QotW: What’s the coolest kei car?

Posted on June 25, 2012 by Kevin San

Seeing some excellent examples of kei jidosha on the way back from Nagano last week got our brains churning. These uniquely Japanese micro machines are what put the island nation on the road and have been around for over 50 years. There are way more spiffy examples than our 360cc minds can sort out, so we put the question to you:

What’s the coolest kei car?

On paper, it would seem the Vamos is one of the most amazing cars ever built. A mid-engined Honda convertible with a 9,000rpm redline? Sign us up! Oh wait, it’s got a 30PS SOHC 0.36 liter motor? Well, at least we can go to the beach, have a picnic, and load ladders with ease while fashionably dressed.

What say you, dear reader? As always, the most entertaining, well-written, or inspiring comment by next Monday will receive a random JDM toy. Click through to see the winner  from last week’s question, “What Japanese concept should have been produced?” Continue reading →

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JNC Toyota RWD & Z Heritage shirts available in the shop

Posted on June 22, 2012 by Ben Hsu

JNC‘s 2012 Z Generations and Toyota RWD shirts are now available online. Actually, they have been for a while and eagle-eyed JNCer’s have been getting them, but we neglected to make an official announcement.

Z Generations debuted at the Z-Car West Coast Nationals and is our homage to the legendary and iconic Nissan Fairlady Z. Each of the six silhouettes is accompanied by the corresponding “Z” emblem, which differs for each generation.

RWD Toyota debuted at Toyotafest and is our tribute to the return of the lightweight FR sports coupe. Iconic rear-wheel-drive cars from the Big T’s past include the 2000GT, Sports 800, TE27 and AE86. They are are pictured in rear-quarter view to emphasize the driven wheels, and are all headed towards the wearer’s heart.

Click here to visit the JNC Shop.

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Friday Video: Depth of Speed’s Wagon Heritage

Posted on June 22, 2012 by Ben Hsu

This Friday Josh Clason‘s Depth of Speed series returns with a new video about Duane Schaffer‘s Datsun 510 Wagon and Toyota Hilux. As always, the cinematography is gorgeous and the story quite moving to the die-hard car nut. Schaffer’s garage is packed with period automobilia, and there’s nothing we like more than some cross-marque love, especially in truck and wagon form. Watch the video below the fold.  Continue reading →

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Grand Touring: A Weekend in Nagano Prefecture

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Skorj

Eight-and-a-half feet of reliable snowfall blankets the mountains of Nagano Prefecture each winter, transforming quaint and quiet towns into temporary getaways for Tokyo-ites. When the snows disappear so do the downhill skiers and onsen soakers, but local FJ40 Land Cruisers stay to witness the spring thaw. Parked before a former thatched-roof house, the consummate rig for such climates appears to have braved many Nagano frosts.  Continue reading →

Posted in Grand Touring, honda, mazda, mitsubishi, nissan, subaru, toyota | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

EVENTS: 2012 Mooneyes Street Car Nationals, Part 02: Sedans

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Ben Hsu

The Mooneyes Street Car Nationals may take place in Tokyo, but unlike the typical kyuusha gathering the SCN is a celebration of Amesha Kulture. That’s why you’re more likely to spot a Chevrolet Corvair Greenbrier van than a G-nosed Z, and if there’s a barikan Corona it’s going to have white-letter radials on slot mags. Continue reading →

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QotW: What Japanese concept should have been produced?

Posted on June 19, 2012 by John Roper

The Tokyo Motor Show is known across the auto industry for having the most crazed concepts in auto-dom. Future is what Japan does best, but last week Toyota debuted a concept at a toy show to get Japanese kids off their cellphones and back into garages. That’s why this week’s question is:

What Japanese concept should have been produced?

Our pick is the 1985 Nissan MID4. It was Nissan’s answer to Toyota‘s MR2, but armed with a twin-cam, 24-valve V6. Unlike many concepts it seemed production ready and many assumed it’d be the next Fairlady Z. Two years later Nissan came out with the MID4 II concept, adding improved aerodynamics and twin turbos for a VG30DETT putting down 330 horsepower. It probably would have been a Porsche killer, but it was too expensive for what the market would bear.

What say you, dear reader? As always, the most entertaining, well-written, or inspiring comment by next Monday will receive a random JDM toy. Click through to see the winner  from last week’s question, “What’s the coolest vintage barrel?”  Continue reading →

Posted in concepts, minicars, nissan, Question of the Week, toyota, wheels | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 32 Comments

MINICARS: 2012 Hot Wheels ’87 Toyota Pickup

Posted on June 18, 2012 by Ben Hsu

The latest nostalgic Hot Wheels to roll from the mad minds at Mattel is a 1987 Toyota Pickup. When it was first announced last December, we envisioned for reasons unknown a slammed minitruck, but instead it’s a lifted 4×4 that would have made Marty McFly forget all about his DeLorean.  Continue reading →

Posted in minicars, toyota, trucks | Tagged , , , , | 22 Comments

Friday Video: Depth of Speed’s Track Day & Taking the Plunge

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Ben Hsu

What’s more stirring, the sight of a crimson hakosuka in motion or the heartfelt love of a car nut for his dream machine? Two new Depth of Speed videos follow the same red KGC10 Nissan Skyline, first as JDM Legends wrings it out at Utah’s scenic Miller Motorsports Park, and then after it’s found a new owner who teaches transportation design at the prestigious Art Center College of Design. Continue reading →

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Toyota Camatte concept debuts at Tokyo Toy Show

Posted on June 13, 2012 by Ben Hsu

This charming, retro-looking contraption is the Toyota Camatte, a real car that ToMoCo unveiled today at the Tokyo Toy Show. The venue may seem odd, but the concept’s goal is to spark children’s interest in cars, a noble cause if there ever was one.  Continue reading →

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EVENTS: 2012 Mooneyes Street Car Nationals, Part 01: Coupes, Two-Doors & Utes

Posted on June 13, 2012 by Ben Hsu

As you can guess by the name, the Street Car Nationals put on by Mooneyes each year is a festival of Amesha — American car — culture. Instead of usual Japanese fare like step-lipped SSRs and racing livery, this show is all about chromed slot mags and pin stripes.

Case in point: the sanitora was never sold in the US, but this canary yellow Sunny Truck unabashedly sports door rather than fender mirrors, ding guards circa 1982, and a genuine California license plate complete with frame from Buena Park Nissan.  Continue reading →

Posted in events, mazda, mitsubishi, nissan, prince, toyota, trucks | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Subaru Philosophy blog launches

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Ben Hsu

Fuji Heavy Industries recently launched the Subaru Philosophy blog, and although it has only two posts so far things look promising. The first describes the origins of the company name and the logo (spoiler alert: the Pleiades constellation), while the second one details the 1966 launch of the Subaru 1000, which was meant to compete with the Nissan Sunny, Toyota Corolla and Mazda Familia. Here’s to the hope of many more archival photos surfacing at this particular URL.

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QotW: What’s the coolest vintage barrel?

Posted on June 11, 2012 by Ben Hsu

No other car culture comes close to Japan’s in terms of wheels. The sheer enormity of selection can be matched only by the magnitude of a rim collector’s obsession. From ninja star designs to barrels deep enough to bathe a baby in, variations and possibilities (and prices) know no bounds. So it’s about time a Question of the Week asked:

What is the coolest vintage barrel?

There’s nothing like a black Watanabe, but then again there’s the more-expensive-than-most-cars pink Hayashi Yayoi “sakura” and everything in between. We can’t decide, so it’s up to you, dear reader.

As always, the most entertaining, well-written, or inspiring comment by next Monday will receive a random JDM toy. Click through to see the winner  from last week’s question, “What car would you buy today to preserve for posterity?”  Continue reading →

Posted in Question of the Week, wheels | Tagged , , , , , , | 44 Comments

Lexus LFA engineer Chiharu Tamura drives a Subaru 360

Posted on June 10, 2012 by Ben Hsu

Chiharu Tamura may be a hero to many for his work as Deputy Chief Engineer of the Lexus LFA. To us, it’s because he drives a 1968 Subaru 360. Not even 27 of these 20PS kei jidosha would equal a single LFA’s output, but apparently a man who works on a 553-horsepower supercar needs only an air-cooled two-stroke twin to get around. Who says a Toyota–Subaru union can’t yield great results? Check out TTAC for the full profile.

[Image: Bertel Schmidt]

Posted in subaru, toyota | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Friday Video: Kamikaze Road V

Posted on June 8, 2012 by Kevin San

And now for something completely different, one of the many home-grown videos of Japan’s car culture from the age of VHS. This one’s called Kamikaze Road V, and shows of the somewhat unrefined side of 1980s bosozoku style, when people were throwing anything and everything at their cars and seeing what stuck. Nowadays, the true nostalgic ‘zoku have filtered out some of the gaudier aspects of this era, like excessive venting and Benz grilles, and kept the cool stuff like deep barrels, stretched tires and flares. All we can say is we wish they kept the hair too. Continue reading →

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Four new Choro-Q Zero models spotted at Shizuoka Toy Show

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Dan Hsu

The discontinuation a few years ago of Choro-Q, also known as Penny Racers or Turbo Tricksters to USDM fans, will remain one of the great injustices of modern Japanese society. Last year the line was relaunched as Choro-Q Zero with a focus on 80s-era nostalgics, but the initial four models were all that came of 2011. Meanwhile, we’ve been giving away out-of-production models as QotW prizes while patiently waiting for the reboot to gain momentum. Now four more iconic 1980s Japanese rides have been spotted at the Shizuoka Toy Show, bringing the total to eight. Continue reading →

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Wednesday Wall: 100 vintage Honda motorcycle wallpapers for your desktop

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Ben Hsu

Honda Japan has given us some beautiful digital artwork for our computer desktops over the years, but mostly of the four-wheeled variety. Well motorcycle fans, your prayers have been answered. In a series called Motorcycle Graffiti, Honda dishes out 100 wallpapers covering the breadth of their two-wheeler history.  Continue reading →

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24 Hrs of LeMons: Rust-Bound Rotary Rides Again

Posted on June 5, 2012 by Ben Hsu

There’s something heroic about a 40-year-old Mazda RX-2 that’s more rust than steel charging down the banked lanes of Texas World Speedway. In this case, however, one may just as easily witness a decidedly unheroic banzai-flagged Mitsubishi Cordia or sombrero-clad Chevy Monza doing the same. Such are the sights of the 24 Hours of LeMons, the not-misspelled enduro series in which $500 is the upper price limit of each participating car.  Continue reading →

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Question of the Week: What new car would you buy today to preserve for posterity?

Posted on June 4, 2012 by Ben Hsu

Inspired by Jason’s article about Project Neo86, this week’s QotW should be obvious:

What car would you buy today to preserve for posterity?

Kev reported that today Toyota Australia announced a starting price of $29,000 for the GT86. For comparison’s sake, a new Aussie MX-5 is $45,000, a Subaru WRX $42,000, and a fully loaded Corolla $32,000. We think that the Scion FR-S‘s affordability is a key reason why it’ll be nostalgic in 2037. It’s price ensures that plenty of young enthusiasts will be able to enjoy them (and beat them to death) today. But in 25 years when they get wistful for the cars of their youth our FR-S will be waiting.

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

Posted in mazda, Question of the Week, toyota | Tagged | 36 Comments

Project Neo86: Introducing the JNC Scion FR-S

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Jason

When the original AE86 and Silvia were killed, no one expected that Japan would simply walk away from its automotive roots. But walk they did, and light, agile, affordable RWD cars remained absent from the market for what turned out to be well over a decade. So naturally we went bananas when Toyota announced that the FT-86 would satisfy our yearning for a return of this past period, this irrecoverable condition. After all, that is the very definition of nostalgic, and Nostalgic is our middle name! Continue reading →

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Motorsports: The Honda S800-based Macransa Tojiro-III

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Ben Hsu

Whilst roaming around the Speedway paddocks for our 2012 Fuji Jamboree coverage we spotted this FRP creation stamped with a vintage Mark of Soichiro below a Honda Twin Cam Club decal. What could this contraption be? Why it’s the 1966 Macransa Tojiro-III, a home-brewed Japanese race car based on the Honda S800.  Continue reading →

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