Yesterday we showed you some Aoshima 1/6 models of vintage Japanese racing barrels. On the opposite end of the scale scale Aoshima offers these bosozoku sleds from the 1/64 Gurachan Collection. The series has been out for a while, but we just picked this one up at Japantown Collectibles in San Francisco. This kandy orange Nissan Fairlady 240ZG is a zoku’s wet dream, with bubble flares, S130 hood vents, integrated fiberglass spoiler, and C210 Skyline taillights. Even the wheels are Watanabes wrapped in real rubber. Continue reading
Aoshima’s “The Wheel” 1/6-Scale Vintage Barrel Model Kit
Welcome to 2012! As we await our Mayan apocalypse let’s enjoy what time we have by enjoying some holiday goodies received at the JNC office. Reason #3,811 of why Japan is great is because you can not only buy a model kit of your favorite Japanese car, but your favorite Japanese racing wheel as well. Continue reading
Posted in minicars
Tagged advan, aoshima, bomber, formula mesh, hayashi, minicars, r104, riverside, speed star racing, ssr, wheels, work, work equip 03, yokohama
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JNC’s Top Stories of 2011
As the year draws to a close, we’d like to wish all JNCers a happy new year. May all your roads be smooth, and your all schools be old. For this year’s nengajou, we chose this photo of the real-life version of our “Best of the Best” shirt, featuring the most glorious Japanese GT cars of the late Sixties.
As is internet custom, it’s time to go over the most popular stories here at JNC.com for 2011. These aren’t the most important news stories of the year, but they were the ones most clicked by you. Continue reading
Posted in jnc
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Fuji-go and Sakura-go Ride Again
53 years ago, Nissan sent a pair of Datsun 210 sedans to compete in what was known as the “World’s Cruelest Rally.” The 1958 Around-Australia Mobilgas Trial was a tortuous, 19-day circumnavigation around the continent, over mostly unpaved roads. Named Fuji-go and Sakura-go, and painted with murals of Mt. Fuji and sakura (cherry blossoms), these were the first Nissans to ever compete in international motorsports. Continue reading
Posted in motorsports, nissan
Tagged 210, bluebird, datsun, fuji-go, mobilgas trial, motorsports, mr k, nissan, rally, sakura-go, yutaka katayama
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Toyota 86 and Sports 800 reunited for the holidays
It may be AE86 Jr., but when the holidays come the Toyota 86 prefers to spend time with its great grandpa, the Sports 800. A picture perfect family reunion, or is this Toyota telling us, “Hey, we made a front-engined, rear-wheel-drive, boxer-powered sports car 50 years ago!”? Watch the video below. Continue reading
Subaru’s 1986 XT Turbo Restoration
Strolling the halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center at last month’s SEMA show, we were blown away by Subaru of America‘s impeccable 1986 XT Turbo. It’s not every day that you see a fully restored 1980s tech wedge, so we contacted our friends at Subaru to get the back story of how this blue beauty came to be. Continue reading
Haunted by the Ghosts of Nostalgics Past
For someone who loves driving, I am notoriously bad at recognizing landmarks. It’s embarrassing, really. Ex-girlfriends have raised many an eyebrow, astonished at how I could fail to notice — even though “we’ve passed by a thousand times” — that a new upscale condo complex has sprouted up where the old Cafe Luna had once been. That’s because I’m looking at cars, and they are have this tendency to not stay in one place. Continue reading
Merry Christmas from JNC
We at JNC would like to wish you a Merry Christmas. May your travels in an old, airbag-less car be safe and your stockings filled with rare NOS parts. And if you are absolutely sick of hearing “Silent Night” over every shopping mall PA system everywhere, ad infinitum, enjoy this music video for Kishidan’s Christmas-themed “Secret Love Story”. Continue reading
2011 Hot Wheels Holiday Hot Rods Datsun 240Z
There’s one more Hot Wheels car we have to mention, and that’s the 2011 Holiday Hot Rods Datsun 240Z. Each year Hot Wheels selects a few castings to don Christmas themed apparel, and this year the Datsun 240Z made the cut.
It’s finished in red, green and white livery with gold wheels, and the #25 is obviously a nod to the Christ-man’s birthday. Best of all, this is one you don’t have to wait til 2012 to get. It’s available right now at a Wal-Mart near you.
Happy hunting!
2012 Hot Wheels “Hot Ones” will include 80s Japanese Honda CRX, Subaru BRAT, A60 Supra and more
As the holidays descend upon us visions of toy cars are dancing in our heads. In addition to the Mazda RX-7 appearing in the 2012 Hot Wheels main lineup, there’s even more excitement for fans of old school Japanese cars in store.
The 2012 Hot Ones series will feature even more nostalgics from the 1980s. The list thus far includes new castings such as the 1985 Honda CR-X, Subaru BRAT, Plymouth Arrow (Mitsubishi Lancer Celeste) Funny Car, ’87 Toyota (which is likely a pickup), ’85 Yamaha V-Max, and a retool of the original A60 ’82 Supra.
Back in the 80s, the Hot Ones were cars fitted with special gold wheels, thinner axles and flexing “suspension” that made them faster down an orange track. These features eventually spread across the entire Hot Wheels line. In 2011, the Hot Ones made a comeback as a collector series that featured special packaging and detailing, bringing back many of the 80s castings fans like us grew up with. However, some of the cars were new castings that didn’t exist in the 80s, and it looks like we’re about to get a face full of Reagan-era Japanese awesomeness.
2012 Hot Wheels X JNC Mazda RX-7
2011 was a banner year for Japanese nostalgics in the Hot Wheels lineup with the release of both the hakosuka and kenmeri Nissan Skylines, as well as the BRE Datsun 510 in the Vintage Racing line. We at JNC were proud to have teamed up with Mattel for the hako, and we are very excited to announce that in 2012 this partnership will continue with the Mazda RX-7! Continue reading
Friday Video: Osaka JDM’s Wonder Civics
Okay, so you’re unlikely to see an S800 at the Norm Reeves Honda show tomorrow, but what about the E-AT Civic? The third-gen Civic is a wholly under-appreciated chassis among hipster Honda kids, despite the fact that it was largely responsible for kicking off the Honda tuning scene. Continue reading
MOTORSPORTS: The not-so-famous Yoshimura-tuned Honda S800 racers
Like we said yesterday, the Honda S800 was one of the premiere Japanese race cars of the Sixties. The yellow-and-red 1968 S800 RSC is the most famous, but many more have buzzed down Suzuka’s main straight. Some of Japan’s most famous drivers got their starts driving S-cars, including Nissan‘s Moto Kitano, Toyota‘s Hiroshi Fushida, and Mazda‘s Yojiro Terada. And one of the most prolific S800 tuners was Hideo “Pops” Yoshimura. Continue reading
Posted in honda, motorsports
Tagged hayashi, hideo yoshimura, hiroshi fushida, honda, moto kitano, motorcycles, rsc, s500, s600, s800, suzuka, suzuka 1000km, suzuki, yojiro terada, yoshimura
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MOTORSPORTS: The famous 1968 Honda S800 RSC
In a quiet corner of the Honda Collection Hall at Twin Ring Motegi circuit sits what is arguably the most famous Honda S-car of all time, the 1968 Honda S800 RSC. As any collector of Japanese diecast or player of Gran Turismo knows, the famous yellow-and-red race car has been immortalized in countless forms. Continue reading
Pomade Run at the Mooneyes Xmas Party
This past Saturday some of the JNC crew strolled down to Toyota Speedway at Irwindale to join the annual Mooneyes Xmas Party. Although the car show/drag race caters heavily to domestic hot rods, lead sleds, and kustoms of every stripe (you can see coverage from our friends at Motormavens soon), there was J-tin represented in the form of this lone Subaru Sambar pickup. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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Kidney, Anyone? 1977 Datsun 710 Wagon
Actually, for the extremely reasonable price of $1,500 this 1977 Datsun 710 Wagon may not require a vital organ at all. The green goon, lovingly named “Kermit” by its seller, appears to have been well cared for and sparingly operated. If our third-grade-level math skills haven’t failed us, it has a not-low-but-not-beater-status 72,000 miles on the clock and a full scrapbook of maintenance records. Most importantly, we’ve seen a small number of Datsun 610 and 810 Wagons, but when was the last time you saw a 710 in any body style?
Hat tip to Alex K.
Posted in for sale, nissan, wagons
9 Comments
Friday Video: Vintage Japanese cars cold blown to smithereens
And now for something completely different, various clips from Japanese film and teevee, in which cars that are not Nissan Cedrics get blown to kingdom come. If you have a weak stomach for rare nostalgics — Centuries, hakosukas, kujira Crowns, or even an Isuzu Florian — going up in flames, it’s probably best to skip it and go on about your weekend. For the rest of you sadists, click on through to the video. Continue reading
Purple Hakosuka is your maximum strength dose of old school Japan
We’ve been on a new car tear, reporting on neo-hachirokus, retro Honda kei cars, and even classic bikes from the Tokyo Motor Show. And that’s left you handcuffed to a bedpost with the shakes, hankering for some old school smack. Well this lavender hako flies in the face of all that modern nonsense, washing away that new car smell like a dunk tank full of industrial-grade bleach. And look, there’s the sublime Celica in the background that we posted on a few weeks back, so let’s once again enumerate the ways this Skyline epitomizes vintage Japan. Continue reading
Yamaha Y125 Moegi is your retro 1955 YA-1 motorcycle
Our final report from the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show looks at another retro-styled concept from a Japanese manufacturer. The Yamaha Y125 Moegi is a lightweight motorcycle designed after the 1955 Yamaha YA-1. Its 125cc SOHC four-stroke single-cylinder engine gets 80 km/l, or an astounding 188 mpg. Continue reading
Posted in Auto Shows, Motorcycles
Tagged moegi, motorcycles, tokyo motor show, y125, ya-1, yamaha
11 Comments
Honda N Concept 4 is your retro N360 kei car
With all the hubbub surrounding the Toyota 86, another car banking on the nostalgia of its predecessor was largely overlooked at the Tokyo Motor Show. The Honda N Concept 4 is a near-production-ready evolution of the Honda EV-N from 2009. Continue reading
