Question of the Week: What is Japan’s proudest marque?

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Kevin San

The winner of last week’s QotW, “What 1987 car will be the next classic?” by a slim margin is Isaac with his short-but-simple answer, “’87 Mazda RX-7 Turbo II.” They were criticized in-period for looking too much like a Porsche 944, but if anything the styling has aged more gracefully than the front-engined German, and it had class-leading performance and handling for the Japanese market in the late 80s. Add in increasing rarity due to drifters smushing them into trees and the cost of rotary engine rebuilds is making restoration uneconomic — the perfect ingredients for an up-and-coming classic.

Plus, the FC3S continued Mazda’s long tradition of dominating IMSA endurance races that began with the first RX-7, which leads us to our next QotW.

What is the Japan’s proudest marque?

Continue reading →

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Neo-86 jumpstarts Japan’s waning car culture

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Kevin San

Even up until the mid-2000s Japan was swarming with sleek, souped up performance machines that would give any JDM nut seizures of joy. A stroll down any major street was like tracking a pre-race establishing shot from Tokyo Drift. The current and former AE86 owners on the JNC staff were waxing nostalgic about videos like the one above, with Keiichi Tsuchiya going hell for leather on a winding road in a pretty stock hachiroku.

But talk to anyone embedded in Nihon’s car culture today and they’ll give you the same doom-and-gloom scenario: the Japanese auto enthusiast is dying. Sports cars are too expensive for kids today, who are mostly interested in cellphones and electronic gadgets anyway. Continue reading →

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EVENTS: Eagle Rock Datsun-Nippon Swap Meet

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Ben Hsu

Laugh all you want at our super-strict smog tests, but at the end of the day SoCal has at least one redeeming trait — enough nostalgics to hold a regular swap meet. Here’s what you missed from the recent Eagle Rock Datsun-Nippon Swap Meet.  Continue reading →

Posted in events, mazda, mitsubishi, nissan, toyota, wagons | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

B310 Sunny Shooting Brake is a USDM Jammer’s wet dream

Posted on March 28, 2012 by John Roper

This guy’s pretty crafty with the Photoshop. He calls it the Nissan Sunny California Shooting Brake. Let’s see… big bumpers, door mirrors, two-door wagon, faux wood-grain paneling and the word “California.” Sounds like a USDM Jammer’s wet dream to us. For more, see VirtualModels.org.

Posted in nissan, wagons | Tagged , , , , | 24 Comments

Kidney, Anyone? Tuned 1974 Mazda RX-4

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Ben Hsu


It’s not a limited edition, nor does it have  a slew of rare options, but we at JNC have a soft spot for the 2nd-gen Luce. They’re just rare in general and although much maligned when new, 38 years later it’s a beautiful reminder of pre-NHTSA safety bumper design.

This 1974 Mazda RX-4 is located in Victoria, BC and while not an original-owner car, it has resided in the same garage for 20 years. Light mods have been made, but you wouldn’t know it from looking at it — exactly the type of tuning we dig. The engine is said to have only 700 km on the rebuild and included are some rare Racing Beat bolt-ons. The asking price is $8,500.

 

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Question of the Week: What 1987 car is the next classic?

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Ben Hsu

It’s 2012 and that means another new model year has made it into the ranks of “classic.” The rolling 25 year cutoff for vehicles eligible for historic license plates and classic car insurance is now at the year of Iran-Contra, The Joshua Tree and The Simpsons. So we ask you, dear JNCers:

What 1987 car will be the next classic?

Continue reading →

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Friday Video: Gene Hackman, Toyota Celica racer

Posted on March 23, 2012 by Ben Hsu

The most famous celebrity driver raced under Nissan’s white-red-blue colors, but their main rival had an Oscar-winner of their own flying the red-orange-yellow. Yes, Nissan may have had Newman, but Toyota had Hackman. After competing in the SCCA Formula Ford series in the 70s, Little Bill Daggett raced Dan Gurney‘s ’81 Toyota Celica in the 1983 Pepsi 24 Hours of Daytona. Continue reading →

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California bill may exempt pre-1981 cars from smog testing

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Ben Hsu

Car nuts in states which are not California may envy our perpetual sunshine and plentiful kyuusha stocks, but when it comes to our emissions laws they just point and laugh. Most states have a rolling cutoff for cars of a certain age that exempt them from smog testing, but the Republic of California has frozen that number at 1976.

That means all vehicles that year or newer must pass Cali’s notoriously picky tailpipe sniffers to be street legal, dooming many older, poorly maintained Japanese cars to the scrapheap. Thankfully, a bill has been introduced into the state senate that, if passed, will move the cutoff forward to 1981.  Continue reading →

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It’s official, the Datsun brand will be resurrected

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Ben Hsu


After a long rumor parade, it’s finally happening. Early this morning Nissan CEO Mr. Bean officially announced the return of the Datsun brand. Sadly, for Nissan nuts, modern Datsun badges will likely be rebadged Dacias rather than retro 510s. The new entry-level marque will be offered only in developing markets like Indonesia, India, and Russia. No word on specific models as of yet. Rubbing more salt into the wound, Datsun devotees can now expect their googling to return a flood of Sandero lookalikes.

Read the disappointing press release after the jump Continue reading →

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Ring in the first day of spring with nostalgics and sakura

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Dan Hsu

Not only is today the first day of spring, but it’s also the opening of the 100th National Cherry Blossom Festival. A century ago the mayor of Tokyo gifted 3,000 sakura trees to our nation’s capital as a sign of friendship between the two countries. Sadly, Hayashi Yayoi do not grow on trees.

We’ve always thought that a vintage Japanese car show would be a great addition to the festivities, but nostalgics are nearly impossible to find in salty wintered DC. Instead, here’s a virtual one, starting with a Mitsubishi Galant GTO.  Continue reading →

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Ye Olde Zokusha from the United Kingdom

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Matt De Mangos

Well it was only a matter of time. The cultural reach of the zokusha has extended to jolly old England. We saw a banzai flagged Lada last year, but never in our wildest dreams did we expect a turaichi shakotan Volvo 244 with sharknose, external oil cooler, and wild two-tone paint job. Interestingly, the old school Dunlop decal has managed to culturally circumnavigate the globe, returning home by way of Sumitomo.  Continue reading →

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Friday Video: Aleks Efremov’s Cressida Wagon

Posted on March 16, 2012 by Ben Hsu

MX72 love emanates round these parts like rays of a dying sun. But with supplies of Cressida wagons dwindling on American roads, we have few opportunities to show our affection. That’s why we were fortunate to find this awesomely retro video called “VHS 1986″of Aleks Efremov‘s killer goon.  Continue reading →

Posted in Friday Video, toyota, wagons | Tagged , , , , , | 17 Comments

Food Poisoning, Anyone? Mitsubishi Galant GTO gum

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Matt De Mangos

How hard core a Mitsubishi fan are you? Hard enough to chew a pack of 42-year old peppermint gum? This beautifully packaged promotional item for the Galant GTO is suspected to hail from a Motor Show circa 1970 but, hey, it’s MIP and can be yours for ¥1000 plus shipping!

[YJA]

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Question of the Week: What is the most underrated nostalgic car?

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Ben Hsu

Nostalgic Hero‘s top 20 list has caused quite the stir among Mazdafarians, upset that the Cosmo Sport was the sole Hiroshima machine to make the cut. As we warned, the same car can mean different things in different countries and it’s true that classic rotaries are not nearly as common at shows like the New Year Meeting as they are at JCCS. So for this week, we ask JNCers:

What is the most underrated nostalgic car?

We think the Honda 1300 Coupe 9 is a strong candidate. Constantly overshadowed by the S-series and similarly-sized coupes from other marques, yet it was innovative and stylish and imbued with the spirit of Soichiro Honda. Plus it had one of the all-time most beautiful engines.

The best comment will win a little JDM tchotchke of unspecified make. Click through to see the winner of the last week’s QOTW. Continue reading →

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Nostalgic Hero selects Top 20 Japanese Classics

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Ben Hsu


The 150th volume of Nostalgic Hero just hit the stands as a special edition in which the editors pick the Top 20 Nostalgic Cars of 2012. Back in 2007 they issued a Top 50 list, and some have risen, some have fallen.

There’s much room for discussion, and keep in mind that some of these cars represent different things in the Japanese market than they do in the US. But without further ado, the envelope please…  Continue reading →

Posted in honda, isuzu, mazda, mitsubishi, nissan, subaru, suzuki, toyota | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 38 Comments

Toyota’s awesome 2012 Geneva Motor Show display

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Ben Hsu

What’s happening right now is the Geneva Motor Show, traditionally the unveiling venue for six-figure European exotics.  To stand out ToMoCo had to do something special, and we’d say a pair of gleaming white RWD GT coupes fits the bill. The neo-hachiroku‘s angle-of-departure tilt perfectly illustrates the spiritual succession of the GT86 from the 2000GT, and the booth’s color scheme evokes Japan’s old national racing colors found on cars like the Toyota 7. Continue reading →

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Friday Video: Nissan Cedric 230 vs Nissan Cedric 230

Posted on March 9, 2012 by Ben Hsu

We’ve seen some oddball Seibu Keisatsu match-ups over the years, but two evenly balanced foes is a rarity. Neither has the weight advantage. It’s a battle of sheer will as they sideswipe each other repeatedly down a strip of two-lane blacktop, paying no mind to the results of a terrifyingly dangerous stunt with a Japanese Eric Estrada.  Continue reading →

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2012 Hot Wheels X JNC Mazda RX-7, now in blue

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Dan Hsu

If you’re a die-hard diecast collector and know where to look, these beans have already been spilled. Otherwise, here’s your first look at the brand new 2012 Hot Wheels Mazda RX-7! We just got these samples fresh off the assembly line and, as always, are extremely proud to have Mattel’s support in the form of the JNC inkan on the B-pillar.

Blue, orange and white is the second color for this casting, succeeding black and gold, and it now rolls on white five-spoke wheels. Big ups to our nostalgic hero, Mattel’s Jun Imai for making this happen. The 1/64-scale SA22 looks fantastic tricked out with an IMSA kit, and looks right at home next to our Hot Wheels hako.  Continue reading →

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Question: What should be the first model under the Datsun brand if it comes back?

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Ben Hsu


It’s been a few months. Time for another cycle of Datsun revival rumors! The media has been awash with speculation on the return of the Datsun brand for the past week. We’ve heard it before, last October, July and beyond, so instead of just regurgitating the fact that Nissan president Mr. Bean neither denied nor confirmed the gossip and leaving it at that, we’re going to have some fun with it. Here is your Question of the Week:

If Nissan does revive the Datsun brand, what should be the first model to wear that badge?

If the Silvia hadn’t been killed off, it might have made a good 240Z, but its name would obviously conflict with the brand equity built on the 370Z. Perhaps the Cherry, since neo-Datsuns would likely be front-wheel-drive entry-level cars. Anyway, put your two cents in the comments below. The best answer one week from now will get a Nissan tchotchke from Japanland!

Posted in nissan, Question of the Week | Tagged , , | 40 Comments

Kidney, Anyone? 35,000-mile 1972 Toyota RT90 Corona Coupe

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Matt De Mangos


Ben says the RT90 Corona Coupe is ultra rare. However, I’ve found him about three to four examples floating on the lists of craig. This black-on-red ’72 is similar if not identical to the one owned by the Toyota USA Museum and boasts a documented 35,000-mile odometer. Like most, the 18R-C is paired with a Toyoglide three-speed auto. Though the wheels appear to be from a later Corolla, the owner assures speculators that the rest of the car is complete and a rust-free specimen from Phoenix. Buy it on craigslist for $6,000 and be twinsies with Toyota at the next TORC show.

Posted in for sale, toyota | Tagged , , , , , | 14 Comments