Hanshin Expressway Plows Through Building

Posted on February 10, 2009 by Ben Hsu


This is the Gate Tower Building in downtown Osaka, an otherwise nondescript office high-rise except for the fact that the Hanshin Expressway plows right through the middle of it.

How did this happen? Apparently it’s the result of a freak zoning loophole that can be traced back to the Meiji Era. Construction negotiations stood at an impasse for five years, and when the builders finally reached a compromise, this is what happened.

The highway bores through levels 5 through 7 of the building, but lest an errant car come barreling through some hapless office worker’s cubicle, those floors contain no tenants, only elevator shafts and stairwells. In somewhat comical Japanese fashion, this most obvious trait was completely ignored when nicknaming the building, which has been christened  “the beehive” due to its busy atmosphere. Follow the jump for one more photo of what it looks like as you’re about to drive through it. Continue reading →

Posted in japan, road trip | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Cash for Clunkers, UK Edition

Posted on February 10, 2009 by Ben Hsu

uk_cash4clunkers Egad! As if the moist climate of  Ye Olde World hasn’t taken enough old J-tin, it appears that Cash for Clunkers programs are now being rolled out in the UK as well. In this piece titled “Money for old rope? Not quite. Money for an old Datsun? Maybe…” it says the government is looking to offer as much as £2200 for an old car, even though we know that our friends across the pond are masters at bodywork on rusty old machines. Just take a look at some of their projects in our forum and you’ll see the craftsmanship at work.

We’ve already seen programs like this in Germany, and some American states have them as well. How many nostalgics will be lost before this genocide is over?

Posted in laws | 6 Comments

Subaru 1000, Front Drive for the Jet Age

Posted on February 9, 2009 by Ben Hsu

We’re not sure if this 1967 Subaru ad is trying to draw a on the company’s aeronautic background, but there’s plenty of jet footage interspersed with a group of Subaru 1000s at the high-banked Yatabe test track. Of course, Subaru parent company Fuji Heavy Industries was formed from the remnants of a Nakajima Aircraft, and many ex-Nakajima employees used their knowledge of lightweight materials and unibody construction during the development of the 1000. It’s a long story that you can read all about in the Subaru 50 year retrospective we did in JNC Issue 2, but for now you can watch the strain the front-wheel-drive family car puts on its whitewall tires.

Posted in cm, subaru | Leave a comment

Honda S800 & S2000 Rendezvous

Posted on February 9, 2009 by Ben Hsu

hondas800_s2000
How about a nice Honda screensaver, illustrated by master automotive artist Bow? It’s called “Dream,” a charming little story in which a vintage S800 has a coastal rendezvous with a new S2000. Unfortunately the S-car lineage has just ended for the second time, but Honda is great at drawing the historical connection for its loyal Japanese customers. Hopefully it’ll return when the economy recovers. “Dream” is available at Honda’s website for Windows PCs and Macs.

Posted in honda | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

EVENTS: JCCA New Year Meeting 2009

Posted on February 6, 2009 by Ben Hsu


Ok, we lied. This is the last post before the weekend. Click the picture above for nearly 300 pics from the JCCA New Year Meeting. Enjoy!

Posted in events, new year meeting | 6 Comments

Mazda Cosmo Sports Monster Fighter!

Posted on February 6, 2009 by Ben Hsu

It’s Friday and you’ve made it through another week. We thought we’d end this one with another old Japanese clip featuring a nostalgic car. This time it’s Return of Ultraman, the fourth in the tokusatsu television series, running from 1971-72. If you’re not familiar with Ultraman he’s basically a regular bloke who, when needed, can transform into a 150-foot tall giant with superpowers to fight off monsters attacking Japan.

And what car does such a hero drive off to save the day in? Why, a Mazda Cosmo Sports, of course! Only the first ever mass-produced car with a rotary engine could be futuristic enough for a story that takes place in what seemed very far away at the time – 1993. A pity they didn’t foresee the FD RX-7! Also, in case you were wondering what the MAT logo emblazoned on the door stands for, it’s “Monster Attack Team.” Have a great weekend, everybody!

Posted in mazda, Video Games | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

Famous Toyota and Mazda Racers, JNC Issue 3 Sneak Peek

Posted on February 6, 2009 by Ben Hsu

toyota2000gt_yatabe Time to check in with our friends at Speedhunters, who have had the fortune to see the famous yellow and green Toyota 2000GT land speed record car in person.

If you’ve read Lifelong Pursuit, our profile about Shunichi Kasai’s Toyota 2000GT, you’ll know that in 1966 a prototype 2000GT broke 16 FIA-sanctioned world and international land speed records in a 72-hour endurance run at the now-decomissioned Yatabe test track. Oh, did we mention that it was during a torrential rainstorm?

Continue reading →

Posted in mazda, motorsports, toyota | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Honda Builds 20M Cars in North America

Posted on February 5, 2009 by Ben Hsu

hondaaccord_marysvilleusa On November 1, 1982, the first Japanese car built in America rolled off the assembly lines in Marysville, Ohio. The manufacturer was Honda, and the car was a gray Accord sedan wearing the license plate “USA 001”.

Today, Honda has four factories in the US, two in Canada and one in Mexico, and on February 3 Honda produced its 20 millionth North American-built car. 77 percent of the Hondas sold here are built locally and Honda has even exported close to a million of these cars to overseas markets.

As for the original Accord, it now resides at The Henry Ford museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

[Honda]

Posted in honda | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Big Gallery of Airborne Nostalgics

Posted on February 5, 2009 by Ben Hsu

airbornecelica3
One of our favorite recent threads has been “J-tin Raced in Anger” by JNCer Drew_TSi_Si_STi. From there we collected a subset of nostalgics that have briefly managed to divorce themselves from planet earth. Hang on tight, brace yourself for a busted spine and click through for more pics! Continue reading →

Posted in datsun, japan, mazda, mitsubishi, motorsports, nissan, rally, subaru, toyota | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

A Very Brief History of Green Hondas

Posted on February 5, 2009 by Ben Hsu

honda_hybrid_history
Honda’s new Insight hybrid went on sale in Japan earlier today, accompanied by a minisite covering the history of their ecologically-minded vehicles. Starting with the Super Cub motorcycle’s OHC four-stroke motor in 1958. The first car is the kei-class N360 of 1967, followed by the 1972 Honda Civic CVCC, which stands for Compound Vortex Controlled Combustion and made the Civic the first car to meet US 70s emission standards without a catalytic converter. Interestingly, there’s then a 27-year gap between that and the 1999 Insight. Surely they could have inserted a CR-X HF or something in between, right? The Insight goes on sale in the US on Earth Day, April 22.

Posted in honda | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Mitsubishi Ends Dakar Participation

Posted on February 4, 2009 by Ben Hsu

mitsubishi_pajero_1985_dakarAnother day, another cutback. As the worst ecomonic climate in decades hits the auto industry and everything connected to it, Mitsubishi announced today that they are ending participation of the Dakar Rally citing exactly that reason.

It’s a shame, too, because the epic race, which started in 1979 as an off-road enduro stretching from Paris, France to Dakar, Senegal, was one of the most brutal motorsports competitions on earth. It tumbles through the harshest African sand dunes, and almost never finishes without claiming a life or two.

And Mitsubishi dominated. It won the race outright a total of 12 times and held an unbroken a record of seven straight victories from 2001 and 2007, a streak that would have likely continued if the 2008 running had not been canceled due to threats of terrorism. All of these championships were won with various generations of the Pajero (aka Montero) SUV, starting in 1985 with the one shown above.

So far we’ve already seen Subaru and Suzuki pull out of WRC and Honda leave Formula 1. Here’s to hoping that the triple diamond mafia returns to Dakar domination once the economy recovers.

Full press release after the jump: Continue reading →

Posted in mitsubishi, motorsports, rally | 5 Comments

A Visit to Daisuke Shoten

Posted on February 3, 2009 by Ben Hsu

daisuke_shouten_003
Our buddy over at Nori Yaro posted on a visit to Daisuke Shoten, a shop specializing in mad bosozoku style cars. It sits in a field of grass as tall as your shoulders and the only sign signifying its existence is spraypainted on the side of a decrepit old van. Inside, you get works like the masterpiece above. Continue reading →

Posted in bosozoku, tuning shop | 8 Comments

Honda: The Power of Dreams Animated Film

Posted on February 3, 2009 by Ben Hsu

It’sa me, Soichiro! Honda: The Power of Dreams is a new Italian animated short film about the life of Soichiro Honda, founder of the motorcycle and car company that bears his name.

It become obvious when his sketches come to life and operate magic assembly line robots that this isn’t necessarily a 100 percent accurate telling of young Honda-san’s life. To be perfectly honest we were completely lost during much of it though it’s beautifully drawn.

To watch it, go to writer/director Michele D’Auria’s website and click “Shortfilm.” You can see a behind the scenes video after the jump. Continue reading →

Posted in honda, JNC Theater, Video Games | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Sayonara, Isuzu

Posted on February 2, 2009 by Ben Hsu

Well, it’s February. That means Isuzu’s passenger car division has quietly exited, stage left, from the US auto market as we reported would happen year ago.

The end of an era! Our brief time with Isuzu began in the 70s when General Motors, desperate for a small car, sold Geminis rebadged as Opels. The Isuzu brand itself eventually did make it stateside, most well-known for its SUVs like the Trooper, Rodeo, Amigo and the bizarre VehiCROSS. Ultimately, as market share decreased, it was relegated to selling rebadged GM trucks.

Isuzu’s most popular – a relative term, to be sure – car was the Impulse, which in later generations was also rebadged as the Geo Storm. We always thought that if the company had only ventured into US sales earlier, with its pioneering JDM models like the twin-cam Bellet GT-R (pictured above) or the 117 Coupe, it would have fared better.

In memoriam, we have posted some old Isuzu USA ads, starring middling sit-com star David Leisure as your prototypical slimy car salesman, Joe Isuzu. Continue reading →

Posted in cm, isuzu | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Ronald Reagan, Subaru BRAT Owner

Posted on February 2, 2009 by Ben Hsu

We got our latest copy of Subaru’s Drive magazine recently and in it was a feature story on Ronald Reagan’s 1978 Subaru BRAT. That’s right, our 40th President drove a Brumby!

Reagan used the 4WD pickup-style car primarily on his 688-acre Santa Barbara ranch until 1998, when the family sold the ranch. The car was gifted to a friend but appeared on eBay a number of years later. The well-worn car was then re-purchased by the ranch’s caretakers and fully restored with the help of Subaru of America. The finished product is complete with rear-facing jumper seats in the pickup bed, BRAT decals, white wheels and camper shell You can see more photos at Subaru’s website.

Posted in subaru | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Grandma Hoon in a Datsun Bluebird

Posted on February 2, 2009 by Ben Hsu

datsungrandmaAustralia’s fastest grandma, Barbara Colllier, age 70, co-pilots a Datsun Bluebird with her grandson John, age 14. He needed a certified passenger to compete at Toowoomba’s Charlton Speedway but his grandfather Jack failed a mandatory medical exam. That’s when Barbara donned a full race suit and helmet to step in. Now she hits the track for four races at every meet. Good on ya, granny!

[Courier Mail]

Posted in datsun, motorsports, nissan | 1 Comment

All Datsun Beach BBQ & Food Drive

Posted on February 1, 2009 by Ben Hsu

alldatsunbeachbbq003
The folks from Dime Quarterly put on a great gathering today for all Datsun and J-tin fans at Doheny Beach today. They provided excellent barbecue and collected food for the San Diego Food Bank. Click here for more photos from zetozeto99 and Dan.

Posted in datsun, events, nissan | Leave a comment

Car Chase Combat: Toyota Corona vs. Mazda RX-3

Posted on January 30, 2009 by Ben Hsu

If Tuesday’s Subaru-on-Subaru action left you wanting more nostalgic car chase excitement, you’re in luck. Most Japanese films had a manufacturer sponsor that supplied them with cars, so all the main cars – and sometimes even the chase fodder – were usually of the same brand. But 1979’s No Grave for Us featured a multi-marque mix of J-tin doing what they do best!

In this scene our baddie absconds with a bag full of ill-gotten yen in a RT80 Toyota Corona, only to have our hero (played by total badass Yusaku Matsuda) hunt him down in a beautiful Mazda Savanna RX-3. Throw in a Nissan President for good measure and you have one awesome pursuit.

What’s more, the footage seems much more raw. When you can see suspensions bouncing up and down like paddleballs you know these cars are being driven hard.

Posted in mazda, toyota, Video Games | 15 Comments

Cash For Clunkers, German Edition

Posted on January 29, 2009 by Ben Hsu


Achtung! Ze Germans are getting in on the cash for clunkers program as well. The government is giving people who trade in an old car for scrap up to 2500 euros. In the first two days of the program’s existence, 420,000 people called in. Mein Gott! And lest you think there’s no J-tin in the land of BMWs and Benzes, think again.

[Autoblog]

Posted in laws | 5 Comments

All Datsun Beach BBQ and Food Drive

Posted on January 29, 2009 by Ben Hsu

510day_001
This weekend the folks at Dime Quarterly are holding another one of their great barbecue food drives! Bring some canned grub to donate and check out some old cars. The event takes place Jan 31 at Doheny State Beach. That’s right, everybody… SoCal nostalgists can go to the beach in January! Details here.

Posted in datsun, events, nissan | 4 Comments