As Keanu Reeves would say, “Whoa.” Here’s a California blue plate special, a 1976 Toyota Celica Liftback with just 55,000 original miles and one owner. The asking price from Old Town Classics in San Diego is $12,500, which, while not unreasonable for a car in such minty fresh condition, does make you wonder how much they paid that one owner for it. This bicentennial beauty was spotted on Bring a Trailer but you could probably drive it home without one.
Thanks to Alex K. for the tip!
We were flipping through the radio dials when suddenly our ears perked up to the phrase “Toyota Museum” on American Public Media’s Marketplace. It was part of a segment on how corporations are recognizing their heritage.
Those who have been to the Toyota USA Museum in Torrance, CA know that it’s actually a warehouse with no markings whatsoever to indicate that there are classics galore housed inside. So far, the company has kept mum about whether a proper gallery is in the works.
Of note, the story mentions the fact that it was 10 years ago on Toyota USA’s 40th
birthday that they began to take an interest in preserving their history. Then they started buying back cars and restoring them. Today, the museum contains eleven million dollars’ worth of Toyotas, both production cars and concepts. You can listen to the story here, which includes an interview with curator Susan Sanborn talking about the Toyopet Crown.
The town of Carlisle in southeastern Pennsylvania is synonymous with mega car gatherings. A few summers ago, we went to the All Ford Nationals and there were probably more Boss Mustangs at that one event than all the surviving Toyotas Coronas in the country put together. These shows are huge. Traditionally, Japanese cars have been bunched together with European imports, kit cars, and replicas, making them seem like part of the category marked “other.” But finally, in 2009, they’ll have their day in the sun.
According to a recent press release, cars from Japan will take center stage at the 2009 import/kit/replica show. Say the organizers, “Although there were relatively few Japanese cars in the US in the 60s, by the 70s Americans had come to recognize the fun and excitement of these cars.” The event will be May 15-17, 2009. Mark your calendars to remind yourself to buy a 2009 calendar so you can mark that.
UPDATE: Here are some pictures from this year’s event posted in our forum courtesy of oleyline.
Thanks to Toyotageek for the tip!
Fuji Heavy Industries is throwing a 50th birthday bash for its automotive arm Subaru next month at the Red Brick Building in Yokohama with the the Fan! Fan! Festival! Exclamation point! Cars on display will include its earliest classics (brought out from the company’s Japan museum) to the latest and greatest motorsports machines like the brand new 2008 WRC Impreza WRX STI. The event will be held July 5 to 6 before going on tour throughout the rest of Japan. If anyone attends, please send some photos our way and we’ll send you some prizes for your efforts.
[Subaru]
We’ve been browsing through the back entries on this new Speedhunters site and came across this awesome image of a KP61 Toyota Starlet leaving the terra firma. This rear-wheel romper was part of the recent Sol Rally Barbados 2008 held on that Caribbean island. There’s some old school Toyota love shown at this event, plus the 90s AWD rally monsters. Check out more pics here.
[Speedhunters, Image: JustBajan.com]
Feast your peepers on this bad, bagged 1979 Datsun 620 pickup found on the streets of Japanland by Mini Truckin’ magazine. According to the article, the paint is actually a very, very dark green though it looks black. Owner Hayato Muramatsu must be one proud papa.
[Mini Truckin‘]
Here’s one for you members of the triple diamond mafia, a Mitsubishi Tredia commercial from 1982 complete with its own cheesy theme song. Try to get that out of your head now!
We often harp on Toyota for not doing much to celebrate it’s 50th birthday here in the US of A, but we kid out of love. Also out of the realization that it’s possible to do even less (we’re lookin’ at you, Nissan). That’s why it’s so refreshing to see the Big T succumb to the nostalgia and reflect upon its adolescence.
On the official Toyota Open Road Blog recently, the automaker took a look back on some of its past brochures to check the features that were trumpeted on those marketing materials. Amusement ensues.
Some of them fall into the “seemed like a good idea at the time category” like the 1963 Toyopet Tiara’s old school linear speedo and turn sig switch on the steering wheel. Others remind you just how sparse these cars were and what kind of features we expect to come standard today. For instance, the 1965 Corona touted its sun visors, inside rear-view mirror, the fact that every door had an armrest, and front seat-belt anchors. The belts themselves were optional, however.
The thing we found most surprising though is that Toyota USA actually kept old brochures to refer to. Ha! We kid, we kid.
Datsuns Northwest is having their yearly bash in Canby, Oregon this weekend. It’s a two-day event, June 14 and 15. We really wanted to finally meet great group of enthusiasts who organize the event in person and check it out for ourselves, but unfortunately our budget/manpower shortage doesn’t allow it. From our chats over email and telephone, they’re truly a terrific dedicated to keeping nostalgic cars on the road. If anyone is going, please send our regards and post some pictures in the forum. Thanks!
Check out these links to see photos from the 2007 and 2006 events.
We all know the story of how Mazda has been attacking the most punishing enduros in the world for the past 40 years (if you don’t, it’s all told in Issue 1 of JNC magazine :D), and in 1991 became the first and only Japanese marque ever to conquer Le Mans. But did you know that in 1981, an RX-7 was campaigned at the same race? Here it is in its full widebody aero glory, ten years before the 787B took Circuit de la Sarthe’s checkered flag.
UPDATE: Correction, this JUN has nothing to do with the famous JUN Auto Works of Super Lemon fame. See the comments below for details. The wealth of information from our readers is amazing, and why we love you guys!
Ok, we have no idea what this Japanese gathering is really called; we’re just cutting and pasting into Babelfish like everyone else. So until someone who reads Japanese can come along with some better ideas, Face 1 Meeting 2008 it is. All we know is, there are some seriously bitchin’ rides in this slideshow. Nissan Skyline Japans, Toyota Mark IIs, Laurel Hardtops, Celica XXs and even some plastic model kits. Enjoy.
As you probably know, FR is coming back in a big way. Nissan, Toyota and Subaru (having joined forces with the Big T), all have lightweight RWD coupes in the pipelines.
First, let’s check in with the Toyobaru joint venture that we’ve been following since last year. This Subaru Legacy-lookin’ test mule was spotted by spy photographers in da UK wearing a lot of camouflage and a Toyota badge. All signs point to this being the much ballyhooed AE86 (and possibly Celica) successor. Sorry, Toyota fans, Latest rumors swirling around the interwebs say that it will be sold as a Toyota only in Japan and as a Subie elsewhere in the world. Maybe that’s just as well since by all accounts it’ll be powered by Subaru’s flat four, which many swear will not make it a true Toyota.
As for Nissan, Continue reading
This may look like an ordinary stuffed bear, but what we have here is the convergence of at least three wildly popular Japanese trends – cuteness, robots, and completely useless technology. Meet Japan’s robotics firm iXs Research‘s latest product, the teddy bear navigation system.
It may bear (har har) a striking resemblance to Teddy from A.I., but its main purpose, like any navi system, is to guide you to your destination via polite auditory direction. However, because it has the added bonus of arms, it can gesture and point too. A built-in alcohol sniffer will even prompt it to ask, “You haven’t been drinking, have you?” if it detects an excessive amount of sake on your breath.
Unfortunately, Teddy has a dark side. Continue reading
From the Disco Ain’t Dead Bureau comes this video clip from devout reader SR-Fairlady Z. It’s part of a 1979 made-for-TV movie called Death Car on the Freeway in which a guy who looks like someone Chris Hansen might confront on Dateline: To Catch a Predator uses a van to run innocent motorists off the road.
We’ll overlook its obvious flaws – such as how a Datsun 240Z is unable to outrun a 1977 Dodge Tradesman – because of the rockin’ 70s soundtrack and the fact that any nostalgic car, especially one in manual shift, has the power to make the woman driving it instantly ten times as hot. Instructional video after the jump. Continue reading
Yesterday we saw an unlikely off-roader built in part from a small Japanese sports car in the 4×4 Datsun Fairlady Roadster mudder. Perhaps it was an omen for GM’s statement today that the entire Hummer brand is on the chopping block. Also coming down the wire today from the strange drivetrain bureau is a Datsun Fairlady Z with a jet engine. Sure, the time it takes to get started will cause conniptions in people behind you at the light, but one blast-by and they’ll be wondering what hit them.
Besides the Honda Z, we can’t recall any other nostalgic car that’s been the subject of such a wide array of Frankenstein engine jobs as the Datsun Z. Just go to any Z-car event and you’ll see Z’s motivated by everything from SR20s to domestic V8s to batteries. There must be something about the final letter of the alphabet.
Video after the jump. Continue reading
O-kaaaaay. You don’t see this every day. And by this we mean a mud-splattered Datsun Roadster mounted on a Jeep CJ5 drivetrain. Here’s some videos of it doing it’s thang. Fairlady? More like bearded lady.
Over the weekend, we finally migrated the grandJDM posts over to JNC. You can find all the archived fabulousity by using the search box to your left. All of the info-rich text is there, but eagle-eyed techies have noticed the pictures, while visible, are still on the grandJDM server.
That’s cause WordPress (which both sites used) has a stupid system for image management. If anyone is interested in the issue and can possibly help us with a solution, please read on. We’d be greatly appreciative and may even send some nifty JDM swag your way. Continue reading
A little while ago, we profiled the short-lived dalliance between AMG and Mitsubishi on GrandJDM. And just in case you didn’t believe us that AMG would put its name on a mid 80s FWD Japanese luxobarge (that otherwise would have had doillies on the seatbacks), here’s one for sale!
The car in question is at classic car dealer Musashino (check out the rest of their stocks) for a very reasonably priced Y390,000, or way less than 10% of the AMG Debonair’s shockingly expensive original sticker price. So if you’ve always wanted one, now’s your chance to plonk your butt into those sumptuously padded velour chairs.
…anybody?
We’re not sure how we became unhealthily obsessed with automobiles, but having kind parents who bought us Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars probably helped. It’s hard to believe that the little metal furniture scratchers will be 40 years old this year, but it’s true. And to celebrate, Mattel issued a Designer’s Challenge to stylists from actual car companies to come up with vehicles that represent the spirit of Hot Wheels.
We first saw them at the SEMA show last November, where one in particular caught our eye – the Honda H Racer. The red on Championship White paint job and tangle of exhaust pipes instantly evoked Soichiro’s F1 racers of the 60s in our one-track minds. Designer Guillermo Gonzalez also gave it a generous sprinkling of other Honda cues like red valve covers topping off the dual cams of a monster V10. In fact, the entire car is shaped like a Honda logo, with a driver and navigator sitting in each leg of the H. Time to break out the orange track.
Here’s a bummer of a leftover from our NorCal photo reel. This billboard for California’s Bureau of Automotive Repairs, DriveHealthy.com, was spotted in San Jose and features a clapped out Datto Sunny as an example of a polluter. It turns out that The Man will give low income drivers up to $500 towards a repair if their car fails a smog check or, scarily, $1000 toward “retiring” (read: scrapping) the offending vehicle. Poor little Datto.
UPDATE: More discussion in our forums here.
