Friday Video: Winners and Sinners and a Massive J-Tin Pileup

Posted on December 18, 2009 by Ben Hsu

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Vintage JDM Brochures Galore

Posted on December 17, 2009 by Ben Hsu

1971 toyota crown ms60 ms70 brochure 04

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 , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Oldschool JDM Tuner Challenge

Posted on December 15, 2009 by Kevin San


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

Posted on December 15, 2009 by Ben Hsu

te27 toyota corolla levin sprinter trueno 1
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 →

Posted in japan, toyota | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

Classic CM: Honda Prelude's Tach Within a Speedometer

Posted on December 14, 2009 by Ben Hsu

honda prelude sn speedometer tachometer
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.

Posted in cm, honda | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Rumored 2011 Nissan Silvia Styled After Foria Concept

Posted on December 12, 2009 by Ben Hsu

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 , , , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

OneDay OldCar Festival Shikoku 2009

Posted on December 11, 2009 by Ben Hsu

toyota_markII_cressida_black_01Right. 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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Event Horizon for the Weekend of Dec 11, 2009

Posted on December 11, 2009 by Dan Hsu

event

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

This week:

Continue reading →

Posted in events | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

1978 Mazda RX-3 Savanna of Undiluted Evil

Posted on December 10, 2009 by Ben Hsu

mazda rx-3 savanna
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]

Posted in mazda | Tagged , , | 22 Comments

"Crazy Nobe" Wakatsuki, First Datsun Importer, Dies at 81

Posted on December 9, 2009 by Ben Hsu

datsun_bluebird_210_ad 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 , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Learning Japanese: "Tateguro" Nissan Gloria A30

Posted on December 9, 2009 by Ben Hsu

nissan gloria a30 tateguro 2Welcome 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 , , , , , | 9 Comments

Last Monthly Torrance/South Bay Meet of 2009

Posted on December 9, 2009 by Ben Hsu

southBayMeet18_mazdaR100
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 , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Classic Japanese Show & Shine, Brisbane, Australia

Posted on December 8, 2009 by Ben Hsu

isuzu bellet
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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Kidney, Anyone? 1960 Datsun 1200 Van VPL221

Posted on December 7, 2009 by Matt De Mangos

datsun 1200 van vpl221 01
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 →

Posted in datsun, nissan | Tagged , , , | 31 Comments

Friday Video: A Toyota Celica's Mad Mission

Posted on December 4, 2009 by Ben Hsu


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 →

Posted in datsun, nissan, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , | 10 Comments

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

Posted on December 4, 2009 by Ben Hsu

option_toyota_ft-86_red_black_panda
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.

Posted in toyota | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Long-Lost Toyoda AA Discovered in Russia?

Posted on December 3, 2009 by Ben Hsu

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 →

Posted in toyota | Tagged , , , | 35 Comments

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

Posted on December 2, 2009 by Dan Hsu

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 →

Posted in toyota, wallpapers, Wednesday Wall | Tagged , , , , , | 34 Comments

Event Horizon: Winter's Coming Edition

Posted on December 2, 2009 by Dan Hsu

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:

Posted in events | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Classic CM: 1977 Mazda Cosmo AP

Posted on December 1, 2009 by Ben Hsu


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?

Posted in cm, mazda | Tagged , , | 9 Comments