We know you’re all craving the soothing flavor of carrot shochu, but alas, limited edition bottles of Kimi Kurasu Machi have either sold out or were unavailable in your prefecture to begin with. What now? Calm your nerves with the lovely artwork of Ota Takashi. Continue reading
The 3D Nostalgic Artwork of Ota Takashi
Posted in datsun, honda, mazda, museum, nissan, toyota
Tagged 510, bluebird, civic, cvcc, datsun, honda, honda s600, honda s800, japanese paper craft, mazda, nissan, ohta takashi, ota takashi, prince, rx-8, skyline, sports 800, toyota
6 Comments
SoCal Roadsters Toy Drive @ Datsun Heritage Museum
The SoCal Roasters Owners Club held their annual charity toy drive at the Datsun Heritage Museum last weekend. We’re always looking for an excuse to head down to the DHM, so Dan and I hopped into the Toyota and away we went (we really need a Datsun one of these days). Continue reading
Posted in datsun, events, museums
Tagged bre, datsun, datsun heritage museum, don devendorf, fairlady, jamie howe, john knepp, john morton, nissan, peter brock, roadster, sports 1600, sports 2000
3 Comments
Isuzu, Subaru and Daihatsu Label Liquor
The beauty of Kimi Kurasu Machi carrot shochu is that it combines three Japanese crazes — that of regional delicacies, alcohol, and limited edition products — and wraps them all in a label illustrated with nostalgic cars. Continue reading
Posted in isuzu, japan, subaru
Tagged carrot shochu, daihatsu, daihatsu midget, isuzu, isuzu 117, Kimi Kurasu Machi, kiyose, shochu, subaru, subaru 360, subaru sambar
6 Comments
JNC Contest: 1965 Toyota EX Dream Car
Last week’s contest in honor of the Tokyo Motor Show was a tough one. We got a lot of submissions but only one person got it right. Unprecedented! Continue reading
Posted in toyota
Tagged 1965 dream car, 1965 tokyo motor show, 1965 toyota ex, tokyo motor show, toyota, toyota ex
19 Comments
SEMA 2009: OS Giken TC24-B1 Twin-Cam L-Series Head
Behold what has been described as the holy grail for Datsun maniacs, the OS Giken TC24-B1! Imagine the sheer mad scientist insanity that must have flowed through Osamu Okazaki‘s brain for him to conjure up an entire bolt-on twin-cam head, complete with valvetrain, for the Nissan L-series motor. Continue reading
Event Horizon
If you know of or would like to publicize an event, send us a tip at feedback(at)japanesenostalgiccar.com
This week:
- November 3 – 6 / Las Vegas, Nevada: SEMA
- Friday, November 6 / Torrance, California: South Bay Monthly Meet
- Saturday, November 7 / Murrieta, California: Show-N-Shine Toy Drive
SEMA 2009: Toyota’s Old School Flavor
Yesterday we showed you some genuine nostalgics from Subaru and Honda. Toyota has been known to bring old school cars to SEMA in the past, but this year they cooked up a bunch of new cars with old school flavor. Continue reading
SEMA 2009: Nostalgics from Subaru and Honda
The floor of the Las Vegas Convention Center is much sparser than it has been in recent years, but SEMA 2009 is still several times the size of some Central American nations. We were heartened to see more and more OEM automakers getting in touch with their roots. Continue reading
Posted in events, honda, subaru
Tagged civic, civic 1200, cr-x, honda, legacy, mugen, mugen cr-x, n600, s2000, s2000 cr, sambar, sema, sema 2009, subaru, subaru 360, vip
21 Comments
SEMA or Bust: JNC Road Trip
JNC Contest: Guess This Concept
With all the news of the Tokyo Motor Show last week, we thought we’d start a contest to see who can recognize this concept (Hint: It was never built). The winner will receive a Wonda Choro-Q Hakosuka Skyline GT-R (sans coffee) from our outing to Japan last spring. By the way, we still have the Import Bible T-shirt Contest going on until November 12.
UPDATE: New contest rules apply, so send your answers to the feedback address at the very bottom of the page (literally, the very bottom, below the comments) with the subject “JNC CONTEST” and we’ll pick a winner out of all the correct answers at random. Contest ends 11:59 Pacific Time Nov 5.
Another photo after the jump. Continue reading
Happy Halloween from JNC
Did you know that the Grim Reaper’s own personal ride is a sinister S30 Z? JNCer edz280zx was somehow able to both see it and live to draw about it. Have a happy All Hallows’ Eve, everyone! Stay safe and don’t OD on chocolate!
Friday Video: R31 Skyline in Abunai Deka
Here are some random clips from 80s Japanese cop show Abunai Deka, starring the R31 Nissan Skyline before they switched to the F31 Nissan Leopard / Infiniti M30. We’re not sure what’s happening but there is senseless tire squealing. Continue reading
Kidney, Anyone? 25K-Mile 1974 Toyota Celica
We’ve seen low mileage Celica Liftbacks before (both yellow, oddly enough), but this is the first Coupe. According to the seller, this 1974 Toyota Celica had just one owner for the first 34 years of its life. When he passed, the current seller acquired it in the estate sale with the plans of making it a “hot rod,” whatever that means. Continue reading
Event Horizon – SEMA Edition
Toyota in 2007 had a special display outside the main hall to celebrate their half-century mark, and in 2006 a bunch of their vintage trucks. Last year, Toyo Tires displayed Roy de Guzman’s 1972 Hakosuka and House of Kolor had a wicked Subaru Sambar. Next week we’ll be scouring the more than 2 million square feet of exhibit space to see what companies have brought out for us nostalgiaficionados this year. Word on the street is that Subaru will have a nice surprise, so if you happen to make it to SEMA, be sure to stop by their booth!
If you know of or would like to publicize an event, send us a tip at feedback(at)japanesenostalgiccar.com
This week:
- Thursday, October 29 / Santa Clara, California: Nor Cal’s South Bay Datsun/Toyota/Old School Meet
- Saturday, October 31 / Dana Point, California: Doheny Beach All Nissan/Datsun BBQ
- Sunday, November 1 / Melbourne, Australia: Torquay Motor Show
- Sunday, November 1 / Fort Worth, TX : North Texas Classic Japanese Car Meet
GigaGigaGigaGiga Giga Pudding Sticker
Pop quiz: what is the coolest thing in the universe? The answer, it may surprise you to know, is Giga Pudding. Unfortunately, the gelatinous delicacy is only available in Japan. But, JNCer ohcanada_00 has come to the rescue with the next best thing — Giga Pudding stickers! We just received ours in the mail today and slapped it onto the JNC Wagon. Now we can dream of custardy goodness whenever we drive. Jealous? Order your own from ohcanada_00!
1977 Dodge Colt / Mitsubishi Lancer Promo Video
It’s the late 70s and the public is clamoring for smaller, efficient cars. Sadly, your portfolio consists of a series of monster land barges where even the smallest offering is several times the size of a Honda Civic. What’s the best way to regain market share? Continue reading
Subaru 216A, the Uber Toyota FT-86
As if Toyotaku weren’t already miffed enough that the long-awaited return of the AE86 was packin’ a Subaru 2.0L boxer under its sloping hood, here’s a little salt for that wound: it appears that the top line version of the Toyota FT-86 will actually be a Subaru. Continue reading
Koreisha Mark to Undergo Redesign?
After all this time we still get questions about the JNC logo. Specifically, the teardrop-shaped leaf in the upper right hand corner.
To explain, we must first describe the Wakaba Mark for beginning drivers. The Japanese government requires that new license holders display the green and yellow symbol on their cars during the first year of driving. In other words, it’s a blaring noob warning for seasoned roadgoers. Stateside, you’ve probably seen them fastened askance on tuned Civics and S13s.
So when we were coming up with ideas for the JNC logo, we chose to incorporate its counterpart, the Koreisha Mark, or elderly driver’s mark. After all, we were talking about old school cars! Display of this emblem is required when a driver reaches 75 years old, or age 70 if you have any conditions that may impair your driving.
Each mark comes in two styles: a suction cup type meant for the rear window, and a magnet type to stick on the hood. The Koreisha Mark has been in use since 1997, but recently the Japanese government has been considering a redesign. Continue reading
Posted in japan
Tagged beginner driver mark, elderly driver mark, koreisha mark, wakaba mark
10 Comments
One More from Tokyo: 1917 Mitsubishi Model A
There was one last old school car from the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show and we’re talking old old school. The triple diamond mafia calls the 1917 Mitsubishi Model A the first production car built in Japan — if by production you mean 22 units, including pre-production ones, screwed together by workers in the company’s shipyards. Continue reading
Posted in mitsubishi
Tagged mitsubishi, mitsubishi model a, mitsubishi type a, tokyo motor show, tokyo motor show 2009
7 Comments
Nissan’s 40th Anniversary Z-Car Tribute
We didn’t supply you with a Friday Video this week but Nissan has come to the rescue with a tribute to 40 years of the Datsun 240Z. Enjoy!
