Nostalgic Japanese Police Cars

Posted on March 18, 2010 by Ben Hsu


Here’s a collection of photos of nostalgic Japanese police cars strung together by an amateur, unidirectional Ken Burns. Some are equipped with high-power engine options and transmission pairings not available on civilian versions of the same model.

Sadly, Japanese patrol cars that have outlived their usefulness are scrapped when decommissioned, not auctioned off to the public like in the US. You can safely bet that only a few of these have survived, with the remaining examples locked away in museums (Nissan’s Zama collection has a genuine S30 Fairlady Z patrol car, for example). What we wouldn’t give for a kujira Crown black-and-white, an unmarked RX-4, or even that ’73 Mustang! Watch the video after the jump. Continue reading →

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Quick Pic: Honda 1300, Air Cooled Coolness

Posted on March 17, 2010 by Dan Hsu

With its undulating cooling fins, the 1969 Honda 1300cc motor is a work of art. Not only does wind flow over its airfoils, but through the engine as well. Much like the way coolant is funneled through passages in a normal engine, Honda’s Duo Dyna Air Cooling system used a crank-driven rotor to force cold air through the block. Continue reading →

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Event Horizon for the Weekend of Mar 19, 2010

Posted on March 17, 2010 by Dan Hsu

If you know of or would like to publicize an event, send us a tip at feedback(at)japanesenostalgiccar(dot)com

This week:

Continue reading →

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Mazdas at Fuji Speedway, October 10, 1972

Posted on March 17, 2010 by Ben Hsu


This video comes courtesy of oldschool.co.nz via Retro-Classics. It’s from the heyday of the Fuji touring car championships and is unique in that the narration is in English! No more picking handfuls of syllables out of rapid-fire Japanese commentary that might as well be an auctioneer having an argument with the announcer at the Kentucky Derby.

This was likely a bit of Mazda propaganda from back in the day but we get to see all the Mazdafarian greats — Yojiro Terada, Yoshimi Katayama, and Takashi Yorino. It’s really an all-out battle between the rotaries and the hakosuka Skyline GT-Rs. Plus, we’ve got roaring J-tin and women in hip-hugging bell-bottoms. Part two after the jump. Continue reading →

Posted in mazda, motorsports, nissan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Bless Your Car, JDM Style

Posted on March 17, 2010 by Ben Hsu


Some Japanese believe that if you have your car blessed by a Buddhist priest, you will avoid accidents, tickets, and possibly even bird droppings. Kawasaki-Daishi is one of the temples that has a parking lot for this exact purpose. The white grid is where cars await their spiritual collision coverage, the yellow grid is where the blessing takes place, large enough for 110 cars.  Narita-san in Chiba is another temple famous for these ceremonies. Such metaphysical peace of mind will cost you about $70. Continue reading →

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Posted on March 16, 2010 by Ben Hsu

Suzuki Mario Bros.: Those Koopa Troopas don’t stand a chance when Mario and Luigi are behind the wheel of Suzuki Carry. The kei truck feasts on turtle soup tonight.

[Reddit via Jalopnik]

Posted in kei, suzuki, trucks | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

No Rotors Here: Mazda 616 Coupe

Posted on March 16, 2010 by Ben Hsu

It’s March in SoCal. That means the weather is warming and meets are ramping up. We rolled down to Cypress, California (home of Mitsubishi North America HQ) in the ol’ JNC wagon on Sunday to check it out.  It was a great meet with some gorgeous rotaries but a lone, faded Mazda 616 caught our eye for its sheer rarity. Continue reading →

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The Evolution of the JNC Stamp

Posted on March 15, 2010 by Dan Hsu

With the recent discovery of black market JNC Stamp stickers, a lot of interest was drummed up about the JNC Stamp logo. The most popular question we’ve received is something along the lines of “Why did you change the sticker dammit, I liked the old one better!” Well, I’m here to provide you with some answers. There’s (a little) method to the madness here at JNC, so I’ll do my best to explain.

Continue reading →

Posted in contests, jnc, nostalgic gear | Tagged , , , , , | 20 Comments

Honda Love Cub 50 Bikes On Sale

Posted on March 15, 2010 by Ben Hsu

Cub_132_151_05.indd

You know the BMW Art Cars, Chicago’s Cows on Parade and Washington DC’s Pandamania, right? In 2008 the venerable Honda Super Cub had its 50th birthday, and to celebrate Honda gave 60 of these best-selling bikes — one for each million sold — to artists for customizing. It was called the Love Cub 50 project, and the bikes were on display at museums in Japan. Now they are being auctioned off on Yahoo Japan with proceeds going to UNICEF. Pics of the bikes currently available for bidding after the jump. Continue reading →

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Reader Build: Mitsubishi 360 Van

Posted on March 15, 2010 by Ben Hsu


Congrats to JNC reader Nakazoto for getting his 1967 Mitsubishi 360 Van project featured on both Jalopnik and Speedhunters in the same week! David lives in Nagoya, Japan and came across this kei commercial vehicle rotting away in a field. He tracked down the owner and, after reassuring him that it would be in good care, took it off his hands by towing it home with an AE86.

It’s not often you can use the hachiroku as a stump puller, but the li’l wagon is so light that its normal mode of propulsion is a 360cc, air-cooled two-stroke that makes just 17ps. Estimated curb weight is 1100 pounds.

David has already begun disassembling the car, which has about a dozen bolts total, and is documenting the restoration in the JNC forums. Unfortunately, his new found fame has eaten up his Photobucket bandwidth, but we’ve re-re-purposed the images from Jalopnik in the gallery below. Also, check out David’s videos after the jump. Continue reading →

Posted in kei, mitsubishi | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Friday Video: Detective Story Corolla Crash

Posted on March 12, 2010 by Ben Hsu


What is it about criminal masterminds? Even in Japan, they can’t just kill off the hero with a point-blank gunshot to the head. Instead they string him up to elaborate yet escape-able death traps, such as this runaway Toyota that is both silver-hued and topical.

However, in this case we are at a loss to explain exactly how Yusaku Matsuda frees himself from this KE30 Corolla Goldberg murder device. Teleportation? Sheer badassery? Maybe he could give Prius driver James Sikes a pointer or two. Watch this clip from Detective Story and see for yourself.

Posted in toyota, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

1976 Mitsubishi Galant GTO Brochure, in English

Posted on March 11, 2010 by Ben Hsu


Mitsubishi announced today that they were all but killing off their Ralliart division due to the global economic slump. In honor of that once great performance arm, let’s take a look at the triple diamond mafia’s flagship nostalgic, the Galant GTO. Mitsubishi actually exported it officially to the UK of all places, and JNC reader dwlee even dug up the 1976 brochure.

Note that the official name is the Colt Galant GTO 2000GSR, and that the UK subsidiary is simply called The Colt Car Company. The catalog makes a big show of the 125hp 2.0-liter four’s counterbalancing silent shaft technology. And we also now know that the styling aesthetic is something called “Dynawedge.” How cool is that?
Continue reading →

Posted in catalogs, mitsubishi | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Event Horizon for the Weekend of Mar 12, 2010

Posted on March 11, 2010 by Dan Hsu

If you know of or would like to publicize an event, send us a tip at feedback(at)japanesenostalgiccar(dot)com

This week:

Continue reading →

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Wednesday Wall: F20C-Powered 1976 Toyota Celica Liftback

Posted on March 10, 2010 by Dan Hsu

Scouting locations for a photo shoot can be difficult.  When it comes to privately owned cars, how far you go to find that perfect spot is often limited by the owner’s unwillingness to travel, but with a nostalgic it’s sometimes the car itself that is stubborn.  On this particular day though, neither was a problem.  Rather, the challenge was in finding not only a suitable distraction-free background but also one that properly captured the feel of the car we were shooting.  Anonymous industrial locations are a dime a dozen and would not really help to tell the story behind Randy Hor’s Eleanor-inspired creation.  We needed to find someplace special.

Continue reading →

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Still Cheaper Than The Real Thing: Platinum Tomica Nissan Fairlady Z432

Posted on March 9, 2010 by Kevin San

tomica

The 1970 Nissan Fairlady Z432 is a beguiling blend combination of the twin-cam S20 six (shared with the hakosuka 2000GT-R) and sexy S30 Fairlady Z looks, making it a blue-chip Japanese collector car of the highest order.  And now Jeweler Ginza Tanaka has made a one-off replica of the Tomica Z432 model in platinum!  It’s 7cm long, weighs 210 grams, and everything down to the opening doors and the wheels (which can spin) and even the box has been faithfully replicated. It took a month to make by hand and a great deal of that time was spent polishing it to the high lustre you see right there.  There’s only one made, it’s not for sale, although if you did want one, Tomica estimates its cost at a cool $80,000.

This very special model was made to celebrate Tomica’s 40th anniversary this year.  Since 1970, over 800 different models have been made, and over half a billion of the little toys have made their way into the eager hands of young kids (and not-so-young kids) all over the world over the past four decades.  The model will be displayed at the Hong Kong International Jewelery Show this month, and will return to the homeland to be displayed at the Osaka Tomica Fair in late April.

[via 7Tune]

Posted in datsun, minicars, nissan, Toys | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Honda Releases "CR-X – A Nod to Legend" Video

Posted on March 9, 2010 by Ben Hsu


It’s really amazing how Japanese automakers are suddenly all about their heritage. When the JNC Blog started two years ago, we basically bitched non-stop about how they were sitting on an untapped gold mine of good will. Though we would like to, I don’t think we can take credit for this change of heart. But we like where this is going.

Whether the Honda CR-Z is really a worthy successor to the CR-X remains to be seen. Grapevine word today revealed it was not originally intended to be a hybrid. Perhaps there will be a petrol-only version down the line. In the meantime, we’re working with Honda to secure an example for a future JNC Next Version piece.

Posted in honda | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

No Pistons, No AWD: Mazda RX-7 Rally Car

Posted on March 9, 2010 by Ben Hsu

The first-gen Mazda RX-7 has competed in many forms of motorsport, from IMSA enduros to drag racing to touring car challenges. Here it is on dirt, with gratuitous helicopter tracking shots.  Video after the jump.

Hat tip to Andrew P.

Continue reading →

Posted in mazda, motorsport | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Posted on March 8, 2010 by Ben Hsu

If a Tree Falls on a Nissan…: Today’s zen koan comes from Australia, where, as Kev informs us, there are indeed trees. And sometimes they upend themselves on some poor sheila’s newly restored Datsun 610. Zoe Michalski had just purchased her “pride and joy” a three months ago and finished some paint and body work. Unfortunately, she then parked it under an unstable 20-meter shrubbery. This happened in a place called Woolloomooloo. We are not making this up.

[Daily Telegraph]

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

Father & Son: AE86 and Toyota FT-86

Posted on March 8, 2010 by Ben Hsu


At long last, Toyota is bringing out the nostalgic guns. Accompanying the Toyota FT-86 Concept‘s arrival at the Geneva Motor Show last week comes these official images. Unless you’re steeped in Toyota history you might have missed the significance of the concept’s 86 designation, but here’s visual proof of where Toyota is going with this. Continue reading →

Posted in toyota | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments