
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]

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]

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.
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

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.

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

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!

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

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.

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

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.

Found in Belgium by Larry Chen of Speedhunters. Owner wishes to remain anonymous. Smart man.
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

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
We’ve been big fans of Josh Clason‘s Depth of Speed videos, and the latest does not disappoint. It’s an interview with Mark Arcenal, founder of the Fatlace, who is fortunate enough to own a KGC10 Nissan Skyline, S14 drift machine, and a VW Bus. Watch the video below. Continue reading

Is the first-gen 4Runner becoming the next hot collectible? After all, it was one of the most capable SUVs of its time. It hails from an era of Aichi greats like the AE86 Corolla, AW11 MR2, and MX73 Cressida. Hell, there’s even a Matchbox version.
On eBay a minty fresh original 1985 Toyota 4Runner SR5 is going for over $24,000 at the time of this writing. The odo reads only 38,000 miles and you could eat off any surface, even the spare tire. Or nuzzle up to the SR5-laden upholstery and the cargo area’s immaculate carpeting. It is well documented, wears the entire fall catalog’s lineup of NOS parts, and the seller claims a garaged life. A rare beast indeed. More photos below the fold. Continue reading
With some already speculating the hakosuka GT-R as a million dollar car, this 1978 Datsun 200SX for $4100 is a helluva a steal. For one, it’s one of the rarest Dattos out there. And while that’s because it was widely considered the ugliest car on the market when it was new, all of that blame can be laid squarely on the US 5mph safety bumpers.
In Japan, it sported sleek chrome that blended seamlessly with its body lines and was called the “New Silvia.” That’s new, as in “not the ’65 CSP311,” which means it was the first Nissan to bear the all-new “S” chassis code. Yes, drifters, meet the great-great-grandpa of your precious sliding machines. Continue reading