Going solely by old Japanese cop shows, you’d think three out of every five cars was a Nissan Cedric. It’s the Chevy Caprice Classic of Nihon car chases! In this clip from Daitokai (The Big City), there are, surprisingly, no randomly placed ramps in the middle of the street, and the driving scenes seem actually somewhat realistic. And for once, the baddies get away (probably because Tetsuya Watari is nowhere to be seen). Watch the video below the fold. Continue reading
Friday Video: Cedric 230 vs 330 in The Big City
Event Horizon for the Weekend of July 23, 2010
If you know of or would like to publicize an event, send us a tip at the feedback address at the bottom of this page.
This week:
- Saturday, July 24 / Germany: Toyota-Treffen
- Saturday, July 24 – 25 / England: Japanese Nostalgia Weekend
- Sunday, July 25 / Los Angeles, CA: Datsun/Nippon Car Show & Swap Meet
Belated Wednesday Wall: Hakosuka Drift
As Kev has often said, the Hako is a tail-happy machine that, back in the day, was even more so as a result of bias-ply tires. It was often seen breaking its caboose loose on the circuit. Well, here’s what that would look like.
widescreen 1920 x 1200
[via JDMLegends]
Nostalgics at SpoCom 2010
As you know, last weekend we teamed up with TORC and JCCS and some of SoCal’s finest nostalgics and invaded classed up the SpoCom Super Show in Long Beach. So for the first time ever, all the crazy drift machines, bagged VIP sedans and Lambo-doored Chryslers were joined by some killer vintage rides. Continue reading
Car Surfing on a Mazda Cosmo RX-5
The Jokers were one of Japan’s biggest bosozoku gangs in the ’70s and ’80s. What’s that? The Mazda Cosmo AP looks too close to the pageant winner of Japan’s 1976 Car of the Year? How about one with garuchan headlight covers, nosasu (no suspension), and five trumpet horns protruding below the bumper? Continue reading
On the Way to Long Beach
JNC would like to thank the JCCS and TORC crews, and all the old schoolers that came to the Spocom show in Long Beach this weekend. We set up our own little section of nostalgics and rocked the house. But as we all agreed on the way there, it’s just not an old school cruise unless someone has a breakdown.
In this case, the hako lost a clutch slave, but a call to Autozone yielded an early Z-car unit that fit perfectly. Congrats to Ben Fernandez and his orange AE71, Leo del Cid’s ’64 Bluebird and John Williams’ Datsun 510 Wagon on their trophies.
Friday Video: Massive Carnage in Seibu Keisatsu (Again)
A black police-spec Cedric 230 on steelies sure looks like a mean machine. Too bad it, along with several other rarities, bites the dust in yet another car chase in Seibu Keisatsu. Video below the fold. Continue reading
Event Horizon for the Weekend of July 16, 2010
If you know of or would like to publicize an event, send us a tip at the feedback address at the bottom of this page.
This week:
- Friday, July 16 – 18 / Atco, NJ: 16th Annual Pan American Nationals
- Sunday, July 18 / Long Beach, CA: SpoCom Super Show
- Sunday, July 18 / The Netherlands: Japan Classic Sunday
Fingerpori Datsun Sunny B110
Fingerpori by Pertti Jarla is a popular comic strip that appears in Finland’s largest newspaper. Today’s comic happens to have one of our favorites, a B110 Coupe! Translation below the fold. Continue reading
Japanese Nostalgic Car Vol. 04 is Here
We got ours in the mail on Monday, hot off the presses. Yours should be either sitting in your mailboxes or in transit! If you haven’t already, subscribe here.
Datsun 510 Spotted on Transformers 3 Set
There are many reasons why Michael Bay’s entire Transformers franchise should be buried under a volcano and ignored for a million years, but perhaps there is one glimmer of hope for JNCers looking for an excuse to watch this, uh, movie. A photographer has caught Shia LaBeouf with a lowered Datsun 510 on the set of Transformers 3 in Milwaukee. Also, someone puts their foot in the engine bay, whatever that means.
UPDATE: Rumors on the Internets now say this is either Bumblebee (yellow/black stripe paint scheme, “Bee-yotch” air freshener) or a doppleganger. Videos and pictures below the fold. Continue reading
Bulldogs Flipping Over: Honda City Turbo IIs at Suzuka
Thankfully, Kev did not see quite this much action at his recent outing to the JCCA Classic Car Festival at Tsukuba Circuit. But in 1984, Honda, a long-time sponsor of one-make races, chose its Honda City Turbo II for its latest incarnation of same-spec motorsports. Continue reading
JCCA Classic Car Festival at Tsukuba
The month of July finds Japan sliding into the midst of a lazy Summer, but it also marks one of the big track events for the JCCA (Japan Classic Car Association). Open to both Japanese and foreign classic cars, there are racing classes that range from mildly modified road cars to wild racers.
Join JCCS, TORC and JNC as we represent the original sport compacts at SpoCom 2010 in Long Beach, California. Today is the last day to register, and you can. follow this link for a coupon code good for $10 off registration. See you there!
Friday Video: C210 Skyline Turbo vs. Bomb
We’ve seen what happens in West Tokyo when there’s a bomb on a bus, but pop quiz, hotshot: what do you do when there’s a ticker inside Seibu Keisatsu HQ itself?
You throw that sucker into your C210 Skyline Turbo and full throttle your way out of town using a GPS unit the size of a toaster oven, that’s what! When the Skyline emerges triumphant, the perps resort to sniper fire, and later, a warhead-equipped Cedric. This is also the rare Seibu episode in which you can actually spot a Toyota or two in the background. Watch the clip below the fold. Continue reading
Russian Toyota AA Surfaces in The Netherlands
Last December a car surfaced in Russia, one that the owner claimed to be a long-lost Toyoda AA. This was Toyota’s first production automobile, first built in 1936, and is so rare that the Toyota Automobile Museum in Japan doesn’t even own one. They had to construct a replica for display, and while records show that only 1404 Toyoda AAs were built, Russia claims not one, but two AAs. Now, one of them has been purchased by the Louwman Museum in The Netherlands. Continue reading
Toyota Registers "86" Trademark
Well this is interesting. Toyota registered the name “86” as a trademark on June 18. Hmmm… Continue reading
Friday Video: Quite Possibly the Only Car Chase Ever Filmed Involving a Nissan Sunny Cab
Just when we thought we’d seen it all, here’s an episode of Seibu Keistatsu in which a standard police issue Cedric 330 unmarked does battle with a Datsun Sunny Cab… and loses! Maybe the rare cab-over trucklet was cool enough that the producers didn’t couldn’t bear to see it destroyed.
There are also glimpses of a 2+2 Fairlady Z, Mazda Luce Hardtop (RX-4) and an early-’80s Cadillac Eldorado. Have a safe and happy 4th of July, everyone! Video below the fold. Continue reading