Kidney, Anyone? 1960 Datsun 1200 Van VPL221

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Just when you thought you’d seen every Datsun sold in North America, a 1960 Datsun 1200 Van shows up on ebay in La Grange, California. We at JNC have been around a lot of Datsuns, but none of us had seen one of these before. Continue reading

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Friday Video: A Toyota Celica's Mad Mission


I rented the Hong Kong action-comedy Mad Mission II from the local video store back in the 80s. This was when I lived in Texas and it was the first Hong Kong movie I’d ever seen, lured by the VHS box’s promise of crazy vehicular stunts. It delivered. Hilarity ensued. And I watched the fleet of Jaguar XJ6s pursue the hero in his yellow A40 Toyota Celica (perhaps the same one from the Norwegian milk ad?) over and over again. I had completely forgotten about it until TSiSS350 posted this link. Thanks for bringing back memories!

We’ve posted on another Hong Kong flick featuring J-tin before, but given that city’s penchant for churning out action packed movies there’s probably a lot more out there. Click through for a brief scene involving a Datsun Sunny as well. Continue reading

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Red & Black Two-Tone Toyota FT-86 on Option Cover

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There’s been much talk about the Lexus LFA but don’t forget about the company’s other upcoming sports car, the Toyota FT-86. The latest issue of Option Magazine shows what the resurrected AE86 would look like decked out in O.G. hachiroku style — iconic red and black two-tone paint scheme and deep dish Watanabes. Classic.

Spotted this on our buddy Alexi’s Nori Yaro blog.

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Long-Lost Toyoda AA Discovered in Russia?

We love a good mystery, and Russian JNC reader Nitzer may have stumbled onto the mother of them all. Perhaps you can help determine if this is the Bigfoot of Toyotas or a man in a hairy suit. A gentleman in Russia claims to have purchased a genuine 1930s Toyoda AA, a car so rare that the company who made it doesn’t even own one.

That’s because not a single one is known to exist. All the examples photographed at the Toyota Automobile Museum are replicas. Continue reading

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Wednesday Wall: JNC #4 Preview – Lexus LFA & Toyota 2000GT

We got so much positive feedback from our behind-the-scenes teaser that we decided to treat you to a wallpaper while you wait for the full article in JNC #4. Seen here side-by-side for the first time, the 1967 Toyota 2000GT and 2010 Lexus LFA. Japan’s true first supercar (despite what other car mags might tell you) and its earthshaking spiritual successor, separated by four and a half decades. Continue reading

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Event Horizon: Winter's Coming Edition

torrance_old_school_meetThese days, it starts getting dark before 5pm.  Many of you plugged in the Battery Tender long ago and have your nostalgic tucked away under the car cover awaiting bluer skies and warmer temps.  For those of you still refusing to hang up those keys or crazy enough (in a good way) to drive your nostalgic year-round, this weekend will be the last chance of the year to meet up with your fellow classic J-tin brethren.  Here’s to a great 2009!

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

This week:

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Classic CM: 1977 Mazda Cosmo AP


Don’t you wish car commercials still had a unique jingle for each model? Not only did the 1977 Mazda Cosmo AP (aka Mazda RX-5) have its own signature tune, there was a whole line of fashion accessories, including a belt, tie, umbrella and man-purse. What else do you expect from the height of rotary-powered luxury?

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Abunai Deka Alternate Ending


Our favorite minicar chase maestro Luxe37 is at it again. This brief pursuit reveals an alternate ending for the Abunai Deka Nissan Leopard F31 (Infiniti M30).

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JNC #4 Teaser: Lexus LFA Meets Toyota 2000GT

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The hottest car on Earth right now is none other than the Lexus LFA. Let’s see: performance among the world’s best, a roaring engine by Yamaha, and a sharply styled body that belies a state-of-the-art chassis. Oh, and it’s also the most expensive Japanese car ever built. No wonder mainstream car mags are calling it Japan’s first supercar.

However, JNC readers might disagree. Over forty years ago the same automaker hit all those points with the Toyota 2000GT. Jay Leno‘s the only we know of that’s even mentioned this predecessor.

Like everyone else at SEMA, we drooled over the LFA at its US debut. As we stood there with mouths agape, the Lexus rep saw us holding a copy of JNC and exclaimed, “Hey, I love this mag!” We weren’t about to let an endorsement like that go to waste! We wrangled a 2000GT/LFA photo shoot on the spot and a week later we were in Toyota’s top secret unmarked warehouse somewhere in Torrance.

Here’s a quick behind-the-scenes cell phone cam pic. The full article will be in JNC #4 and as far as we know, it’ll be the only article showing these two stupendously magnificent machines together.

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Kidney, Anyone? Low Mileage AW11 Toyota MR2, Datsun 510, Toyota Corona Mark II and Mitsubishi Lancer

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We just had a shortened work week, but there was no shortage of low mileage nostalgics suddenly up for grabs. The only problem is deciding between the wedge-shaped pocket rocket that is this 39,000-mile 1986 Toyota MR2, undiluted driving experience of a bone stock 63,000-mile 1971 Datsun 510, cachet of a rare 80,000-mile Toyota Corona Mark II, and savanna-pounding potential of a 48,000-mile Mitsubishi Lancer/Dodge Colt.

We really need to get that black market organ harvesting thing going. Which babied gem would you choose?

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So…you like old Nissans?

This slideshow is from the excellent KGC10kai blog, please check it out, it’s chock full of great photography (he must be a good guy, he has great taste in music!). I believe this was a club run last weekend, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many C10s on the road at once!

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KRS Battle Royal Nostalgic Trackday!


Kataoka Racing Service is a workshop in Hyogo, which is in the Kansai region of western Japan.  For years, they’ve held regular trackdays for nostalgics (which they call Battle Royal), and the most recent one was last weekend.  Here’s a terrific vid, which shows what an awesome variety of cars that KRS get at their events.  There are Hakos and Zeds galore of course, but also Isuzu Bellett, multiple 510s, Starlets, RX3s and even a Sunny Truck mixing it up on the bumpy corners of Central Circuit!

More after the jump.

Continue reading

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Toyota MR2 Back from the Dead?

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Good grief, Charlie Brown! There are many things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, but Toyotaku may have just received the greatest gift of all. Japan’s Best Car magazine is reporting that an affordable, mid-engined sports car might be in the works! Continue reading

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Happy Thanksgiving from JNC!

jnc thanksgivingWell, for obvious reasons Japan doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving. So here’s a nice autumnal scene chock full of J-tin. And on this special day we’d like to quote the words of JNC reader Dachshund, who composed this beautiful piece of prose in response to seeing a Toyota Crown 2-Door Hardtop Royal Saloon in our JNC Sightings thread. We wish all JNC readers a safe and bountiful Thanksgiving!

I’m [thankful] that we can still today, say we live in a world where an ancient Japanese man can turtle around in the La-Z-Boy of an immaculately maintained, anti-socially-large-for-having-only-two-doors, decades old Crown pretending to be Elvis. He’s even managed to use his station to wrangle himself a wife young enough that her hair is rendered in color.

The Japanese have officially redefined, and refined, the meaning of “only in America”. We should be ashamed of this.

For some reason I get the impression that the windows of that thing are probably tinted to just the degree necessary, to make all youth culture and hentai around you disappear.

…They probably make the world around you appear ten percent poorer than it actually is, too. It’s the kind of car I’d love to drive through a seedy alleyway, just to lightly shoo away all the bums who would try to wipe rags across the windshield.

Someday, we will all be this.

What are you thankful for?

[Photo Credit: Wild West Riders Club]

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Mooneyes Crown Picnic Celebrates 20 Years

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It’s impossible for me to pick a favorite nostalgic, but if I had a tanto against my finger I’d probably yell out “Toyota Crown!” at the last minute. Show me photos of the annual Mooneyes Crown Picnic and you might as well siphon the drool directly from my salivary glands.  Continue reading

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JCCS x JNC T-Shirt Contest

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Listen up, those of you with torsos. We hereby declare the start of the JCCS x JNC T-shirt contest! This year was the fifth anniversary of the gathering that kick-started the entire nostalgic car movement, and due to high demand all the shirts were sold out at the event.

However, the Japanese Classic Car Show crew has made a limited run of JCCS 2009 T-shirts available for purchase. Cars featured include the Toyota Celica, Datsun 620, Mazda R100 and Honda Civic. Regular price is $15 plus shipping, but they have also generously donated three shirts to JNC readers to be selected at random!

Please send an email to the feedback address at the bottom of the page with “JCCS T-SHIRT CONTEST” in the subject line. The contest will run until 11:59pm Pacific Time December 1, 2009. Gokouun o inorimasu!

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Import Bible x JNC T-Shirt Contest Winner

import bible nissan fairlady z s30 datsun 240zCongrats to Micah J. for winning Import Bible x JNC T-shirt Contest! Your new threads depicting a flared S30 Zed on deep dish Wats will arrive shortly. If you didn’t win, don’t despair. You can still order them at ImportBible.com. There’s even a group buy! And we will be starting another T-shirt contest momentarily. Stay tuned.

Thanks to David from IB for supplying the shirt.

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Hakosuka Skyline a Crack Pipe?

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A Nissan Skyline KGC10 2000-GTX appeared on Jalopnik’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe the other day, and for the asking price of $20,000 it got a barrage of the pipe. The long-running series asks readers to vote whether a particular vehicle is worth the asking price based on an ebay auction or craigslist ad. Unfortunately, that presupposes that its readers actually know anything about hakosuka Skylines. Continue reading

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Datsun Cherry 100A in Up And About Again

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“On the horizon, a sweet graceless creature appears, a Datsun 100A, propelled by a cloud of dust.” This is the description of the Finnish art film called Up and About Again, in which said Datsun meanders through some kind of 10-minute artistic statement too abstract for us to get. Those more trained in the ways of modern art can learn more here.

Hat tip to mikko1200.

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Friday Video: Bollywood Love in Tokyo

The 1966 Indian movie Love in Tokyo contains this toe-tappin’ Bollywood song and dance number that meanders through the streets of 1960s Tokyo. As a result, cameras inadvertently captured the very beginning of the era of Japanese prosperity in which average citizens started to own and drive cars. And thus we are treated to an insane number of nostalgics appearing in their natural habitat, in full technicolor scenes that could never be recreated today.

Keep in mind, this was pre-Celica, pre-Hakosuka, pre-510, and pre-Mazda RX cars. Instead, we find a bustling cityscape full of S40 Toyota Crowns, 30-series Nissan Cedrics, RT40 Toyota Coronas, Isuzu Hillman Minxes, and Toyoace trucks. Toyoaces! When was the last time you saw one of those in motion?

Whoever can identify all the cars in this clip, we will make you rich beyond your wildest dreams (or at least send you a Tomica or something).

Hat tip to banpei, where you can watch a clip with a brief Datsun Fairlady Roadster cameo.

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