May 17, 2009, Mission Bay, San Diego, CA
Southern California hardly ever disappoints for the sheer number of nostalgics it contains. Case in point is the Old Skewl Meet today in gorgeous (overcast) Mission Bay in San Diego. This was just a get together, a free event, but it attracted not only locals, but a few guys from Los Angeles and even the Bay Area!
510’s and Ae86’s always show up to these events, but there were a few other surprises as well. Continue reading
If you thought the one thing missing from Pixar’s Cars was some JDM flava, then this is the video for you. In this animated short Mater and Lightning McQueen hit the mean streets of Tokyo for some street racing action with a plot following the tails of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift as closely as the best tandem drifters. There isn’t much of a nostalgic car presence unless you count the fender mirrors on the big sedan that is some kind of Century/Cedric mashup but it’s still entertaining. Enjoy, you import punks!
Well it was bound to happen. The Cash for Clunker program has hit the motherload, in the motherland of our favorite cars. Japan is now offering citizens ¥250,000 (about $2500) towards the purchase of a new car if they trade in any car 13 years or older.
When we first started following the Cash for Clunkers saga the program was a misguided attempt at ecology. But then the world economy turned to poo and any environmentally minded pretense was flushed down the toilet faster than a spider in a tissue. Continue reading
In my never ending effort to source old school Mitsu material for you guys, I came across these random images of Galant Lambdas ready to find new owners.
Unless my mind is playing tricks on me, I believe I see a “Challenger” badge on the fender. If so, then these were meant for the States, or some other export country where the car was badged as such. Continue reading
If you happened to see a blue Cressida wagon and blue AE86 pulled over on the 710 by the California Highway Patrol on the way to Toyotafest last Saturday, that was yours truly at JNC. We were running late and, shall we say, briskly, but an irate Officer Poncharello thought we were street racing. Somehow, we were able to convince him we weren’t and made it to the show to take the photos in this gallery. Unfortunately, each of us still got one of these: Continue reading
We get a lot of strange letters in our inbox here at JNC headquarters and most of them just leave us scratching our heads. But once in a while a shining gem rises above the chaff to make our bellies ache with laughter. Marcus H.’s rant was so well-written and funny that we cannot improve on it at all, so we’ll just print it in its entirety: Continue reading
We wanted to share JNCer mikko1200’s photos of the Lahti Classic Motor Show with you despite the fact that it wasn’t just a show of J-tin. It was held in Finland, a country that appears to have a healthy amount of respect for nostalgics, enough so that they are displayed alongside European and American marques. Continue reading
Just a little heads up on some local events coming up this weekend, in SoCal and Pennsylvania.
Continue reading
This Sunday we celebrate the one without which we would not exist, the one who brought us into the world… Continue reading
While Seibu Keisatsu may be the quintessential JNC cop show, here’s another zany vintage car chase video floating around the internet. The following selection is from a movie but we’re not sure which title, so if you figure it out, be sure to reply.
With this one we get a little more graphic with a Crown HT in the role of a bank robbery getaway car. Watch for the for the bad guy taking off his sunglasses… it’s classic.
Who knew that Mazdas could slice open a Nissan like a knife through hot butter? We have absolutely no idea what movie or TV show this is from, nor what is going on here, but it sure is zany! However, the fun times implied by a bright yellow Mazda Luce Legato surgically bisecting a Cedric down the middle seems to take a darker detour when the final crash engulfs several cars – and presumably their occupants – in flames and a (um, spoiler alert?) child’s red cap falls from the sky. If you know from where this clip originated, let us know in the comments.
There were so many car shows going on last weekend. All-Japan Day, “Australia’s premier all-japanese classic and import show,” went down in Adelaide, South Australia. But since they’re in the southern hemisphere doesn’t that make them, like, the Wisconsin of Oz? And yet, so… much… J-tin! Is that sound reasoning? Who knows, we fail at geography. But what we don’t fail at is drooling over very awesome cars.
Some of you look at the Events, Meets & Gatherings section of the forum for event announcements, but where do you think the pictures go after the show’s over, hmmmm? Check out both pages of JNCer benny_blanco‘s snaps (page 2 here). All of us (well, minus Kev) once again proclaim our jealousy of the Ozzies! Hand over your J-tin and eucalyptus Ewok bears now!!
And now for your viewing pleasure, photos from the 2009 Solvang Datsun Roadster Classic.
Sick of Datsuns? Come down to Long Beach, CA for the 14th Annual All-Toyotafest this Saturday, May 9. JNC will have a booth there along with our battle wagon, so stop by and say howdy. Doors open a 9AM and remember that this year, by popular demand, this show is back at the Queen Mary. See the Toyota Owners’ and Restorers’ Club for more details. If you love what Toyota does for you, you can’t miss this!
As we predicted over a year ago, the Cash for Clunkers program offered by states such as California and Texas is going national. Continue reading
You can tell from the name itself that the Concorso D’Eleganza Villa D’Este is not your typical Denny’s parking lot car meet. It’s held at the end of every April held on the shores of Lake Como, Italy, one of the most gorgeous locations planet Earth has to offer. The show stems from the days just before the Great Depression (the, um, first one, in 1929) and lasted through WWII. So what’s a Skyline doing there? Continue reading
We hope this event coverage is worth the wait. We gave you a sneak peek of the Time Machine Festival before, now here’s the real deal.
We just got a hot tip from Brian Baker that tomorrow, Sunday May 3 at 10:00am Eastern Time, Speed Channel will be broadcasting an episode of My Classic Car called “Jay Leno’s Little Cars.” Of course, that would include one of his prized possessions, a 1965 Honda SM600 that we profiled before it found its way into Leno’s hands. Also, we are using any excuse available to link to this photo again.
The episode will be run again on May 4 at 3:00am and May 5 at 3:00pm. The website has a full schedule.
Since our post earlier this week was pretty popular, we thought we’d round out the week with some more old school SA22C RX-7 love. Here’s a couple of vids.
This first vid is from Japanese video car magazine Video Option. It starts out with Ama-san from Tokyo rotary tuner RE-Amemiya building up an SA22C (shame there’s not more of that buildup phase) and then we skip ahead to Tsukuba Circuit where it’s put through its paces by Shinichi Yamaji (who I believe raced GT300 for RE-Amemiya at the time), posting a very respectable 1:05, a good time for a mildly tuned FD. If this doesn’t make you want one, I don’t know what will!
More video after the jump.
