Well, the Japanese New Year Meeting doesn’t take place for another few weeks but here’s BeeOneOneOh’s photos from their local meet in Auckland. I am in love with this visor-clad Crown goon.
New Year's Meeting… of Auckland
Posted in mazda, toyota
Tagged capella, crown, mazda, new year meeting, new zealand, rx-2, s50 crown, toyota, wagon
16 Comments
Friday Video: The Original Japanese Version of Speed
A runaway city bus careens through the streets after the driver is shot. The police can’t do anything for fear of triggering the explosive device stowed on board. Only one renegade cop can leap onto the bus from another moving vehicle as they charge past swarms of patrol cars.
You might think this is the plot of the 1994 blockbuster Speed, but no. Our favorite Japanese cop show, Seibu Keisatsu, came up with this premise decades before Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock made puppy eyes at each other at 55 miles per hour.
The only thing missing is an insane, one-armed Dennis Hopper but hey, there’s a Hino dump truck and a metric buttload of Nissan Cedrics, so, fair trade?
Embedding was disabled for this clip so you’ll need to click on the image above to watch the video.
Hat tip to cesariojpn.
Posted in datsun, nissan, Video Games
Tagged cedric, datsun, hino, japanese cop show, nissan, seibu keisatsu
9 Comments
Event Horizon for the Weekend of Jan 15, 2010
If you know of or would like to publicize an event, send us a tip at feedback(at)japanesenostalgiccar.com
This week:
- Saturday, January 16 / San Diego, California: IMG Ryde – SD to Oceanside
More Nostalgic Minicars: Maisto Fifty-5s
For a car, a diecast replica is the equivalent of having a bronze bust in the shape of your grinning head sitting in a museum. So when John posted Maisto‘s new Fifty-5s, it was further proof that the 1972 Datsun 510 and 1975 Datsun 620 have staked their place in automotive history. The 510 has already been honored in recent years, but as far as we know this is a first for the 620. And dare we say it looks better than the 510 in BRE livery?
The Fifty-5s lineup, new for 2010, also includes a 1995 Toyota SR5 pickup, Nissan 370Z, Scion xB, and 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo, all shod with Watanabe-ish wheels. Does the existence of more diecast nostalgics mean that the real ones are finally getting some respect?
Best Torrance South Bay Nostalgic Car Meet Yet
As we headed down to the monthly South Bay meet in Torrance last Friday, we ran into the hakosuka and kenmeri Skylines from Right Hand Drive Japan. Matched in white paint and gunmetal Wats, they were a sight to behold in LA traffic. Continue reading
Posted in datsun, honda, mazda, mitsubishi, nissan, toyota
Tagged 510, A60 celica, bluebird, c10 skyline, c110 skyline, celica, chrysler, civic, civic sb1, civic wagon, colt, conquest, corolla, cressida, datsun, dodge, e70 corolla, Hakosuka, honda, kenmeri, mazda, mitsubishi, mx32, mx62, nissan, r100, rx-2, rx-3, rx-3sp, skyline, starion, starquest, sunny, te38, toyota, x30 cressida, x60 cressida
12 Comments
2011 Honda CR-Z Unveiled in Detroit
During the press conference for the 2011 Honda CR-Z at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show, the automaker did much to evoke the original CR-X, and even acknowledged that car’s influential role in the tuner scene. There’s no doubt that its lightweight and fun-to-drive personality won it many fans. As a result, many collectors who normally pay no mind to J-tin now regarded the CR-X as a soon-to-be classic. Continue reading
Mitsubishi Starion of Pure Evil
Continuing simultaneously on our Cars of Pure Evil theme and our commitment to bring you more triple diamond coverage, here’s JNC reader Komeuppance‘s Mitsubishi Starion. The strut casings have been sliced and the exhaust probably sparks at speed. If this car were any lower, it’d be in Hell itself. Appropriately, his license plate reads “SLAMMD”. And oh yeah, it’s his daily driver. Continue reading
JCCS x JNC T-Shirt Contest Winners
The prizes from our JCCS x JNC T-Shirt Contest have shipped. Congrats to the following:
- Yi-Joe K. of Kaneohe, HI
- Bob J. of Troy, MI
- Victor R. of Land O’ Lakes, FL
For those who didn’t win, don’t despair. You can still order your own stylish JCCS T-shirt for only $15 plus shipping! Help support America’s premier J-tin event and show your kyuusha pride!
Kidney, Anyone? 14,000-Mile 1977 Toyota Celica GT
This immaculate 1977 Toyota Celica hails from America’s Dairyland but you won’t be getting any swiss cheese here. The seller says it has never been driven in Wisconsin’s harsh winters and contains absolutely zero sheetmetal dings. It has most of its dealership documents, the original tires, and only 14,105 miles! Look at that sumptuous tan interior. We can smell the vinyl now.
Okay, so it’s brown. But we dig the retro hue. Slight more inexcusable, however, is the three-speed slushbox. Luckily, Celica firewalls come pre-drilled with a small plate for the clutch’s pedal-to-master pass-through. In other words, a manual swap is 100% reversible for judging at Pebble Beach 2025. More pics after the jump, or see it on eBay. Continue reading
Friday Video: AW11 Toyota MR2 Goes In For the Kill
Normally when a funky Japanese car appears in a video they hide its plebeian roots by not showing any badges or emblems. Not so with La Roux’s 2009 music video for In for the Kill, in which the starring AW11 Toyota MR2‘s hood-bound “TOYOTA” logo and screamin’ eagle crest are prominently featured ten seconds in.
We could not think of a more appropriate car than an A-dub T-top for an synth-tastic 80s-themed moonlit getaway. This song is going straight into our Cressida wagon’s double-DIN so we can jam to the greenish glow of a dozen equalizer sliders. Watch the video after jump. Continue reading
Hotlanta! Garage Zero's Old School Street Fighters
Congrats to our readers at Garage Zero out of Atlanta, Georgia for coverage on MotorMavens! Click to see how they hold it down.
Datsun 510 Drifts Through Forza 3 Motorsports
Mad skills.
[tkzun via Automobile]
Posted in datsun, nissan, Video Games
Tagged 510, bluebird, datsun, datsun 510, forza 3, forza motorsport 3, nissan
15 Comments
Kidney, Anyone? 39,000-Mile 1979 Mazda RX-7
The seller of this “barn find” 1979 Mazda RX-7 with less than 39,000 miles on its rotary engine canceled all bids and stopped the auction on New Year’s Eve. But if you’re a fanatic Mazdafarian it might not be too late to track down the Norwood, Massachusetts dealer and get your hands on an ultra-minty first year Series One.
The best part? This cherry Seven relaxes in the showroom while a fleet of Ferraris freeze their tailpipes off in the snowy New England winter outside. Continue reading
30 Years of Tamiya R/C Cars
Tamiya‘s tradition of fine plastic model craftsmanship extended to R/C Cars in 1976, starting with a Porsche 934 RSR Turbo. This poster was created a few years ago to mark their 30th anniversary. We would commit great crimes to get our paws on a mint condition Group 5 Toyota Celica Liftback.
Event Horizon for the Weekend of Jan 8, 2010
If you know of or would like to publicize an event, send us a tip at feedback(at)japanesenostalgiccar.com
This week:
- Friday, January 8 / Torrance, California: South Bay Monthly Meet
- Sunday, January 10 / Murrieta, California: DHM Swap Meet/Car Show
Mazda RX-3 Savanna, In Action!
Proof that a Mazda RX-3 does not need tremendous fender flares to look dead sexy.
From The Legend of Historic Car series.
Top Gear Lexus LFA Test
In typical Top Gear fashion, they give the Lexus LFA a resounding review and then forcibly use some ridiculous yardstick by which to measure its worth. Minds are not budged when the LFA yields the fastest wet lap on the leader board. In fact, for those who are keeping score, subtract Top Gear‘s regulation four seconds from the lap time for dampness and the LFA actually beats every Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche in the show’s history. Continue reading
Posted in toyota
Tagged gt-r, lexus, lfa, nissan, richard hammond, skyline, top gear, toyota
35 Comments
Ken Takakura Wants to Put YOU in a Mitsubishi
Most of us only know actor Ken Takakura from Ridley Scott’s 1989 film Black Rain. He played a cop, but in Japan Takakura is as synonymous with yakuza movies as DeNiro is with Italian mob flicks. Therefore, it’s only fitting that Takakura’s tough-guy persona was conscripted by the automotive arm of the Mitsubishi zaibatsu to move some Galant Sigmas. We can totally see him behind the wheel of Mitsu’s big sedan, on the way to shake down some pachinko parlor managers. Continue reading
RX-7 Redux? Rumors of Rotary Sports Return
If the Toyota FT-86 and Nissan Silvia are returning, why not make it triple? In a great end-of-year present, the grapevine has brought us news that the Mazda RX-7 will return in 2011 or 2012 (sources differ). Power will remain rotary-based, coming from the next-gen Renesis 16X shown in the Taiki concept at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show.
The best part is, Edmunds Inside Line reports that “sources close to Mazda now suggest that the company will take a simpler approach and create a car whose character evokes the original RX-7 (sold in the U.S. from 1979-1985).” Though the 16X is capable of 350 horsepower, the new RX-7 will have 200 to 250 and ring up at around $25,000. If these rumors prove true, a retro car Renaissance from Japan is the perfect news with which to end the year. Happy 2010!
