This week Mazda announced the death of the RX-8. That means that for the first time since the Cosmo 110S debuted in 1967, there will be no rotary powered car sold anywhere in the world. Currently about 300 unsold RX-8s remain in the US and when that supply runs out, it’s the end of the road. Continue reading
Friday Videos: Sayonara, Rotary Engine
Toyota Van Sports the Biggest Bra You’ve Ever Seen
Under normal circumstances a big bra is a turn on, but good God, how many cows do you suppose were slain to fashion this gimp mask for a mid-80s Toyota Van? Things get even more S&M creepy when you consider that in Japan, it’s called the MasterAce. Quick, what’s the safe word?
[Corism]
Low Approval of H150 Nissan President
How do you prove that your H150 Nissan President is low enough? Continue reading
Fuji Heavy’s FT-86 is now called Subaru BRZ
For all the Toyotaku upset about the boxer motor beating at the heart of the upcoming Toyota FT-86/Scion FR-S, perhaps you’ll find the star-badged version more palatable. Fuji Heavy Industries has announced that their equivalent of the reborn AE86 will be called the Subaru BRZ. Continue reading
Dropped T100 Toyota Corona Sedan
Sometimes all you need is a clean body and a big drop. The rest can be bone stock, right down to the hubcaps. The result transforms a T100 series Toyota Corona sedan from unloved to totally bad arse. Someone in the States go do this now.
[Corism]
Friday Video: Nissan Caravan comes to a tragic end
If you plan to flee from the cops, perhaps a getaway vehicle in which you are not sitting in one of the primary crumple zones is a good idea. Watch the video here.
Surf’s Up when your Surf Wagon has a Surf Line.
Suzuki Fronte 550
This here rare brown bird is a Suzuki Fronte 7-S 550. That’s 550cc’s of rear-engined, rear-wheel drive kei car sweetness. It’s difficult to eyeball the scale of this car until you get a look at the fender mirrors, which protrude like giant antennae on a vehicle of this size. It was the last of the RR Suzukis, and the larger engine was used in anticipation of the 1976 bump in kei car displacement from 360cc to 550cc. Continue reading
Chat with Hot Wheels’ Jun Imai
Hey minicar fans! Hot Wheels designer Jun Imai will be taking part in a live online chat tomorrow, August 16 at 3:30 PDT. If you don’t know already, Imai-san is the one responsible for the recent surge in nostalgics in the Hot Wheels lineup, with cars like the hakosuka and kenmeri Skylines, Datsun 510, and Toyota AE86. Stop in and ask him some questions (or demand more castings from him!). You’ll need to register to ask a question, but it’s free.
What a Japanese Redneck Would Drive
Whilst browsing The Intarwebs last weekend we came across this feat of fabrication. Why anyone would ute the Triple Diamond’s executive town car is something we, sadly, do not have the answer to. What we do have is a Mitsubishi Debonair pickup. Continue reading
JCCS Registration Coupon for JNC Readers!
Great news for JNCers! There is now a special discount code for the 2011 Japanese Classic Car Show.
$5 off registration $50 = $45. Hurry before the offer ends. Just use the code “JNC” at the vehicle information page when you register via this link.
Come show off your old school ride at the biggest and best vintage Japanese car show in America!
Friday Video: Nissan Patrol Lays Waste to Amusement Park
If you’re a bad guy fleeing from the fuzz, you probably wouldn’t take time out of your busy schedule to destroy an amusement park with your getaway vehicle. But if you were going to, a Nissan Patrol makes a good choice. Also learned from this clip of Seibu Keisatsu: yonmeri Skylines don’t float. Continue reading
Nissan Cedric Y30 & President
Many of you thought the 1977 Nissan AD-2 concept ungainly but at least one of its “Advanced Design” cues, the wraparound rear window, carried over to production. It first appeared on the 430 Cedric and Gloria twins, and then on the following Y30 generation which you can see above. It’s a thing of beauty, especially on a slammed pillarless hardtop sedan.
Nostalgic Concept: 1977 Nissan AD-2
We’ve seen what Toyota was up to at the Tokyo Motor Show in the late 1970s. What about rival Nissan? Behold the 1977 Nissan AD-2, a design study for the ultimate luxury sedan. Continue reading
Nostalgic Concept: 1977 Toyota F110
Ever since our visit to Calty Design Research we’ve been fascinated with the lost concepts borne from that studio. The bizarre 1977 Toyota F110 was unveiled at that year’s Tokyo Motor Show, depicting what a luxury sedan would look like in the coming decade. And since that decade was the 1980s we’ll guess, “What is cocaine, Alex?” as the enhancement they used to conceive it. Continue reading
Join JCCS, TORC and JNC for the 2011 Motion Show
Last year we teamed up with our friends at JCCS and TORC to stake out a little corner of old school goodness in what is billed as “one mega show that is a beacon of the sport compact lifestyle, culture, community and industry.” In a hall full of Nissan 240SX drift cars and VIP Lexuses, the kids needed a history lesson.
That event, the SpoCom Super Show, is now called the Motion Sport Compact Show & Expo, and will take place August 21. JCCS, TORC and JNC will return to teach the classics, and we welcome you to join us. If you have a nostalgic ride you’d like to register, contact us for registration coupon code.
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Found in Belgium by Larry Chen of Speedhunters. Owner wishes to remain anonymous. Smart man.
Friday Video: Happy 86 Day!
Alright, fine. Here’s a Toyota with a Toyota engine. A hachiroku, to be specific, sailing through a gymkhana course in this oldie but goodie. Ken Block, eat your heart out. Happy 86 Day!
Another run below the jump. Continue reading
Team HDO SR20-Powered RA28 Toyota Celica Drift Machine
Yesterday we posted a period-correct vintage Toyota race car. Today we’re going with a thoroughly modern one. Wildly stickered nostalgics usually induce mild indigestion around the JNC office but I suppose we can make an exception when it’s a D1 Grand Prix drift machine. This RA28 Toyota Celica Liftback is the newly liveried 2011 D1GP race horse of Team HDO, a Japanese shop that sells dorifto parts and — for the brave — used drift cars. Continue reading
Kidney, Anyone? 1968 Toyota 1600GT Race Car
This is no ordinary kidney car. Though it may appear to be a gussied-up barikan Corona coupe, it’s actually a 1968 Toyota 1600GT GT5. And if that has a familiar ring to it, that’s because it’s sibling to the legendary Toyota 2000GT. Only 2,222 were built, and the eBay seller claims a fortune was spent modifying this particular example for historic racing in Japan. Continue reading
