Let’s see, we’ve covered the Japan Grand Prixs of the 60s and the Touring Sedan Cup battles of the 70s. How about we finish off our racing vids series with some 80s-tastic silhouette racing? Kev has written about Group 5 before so we won’t rehash the details but if you click this link you can see some of the cars that inspired the bosozoku/kyushakai craze in all their glorious action.
Silhouette Racing Glory Days
Event Horizon: Coast-to-Coast J-tin Meets
Just a quick reminder, there are lots of Jtin events going on this weekend no matter where you are. Continue reading
Japan Grand Prix, The Early Days
Continuing on the motorsports theme, our next stop is at the Japan Grand Prix. This one comes by way of banpei and appears to be a DVD about the race. Unfortunately embedding was disabled so you’ll have to click on the links below to watch the videos. Continue reading
TS Class Warfare: Civics, Sunnys, Starlets, RX-3s
Here is the first of a series of vintage race videos that we’ll be posting this week. We stumbled upon this while catching up with beoneoneoh, who can always be counted on to unearth the Sunny-related. This is footage from a race that took place at Tsukuba Circuit almost exactly 32 years ago, on May 29, 1977.
In the hotly contested TS Class all the major players came to the fight: Nissan with the Sunny, Toyota with the Starlet, Honda with the Civic, and Mazda with the Savanna RX-3. Sunnys saw much success in the series and this race was no exception. According to the video’s notes, factory Nissan driver Kenji Tohira took first place in the No. 15 Sunny 1200GX.
Posted in datsun, honda, mazda, motorsports, nissan, toyota
Tagged datsun 1200, honda civic sb1, mazda rx-3, mazda savanna rx-3, nissan sunny, nissan sunny 1200gx, toyota starlet, ts class, ts cup
5 Comments
Holdin' It Down in Chi-Town
JNCer lwrdr2121 just posted some pics from last weekend’s Chicago-area old school Japanese car meet. Head on over to his photo album to see the rest.
Posted in events, mazda, toyota
4 Comments
New Nissan Heritage Collection Website
Ready to kill off a few hours? Nissan has created a user-friendly, navigable catalogue of their legendary Heritage Collection (see coverage in JNC #3), simply called Nissan-Heritage-Collection.com. The Zama warehouse is still not open to the public, but here’s the next best thing. Continue reading
Hot Wheels Datsun 510, Now in Brown
First it came in metallic blue, which was so scarce we never actually found it in stores. Then you could buy one in whatever color you wanted, as long as it was black. Now Hot Wheels is releasing what I personally think is the coolest color of them all for the Datsun Bluebird 510, metallic brown! Keep your eyes peeled and if you see one, let us know where you found it.
Honda Z600 Appears in Sprint Commercial
We’ve been waiting for the Palm Pre to go on sale so we can ditch our horribly outdated five-year-old Sony Ericsson Z500. And even though Sprint’s “Now Network” campaign is now on heavy rotation, we didn’t realize that it was for a product we actually want until we caught this Honda Z600 (not to be confused with our P.O.S. phone) in the latest commercial and started paying attention. Funny how that works, isn’t it? This isn’t the first time some vintage J-tin has shown up in an ad, and we’re sure it won’t be the last.
Friday Video: Unmarked Toyota Crown vs. Rambler American
So perhaps Toyota fans are feeling a bit left out, what with all the Nissan-heavy chases from the likes of Seibu Keisatsu, Abunai Deka and this still-unnamed film. Well fret no more, thanks to JNCer a121 we have another Japan vs. Detroit showdown! This time, it’s an unmarked Toyota S50 Crown police car in pursuit of some gunmen in a Rambler American. And because this film, whose title we sadly know not, takes place in the Philippines there’s plenty of Toyota and Mitsubishi background candy for you to ogle. Happy viewing!
Posted in toyota, Video Games
10 Comments
Toyota 2000GT in Hemmings
This month’s Hemmings Sports & Exotic has a Toyota 2000GT on the cover with the title “Bullet Train.” How appropriate! It emerged from the same boom era as the Shinkansen and made just as big an impact. Besides, more press on the most sought after piece of J-tin in the world can’t be a bad thing. Unless you’re saving up for one, we suppose.
[Source: Toyotageek]
Posted in media, toyota
10 Comments
SEMA x ToyotaFest
SEMA’s most recent e-newsletter included a link to an article about Toyotafest! This should be of particular interest to those of us in the nostalgic car scene, as the Specialty Equipment Manufacturer’s Association is always keeping a pulse on where the car hobby is headed.
Posted in media, toyota
4 Comments
Toyota Publica Starlet 1000
Before the Toyota Starlet became a hot RWD hatchback, it was part of the Publica line, chassis code KP40, like the Celica Supra. Before that, there was this, the KP30 Publica Coupe, sold as simply the 1000 in Europe.
Posted in toyota
9 Comments
Ode to a 1979 Honda Civic Wagon
Why is it that most classic car enthusiasts love station wagons? Is it because they’re symbolic of a time gone by and all but extinct from new car lots? Do we just fondly remember going on family road trips? Or maybe it’s the car-like stance combined with the practicality of an SUV. Many of us at here at JNC are certified wagon nuts and so are the guys at Hemmings. We hope their Wagon Snippets become a regular part of the blog, and we’re stoked to see them start off with some J-tin, a 1979 Honda Civic!
Posted in honda, wagons
7 Comments
Mazdafarians Get Down at MazFest 2009
We’ve been so hung up on the Mazda T2000 that we almost forgot that today was MazFest 2009! Imagine rolling into the car show with that behemoth. Or better yet, taking it on the road course at Fontana’s Auto Club Speedway! Actually, we were content just to observe and report on the cars that were there. Continue reading
Posted in datsun, events, mazda, nissan
6 Comments
Friday Video: Nissan President Getaway
This video has all the signs of Seibu Keisatsu, such as a fleet of Nissan Cedric police cars led by an S30 Z, but it’s not: Daimon doesn’t make a heroic appearance at the end to dispatch the enemy with a single blast of his shotgun. Our closest guess via Google Translator is that these are scenes from a movie called Big City, or something like that. Whatever it’s called, it proves that nothing can stop a big steamrollin’ Nissan President except maybe lighting its gas tank on fire. Have a great weekend!
Posted in datsun, nissan, Video Games
4 Comments
Why We Love the Mazda T2000
Since we reserve most of our drool for Fairlady Zs and TE27s here at JNC, some of you may have wondered why we went ga-ga over the Mazda T2000 that appeared on eBay earlier this week. Well, because it was a monster. Continue reading
Texas Nissans Meet, June 6
For those of you in the Lone Star State, Texas Nissans is having a meet in Austin on June 6. It’s a Nissan meet but they want some Datsuns to represent old school! The car show will start at 10am and there’ll be a cruise through scenic Austin afterwards. You can find more details here.
Posted in datsun, events, nissan
2 Comments
Honda & Acura Show, June 7, New York
On Sunday, June 7 This Old Honda will be hosting a Honda & Acura Car Show at Formula H Motorworks in Middletown, New York. It’ll be the perfect opportunity to check out classic S600s, JDM Beats, and more! Doors open at 10am. For more information visit the links above. Admission is free!
Mysteries of the Datsun 810 Maxima Voice Box Revealed
In the early 80s, the dawn of the personal computer age, no form of electronic gimmickry was considered too pointless. The family coach for a friend of mine was none other than a 1982 Datsun 810 Maxima wagon, nearly identical in appearance to the Cressida wagons I love so dearly today, except it had one very important feature: the Maxima spoke! Continue reading
