Nakazoto is a JNC reader who lives in Nagoya, Japan. He’s graciously posted two of his visits to a local classic car dealership called, simply, Vintage. Check out his photos here and here.
JNC Reader Visits "Vintage" Vintage Car Dealership
Wednesday Wall: JNC Project Hako KGC10 Skyline
Tired of the last Wednesday Wall yet? We don’t know how you could possibly be, but this might be the only car capable of out-cooling the Lexus LFA and Toyota 2000GT: JNC Project Hako.
Kev’s ’71 Nissan Skyline KGC10 terrorizes the tunnels of Sydney, but could be right at home circling the Shuto according to this shot. This wall comes courtesy of Mark Pakula, as our usual lensmen Dan and John refuse to set foot in Australia until Bartertown is freed.
Also, a bonus rear view as well. Continue reading
Classic CM: Mitsubishi Galant Lambda & Sigma Eterna
We’re always looking for Mitsubishi-related posts for the all-important job of keeping both Matt and the triple diamond mafia happy. To be honest, there isn’t much to this late-70s commercial for the Galant Sigma Eterna and Galant Lambda Eterna. But the rousing disco score and parking garage hoonage somehow make us feel nostalgic for RWD Mitsus and cop shows, so we can dig it!
Bonus points for ID-ing the background cars at 0:07.
TOM'S Racing Motorsports History
Here’s a cool video showing the history of TOM’S Racing. The Toyota-authorized tuning house was founded in 1974 by Nobuhide Tachi and Kiyoshi Oiwa (TOM’S stands for Tachi & Oiwa Motor Sports). There’s some excellent footage of their Chaser and JGTC Supras, along with some vintage clips of their TE27 and TE71.
Merry Christmas from Japanese Nostalgic Car
May Santa fill your stockings full of old school parts and rare accessories. Or, if you’ve been especially good, perhaps a new ride in your driveway with a big red bow on it. Merry Christmas, everyone! From all of us at Japanese Nostalgic Car.
Image: myco10jp.
Five J-Tin Winter Storage Tips
With a snowstorm of biblical proportions terrorizing the east coast, we thought it might be a good time for some winter storage tips. JNC reader Dustin (aka ohcanada_00 of Giga Pudding fame) works for the car care experts at Griot’s Garage and has offered to share some of his company’s knowledge with y’all! Continue reading
Fuji Speedway Frozen in Time, 1977-80
The action that took place at Fuji Speedway in the 70s is the stuff of legend. Back then it was known as FISCO (Fuji International Speedway Co., Ltd.) and was host to epic battles in Group 5, Touring Sedan, and of course the Fuji Grand Champion series. Here’s a typical scene in which Nissan Sunnys, Toyota Celicas and Mazda RX-3 Savannas duked it out. Continue reading
Posted in datsun, mazda, motorsports, nissan, toyota
Tagged 240z, 240zg, apache, b110, b310, celica, corolla, corolla levin, datsun, datsun 1200, enkei, fairlady z, familia, fisco, fuji speedway, gr5, grand champion, group 5, gurachan, le mans, mazda, mazda 251, mazda 252, nissan, r100, racing forg, rx-3, rx-7, sprinter, sprinter trueno, sunny, sunny excellent, te27, te47, tomei, toyota
8 Comments
Friday Video: Winners and Sinners and a Massive J-Tin Pileup
Here’s another one of those wacky Hong Kong movies involving ridiculously implausible car chases and copious amounts of J-tin genocide. Although main players in this car chase from 1983’s Winners and Sinners are a Triumph Spitfire versus, uh, Jackie Chan on roller skates, there’s plenty of nostalgics whizzing by in the background and sacrificed for a colossal pileup. We’re talkin’ Celicas, Corollas, Nissan Violets, a Mazda 808 wagon, Mitsubishi Lancer, Galant, and even a Honda 145 Coupe! A Honda 145 Coupe! A Honda 145 Coupe! We just hope that the Starlet rolling on what appears to be Hayashi Command 800s at 1:41 wasn’t involved.
Hat tip to banpei.
Posted in datsun, honda, mazda, mitsubishi, nissan, toyota
Tagged celica, corolla, datsun, galant, honda 145, jackie chan, lancer, mazda, mazda 808, mitsubishi, nissan, starlet, toyota, violet, winners and sinners
19 Comments
Vintage JDM Brochures Galore
We hope you have some time to kill because Kyuusha Maniacs is a Japanese blog with tons of JDM brochure scans going back to the 1950s. We stole this pic of from a 1971 Toyota Crown Sedan and Hardtop brochure, but there are plenty more with great artwork. Continue reading
Posted in catalogs
Tagged datsun, honda, isuzu, jdm brochures, jdm catalogs, mazda, mitsubishi, nissan, subaru, suzuki, toyota
15 Comments
Oldschool JDM Tuner Challenge
Here’s a nice vid from Best Motoring, way back in the early 90s. It’s a tuner-car challenge around Maze circuit in Niigata prefecture. Surprisingly there are quite a few older cars in the mix, including a few FB/SA22 RX7s and a surprisingly fast S30 Zed, which SOUNDS great, and acquits itself very well until….well…you’ll see.
Part 2 of the vid is after the jump.
Continue reading
Posted in Video
7 Comments
TE27 Levin & Trueno: A Pair of Ripe Mangos
Here’s a good shot illustrating the differences between the TE27 Toyota Corolla Levin (back) and Sprinter Trueno. You never see the two parked side by side here in the US. The mechanically identical cars have only superficial visual differences, most of them in the nose. Continue reading
Classic CM: Honda Prelude's Tach Within a Speedometer
The Honda Prelude made its debut in 1978 to compete with sport coupes like the Toyota Celica and Nissan Silvia. Honda would use the flagship model as a test bed for experimental concepts and innovative firsts. Take, for example, the concentric tach-within-a-speedometer dash in this Japanese commercial. It’s visually dazzling, which is probably why it didn’t catch on to later generations (or any other model, for that matter). The ad also makes hay of the sunroof. as the SN Prelude was also the first Japanese car to offer one that opened electronically.
Rumored 2011 Nissan Silvia Styled After Foria Concept
Nissan is not about to sit idly by and let the Toyota FT-86 and Honda CR-Z steal all the retro car resurrection glory. Rumor has it that Nissan will bring back the Nissan Silvia come 2011 or 2012. There’s been buzz about such a comeback for several years now, but perhaps Toyota/Subaru, Honda, and even Hyundai are lighting a fire under Nissan’s ass.
Edmunds says the next Silvia will be a 2+2 built on the current Nissan 370Z and Infiniti G37 platform, weighing in at 2800 pounds and powered by a 1.8-liter turbo four. But rather than go back to the 80s like Toyota and Honda, styling will be based on the Nissan Foria Concept from the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show (above left). To our eyes, that hearkens all the way back to the 1965 CSP311 Nissan Silvia Coupe. Keep your fingers crossed, folks, and we might just see an all out war for sports coupe supremacy once again.
Posted in nissan
Tagged 2011 nissan silvia, 2012 nissan silvia, 240sx, concept, csp311, datsun, foria, nissan, silvia, tokyo motor show, tokyo motor show 2005
21 Comments
OneDay OldCar Festival Shikoku 2009
Right. So that evil Mazda RX-3 we posted yesterday? It’s just met its match. This Toyota Mark II devours souls for breakfast. Take heed not to confuse the name of the car with the name of the wheel. Peer into the bottomless abyss of those blacked out SSR MkIIIs and you risk falling in completely. Continue reading
Posted in events
Tagged 510, bluebird, carol, celica, cervo, corolla, corona, cressida, crown, daihatsu, datsun, fellow max, fto, galant sigma, honda, impulse, isuzu, mark II, mazda, mitsubishi, nissan, old car festival, piazza, sambar, shikoku, skyline, soarer, subaru, sunny, supra, suzuki, today, toyopet, toyota
11 Comments
Event Horizon for the Weekend of Dec 11, 2009
If you know of or would like to publicize an event, send us a tip at feedback(at)japanesenostalgiccar.com
This week:
- Saturday, December 12 / Grapevine, Texas: Texas Toyota Car Show
- Saturday, December 12 / Atlanta, Georgia: Garage Zero Holiday Open House
- Sunday, December 13 / New South Wales, Australia: 2009 Show and Shine
1978 Mazda RX-3 Savanna of Undiluted Evil
We don’t really have much to say about this menace to all that is innocent and pure, except that it’s hewn from brimstone and the nightmares of children. Imagine this ’78 Mazda RX-3 appearing in your rear view on a moonlit night with 12A howling. Even Cthulhu would cower in fear.
[Image: Katuofusitarou]
"Crazy Nobe" Wakatsuki, First Datsun Importer, Dies at 81
As we all know, Nissan officially came to the US in 1960. But you’ve probably seen a small number of Datsuns built before then lurking around in barns and collections. Where did they come from? The answer is a man known as “Crazy Nobe.”
Nobushige Wakatsuki was a young man in his late 20s working for Marubeni Corp. of Los Angeles in 1955, importing Japanese goods ranging from textiles to transistor radios. When Wakatsuki saw Toyota enter the US market in 1957, he thought he might be able to sell Datsuns as well. He went to Nissan with the proposal and was promptly laughed out the door. Continue reading
Posted in datsun, nissan
Tagged bluebird, datsun, mr k, nissan, nobe wakatsuki, nobushige wakatsuki, woolverton motors, yutaka katayama
11 Comments
Learning Japanese: "Tateguro" Nissan Gloria A30
Welcome to a new series on the JNC Blog. In Learning Japanese, we’ll introduce nicknames for Japanese cars and delve into their etymology. We started informally with the erimaki Mitsubishi Mirage, but now it’s official.
Let’s kick off with the tateguro, or 1967-71 Nissan Gloria. So how did the third-generation Gloria get its name? Continue reading
Posted in Learning Japanese, nissan
Tagged gloria, gloria a30, learning japanese, nissan, tateguro, tateme
9 Comments
Last Monthly Torrance/South Bay Meet of 2009
The boys with the Datsun wagons held the final South Bay meet of 2009 last Friday and despite the chilly (for SoCal) temperatures we rolled in to join the festivities.
We saw the Mazda R100 above at SevenStock earlier this year. Note the RHD, Victoria license plate and Simmons B45 wheels. This baby is more Australian than Paul Hogan on a boomerang. Continue reading
Posted in events, mazda, mitsubishi, nissan, toyota
Tagged datsun, honda, mazda, mitsubishi, nissan, south bay meet, toyota
4 Comments
Classic Japanese Show & Shine, Brisbane, Australia
A couple of months ago our friends in the southern hemisphere held their own gathering of nostalgics. And because everything is topsy-turvy down there, they occupied an entirely different circle in the J-tin Venn diagram. Look at the photo above. Those lucky blokes have multiple Isuzu Bellets at a single event while we make do with zero. JNC reader B1500boy was kind enough to post results from the Classic Japanese Show & Shine in Brisbane, Australia. Continue reading
Posted in datsun, isuzu, mazda, mitsubishi, nissan, toyota
Tagged b110, bellet, cedric, cedric 1900, compagno spider, daihatsu, datsun, datsun 1200, isuzu, mazda, nissan, prince motors, prince skyline, rx-2, rx-3, skyline, sunny
3 Comments
