Kidney, Anyone? 1977 Datsun 710 Wagon

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Ben Hsu


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

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Ben Hsu

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 →

Posted in honda, isuzu, mazda, nissan, toyota, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Purple Hakosuka is your maximum strength dose of old school Japan

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Ben Hsu

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 →

Posted in bosozoku, nissan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Yamaha Y125 Moegi is your retro 1955 YA-1 motorcycle

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Ben Hsu

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 , , , , , | 11 Comments

Honda N Concept 4 is your retro N360 kei car

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Ben Hsu

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 →

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Hot Wheels selects AE86 Corolla to represent the 80s in “Cars of the Decades”

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Ben Hsu

Hot Wheels‘ “Cars of the Decades” is a special edition series that selects one iconic model to exemplify the decade in which it was born. Each car comes in special packaging and paint schemes reflecting that period — flower power for the 60s, art deco for the 40s. Cars like the ’32 Ford, ’57 T-Bird and ’67 Camaro have embodied their respective eras, but next year the Toyota AE86 Corolla will represent the 80s. Continue reading →

Posted in minicars, toyota | Tagged , , , , , | 18 Comments

Friday Video: The New Hachiroku in Motion

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Ben Hsu

UPDATE: For those who want race tracks and engine sounds, here’s the pornographic BRZ GT300 video that was just released. Continue reading →

Posted in subaru, toyota | Tagged , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

This is the new Scion FR-S

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Ben Hsu

Tonight we round out the new Toyota 86 with the launch of its third brand, the US-spec Scion FR-S, in Hollywood, California. Why have we been dedicating all week to a brand new car? Because the reborn Toyota hachiroku is one of the most important cars to be released in the last ten years. It’s definitely important for Toyota, possibly even more so than the Lexus LFA supercar, as it returns Japan’s automotive giant to its sporting roots. Continue reading →

Posted in subaru, toyota | Tagged , , , , , , , | 29 Comments

2011 Tokyo Motor Show: Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ Unveiled

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Skorj

The Tokyo Motor Show is under way and we were on hand to bring you the first live, in-the-flesh shots of the Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ, as well as initial reports on what it actually feels like to sit in the driver’s seat. Continue reading →

Posted in subaru, toyota | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

This is the new Subaru BRZ

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Ben Hsu

Hot on the heels of the Toyota 86 (pronounced “Toyota hachiroku”), Fuji Heavy Industries has unveiled its counterpart, the Subaru BRZ. As expected, differences are minute. The front fascia is cleaner, headlights smokier, taillights redder, the “86” fender badge is now a faux vent, and any triple-oval badges are now the Pleiades system.  Continue reading →

Posted in subaru, toyota | Tagged , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

This is the new Toyota 86

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Ben Hsu

So it’s happened. A nickname coined by gearheads based on a chassis code uttered among only the otaku-est of drift/touge/rally nerds has been plucked from obscurity to become its own actual model name. Over the Thanksgiving holiday ToMoCo announced that the car we’ve known only (in Japan at least) as the FT-86, new FR Sports, or “new lightweight sports car,” will, after much speculation, be called simply the Toyota 86. Continue reading →

Posted in toyota | Tagged , , , , , , | 23 Comments

In Toyota’s new ad, diecast Celicas and 2000GTs inspire the FT-86

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Ben Hsu

What are you thankful for this holiday season? We, for one, are grateful that after teasing us with years of speculation and countless concept iterations, Toyota is finally ready to reveal the production FT-86 at the Tokyo Motor Show on December 3rd. In advance of that unveiling, it has released a new ad called “Devoted to Innovation.” This trailer for the FT-86 is one of those inspired-kids-playing-with-toy-cars-grow-up-to-design-real-cars stories, but interestingly every single one of those toy cars is a classic Toyota of some sort. Does anyone know where we get our hands on one of those Celicas or hachirokus? That’s something we’d be thankful for. Also, check out the FT-86 “Live Website” installment at Shinjuku Station.

Posted in minicars, toyota | Tagged , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Occupy Tokyo with your Zokusha on Doukoho

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Ben Hsu

It’s time for our yearly commemoration of Doukoho. On November 22, 1978, over 3000 bosozoku motorcycles and cars swarmed the streets of Tokyo, cruising, parading, revving and generally causing a ruckus. They were out to celebrate the end of an era. Continue reading →

Posted in bosozoku, japan | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Classic CM: Nissan Sunny Lexprix to the rescue!

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Ben Hsu

The 1982 B11 Nissan Sentra was, even by the most generous metric, not a beloved car. Like most automakers Nissan had emerged from the Decade of Disco bruised, battered and choked with performance-sapping emissions equipment. The early Eighties were known for further crippling previously zippy rear-wheel-drive J-tin by transforming cars like the Sunny into a new generation of pullers.

But, the Eighties were also known for birthing the turbocharger! Perhaps the American B11 would not be so easily forgotten if we had received a Sentra-fied version of the 1982 Nissan Sunny Leprix Turbo, which had a 115hp version of the oddball E15ET motor and could apparently bust through colonial deco walls unscathed to foil Tommy-gun-toting kidnappers in a quasi-Western, quasi-1920s gangster orgy of American cinema tropes. But honestly, the Leprix had us already at first sight of its mirror-image “TURBO” grille.  Continue reading →

Posted in cm, nissan | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

Friday Video: 1972 Japan Grand Prix Touring Car Race

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Ben Hsu

It’s a sweltering day at Fuji Speedway and the grid is packed with TE27 Corolla Levins and Nissan Sunnys and (front-wheel-drive!) Cherrys. Watch Nobuhide Tachi win this round of the 1972 Japan Grand Prix Touring Car championships in his famous orange-on-white Toyota Celica 1600GT. That is all. Continue reading →

Posted in Friday Video, motorsports, toyota | Tagged , , , , | 16 Comments

What would you buy if the US changed its import ban from 25 years to 15?

Posted on November 17, 2011 by Ben Hsu

Here’s a cause we can get behind. There’s a petition at the White House website asking for two things. 1.) That the Department of Homeland Security stop wasting tax dollars seizing grey market imports, and 2.) that the DOT and EPA lower its vehicle import age from its current 25 years to 15.

Our neighbors to the north have long had access to some truly brilliant JDM goodies, everything from Honda Beats to Mazda JC Eunos Cosmos, thanks to Canada’s 15 year import restriction. Apparently, their government is wise enough to realize that a few die-hard enthusiasts driving cars from countries with pretty good safety standards already are not going to cause the collapse of civilization.  Continue reading →

Posted in News, wagons | Tagged , , , , | 44 Comments

EVENTS: 2011 Art Center Car Classic

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Yee

The Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California is one of the most prestigious transportation design schools on the planet. Its annual car show gathers the best of the automotive world, but its emphasis is not on horsepower or racing. Rather, it’s on design, that elusive quality that elevates some cars to objects of sheer lust, and relegates others to the trash heap of history. We are happy to report that this year saw one of the strongest showings of Japanese cars in the history of the event. Continue reading →

Posted in events, honda, mazda, nissan, toyota | 8 Comments

Green Bosozoku Celica is simply sublime

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Ben Hsu

Celica fans usually prefer zenki models with the smiley-er smileys and hood flutes, but this is one post-facelift daruma that makes us green with envy. Let’s see if we can name all the zokusha traits this fine specimen exhibits.

  • garish color combo and quasi-racing livery
  • bubble flares
  • racing mirrors
  • tsurikawa
  • deep, deep, minus-offset SSR MkIIIs
  • ankle-slicing air dam
  • square headlight swap with two covered in stickers

Please, bosozoku Claus, bring us one and we will be good little boys for the rest of the decade.

Posted in bosozoku, toyota | Tagged , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

2011 Tokyo Motor Show Preview: Retro-electric Honda motorcycle concepts

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Ben Hsu

The Tokyo Motor Show is widely known as a place where Japan’s auto industry cuts loose with the funkiest concepts their engineers can conjure. At the last biennial show in 2009, Honda showcased its future electric tech under a nostalgic, N360-inspired wrapper with the Honda EV-N. This year, they’ll be doing the same with motorcycles.  Continue reading →

Posted in Motorcycles | Tagged , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Friday Video: Return of Seibu Keisatsu

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Ben Hsu

It’s been a long while since we’ve seen a car chase from the most famous Japanese cop show of all time, Seibu Keisatsu. The plot is simple — actually, who needs plot? This funk-era free-for-all is all about C210 Skyline Turbo vs 330 Nissan Cedric vehicular pursuits where a single gunshot can blow off major body panels, topped off with a generous helping of police brutality. Assault your senses below. Continue reading →

Posted in nissan, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments