Last December, one of the final events at Toyota’s MegaWeb showroom in Tokyo, before the venue closed for good at the end of the year, was the unveiling of 16 concept cars. One of them, an electric SUV called the Toyota Compact Cruiser, was said to have been inspired by a classic Land Cruiser. Though buried way in the back row, it was actually one of the most compelling of the 16 Toyota and Lexus concepts shown. Now, it has won a 2022 Auto Design Award for Best Concept. Continue reading
A few years ago a friend of JNC finally bought his dream car, a machine that he’d been talking about and saving up for for years. It had a Toyota engine, but the rest was a bit more British. After a long search he finally found one in the proper color and condition. It appeared to have been well cared for and the seller seemed honest, so he made the deal in a private party sale on the most expensive car he’d ever bought, happy to have finally achieved his long-awaited goal. Within 24 hours of taking possession, the motor exploded due to oil starvation. What should have been a beautiful ownership experience was marred by a $10,000 repair bill.
What’s the worst car buying experience you’ve ever had?
The best comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s your most memorable rainy day car story?“. Continue reading
You hear about the “little old lady” driven sports cars still with their original owners, but how many of those stories are actually true? In the case of one Acura Integra Type R, the story is not simply myth. The husband and wife who own the ITR are 86 and 84 years old, respectively. And thanks to a generous shop and crowdfunded donors, this epitome of Honda engineering has been reconditioned for the world’s coolest grandparents. Continue reading
What deep sea creature does the 1973-76 Nissan Bluebird U remind you of? The 6-cylinder variant of the 610-generation Bluebird needed an elongated front end to accommodate the straight-six, so Nissan gave the nose a whole new design. That included scuttles that looked like shark gills and a pointed prow that resembled a shark’s snout. In the grand tradition of Japanese nicknames, the Bluebird U came to be known as the sameburu, with same (sah-may) being the word for “shark” and buru an abbreviation for Bluebird. Happy 610 Day from JNC!
The hits just keep on coming from Toyota. After a period of sporty car drought, Toyota is no longer pulling any punches. A revived Supra, second-generation 86, GR Yaris and GR Corolla have all arrived (or will arrive) in quick succession. Next up: the gorgeous GR GT3 has been confirmed to have moved into the development stage. Continue reading
Forget Dom Toretto. The best action scene involving a red FD Mazda RX-7 comes from a far more obscure movie that also has the word “Fast” in the title, and beats the original The Fast and the Furious by seven years. In 1994’s Fast Getaway II, an RX-7 Touring leads police cruisers on a long car chase through the streets of Tucson, Arizona. Continue reading
May marked the 90th anniversary of when Mitsubishi Fuso built its first vehicle, a 38-passenger bus, at its Kobe shipyard. While researching the B46 bus, we learned that Mitsubishi Fuso has a small collection of classic trucks dating back to 1959. They were restored nearly a decade and a half ago, but then left essentially untouched until the height of the pandemic. Continue reading
Today is National Wiper Day in Japan, a date to remind drivers to replace their wiper blades in the name of safety. A date with the same month and day numeral was chosen because wipers are replaced in pairs, and June was chosen because it marks the start of the rainy season in Japan. In fact, some of Japan’s most famous races have been held in and decided by the rain, and every time we’ve been to Fuji Speedway it’s been soaked in rain (not that it ever held the drivers back).
What’s your most memorable rainy day car story?
The best comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What should the plot of the Gran Turismo TV show be?“. Continue reading
We are packing up the Land Cruiser and heading to the 2022 Toyotafest! If you’re at the show, please stop by and say hello. Look for the red JNC booth at Marina Green Park in Long Beach, California this Saturday, June 4, from 9am to 3pm. We will have items from the JNC Shop, and an all-new shirt design that we will share on our social media pages (Instagram and Facebook) tomorrow. Any remaining stock after the show will go into our online shop. See you there!
The Toyota AE86 is finally getting immortalized in a highly detailed 1:8-scale model kit. Specifically, it’s a weekly subscription kit by DeAgostini in which parts will be mailed to the subscriber every seven days for over two years. At the end of that patience-testing run, they’ll be treated to a replica of a 1983 Toyota Sprinter Trueno that measures over 20 inches long. Continue reading
The Toyota GR Corolla debuted in Japan today, but the event was perhaps imbued with a different meaning than the US launch. Turns out, it’s the culmination of a years-long effort by company President Akio Toyoda to make the Corolla interesting again. “Because it is a beloved car by so many people,” Toyoda said, “I don’t want it to become a commodity.” Continue reading
Recently we got the chance to manhandle the 2023 Nissan Z. Nissan provided a base version, now called Sport, and an enthusiast’s version, called Performance. Most reviews have focused on the Performance trim, and rightly so. While the Performance is definitely the one to get, we couldn’t help noticing that the Sport had one of the best OEM wheel designs we’ve seen in the last decade. Continue reading
It has now been 90 years since the first vehicle to wear the Mitsubishi Fuso brand was built. The sub-brand’s lineup of heavy-duty trucks and buses has been part of Japan’s automotive landscape for nearly a century. While perhaps not as alluring as rally racers or turbocharged sports cars, countless Japanese had their first rides to school in a Fuso Rosa kindergarten bus, or have had their apartment towers built with the help of Fuso Super Great dump trucks. Continue reading
EXT. TRIAL MOUNTAIN CIRCUIT — DAY
The world’s best drivers are gathered at the track, prepping their machines for the bout. It’s an eclectic mix of cars: Toyota GT-One, NISMO Skyline GT-R LM GT1, TVR Cerbera LM, Vector M12 GT2, Renault Espace F1, and so on. The TEAM OWNER approaches the DRIVER in a panic.
TEAM OWNER: How can you be so calm!? Unless we place first, our season is done!
DRIVER: Don’t worry, I got this.
TEAM OWNER: Look, I took a chance on you. A week ago you were hopping hills in Seattle in a 1982 Toyota Starlet. What makes you think you can—
DRIVER: Three words.
The DRIVER swings open the door to an enclosed trailer. Gasps echo throughout the paddock. Sunlight falls on a bright red spoiler the size of picnic table.
DRIVER: Pikes Peak Escudo.
Last week it was revealed that Sony is developing a Gran Turismo TV show. This has the potential to be all sorts of bad. Or maybe really great. Whatever your take is, tell us what you think we’ll see in the serialized adaptation of “the real driving simulator”.
What should the plot of the Gran Turismo TV show be?
The best comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What is the ultimate Japanese car?“. Continue reading
It’s really hard to make a good video game movie. It’s also really hard to make a good car movie. None of this is going to stop Sony from trying to make a Gran Turismo TV show, though. Apparently, it’s one of several adaptations from popular PlayStation titles in the works as films or television series. Continue reading
Here comes Jerry with a new car! The Subaru Justy started out as a Subaru Rex kei car, enlarged in all dimensions and fitted with a bigger engine to compete in the 1-liter class in Japan. In America, it gave Subaru a fuel-efficient compact to fill out their slim portfolio. However, the Justy was probably most well-known for introducing to Americans the dreaded CVT, or continuously variable transmission. Continue reading
Prodrive has announced information on the mysterious car teased last week. Prodrive chairman David Richards described the impetus: “The original 22B Impreza is considered the most iconic of Subarus and highly sought after. We wanted to enhance everything that made that car so special by applying the very latest technology to create our own modern interpretation of a car that’s established a place in motoring history.” Continue reading
The Toyota 4Runner, or HiLux Surf as it’s known as in Japan, debuted in October 1983. In simplest terms, it was a a HiLux pickup with an extra row of seats and a fiberglass bed canopy on it. Now, for the 2023 model year, Toyota is celebrating four decades and over 4 million in sales of one of the most popular SUVs in history. Continue reading
For 55 years, a 1966 Isuzu BXD30 “bonnet” bus faithfully served the Iya Valley area of Tokushima Prefecture. The green and blue coach was a regular sight among locals as it snaked through the scenic mountain roads loaded with tourists. Sadly, in November 2021 its need for repairs became too overwhelming for its owners and the bus was finally retired. However, a crowdfunding campaign will soon launch so that the Isuzu can be restored. Continue reading
On May 23, 2002 Honda launched the NSX-R. It was the ultimate manifestation of Japan’s ultimate car at the time. It offered true racing technology in a production road car — carbon fiber body panels, flow-through aero creating negative lift downforce, and fully balanced crankshaft assembly from pulley to clutch. Despite its engineering accomplishments, there are faster, more expensive, more beautiful cars that can also claim the title of “ultimate”. Feel free to define the term however you wish, but…
What is the ultimate Japanese car?
The best comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “Where do you want to travel, and with which car?“. Continue reading
