If I remember correctly, I learned to drive in a second-generation Chevy Cavalier. If only my driving school taught spin turns in an S60 Toyota Crown. We don’t know what this clip is from, in which an exasperated driving instructor rides shotgun with a parade of bad students. The important thing is that there’s plenty of driving shots of said kujira and a cameo by a Fairlady Roadster to boot. Clicky click the image to watch the vid.
Hat tip to cesariojpn.
Mazda Cosmo Company Car: Hemming’s has a blog entry about an employee of Distributors Illings Mazda Pty., an importer of Mazdas in South Africa. Basil McLaren snapped this photo of the Mazda Cosmo Sport in 1970, just as it came off the boat and made it his company car. Lucky bloke!
Okay, okay. We can’t keep the rabid Nissan nutters at bay any more. Luckily, as with most nostalgic car shows in Japan, the New Year Meeting has heavy emphasis on Skylines with a hearty helping of Fairladies and Sunnies on the side. But we’ve got some Other Marque love in here as well. Hino and Suzuki, anyone? Click through to see JNC operative Derek Y’s final transmission. Continue reading
If you know of or would like to publicize an event, send us a tip at feedback(at)japanesenostalgiccar(dot)com
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Welcome to Part 2 of our 2010 New Year Meeting coverage. JNC operative Derek Y. has sent us photos of Toyotas, Mazdas and Mitsubishis and a solitary Honda. We know you’re eager to get to the eye candy so let’s jump right in. Continue reading
The First Japanese Racers in the US: H. Sakamoto and W.T. Watanabe, known only by their first initials, were the first recorded Japanese race car drivers in the US. They piloted a Mercer and a Case and Stutz respectively. Writer Dan Strohl is asked us to ask you JNC readers if you have any information about these two. Read the whole story at Hemmings.
So as we’re sure you all know, the biggest Japanese kyuusha show of the year took place last weekend. The 2010 New Year Meeting has come and gone, and we just received an incoming transmission beamed across the Pacific from our operative Derek Y! Continue reading
Are you’re a J-tin fan having trouble justifying a set of fat rollers that cost more than your whole car? Soothe your guilty conscience and your wallet with the new JNC Vintage Barrels T-shirt! Fifteen of the most iconic old school wheels adorn the front of this stylin’, 100 percent cotton, pre-shrunk tee, while a Japanese Nostalgic Car logo graces the sleeve. See if your friends can name them all by ordering here today!
The icing on Mazda’s 90th birthday cake must be the SpeedSource Mazda RX-8‘s victory a few hours ago at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona enduro. Drivers Jonathan Bomarito, Nick Ham, David Haskell, and Sylvain Tremblay repeated their 2008 win amidst a field of Porsche GT3s and Camaros.
Of course, Mazda has some experience at this venue, having conquered all at the 1979 Daytona 24 Hours during the inaugural run of the IMSA SA22C Mazda RX-7. See JNC #3 for the full story. Who says rotaries aren’t reliable?
[RX-8 image courtesy of The Epoch Times.]
A little weekend browsing for you guys: Mazda just launched its 90th Anniversary mini-site. Timeline photos abound, including some rarely-seen commercial vehicles.
Don your headbands, hang your friends out your side windows and get ready for Shakotan Boogie. In 1987 Japan apparently made a movie out of the manga that celebrates the bosozoku lyfe. Plot points include cross-cultural drag racing that ends in some hard-to-watch hakosuka and F-body carnage, but the parade of boso’ed cars is worth the suffering. There are more Japanese lowriders than you can shake a takeyari exhaust at — Soarers, Cedrics, Glorias, Crowns, Skylines, and even some other not-so-boso cars like an AW11 MR2 and Honda CR-X.
Anyone who can name all the cars in this clip will win either an Apple iPad or our eternal admiration (prize to be determined).
Mr. K Talks Z-Cars: Yutaka Katayama opines on the Nissan 370Z, Toyota FT-86, Datsun 200SX, toy ponies, and the future of driving. Full article at Racer.com.
If you know of or would like to publicize an event, send us a tip at feedback(at)japanesenostalgiccar(dot)com
This week:
Future events: Continue reading
From the video description:
Experience the BRE Reunion! In the Fall of 2008, BRE (Brock Racing Enterprise) team members reconnected en mass for the first time since the end of the 1972 race season. The BRE team changed the perception of Japanese cars as they won the SCCA D Production Pacific Coast Championship in 1969 with the BRE Datsun 2000 Roadster, the C Production Championships in 1970 and 71 with the BRE Datsun 240Z and won the professional Trans-Am 2.5 series Championships in 1971 and 72 with the BRE Datsun 510s. If you want to hear insider stories of what it was like to be on the BRE team and some of the crazy things that happened, you can get a two hour DVD of the reunion at www.bre2.net. Also a favorite moment of the night was when each team member shared what they are doing today. Don’t miss it!
Watch and learn. Available at BRE2.net.
Mazdas at the 2010 Retromobile Show: Retromobile 2010 is one of the biggest classic car shows in Paris. They have all sorts of vehicles showcasing the history of locomotion, and this year Mazda had a big display. Check out photos at LeBlogAuto and ClassicMotor.se.
Strong Nostalgic Showing at the Tokyo Auto Salon: This year’s TAS had more J-tin that we can remember for a long time. Check out Speedhunters’ coverage here: Old School Style @ TAS 2010.
Hat tip to DegreE.
Kyuusha Dealership Found Outside of Japan: We’ve seen plenty of nostalgic car dealerships in Japan, but this is the first one we’ve heard of on the outside. Sadly for us ‘Murrikins, it’s still on the other side of the ocean — Christchurch, New Zealand to be specific. But it’s a start! Check out the post on Retro-Classics.
In just a few days Mazdafarians will begin rejoicing in honor of their chosen marque’s 90th birthday. It has been ninety cycles of the sun since Toyo Cork Kyogo Company, Ltd. was founded in in the city of Hiroshima. Continue reading
Forza 3 is teaming up with Jalopnik for the next round of downloadable cars for the racing sim. Let’s try to stuff the ballot box with J-tin like this Mazda RX-3SP (flames not included). Other candidates include the ’84 Mazda RX-7 GSL-SE, first-gen Honda CR-X Si and quasi-nostalgics like the B13 Sentra SE-R, Mazda 323 GT-R, Acura Legend, Mitsubishi Evos I and V, ’96 Scooby STi, and ST165 and ST185 Toyota Celica WRC cars.
UPDATE: Looks like the RX-3, RX-7, CR-X and a some of the newer J-tin made it!
Now there’s a new batch, including a Datsun 240Z (um, why wasn’t this car in there from the beginning?), 1970 Corolla, Pulsar GTI-R, R31 Skyline, AW11 MR2, Mitsubishi Starion, and more.
Hat tip to JamesE.
If you’re expecting mail from Japan you might be lucky enough to receive a Nissan Skyline or two. The automaker is teaming up with the Minami Kanto Regional Office (Nissan’s home turf) of the Japan Post Network to offer these postage stamps depicting the history of the Skyline model. The sets will be available from February 1 to August 31 and will be limited to 5000 sheets. Continue reading
