Japanese Nostalgic Car

Do you think Japanese Santa Claus is a rosy-cheeked, jolly old man with a fluffy white beard? No, he’s a chain-smoking mechanic in red one-piece coveralls with blackened fingernails and a perm. If you ask him the price of anything in his workshop he’ll say that it’s not for sale, but if you can prove yourself a worthy caretaker of the car/part/item he’ll gift it to you for free.

What do you want from Japanese Santa Claus this year?

The most entertaining comment by next Tuesday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “Do you treat your JNC different than your daily?“. Continue reading →

Today is ET Day in Japan, commemorating the day in 1982 when the movie E.T. The Extraterrestrial was released there. Using that as a jumping off point, let’s say you encounter a curious and benign life form that has traveled millions of light years to our little backwater pre-warp planet. The humanoid being knows nothing about cars, as their civilization is so advanced that they just teleport everywhere and thus have no concept of wheeled transport. But just because they’re unnecessary doesn’t mean they’re not interesting. We still marvel at the pyramids, after all. Clearly this species is missing out on the fun, beauty, and engineering that automobiles offer.

What car would you show an alien to help them appreciate cars?

The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What car-themed series should we binge over the holidays?“. Continue reading →

In 2014 a new trilogy of Initial D movies came out. Called New Initial D Movie — Legend, It was a reboot complete with new animation style, a retelling of the earlier chapters of the beloved series. We watched the original in the early 2000s, but we’ve never seen this one. The coming holidays might be a good time to catch up on what is now a nearly decade-old ode to underground drifting. We’ve also heard that Stranger Things and Archer, while not about cars per se, have pretty good background cars.

What car-themed series should we binge over the holidays?

The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What car-related things are you thankful for?“. Continue reading →

This week is Thanksgiving (if you’re reading from the US), that time of year when we talk about the things in life that, big or small, we are grateful for. In the very futuristic sounding year of 2023, we are thankful for many things, but chief among them is the fact that carmakers like Toyota, Subaru, Mazda, Nissan, and Honda still make sports cars. That’s more than one would expect in a class that conventional wisdom says is dying, and it gives us hope that the next generation will still have fun with cars.

What car-related things are you thankful for?

The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What technology made modern cars less interesting?“. Continue reading →