In Japanese tradition, one should visit your local temple for New Year’s. There, for a small donation, you can get a wide assortment of omamori, amulets of silk, wood or metal that will bring you good luck in their respective categories. Typically people seek fortune in the realm of love, prosperity and health. And then there are ones concerning the not-so-ancient rituals of, say, driving an automobile. Continue reading
Start 2011 Off with a Traffic Safety Omamori
Datsun’s Leaping Hare Hood Ornament Wishes You a Prosperous Year of the Rabbit
The 1935 Datsun Model 14 was Nissan‘s first factory production vehicle and the management deemed, as was appropriate for cars of the era, that a sculpture be affixed to the vehicle’s prow. Luckily, the choice of a figure was right there in the car’s name. Continue reading
Friday Video: Nissan Cedric 330 vs Jeep
Nothing goes together like a funk bass and car chases. Seibu Keisatsu has been known to pit its various Nissan products against Detroit iron before, often to disastrous effect. This time, the Nissan Cedric 330 puts up an admirable off-road fight against a Jeep. It’s hard to imagine a modern mid-size sedan taking this much abuse without immediate spraining of control rods. Unfortunately, plot devices require more action after the commercial break, so the good guys couldn’t call a Nissan Patrol out of the arsenal. Watch the video below the fold. Continue reading
Posted in datsun, nissan, Video Games
Tagged 330, cedric, datsun, gloria, japanese cop show, jeep, nissan, seibu keisatsu
7 Comments
Isuzu Gemini Castor Cup One-Make Race
Poor Isuzu, known mostly for diesel trucks, perhaps the Bellett, and a weasely 80s spokesman. But from the late 70s to the early 90s, it was master of its own one-make race series. Like in Gran Turismo, this often made for interesting competitors when both front- and rear-wheel-drive generations of the Isuzu Gemini (aka Buick Opel / I-Mark) went doorhandle to doorhandle on the circuit. We’ll let Isuzu guru JT191 take it from here with video of the race action below the fold. Continue reading
Posted in isuzu, motorsports
Tagged buick, castor cup, gemini, i-mark, isuzu, one-make race, opel
2 Comments
True Gangster: Chinchilla Dash & Seat Covers
The chinchilla is a squirrel-like creature that has the misfortune to possess a thick, warm, velvety coat of evenly-colored fur. As a result, this native of the Andes Mountains region in South America has been nearly hunted to extinction. Around 2001 the rodent experienced an upsurge among rap lyrics in hat and coat form. But long before that, bosozoku were lining their dashboards and seats in Andean mouse fur. Here is a typical if ill-fitting dash cover, shown on an MS125 Toyota Crown. Peek below the fold to see seat covers. Continue reading
Datsun 240Z Stars in Russ Chimes' Midnight Club Videos
Being the semi-old farts that we are, we do not know why purveyors of electronica have flocked to the Datsun 240Z as the automobile of choice for their music videos. First it was “Like a G6” and “Rocketeer”, both by the Far East Movement. Now there’s this fellow by the name of Russ Chimes who released an EP called “Midnight Club”.
Don’t get your hopes up, though. The three-part story in the music videos have nothing to do with either the Devil Z nor the legendary Japanese hashiriya team Mid Night Club. Instead, it’s about some hipster kidnapping plot whose only saving grace is that it features a yellow 240Z fairly prominently. Watch the videos below the fold if you must. Continue reading
MX73 Toyota Cressida Outpaces Your Bourgeois Euro Saloons
Nowadays nostalgists regard the MX73 Toyota Cressida as a RWD four-door Supra for the shakotan/bosozoku/drift/VIP crowd, but it spent much of its existence as an understated executive sedan, a Japanese alternative to Benzes, Bimmers and Jyaaags in the pre-Lexus days. For evidence, watch this 1985 commercial from Quebec, Canada, complete with “Oh what a feeling, Toyota!” leap in French. Continue reading
Merry Christmas from JNC!
May your travels be safe and stockings filled with rare JDM parts. And may they arrive by Mazda Bongo, a rear-engined van that is retro-futuristic in a Jetsonian kind of way.
The year of Mazda’s 90th Anniversary is almost over, and the company from Hiroshima has commissioned some nostalgic wallpapers for all you Rotorheads and Mazdafarians out there. Download them below the fold. Merry Christmas from all of us at JNC! Continue reading
Does the Toyota FT-86 Logo Have a Boxer Engine On It?
Car and Driver claims to have uncovered the logo that will adorn the upcoming lightweight RWD Toyota FT-86 sports coupe. If this is true, hachiroku fans will be happy that the nickname for their beloved mid-80s RWD steed is now is now forever enshrined in Toyota canon. Buuuut they will also be sad, because this reminder that a Subaru 2.0 flat four — and not a traditional Toyota-Yamaha twin-cam — powers the FT-86 is too forever enshrined, right there on the car. Continue reading
Amazing Customized Nostalgic Minicars
As we’re waiting impatiently for the Hot Wheels hakosuka to debut next year, here’s something to hold us over until it does. While browsing YJA, John, our resident Datsun 510 freak, spotted this diecast Nissan 510 Bluebird, customized in a way that would haunt our dreams were it real. This minicar is heavily customized, with incredible detail for a 1/64 scale car (equivalent to a Matchbox or Hot Wheels), and it shows in the selling price of ¥17,500 (approx. $209)! Continue reading
Posted in mazda, minicars, nissan, toyota
Tagged 240z, 510, ae86, bluebird, c130, corolla, crown, datsun, dr30, fairlady z, familia, Hakosuka, kenmeri, konami, kp61, kpgc10, kpgc110, laurel, mazda, minicars, ms51, mz11, nissan, prince, r30, s110, s30, silvia, skyline, soarer, sprinter, starlet, te71, tomica, toyota, trueno, wagon, z10
7 Comments
One Mean First-Gen Honda Civic
Just another SB1 Honda Civic shell? Look closely… Continue reading
Philippines Old Schoolers Auto Club Meet
The Filipino devotion to Toyotas rivals that of mother to child. JNC reader Jetto based out of Manila recently posted a slew of photos from the Old School Auto Club in the Philippines, with an even bigger slew of nostalgics dropped on vintage barrels. It’s cool to see cars not as popular in the US — the T130 Corona and various Mitsubishis, for example — amass a strong following over there. Click to the forums to see the photos.
Posted in events, mitsubishi, toyota
Tagged ae71, ae86, celica, colt, corolla, corona, datsun, eterna, fairlady roadster, galant, gemini, isuzu, kp61, lancer, levin, mango, mark II, mitsubishi, sanitora, sapporo, sport coupe, sprinter, starlet, sunny, ta21, ta22, te27, te37, te71, toyota, truck, trueno
4 Comments
The Periodic Table of Sports Cars
Car & Driver posted this humorous take on the Periodic Table where the elements are sports cars instead. It looks like some nostalgics are represented, albeit in the “Reliable Transportation Metals” category. Better than the Poseur-oids, we suppose! Click on the image to view a larger version.
[Car & Driver via Autoblog]
Friday Video: Nissan Civilian Suicide Mission
In this climatic scene from Mottomo Abunai Deka, the 1989 film based on the hit cop show Abunai Deka, a Nissan Civilian bus must ram through a roadblock of unlucky patrol cars. Watch what happens below and, as a bonus, watch the “making of” behind-the-scenes stuntwork as well. Continue reading
Kidneys, Anyone? Northeast Corolla GT-S and Celica Supra
We know how difficult it can be for Northeasterners to find an old school Toyota that has not fallen victim to decades of salt-assisted cancer. That’s why it’s pretty amazing to find two artifacts from the waning days of the Big T’s rear-wheel-drive era for sale along the eastern seaboard. So if you live out east and are hankerin’ for a mid-80s ride from Aichi, read on. Continue reading
Deceased Nissan S13 Owner Has Car Crushed
When John posted a funeral flanked by a pair of Datsun 240Zs, it was a dignified affair, and the enthusiasts who had passed got a lot of respect. In this case, the deceased owner of this Nissan S13 decided that he had built his car exactly how he wanted, and in the words of his friends, “No one wanted a punk ass 16yr old to be driving the car around that he finished the way he wanted it before he died.. so instead of it getting picked apart in a junk yard.. crush it…”
Maybe because JNC is all about preserving historic cars, or maybe because a two-tone pig-nose — single-cam and all — coupe unadorned with drift decals and big wings is my personal idea of a perfect (and increasingly difficult to find) S13, but dying wish or not, this still pains us to watch.
Posted in datsun, nissan
10 Comments
Chrysler Galant, by Mitsubishi, Gets Around
After seeing the Wink Martindale promo from Monday, Australian JNC reader Tristian C. dropped this ad for the Chrysler Galant in our inbox. The Triple Diamond Mafia masqueraded as Chryslers down under, with Mitsubishi‘s Colt Galant (which was also sold as simply the Dodge Colt in the US). Somehow, the Aussies even got The Beach Boys — they of “Little Deuce Coupe,” “Shut Down” and “409” fame — to re-lyric their hit “I Get Around” to make it about a Japanese car. Watch the ad below the fold. Continue reading
Kidney, Anyone? 33,00-Mile Datsun B210
Like the Toyota Crown from last week, this 1976 Datsun B210 was kept well and out of the public eye for most of its life, accruing only 33,161 miles since it rolled out of the factory. And like the Crown, it seems to have exchanged hands only a few weeks before suddenly being thrown on to eBay by a seller primarily interested in Detroit iron. Obviously, Japanese nostalgics are increasing in value, but let’s hope not all of these gems are going to be flipped for a quick buck. Continue reading
Dodge Challenger and Colt, By Mitsubishi!
Silent shaft technology! Rally cluster! Power mirrors! Four-wheel disc brakes! Handsome wood-grain paneling! These were the selling points for members of the Triple Diamond Mafia infiltrating the Dodge lineup in 1978. Game show host Wink Martindale narrates this promotional video featuring the Dodge Challenger and Colt models. Yes, they were actually three different Mitsubishi models — the Galant Lambda, Galant Sigma Wagon and Lancer — but Mr. Martindale wants you to take home America’s fifth best selling import! Watch the video below the fold. Continue reading
Posted in mitsubishi, wagons
Tagged challenger, colt, dodge, galant, lambda, lancer, mitsubishi, sigma, wagon
4 Comments
