Like the title says, the JNC 2009 Wall Calendar is now available.
It includes pics from our readers’ favorite articles, a special sneak peak at a future JNC article, and some general badass photography from everyone’s favorite JNC forum moderator, datsunfreak.
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Recently in our forum there’s been an ongoing discussion about the Wangan Midnight movie from back in the days of VHS. The story of the Devil Z has also been retold in anime and its original manga form. Now it appears that a new big screen version is in the works! Continue reading
They say that the goose-step, ridiculous and inefficient as it may seem, became the march of choice for dictatorships around the world specifically because of its silly appearance. After all, only a terrifying madman could force thousands of able-bodied soldiers to walk that absurdly in precise formation. It’s a method of instilling both awe and fear simultaneously.
That pretty much sums up the feeling we get when we see this horde of bosozoku cars. Cantilevered lip spoilers, double-wide fender flares and yard-long exhaust pipes look insane when parked, no doubt. But get caught in a swarm of them wreaking havoc on the expressway and suddenly it all begins to make sense, even when a dude dressed head-to-toe in a tiger costume rides a convertible’s door sill as his mohawked associate maniacally twirls a baseball bat in the air. It makes one wonder, are they’re launching a siege on Bartertown or something? It’s probably best not to ask questions and just get the hell out of their way.
One more completely deranged pic after the jump. Continue reading
At this rate, your JNC editors are going to run out of kidneys by Wednesday. Not only have we seen a 1427-mile Mazda RX-4 and a 33,000-mile ’79 Honda Civic, now there’s a 1985 Mazda RX-7 with only 2450 miles on eBay. What’s going on here? Is the Great Depression Part Deux forcing owners to release these specimens into the free market?
According to the seller, who also happens to be the original owner, this creamy white RX-7 has a chocolate brown interior topped with a dash of orange pinstripe. Delicious. It has always been garaged, and driven around the block every month to keep things fresh. If you do the math, that’s an average of 9 miles per month.
At the time of this writing, the bidding is up to $1525. But the owner will part with what has been a fixture in his life for the past 23 years for a mere BuyItNow of $15,000. Seeing as how the last new RX-7 cost over $40K and this one is new for all intents and purposes, $15K is a bargain. Follow the jump for more pics.
Thanks to pqjim for the tip!
Check out this angry daruma Celica from Australia, with tube framed everything and and a V8 where the firewall should be. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea but you have to admire the craftsmanship. Take a peek under the sheetmetal after the jump. Continue reading
This 1979 Honda Civic doesn’t quite have the low mileage as the 1427-mile Mazda RX-4 from last week, but it’s close. Besides, who’s going to complain about a 33,000-mile car that’s 30 years old, especially one in this condition? Our vintage Honda friend Ken Weidner says that it’s been years since he’s seen in-tact houndstooth upholstery.
This looks to be a dealer showroom display, and with an asking price between the highest bid of $4550 and the BuyItNow $6250, we think it’s a pretty good buy for a collector. Dan is our resident classic Honda nut, and I had to personally stop him from selling all his worldly possessions and rushing out to Arizona. The reserve hasn’t been met yet, so it’s still in Phoenix waiting for a good home.
More pics after the jump. Continue reading
Here’s a sneak peek of what we think will be an awesome article in the next issue of Japanese Nostalgic Car magazine. When Antonio Alvendia of Cipher Garage told us he was shooting a 2009 370Z for Speedhunters‘ Nissan month, we knew we had to put it side by side with its great grandfather, the Datsun 240Z! Continue reading
We have always admired Honda for charging right into Formula 1 at a time when it barely made any passenger cars at all. That’s why it saddens us to hear that the automaker is pulling out of F1. Honda made the announcement yesterday, citing a faltering economy as the reason. Earlier this year, the Honda-supplied Super Aguri team also ran out of funds. Continue reading
Hey Mazdafarians, we just got this in from Kiwi Bureau: photos from last weekend’s Mazda Rotary Summerdrags in New Zealand. Yes, while we’re huddled by the fireplace for warmth in the dead of winter, Nee Zeelanders are enjoying nice warm summer weather, because the Earth is round, or something like that.
Thanks for the pics, Madaz!
Straight outta Oak-town, here’s some photos from an old school Toyota meet at Performance Options in Oakland, California. The crew hopes to make this a semi-regular gathering, welcoming all old school J-tin.
Thanks to Miles Aquino and Justin Bonoan for sending us these awesome photos!
Click through for more images. Continue reading
If the story accompanying this auction is to be believed, this could be the lowest mileage Mazda RX-4 in the country. It appears that the prospective customer, way back when this baby was new in 1976, got into a bit of a kerfuffle with the dealer. He refused to fork over the balance, thinking the dealer was cheating him out of something larger and two more doors. The dealer insisted that the man had agreed to buy it already. In limbo, the car sat in the dealer’s storage until, as the listing subtly puts it, “THEN HE DIED!” Unquote.
A doctor purchased it in the subsequent estate sale and registered it for the first time in 1999. And now this car, whose velour has yet to be crushed, can be yours for an opening bid of $9,500, while the BuyItNow reveals what the seller’s heart truly desires – $18,500. Wow. For that price, you get full documentation, of which there is not much due to the low mileage, and a cheesy red bow. What do you guys think, is it worth it?
Click through for more pics. Continue reading
Ok, this car isn’t nostalgic (or even a car, really), but the idea is timeless. After graduating high school, three Japanese buddies decided to follow their dream of a year-long cross-country road trip, from the northeastern island of Hokkaido to the southwestern one of Yakushima. But before they set out, the trio built one of the coolest road trip cars ever conceived, from a decrepit mid-80s Toyota Toyoace. Continue reading
And now for your viewing pleasure, some footage of some vintage Toyota Celicas tearing it up at Fuji Speedway. Love that mean green liftback! Beware, by the end you’ll be seeing double.
This year, team Lucha Libre Racing‘s Datsun 1600 roadster wasn’t the only nostalgic running in Mexico’s vintage road race, La Carrera Panamericana. Check out Francisco Ortiz Rivera‘s BRE-replica Datsun 510! Our Spanish is a little rusty (ie, nonexistent), but it appears that it sustained some damage and was a possible DNF. Even if you don’t habla Español, check out photos on Rivera’s blog.
Team Lucha Libre Racing’s Datsun 1600 Sports roadster has once again returned triumphantly from La Carrera Panamericana 2008. As readers know from the article in Japanese Nostalgic Car magazine Issue 2, this was the first Japanese car ever to run the legendary road race, and we are happy to report that it is still in one piece. Car owner and navigator Michael Emery emailed us to say that the Datsun “ran like a dream.” Over the week-long race across Mexico’s open roads, he needed only to adjust the timing once and change the oil. That’s it! Says Emery, “We ran as high as 58th overall out of 100 cars, with 30hp less than the next lowest-powered car. Finished at 70th overall with my lousy navigation the only thing to blame.” Congrats, Michael! You can read more about his adventures at LuchaLibreRacing.com.
[Photo credit: Michael Emery]
In a ceremony last month, Yutaka Katayama has finally been inducted to the Japan Automotive Hall of Fame at the age of 99. Known as Mr. K to his fans, he presided over Nissan USA during its formative years in the 60s and 70s, largely responsible for making it the car company that it is today. Katayama is also called the father of the Z-car for his involvement in developing a sports car for the US market that became the Datsun 240Z. He is also helped build Nissan’s storied reputation in motorsports, having pushed for racing programs that he knew would be key to building a strong following for the marque. It’s great to see such an influential figure finally get the recognition he deserves in his home country. Mr. K was inducted into the US Automotive Hall of Fame in 1998.
He is shown above with Luis Carriles, Z Car Club of San Antonio (left) and Yoshihiko Matsuo, lead designer on the Fairlady Z project (right).
[Photo credit: Luis Carriles, via Datsun Heritage Museum]
Each fall Honda Racing puts on something called Thanks Day at their Twin Ring Motegi complex. Any machine that has fought to bring home a checkered flag for Honda is honored, from MotoGP bikes to SuperGT NSXs to F1 cars. This year it took place on the November 24, just a few days before our Thanksgiving Day, but the weather didn’t cooperate, making it far too risky to run vintage F1 cars on the track. In past years, however, it was not a problem. Check out the 2007 Thanks Day in this Urban Racer article. Best of all, it’s called “Thanks Day” as a show of appreciation for fans of the Honda marque. We know we’d be very thankful if our favorite automakers held events like this stateside.
In any case, we want to wish you, dear JNCers, a very happy Thanksgiving! Thank you for reading JNC and thank you for continuing to carry the old school torch for our rare and often unloved cars!
There’s more than a few Toyotaku who come to JNC because, let’s face it, most of the exciting machines in the automaker’s portfolio are in its past – RWD Celicas, Supras, Sports 800s, MR2s, twin-cam Corollas and the glorious 2000GT. But ever since the Celica and MR2 Spyder were given the axe in 2005, the wealthiest car company in the world has been missing some excitement in its lineup. Some say that the drought began a full decade ago, with the discontinuation of the 1998 JZA80 Supra. Regardless of the exact date, nowadays the Big T is known more for sensible but bland people movers than pulse-quickening sports cars.
However, according to the New York Times, this could all change if Akio Toyoda, grandson of founder Kiichiro Toyoda, becomes president of the company. Continue reading
Break out the earplugs before watching this footage of vintage Japanese iron doing the Zero-Yon (0-400m, approximately a quarter-mile), circa 1986. Unlike the nostalgia drag racers of the US, these cars sport canister mufflers and big fat turbos instead of superchargers and open headers. This setup probably favors trap speed over low E/Ts, but the ear-splitting echoes in the mountains of Fuji Speedway sound incredible all the same. The majority of cars in this video are radically modified Datsun Fairlady Zs, but some Toyotas and Mazdas appear at the 3:00 mark. Thanks to Daron for the tip!
Last month, Toyota launched the iQ city car, to much fanfare amongst the green-machine crowd. Within days, speculation began on a sporty two-seater roadster based on the same small platform. Naturally, the first thing we noticed was its resemblance to the 1965 Toyota Sports 800, itself based on a lesser commuter car, the Publica. If built, the yet-unnamed iQ-based convertible could be powered by a 1.0 or 1.3-liter gasoline or diesel engine. Sadly, unlike its predecessors, both this roadster and the iQ are front wheel drive. Expect to see a prototype at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show.
