For our dear readers who are observing the Lunar New Year by partying hearty this weekend, we at JNC would like to wish you a happy and prosperous Year of the Rat. To celebrate, here’s a photo of one of our favorite firecrackin’ SEMA cars ever, a Toyota FJ45 Land Cruiser done up in rat rod style, powered by a 750-horsepower Toyota NASCAR V8. The door says, “Toyota Motor Sales. New Cars since 1957. Hollywood, Ca.” How cool is that? Go here for more photos of this beast.
Happy Year of the Rat… Rod
Posted in toyota
2 Comments
Barracuda: One-Box Revolution
One of the things you notice in JDM classic-car magazines lately is that there is a lot more interest in the older JDM vans. The scene is still in its infancy to a certain extent, but one of the JDM dealers/parts stores catering to the oldschool one-box fans is Barracuda. And why not when these things make such cool cruisers.
Check out their blog for photo galleries of past one-box events.
Posted in Businesses
1 Comment
Tokyo Daze: BIG Scooter!
One of the cool things that you will see plenty of in Tokyo is the BIG Scooter. Most of us are used to the idea of a scooter being a tiny little thing, pushed along by a putt-putt motor and with tiny wheels the diameter of frisbees.
But the Japanese do it quite differently, and in Japan you see plenty of low, long, fat scooters with big-cube thumper engines. They’re still twist n’ go automatic, but have a lot of presence and are extremely popular. And extremely popular for modifying.
Posted in Tokyo Daze
7 Comments
Win Mystery JDM Toys!
My good friends at Japanese Nostalgic Car reminded me the other day that I hadn’t unpacked my bags from Japan yet! In their blog, Ben and Dan were given a little mystery toy as a gift, and I’d totally forgotten that I’d bought a whole bunch of them for GrandJDM readers!
Click on to see how you can WIN!!
Posted in contests
12 Comments
EVENTS: New Year Meeting
Here it is, 370 pictures of nothing but old school JDM hotness. Enjoy! [LINK]
Posted in events, japan
Leave a comment
Return of the RWD Celica?
Speculation continues to abound at the reincarnation of a lightweight, rear wheel drive Toyota. For those of you who haven’t been following this particular rumor-fest, a quick recap: First, in August 2007, it was the Japanese magazines that began reporting on a comeback for the famed AE86 Corolla or hachiroku. Further details from Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun emerged, saying that Subaru, which Toyota purchased an 8.7% share of from GM in 2005, would be providing a boxer engine for the motivation. In October 2007, word leaked that Toyota had created an internal “committee to create interesting cars” and in November, more grapevine gossip said that Celicas, MR2s and Supras were all in queue for revival.
Now, Autoweek.nl is reporting that this new RWD compact will be a Celica, not a Corolla. If this is true, the new Celica will be offered in coupe and hatchback body styles (what, no liftback?) and in GT or GT-4 trim. The GT will have Subaru’s standard 2.0L boxer and RWD, while the GT-4 will have the 300hp 2.0L from the WRX STi and AWD. This could also mean a return to World Rally Championships for Toyota.
Not since 1985 and the A60 chassis has the Celica been RWD. In 1986, the Celica split off completely from the shared Supra/Celica platform and became four-cylinder FF or AWD only. The world is in dire need of a light, rear-driven coupe. Let’s hope this turns out to be fact, not just rumor, and if the car turns out to be retro-styled after the original Celica, well, that’ll be the bee’s knees.
Read the translation at World Car Fans.
Posted in retro, subaru, toyota
14 Comments
JDM Video Clips
After our piece on bosozoku biker tribes a few weeks ago, one of our readers brought it to our attention that the Weezer video clip for Dope Nose features some Kyusha-kai bikers in it! So it got us to thinking about what other oddball JDM video clips we could find.
Posted in Miscellaneous
Leave a comment
Houston, We Have Liftoff
While JNC was cavorting in Japan, our hometown heroes were putting together the first old school J-tin meet in the Lone Star State. Congrats, guys, for being the pioneers in Texas and getting the nostalgic movement off the ground there, and we hope to see more longhorn shenanigans soon! Check out the galleries here and at 510garage. For more events in the biggest of the lower 48, check out the Z Sport San Antonio Nissan/Datsun meet scheduled for April 27.
Posted in events
Leave a comment
Isuzu: Crazy TV Commercials
We’ve done a few articles on Isuzu before (here and here) and it’s quite clear that the old Japanese marque’s car-making division started to run into financial rocks in the early 90s. And now we hear that after soldiering on for years selling only rebadged GM SUVs, Isuzu is deserting its last real passenger car market, the USA (here at japanesenostalgiccar.com). However one of the standout memories from the late 80s JDM era were the extraordinarily lavish series of TV commercials for the Isuzu Gemini.
Many JDM car commercials were filmed in Europe during that time, and so it’s not surprising that the Isuzu commercials were shot in Paris. But the memorable thing about the Isuzu ads were the amazing stunts, which were performed by the Remy Julienne organisation, which also performed the stunts for the (original) Italian Job, the Taxi series, and most of the James Bond films, to name a few.
Marketwatch: 1982 Datsun 280ZX, 1410 Miles
1982 Datsun 280ZX Turbo: Silver on grey and black interior, 5-speed, T-tops, rare model without side bump guard moldings, only 1,410 miles, and all original, even the tires. 2nd owner purchased from a collector and claims to drive it around the block “on a regular basis.” Still, a dedicated buyer should probably check out the rubber bits and gaskets just to be safe. Not as loved by Z-car aficionados as the early S30 chassis cars because of its extra weight and busier appearance, but the L28 turbo motor is a beast with practically infinite tuning capability. Of course, one would not dare modify such a well-kept and rare specimen. Listed on eBay and sold via BuyItNow for $29,000 in just under 30 hours.
For nearly 30 grand, the question becomes whether you would rather have a brand new 2008 Z or a brand new, for all intents and purposes, 1982 Z. We actually like the stylings of the S130 chassis cars, and think they can stand on their own in terms of design without being compared to the S30. If you were a kid growing up in the 80s, it was physically impossible to avoid having a 280ZX toy of some sort – from Matchbox to Transformers, this was one of the most popular designs for a scaled down miniature. Even Knight Rider was reportedly supposed to be a 280ZX.
We never cease to be amazed at such well-kept cars that emerge from the woodwork. Imagine the restraint and dedication one would have to embody to keep a car like this, without driving it, for over a quarter century. We’d probably take this over a 350Z, but then it becomes a white elephant, since any additional wear or mileage accrued will surely take away from its originality. The best buyer would be an enthusiast that has enough garage space, money and other Zs to drive. One that will treat it as a piece of art or history rather than a car. For such a buyer, the price is quite reasonable for a genuine time machine.
[via Jalopnik]
Posted in datsun, for sale, marketwatch, nissan
2 Comments
Yokohama Snow
And now for your viewing pleasure as you snuggle in to watch the Super Bowl, our friends at Mooneyes sent us a photo from Yokohama, where snow has covered three custom Toyota Crowns and a Probox.
Posted in japan, toyota
Leave a comment
More Jedi Parking!
After we featured JDM parking skills a few weeks ago, one of our eagle-eyed readers sent in this….a Japanese game show where one of the contests was to prove your Jedi Parking Skillz.
Posted in Tokyo Daze
1 Comment
Adios, Amigos: Isuzu Is Outta Here
Damn, we’re out of the country for one week and the US loses an entire marque. Isuzu announced on January 31 that in one year, they will completely abandon the American passenger vehicle market after a slow and painful death. To be fair, you could see this one coming from a mile away – check out their website and you’ll see but two models, both rebadged GM trucks.
What started out in 1916 as a tie-up between Tokyo Ishikawajima Shipbuilding and Engineering Co., Ltd. and Tokyo Gas and Electric Industrial Co. to make commercial trucks was eventually renamed to the much more succinct Isuzu after the Isuzu River in Mie Prefecture. Over its tumultuous history, it forged alliances with many other automakers, including Rootes, GM, Honda and Subaru in an effort to gain a foothold into the car side of the business, but nothing really stuck.
In Japan, it’s most well-known cars are nostalgic ones – the Bellet, Florian, and 117 Coupe – but by the 90s they were selling only rebadged Honda Accords and Civics before stopping car sales altogether. In the States, the Gemini compact was sold via Buick under the Opel brand in the 70s, but the car most fondly remembered by Americans will be the 80s Impulse (aka Piazza), a wedge-shaped Giugiaro-styled RWD coupe.
Trucks, however, were always the company’s strong suit, and one of our faves was the futuristic dune-hopper Vehi-CROSS. The Trooper, Amigo and Rodeo also had strong followings, but not strong enough, apparently, to keep Isuzu afloat here in the US. Once Honda began developing its own SUVs, there was no need for the Rodeo-based Passport or Trooper-based Acura SLX, and the crowded market was simply too competitive.
The company will now focus on what it does best – commercial trucks – as the N and F-Series medium duties continue to soldier on in the American market. Sayonara, Isuzu, we’ll be thinking of you next time we’re stuck behind a flat-cabbed box van in traffic.
Skyline Overdrivin’ Memorial: Old School Gaming
If you’ve been to Japan you’ll know that there are TONS of Japan-only video games that aren’t released in western markets. Look hard enough, and there will be decotora truck racing and even bosozoku racing games. They are mostly quite unsatisfying to play, being not a patch on say, Gran Turismo and most of them have story-mode type gameplay which is unfathomable if you don’t speak Japanese.
But in 1997, EA Sports in Japan teamed up with Nissan to put out Overdrivin Skyline Memorial for the PSOne, 3DO and Sega Saturn. And this one was pretty good.
JNC In Japan: Day 7
Alas, our journey to Japan has come to an end. This morning we packed up our 10,000 lbs of brochures, some low down springs for the Cressida wagon, and 500 mystery boxes into Satoshi’s lowered 1995 Mitsubishi Delica Space Gear Super Exceed and headed out to Narita Airport.
The road to Narita.
Before we part, let’s take a look at his van’s endearing but typical excesses of Japanese badging.
Here’s the first pic we took waaay back on Day 1. From left to right, it says “Mitsubishi”, “Delica” and “Space Gear”. Fine. We’ve got the make, model, and sub-model established.
On the B-pillar a small badge tells the world this is no mere base trim specimen, but a “Super Exceed”.
As mentioned before, this cruiser has five sunroofs, one of which is causing much glare in this photo, but trust us, the label says “Crystal Lite Roof”.
On the rear flanks, the engine is identified as a “24 Valve V6 3000”.
However, this plethora of badging would not be complete without one last item. Here’s Ben and Dan vandalizing the Space Gear with a JNC sticker.
JNC representin’ Tokyo!
Sayonara, Tokyo, it’s been a blast. Thanks to all our friends, old and new, for showing us around and guiding us through nostalgic car heaven! Jya-ne… For all you JNC readers, we’ll see you stateside.
Posted in japan, jnc, mitsubishi, road trip, vans
4 Comments
JNC in Japan: Day 6
No, we haven’t come to an untimely death by offending the wrong yakuza lieutenant, accidentally driving down the wrong side of the wangan, or eating ill-prepared fugu. Much to the chagrin of some, we are very much alive, but our last day in Japan was largely uneventful. We spent our single day of downtime meeting up with friends, collecting JDM brochures and getting fingerprints all over the cars at Toyota’s Amlux showroom in Ikebukuro and Nissan’s showroom in Ginza.
Amlux is a 10 minute walk from the JR Ikebukuro station. Exit on the Seibu side. You have to cross under an elevated highway to get to it, so this is the best exterior shot we could manage.
Six stories of Toyota goodness.
The Nostalgic Car set of R/C vintage Skylines at a Japanese Toys R Us.
Nissan’s Ginza showroom. Beware, weary traveler, for there are two Ginza showrooms. This, the smaller one, is near the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line station. It’s only big enough to house two cars and a gift shop.
The GT-R on display with the Intima concept.
The engine room of the starship Enterprise.
For some reason, you can buy Nissan Heritage Collection goods there.
This is the real showroom, which is a 10 minute walk or a quick shuttle bus ride away. Blade Runner on the outside…
… Logan’s Run on the inside.
Ben stinking up the GT-R. This is the first one we’ve seen in person that wasn’t silver. Red looks mighty purdy on this beast.
In Japan, white taxis (usually with blue stripe) are privately owned. This cabbie clearly loves his Cima (Infiniti Q45). We wanted to jump in and and say, “To Yokohama, stat!” just to see how quickly he’d get us there.
We went to sample some local fare with our friend Kats. Unfortunately, he didn’t tell us that one of the fares was beef colon soup from the Kyushu region. In case you’re wondering, it’s gamy, chewy, and not something we’d order again. Fortunately, we had several pints of smooth, delicious Suntory beer to wash it down. JNC: sampling the beef colon so you don’t have to!
Not beef colon.
Posted in datsun, japan, minicar, museum, nissan, nostalgic gear, road trip, toyota
3 Comments
Tokyo Daze: JDM Parking Spaces
One of the perennial pub discussion topics for JDM car nuts is always “If you lived in Japan, what car would you drive?” Now, it’s no great secret that cars are quite cheap to buy in Japan, and so you usually end up with something along the lines of “7 cars…one for each day of the week! On Mondays I’ll drive my Hakosuka….on Tuesday I’ll drive my FD RX-7…On Wednesdays, I’d rock my crazy bosozoku Cresta, On Thursdays…” You get the idea.
But the reality of life in Japan is that unless you live on a farm in the countryside, you will only have room for one car, and even so, the arrangements for keeping it at your house may not be what you’d expect!
Posted in Tokyo Daze
4 Comments
JNC In Japan: Day 5
Today we headed out to the Chainan 21, the official museum of Hino.
Check out this sign. The station name is Toyoda, and if you notice, the previous stop was Hino. Coincidence? Probably. The Hino museum is at neither of these.
Instead, it’s in Hachiouji, about a 40 minute train ride west of Shinjuku, but from the train station you also have to take a taxi or bus.
As a result, the place was deserted. Unlike the rest of Japan, there were no greeters, no people sitting behind a desk in the lobby, not even anyone at the gift shop counter. Just this Star Trek-esque elevator with pictures of dolphins in it.
It was a small museum. Nothing on the scale of the Honda Collection Hall, Toyota Museum, or Nissan Zama warehouse. A lot of this probably has to do with the fact that most of Hino’s products are enormous trucks. There were plenty of pictures though. Unfortunately, all the placards were in Japanese with very few English translations.
Hino made airplane engines long before their current lineup of trucks and buses.
Somewhere in between there was a car or two.
On the way back we stopped by the Subaru showroom in Shinjuku.
No nostalgics inside, but there was a new Forester and a dark brown “Bitter Edition” R2. The Japanese can never have too many limited editions.
Shinjuku by night.
Posted in japan, museum, road trip, subaru
4 Comments
JNC In Japan: Day 4
Fun fact: 80% of Tokyo’s mass consists of vending machines, convenience stores, and arcades with coin-operated capsule dispensers. This is all an effort to drive the sales of mystery boxes, which ranks 4th in Japan’s top 10 industries, right between consumer electronics and shipbuilding. For the uninitiated (consider yourselves lucky), mystery boxes are little collectible toys with a common theme and several different items to complete the series (in the case of vending machines, the toys come attached to your refreshing beverage). But, rather than doing something useful like actually showing you what you’re going to get, the box is sealed, making the entire enterprise a lottery, like baseball cards or things at the bottom of cereal boxes. Of course, the ultimate goal is to get you to buy ever more mystery boxes and to drive OCD types insane.
While stopping into one of Japan’s 9 billion 7-11s, lo and behold, what did we find but a Nissan Skyline 50th Anniversary mystery box. As you can see from the packaging, we had only a 1 in 6 chance of getting something really cool and nostalgic, and for 500 yen (about $5), they weren’t exactly a cheap gamble. Nevertheless, we bit. And check out what we got on our first try:
Kenmeri GT-R, baby! And it’s superdeformed to boot!
It was a great start to a day filled with Nissans that all began behind this nondescript door.
This is the Zama warehouse, where almost the entirety of Nissan’s automotive and racing history is kept. It was like the lost Nazi-looted Russian Amber Room, Bruce Wayne’s garage, and the room at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark all rolled into one.
After that, we ate lunch at the Nissan employee cafeteria. The food was pretty damn good. No rubbery pizza tiles here!
We also stopped by Honda’s showroom in Aoyama Itchome, which you may recognize from the Tokyo Route 246 track in Gran Turismo 4.
More to come…
Special thanks to Mr. “Itchy” for being our guide!
JNC In Japan: Day 3
The time has come! It’s a cold but clear morning. Here’s the beautiful skyline of Odaiba, where the New Year Meeting is held, from the Yurikamome monorail. We have a ton of pictures, but here’s just the ones we had time to upload. We woke up at 5AM to bring these to you, so you better appreciate it!
Cars pulling into the show.
The parking lot is worth a look in itself.
Suzuki Owner’s Club
A pair of bitchin’ Toyotas
Publica Owner’s Club
Mooneyes‘ pair of 1JZ-powered Crowns
Ben hanging out with Goshu from Mooneyes
Hino Contessa Club
Skyline GT-R Owner’s Club
Isuzu 117 Coupes
Hangin’ out with the Cosmo Sports Owner’s Club during a brief moment of downtime.
A pair of 800cc sportsters
More Subarus
An awesome kenmeri Skyline badged as a Datsun 240K
Skylines, including one in rare wagon form, from Victory 50
Skyline DR30 Club
Fairlady S30Z Club
A row of Silvias
More Nissan goodness
Rocky Auto‘s booth
Rims for sale
Sayonara for now. It’s 7:30AM now and we’re headed out for another day.
Posted in events, japan, road trip
6 Comments
