Sick Sigma


We’re not sure where we got this photo from (most likely Minkara Carview), but this triple diamond is one sick Sigma. We definitely don’t post enough slammed Mitsubishis on ‘champs.

Posted in mitsubishi | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

Honda Cub CM91 Boss Roadster


Okay, so this isn’t, strictly speaking, a car, but it is Japanese, nostalgic, and I saw it in person the other day. It’s also rare. Continue reading

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Friday Video: Nissan Cedric vs. Isuzu Elf


How do you stop a steamrollin’ Isuzu Elf with just a standard-issue unmarked Nissan Cedric? With aviator shades, driving and bullets! Continue reading

Posted in datsun, isuzu, nissan, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Performance Parts Prices, Circa 1995


Bottom right corner. Brand new 11J-15 for ¥33,600, or $357. And this was during the height of the boom years, at the time the worst exchange rate in history.

Posted in wheels | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Finland's 10th Annual Japanese Cars Meet, 2010


Last week we saw how Norway does old school. What about their neighbors in Finland? They have a taste for originality as well, and here are some photos from their 10th Annual Japanese Car Meet. Continue reading

Posted in datsun, nissan, toyota, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Recycling Old Cars in Japan — With Fire


So you want to recycle the metal from an old Bluebird to satisfy the demand for new 510s. But you don’t want all that pesky rubber and plastic to contaminate your molten steel. What to do? Burn it off on a giant car rotisserie before crushing the car! Those of us old enough to remember piles of burning tires in junkyards and dumps will probably not find this as shocking, but there was once a time when it was perfectly acceptable to spray any kind of toxic chemical you wanted right into the air. Click here for the video.

Hat tip to Michael S.

Posted in japan | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Shakotan S130

Hardcastle and McCormick would be proud. How low does a bad ass Datsun 280ZX need to do this? Continue reading

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

Friday Video: Datsun 810 Bluebird vs Nissan 330 Cedric


In this short but action-packed chase from Seibu Keisatsu, a Bluebird 810 sedan goes head to head with a 330 Cedric. A flotilla of Nissan black-and-whites give chase, and a particularly brave yonmeri Skyline patrol car sets up a pick and roll to bring the perps to a gruesome demise. Embedding has been disabled for this clip, so watch it on Youtube.

Hat tip to Kev L.

Posted in datsun, nissan, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Meet Your New Koreisha Mark

The votes are in and Japan’s National Police Agency has just announced its new Koreisha Mark. The four-color clover, created by a 31-year-old graphic designer from Osaka, was selected as the winner among four proposed symbols. It will replace the familiar “autumn leaf” symbol that has been displayed thusfar on cars driven by those 70 years or older.

The old symbol, which is (and will remain) an integral part of the JNC logo, was deemed by some seniors to be offensive because the orange and yellow autumn leaf represented death. The addition of two shades of green may brighten up the mark, but it also destroys the symmetry that the mark once had with the “spring leaf” beginner driver’s mark, which has no proposed changes.

Posted in japan | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

Event Horizon for the Weekend of August 20, 2010


If you know of or would like to tell us about an event, send us a tip at the feedback address at the bottom of this page or leave a comment below.

This week:

Continue reading

Posted in event horizon, events | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Norwegian Nostalgics at Japan Treff 2010


It’s time once again for the Japan Treff from Norway, a classic Japanese gathering that does not boast a single tsurikawa or boso pipe in the field. Continue reading

Posted in datsun, honda, mazda, nissan, toyota | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

JCCS X Yokohama X Enkei Contest


Have you registered for the Japanese Classic Car Show yet? There’s less than a month till the biggest gathering of nostalgic autos in the US! And this year, the JCCS crew is teaming up with Enkei Wheels and Yokohama Tire to offer a free set of vintage barrels and the new shoes to go along with them. Like we said, there are new old school wheels coming down the line for us old schoolers. Go to the JCCS contest page for details. Also, if you have an old school car (up to 1989) that Enkei can use to shoot their new re-issued old school wheels (right now, the samples are 15×7 & 15×8 4×100 +25), please let us know!

Posted in contests, wheels | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

EVENTS: Nisei Showoff 2010


The Nisei Showoff was back for another year because the spot where the show has been held was not redeveloped as originally scheduled. Hooray for the GFC? Anyway, old school flavor was out in full effect and seems to be getting stronger with each passing year. Continue reading

Posted in datsun, events, honda, nissan, toyota | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Nissan Cedrics vs Toyota LiteAce in Daitokai, The Big City


It’s odd to see a mixed-marque car chase in the heavily sponsored world of  Japanese cop shows. Almost as odd as using a Toyota LiteAce as a getaway vehicle when you’re being pursued by a fleet of Nissan Cedrics. But there you have it, in Daitokai, aka The Big City. Continue reading

Posted in datsun, nissan, toyota | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Event Horizon for the Weekend of August 13, 2010


If you know of or would like to tell us about an event, send us a tip at the feedback address at the bottom of this page or leave a comment below.

This week:

Continue reading

Posted in event horizon, events | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The Nostalgics of BARL, Barbados Auto Racing League


Despite having an area about 1/10th the size of Rhode Island, Barbados has a strong car culture and the Barbados Auto Racing League hosts some truly insane race machines. Rotaries, Toyota Starlets, and Nissans B310s are apparently quite popular. JNC reader sickbugs recently showed us some photos from his homeland. Continue reading

Posted in datsun, mazda, motorsports, nissan, toyota | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

1972 Nissan Sunny Calendar Found in Abandoned Yamanashi-ken House


On the dark-side of Fuji-san, a village with 200-year-old thatched-roof buildings was abandoned in the 1970s. In one of the remote and largely intact houses, hanging from the shredded shoji, in a living room full of bear- and tanuki-tossed futons and shredded straw mattresses, hangs a 1972 Nissan Sunny dealer calendar. Continue reading

Posted in cm, datsun, nissan | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Drag Racer Hakosuka Skyline


We’ve seen all sorts of C10 Skylines, from stock to shakotan, but this is the first hakosuka dragster we’ve ever come across. This doorslammer comes from a 1995 issue of Auto Works magazine, and despite its fiberglass funny car looks, underneath that hood scoop beats a thoroughly worked L28. Full article (in Japanese) below the fold. Continue reading

Posted in datsun, motorsports, nissan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

1988 JTCC Ralliart Mitsubishi Starion


Here are some videos of a the Ralliart Mitsubishi Starion competing against Ford Sierra Cosworths, MA71 Toyota Supras and Nissan Skyline RS Turbos in the 1988 Japan Touring Car Championship. You may recognize some of the drivers, such as Takahashi Kunimitsu of hakosuka GT-R fame, behind the wheel of the beast. Two-part video below the fold. Continue reading

Posted in mitsubishi, motorsports | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Friday Video: AE86 Corolla on European Circuits


If you’ve gotten JNC Vol. 04 you’ll have seen our tribute to the 1985 Toyota Corolla GT-S, now officially a nostalgic in the US thanks to the 25-year rule. Though this car would become the poster child for drifting 15 years later, Toyota USA never bragged about its flingability. Not so on other continents! Check out this official video by Toyota, in which they take a pair of AE86s to Europe’s most famous circuits — Nürburgring, Spa, Zandvoort — and let famous rally drivers loose behind the wheel of some bone stock hachiroku. Happy 8/6 Day, JNCers! Video below the fold. Continue reading

Posted in toyota | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments