You may have noticed a snazzy new rim gracing the arrest-me red kenmeri in our Nos2Days coverage. In case you were wondering, that’s the new Work Meister CR01, exuding what the wheelmaker calls “Nostalgic Competition Racing Style.” Now that’s an awesome slogan if we’ve ever heard one. Continue reading
Friday Video: Mazda Story – The Challengers
Mazda released a video this week called “The Mazda Story – The Challengers”, which is all about Hiroshima pride. You can see glimpses of the Genbaku Dome (the only building to survive the A-bomb) and glimpses of the Mazda Museum. If you ever find yourself in Hiroshima, both sights are highly recommended. The Mazda museum and factory tour is free, though it’s unlikely they’ll let you paw a Cosmo Sport like the kids in this video. Continue reading
Datsun 510, the Second Most Popular Car in Forza 3
The Datsun 510, beloved economy/race/nostalgic/tuner car, is the second most popular chariot for virtual racers in Forza Motorsports 3. Slotting just under the million-dollar Bugatti Veyron and ahead of a slew of Ferraris, Alfas and Porsches, the good ‘ol 510 has raced over 11 million times on Forza‘s online community. Sadly, we at JNC are easily confused by any technology newer than a carburetor and do not have a box of X on which to run this doohickey, and thus no frame of reference to explain why. Luckily Jalopnik does, and according to them it’s Forza‘s capacity for insane engine swaps that make the lightweight box a crowd favorite. In other words, just like real life! See the list of top 99 cars below the fold. Continue reading
Posted in datsun, nissan, Video Games
Tagged 510, bluebird, datsun, forza, forza 3, forza motorsports 3, nissan
8 Comments
Kidney, Anyone? Mitsubishi Fuso AR470 Bus Scale Model for $17,741
Yesterday we showed you model car on the small side. Today we look at a model bus that’s anything but, especially when it comes to price. This Mitsubishi Fuso AR470 recently sold on YJA for over ¥1.5 million, or $17,742! Continue reading
MINICARS: The World’s Smallest Car is a Toyota AA
We’ve talked about minicars here before, but this nano-sized Toyota AA takes it to a whole ‘nother level. Built by Denso to demonstrate its ultra-precise machining and semiconductor capabilities, this micro-model of Toyota’s first car, the 1936 AA, is 1/1000 the size of the actual car, or about the size of a grain of rice. What’s even more amazing is that it actually runs! Continue reading
EVENTS: Nos2Days 2011, Part 03
Nos2Days is filled with wondrous machinery, but one of the mind-blowing cars on display was the legendary Dome Zero. Conceived during the supercar boom, the mid-engine marvel had the power-to-weight ratio of a Porsche of the era and was supposed to be the first Japanese exotic since the Toyota 2000GT. Continue reading
Friday Video: Toyota Corona Mark II vs Mitsubishi Galant GTO & Canter Tow Truck Toyota in G-Men ’75
This week’s video is from G-Men ’75, about a special task force within the Tokyo Metropolitan Police force. It was sponsored by Toyota, which explains why the MX20 Corona Mark II has to come to the rescue of the poor Mitsubishi Galant GTO. It actually came before the more famous (and Nissan-sponsored) Seibu Keisatsu, but did not have the outrageous crashes and explosions to garner the same following. Watch the video below the fold. Continue reading
Posted in mitsubishi, toyota, Video Games
Tagged canter, car chase, corona, g-men, galant, gto, japanese cop show, mark II, mitsubishi, mx20, toyota, x20
4 Comments
Events: Nos2Days 2011, Part 02
Nos2Days is a two-day event held by Geibunsha, publishers of the awesome Nostalgic Hero magazine. Cars on display can come from any number of places — individual owners, restoration shops, aftermarket tuners, specialty car dealers, and Nostalgic Hero covers, spanning the range from insanely customized resto-mods by Rocky Auto to niche car clubs like Prince Garage, who brought out a stock Gloria and S50 Skyline GT. Continue reading
Posted in events, minicars, nissan
Tagged 240z, 260, 280z, 30, barramundi, c10, c110, c210, cedric, clipper, common snapper, cr01, datsun, dr30, dunlop, f31, fairlady z, gc10, gloria, gt-b, Hakosuka, infiniti, japan, kenmeri, kgc110, leopard, longchamp, longchamps, m30, marchal, meister, nissan, pgc10, phantom, pit house, prince, r30, rhr30, rocky auto, s30, s50, s54, shinichiro sakurai, skyline, techno, utilitas, work, xr-4
12 Comments
EVENTS: Nos2Days 2011, Part 01
News came out today that in the wake of the Tohoku tsunami, Japan’s new car sales have returned to what they were in 1968. Too bad the cars themselves have not! But if they did, the marketplace would resemble the scene inside Pacifico Yokohama convention center just before the quake, at the annual Nos2Days weekend. Here are a pair of S50 Toyota Crowns restored by the ever-present Mooneyes crew. Is it feeling like 1968 yet? Continue reading
Toyota Sports 800 2U Camshaft by JUN Auto Mechanic
We weren’t surprised to find news of a new aftermarket part for a nostalgic car sitting in our inbox today. We were surprised that the nostalgic car in question is the Toyota Sports 800. So for all you yotahachi and Publica owners out there, if you need a billet camshaft for your 2U flat-twin, give JUN Auto Mechanic a call. Now we want to see a lemon yellow Sports 800 break some land speed records.
Hat tip to Nils E.
Posted in Aftermarket, toyota
Tagged cam, camshaft, jun, jun auto mechanic, publica, sports 800, toyota, up15, yotahachi
4 Comments
A Gallery of Mitsubishi’s Dakar Rally Cars
Last Friday Mitsubishi released a teaser for the next Lancer Evo on Facebook. Alas, it was just the Triple Diamond Mafia rubbing cruel April Fools salt into the wounds of jilted fans of the last sporty Mitsu. The company may be moving on to an all-electric, motorsports-less future, but at least there will always be Dakar. Continue reading
Friday Video: Zero-4 Fighter Trailer
Add another title to Japan’s long tradition of guerrilla-shot movies about street racing. Zero-4 Fighter is all about late night drags in the metric system, where 400 meters is the interval by which you live your life. The presence of an R35 GT-R means it’s pretty new, but there’s no shortage of mid-eighties Supras and RX-7s. Watch the trailer below the fold. Continue reading
Posted in Video Games
Tagged datsun, fairlady z, mazda, nissan, rx-7, skyline, supra, toyota, zero-4 fighter
6 Comments
Kidney, Anyone? One-Owner 1967 Toyota 2000GT #88
So yeah. This is going to take more than a kidney, but there’s a one-owner 1967 Toyota 2000GT for sale. Not only that, but this one of 62 sold in the US is a yakuza special because it’s Number 88, and as you may know Japanese crime syndicates love both the number 8 and LHD cars. With the recent disasters in Japan it may be an inopportune time to put this car on the market, but then again, if the yakuza has over half a million US dollars just sitting around for massive undisclosed aid shipments to the Tohoku region, maybe they can spring $650,000 for Japan’s O.G. supercar. Continue reading
Posted in for sale, toyota
12 Comments
Pre-Digital Camera Kobe Kyuusha Meeting
We here at JNC love photos taken in pre-digital days. Clearly it’s not the photo quality, it’s that these authentic time-warp photos probably lived in some Japanese bloke’s personal photo album until one fateful day when it met with a primitive low-res scanner. This isn’t even that long ago — July 2002 to be exact — but it’s an account of what the burgeoning kyuusha scene was like a decade ago. Continue reading
Toyo Kyogo Instructional Video on the Mazda Rotary Engine
What starts out like an episode of Schoolhouse Rock is actually a 1960s Toyo Kyogo video about the Mazda rotary engine. We get a lesson in the operation of the Wankel, and its advantages over its piston counterpart. Best of all, there is some footage of the 1970 Mazda RX-500 concept you guys dug last week in motion around Yatabe test track. Watch the two-part video below the fold. Continue reading
Narusawa Village Showa Version 2 Gallery
Reason number 4,197 why Japan is awesome. No matter how miniscule the meet, wicked metal still shows up. Here’s a small gathering called Showa Version 2 that took place at the base of Mt. Fuji last November. Continue reading
Posted in mazda, mitsubishi, nissan, toyota, trucks, wagons
Tagged 240rs, 720, a114a, aa175, aa63, ae86, b110, b122, b210, b211, b310, bs110, c230, camry, celica, corolla, corona, cressida, cresta, crown, datsun, galant, gazelle, gc110, gf31, gx71, hayashi, kb110, ke75v, kenmeri, kgc110, khc231, khgc10, kp61, lancer, laurel, leopard, levin, liftback, mark II, mazda, mesh, mitsubishi, MkII, MkIII, ms112, mx73, nissan, pf30, pickup, ra25, ra55, reverse mesh, rx-7, s110, sa22, sa22c, sanitora, savanna, silvia, skyline, sprinter, ssr, starlet, sunny, toyota, truck, trueno, tt106v, un521, van, vanette, vb310, wagon, work equip, yayoi, yonmeri
13 Comments
Friday Video: The Last Hero Trailer
In honor of earthquake-damaged Sportsland Sugo circuit in Miyagi Prefecture, this week’s Friday Video is the trailer for the 1982 film The Last Hero, also known as Dirty Hero. Adapted from a 1969 novel by Haruhiko Oyabu, the motorcycle racing story was shot at the Yamaha-built Sportsland Sugo, and featured real-life figures such as Domenico Agusta of MV Agusta; Honda riders Jim Redman, Kenjiro Tanaka, and Mike “The Bike” Haliwood, who gave the upstart manufacturer its first international title in 1961; as well as Takahashi Kunimitsu, hakosuka GT-R driver who got his start on two-wheelers. Continue reading
Posted in JNC Theater
Tagged akio kitano, c10, dirty hero, domenico agusta, gt-r, Hakosuka, haruhiko oyabu, jim redman, kenjiro tanaka, kgc10, kpgc10, mike haliwood, motorsports, mv agusta, pgc10, rosemary butler, shiro ito, skyline, sportsland sugo, takahashi kunimitsu, the last hero, wgp, yamaha
1 Comment
Gallery of Japanese Concept Cars
We’ve talked about many of these cars individually, but Pink Tentacle recently collected a bunch of Japanese concept cars all in once place. Here are some of Nihon’s wildest from the golden age of show cars. Above is the 1971 Nissan 216X. Continue reading
Mooneyes Toyota Crown Picnic
The Mooneyes Crown Picnic took place before the tragedies of March 11, but we thought it’d be nice to share the pics now. Besides, who doesn’t like the Toyota Crown? Continue reading
Long Overdue Idea: V6 Datsun 240Z Drift Machine
We’ve long wondered why no one has built an S30 Z drift machine yet. It’s light, it’s RWD, it’s simple to work on. Parts, whether junkyard special, aftermarket, or reproduction, are plentiful and can be scavenged from a whole host of later-model Nissans. There are enough non-mint 240Z/260Z/280Zs out there that you wouldn’t feel bad about cutting one up (or putting it in a wall). Plus, you’ll have the best looking puck on the track. Continue reading
