to promote. Continue reading
Friday Video: Subaru commercials want your heartstrings tugged
ToMoCo has plenty of FR heritage to capitalize on as they gear up for the Toyota 86 launch, but what about its Subaru BRZ twin? Instead of drifting XT coupes we get a disowned son reuniting with his father over a common love of Fuji Heavy products. Dorama! Also, there’s not one but two official BRZ websites. Continue reading
New York Times reports on vintage Japanese cars
A few months ago Koji and Terry Yamaguchi of the JCCS, Jun Imai of Mattel and I were interviewed by a reporter from the New York Times about the growing collectibility of vintage Japanese cars. This is the article. Nothing in it will probably come as news to any regular reader of JNC and a lot of what I said ended up on the cutting room floor, but this story isn’t for the hard-core otaku. I do wish they had more room to get to the essence of what makes these cars cool, but it’s nice to see that it’s not just mainstream collectors, but mainstream media, who are paying attention.
[Image: Axel Koester, New York Times]
Wednesday Wall: Racing Toyotas from TRD
As the Toyota 86 inches closer to its Japanese debut the Aichi mothership is releasing a slew of propaganda. The latest is a series of TRD wallpapers beautifully illustrated by Masahisa Higuchi. They depict the neo-hachiroku and its racing forebears, including the Sports 800, Yatabe speed record 2000GT, and Mobilgas Trial S30 Crown. Continue reading
Wangan-Style Z31 Anniversary
Some say we don’t post enough Z31s. Let’s rectify that right now with a hidari-handoru 1984 Nissan 300ZX 50th Anniversary Edition targa that’s returned home for modification, wangan style. That is all.
[HTF]
Hot Wheels Datsun 510 Bluebird in Metallic Gray
The latest iteration of Hot Wheels‘ ever-popular Datsun 510 Bluebird is going to be metallic gray. It has the same graphics as the red one that came out late last year, but racier wheels. It’s still part of the “Faster than Ever” line with nickel-plated axles and should be on the shelves in mid-February.
We recently got some details on what’s coming down the pike from Mattel in terms of Japanese nostalgic cars, and although we can’t share anything with you yet… let’s just say you guys are going to lose your collective poo. There’s some surprising non-Japanese, non-muscle vintage goodness as well, like the BMW 2002. The Bimmer is new for 2012, which means that once again, the Datsun has beaten its old rival to the punch.
Friday Video: How not to stop a heavy duty dump truck with your Nissan Cedric
As it turns out, ramming an 8,000-pound dump truck with your 2,800-pound Nissan Cedric Special 6 is not an effective method for slowing it down. Like always, what you need is a Sgt Daimon in his own Cedric several miles ahead of you, ready to stoically cap a fool with is trademark Terminator-like accuracy. Continue reading
Posted in nissan, Video Games
Tagged 130, car chase, cedric, japanese cop show, nissan, seibu keisatsu, special 6, super 6
2 Comments
Art Corner: Fisch’s Datsun 200SX Appeal
The 1977-79 Datsun 200SX was widely derided as one of the ugliest cars ever to hit the American market. That was because we never saw it the way it was intended by Nissan — as the S10 Silvia with flush JDM bumpers. Luckily our friend, Datsun 210 owner and mega-talented artist Scott Fischer has illustrated his own version of the 200SX, minus the park-bench US-spec bumpers while adding a healthy does of bolt-on flares and Longchamps. He calls it the SX Appeal, and it’s easy to see why.
The Vintage Japanese “OK” Hand Logo Explained
Few things in life are cooler than vintage racing liveries. The colors, the typefaces, and the long-extinct corporate logos (of often just-as-extinct corporations) capture a moment in time that can never be replicated again. Add to that the rawness of the machines they decorated and the sheer amount of guts it took to hurl a metal box with zero modern safety furnishings around a track, just to satisfy the ridiculously primal need to beat the other guy, and, well, it’s stirring.
And if you look back at photos of Japanese racers from the glory days of Fuji and Suzuka, you’ll notice a stylized, pinkish-red hand, forefinger and thumb making a perfect circle — the internationally recognizable “OK” gesture. But what does it mean? Continue reading
“Black Gold” JNC Inkan now available
Have you been scouring the pegs of your local mega box retailer? We’ve gotten reports that Mattel’s 1:64 Mazda RX-7 is out! So in honor of our collab with Hot Wheels, we’ve created a special “Black Gold” edition of our iconic JNC Inkan decal to match the miniature one on the RX-7’s B-pillar. Continue reading
