JNC In Japan: Day 3

Posted on January 27, 2008 by Ben Hsu

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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!

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Cars pulling into the show.

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The parking lot is worth a look in itself.

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Suzuki Owner’s Club

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A pair of bitchin’ Toyotas

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Publica Owner’s Club

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Mooneyes‘ pair of 1JZ-powered Crowns

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Ben hanging out with Goshu from Mooneyes

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Hino Contessa Club

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Skyline GT-R Owner’s Club

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Isuzu 117 Coupes

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Hangin’ out with the Cosmo Sports Owner’s Club during a brief moment of downtime.

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A pair of 800cc sportsters

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More Subarus

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An awesome kenmeri Skyline badged as a Datsun 240K

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Skylines, including one in rare wagon form, from Victory 50

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Skyline DR30 Club

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Fairlady S30Z Club

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A row of Silvias

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More Nissan goodness

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Rocky Auto‘s booth

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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

Jiotto Caspita: Yet Another Tasty Concept Car They Didn’t Make

Posted on January 27, 2008 by Kevin San

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In 1990, one of the highlights of the 28th Tokyo Motor Show was a swoopy, low-slung supercar called the Jiotto Caspita. Made by the Dome company, it was one of many hypercar concepts in the late 80s which never came to fruition.

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Posted in subaru | 3 Comments

JNC In Japan: Day 2

Posted on January 26, 2008 by Ben Hsu

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We had high hopes of getting something completely unlike anything available in the US as a rental car today, but our hearts sank as we saw the Toyota Vitz (Yaris) waiting for us at the parking lot. They sank further when we saw it was bright purple.

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Nippon Rent-A-Car employee #1 to Nippon Rent-A-Car employee #2: Let’s give these gaijin the fruitiest car we have!

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Despite an engine that rattled like a 20-year-old diesel at idle, we managed to get to Twin Ring Motegi without incident. If you don’t count getting lost a half dozen times, that is. Apparently, the locals pronounce Tochigi “TOACH-iggy” and not “toe-CHEE-geey”. Who knew.

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Honda’s race track Twin Ring Motegi is in the middle of nowhere. These narrow streets made even a Vitz seem like the Titanic.

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If it weren’t for the occasional futuristic-looking kei car, some of these villages would look right at home in a Kurosawa samurai film.

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Finally, after three hours, a sign!

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There’s the hall. Hondas lie within!

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There’s hundreds on Hondas in the museum. Most are bikes, since they take up less space, but there’s a great assortment of cars as well. We took hundreds of photos, but here’s just a few from Ben’s lame point-and-shoot camera. Dan’s the real photographer, and the ones he took with the SLR will be downloaded and edited after we get back.

After another long drive back to Tokyo, we’re exhausted and glad to be rid of the magenta Vitz. We’ve gotten only about 4 hours of sleep in past 48 hours, but tomorrow’s the New Year Meeting!

Posted in japan, museum, rental cars | 3 Comments

Office Tomitaku Fairlady Z: DOHC 24V OS Giken TC24 Droolage

Posted on January 26, 2008 by Kevin San

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Ages ago Van made a post about the legendary DOHC, 24 valve cylinder heads made by OS Giken in the late 70s for the Nissan L-Series. And while there are countless Nissan old school fans who would gladly sacrifice a few internal organs for a Giken TC24 head, it won’t do you any good, since they’ve been out of production for more than 20yrs and the casting moulds are damaged beyond repair.

So it’s so nice to see not one, but a few of these restored, and in action at Office Tomitaku.

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Posted in nissan | 2 Comments

Honda Motocompo

Posted on January 25, 2008 by Kevin San

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In 1981, one of the better products in the Honda range was the City. Bigger and wider than a traditional kei-car, it was also more powerful and substantial, with a 1.3L 63ps motor and a curb weight of 675kg. It did quite well in many western markets.

But one of the interesting “options” for the Honda City in Japan was a tiny little motorbike called the Motocompo.

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Posted in honda | 13 Comments

JNC In Japan: Day 1

Posted on January 25, 2008 by Ben Hsu

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We took NWA, but the food wasn’t very good. If you have a choice, we recommend Public Enemy Air.

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Our man in Japan Satoshi picked us up in his slammed 1995 Mitsubishi Delica Space Gear Super Exceed. It’s got 0 bump stops, 2 tones, 3 fewer inches in ride height, and 5 sunroofs.

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Here’s Dan doing the Akabou mascot pose next to a Subaru Sambar kei-sized delivery kei truck.

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After a quick ramen meal, we went to the apartment where we’ll be staying, and we’re about to pass out. It’s already morning in the US, and we’ve been awake about 24hrs. We’ve reserved a rental car for tomorrow, and we’re headed out to Tochigi and Honda’s Twin Ring Motegi. Wonder what rental we’re gonna get! Good night.

Posted in japan, kei, mitsubishi, road trip, subaru, vans | 7 Comments

Tokyo Daze: JDM (Jedi) Parking

Posted on January 24, 2008 by Kevin San

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Since there’s quite a bit of interest here on Japanese culture, we’d add a regular segment for little snippets of JDM life. The first cab off the rank is….JDM PARKING! Once thing you notice when you travel around Japanese cities is that even in the suburban areas, space is very scarce. And for some reason, even though many houses have a space in front, it’s often not actually big enough for something like say….a car.

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Posted in Tokyo Daze | 5 Comments

JNC Does Japan

Posted on January 24, 2008 by Ben Hsu

newyearmeeting.jpgOne of things we can never wrap our heads around is the fact that in Japan, it’s already tomorrow. By the time you read this, we’ll be crossing the International Date Line in a 747 headed to J-land to meet up with friends, slurp down bowls of delicious ramen, and most of all, to see the 2008 New Year Meeting, the largest classic car show of the year. Oh joy of joys! We can hardly contain ourselves. If we don’t succumb to an adrenaline overdose, jetlag, or dehydration via excessive salivating, we’ll bring you updates – from the future! Stay tuned to this blog. We also have a few other surprises for you, including the private warehouse of a certain manufacturer. Tee hee! For coverage of the 2007 New Year Meeting, click here.

Posted in events, japan, road trip | 6 Comments

JDM Classic Values: 1997 vs 2007

Posted on January 22, 2008 by Kevin San

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A few days ago, we posted up a link to JDM old-car dealer Harfee’s (here) and one of our readers expressed a little surprise at the prices that some classics fetch in Japan.

Of course, nobody would be surprised that things like a Hakosuka would fetch good money in Japan. But surprisingly, there are many cars which are worth very little in western markets, yet are worth a pretty penny in Japan. A couple of examples like the 280ZX (here’s one at Red-Megaphone for Y2.2mil, about A$23,000) or a 510 coupe for not much less. So we got to thinking about relative values, and dug out some 1997 classic car magazines, and compared the going prices for popular classics compared to today. The results are surprising.

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Posted in Miscellaneous | 9 Comments

Enkei Reissues Vintage Wheels (huzzah!)

Posted on January 22, 2008 by Kevin San

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In conjunction with Mooneyes Japan, Enkei has re-released five of its 70s-era wheels: the Dish, the Baja I & II, the Mojave and the 5-Spoke (pictured above). More details here. Prices start at about Y29,000ea (about A$300ea) and they come in suitably low-offset dished sizes up to 10in wide.

More evidence (if any were needed) that the old-school movement in Japan is gathering strength in a big way.

Posted in Miscellaneous | 3 Comments

Magazine Subscription Update

Posted on January 22, 2008 by Ben Hsu

premiere.jpgMore news about the Japanese Nostalgic Car magazine subscription.

  • All content in the magazine will be new and unique, not reprints of articles on the website.
  • The only way to get JNC is to subscribe. It won’t be available on newsstands just yet. If we went into detail about how difficult it is to get an unheard-of title onto the shelf at your local bookstore, your head would probably explode. Ours did, and it hurts! If you’re interested in seeing it there, please ask them to carry it!
  • We’ve extended subscriptions to 4 (four) quarterly issues for the same low price of $9.99, or 50% off the cover price! If you’ve already subscribed, don’t worry – we’ll automatically give you the extra issue at no cost and you don’t even have to lift a finger.
  • International subscriptions are now open! Sorry for the increase in price, but it’s all due to shipping costs. We think it’ll still be worth your while, though!
  • JNC will be a collectible, high-quality publication designed for your library. It’s printed on thick, glossy paper that’s made to last.

And as always, thank you for your support! We would not be here without it, so please help us spread the word. The time has come for a magazine about Japanese Nostalgic Cars!  Subscribe here.

Posted in jnc | 14 Comments

Ken & Mary, Together Again

Posted on January 22, 2008 by Ben Hsu

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Here’s a prime example of why Japan rocks the casbah. From January 8 – 31, Japanese Nissan owners can get this bitchin’ re-issue of the Ken & Mary T-shirts from the famous old ad campaign of 1972. WANT. Yeah, it’s a marketing gimmick, but we’re biting it hook, line, sinker, and rowboat. We’ve lamented the fact that the US branches of our favorite Rising Sun automakers don’t really do the whole enthusiast pandering thing already, and just check out how much the original shirts are going for, despite being faded, worn, and quite frankly, disgusting. That’s $70 American for a used T-shirt, people!

Posted in japan, nissan, nostalgic gear | Leave a comment

Mazda Carol Hot Rod!

Posted on January 21, 2008 by Kevin San

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In last week’s Tokyo Autosalon report. we made mention of a supercool Mazda Carol-based hot rod. Well, we have some more details on it now, it was built by students at the…*deep breath*…Shizuoka Professional College of Automobile Technology. Especially notable is the fact that the original Carol is rear-engined, but the hot rod was built on a Suzuki jeep ladder chassis, which sited the 550cc two-stroke up the front for a more authentic hot rod style.

More info here…click on the links (and scroll down!) on the side to see more pics. Extremely cool!

Posted in mazda | 2 Comments

Swiss Bliss

Posted on January 21, 2008 by Ben Hsu

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Yank yer Toyoglide out of its peaceful neutral state and slam it into drive, cause Toyotas are invading Switzerland! The Swiss Toyota Museum, located in the unpronounceable municipality of Murschetg, Laax, has enough nostalgic Toyotas to drain an unmarked bank account, yet amazingly, has no affiliation with the Big T itself. All 80 cars are the work of a few independent but incredibly dedicated collectors, whom we salute, big time! Many of the cars are still in the restoration process, but we’re sure they’ll have them ticking like Swiss watches in no time. There even appears to be some Australian spec cars in the in the mix, on one long-ass walkabout. The museum itself, if the online translation is to be believed, was either an abandoned power plant or bat cave. Possibly both. It looks like it’s scheduled to open in summer of 2008, but perhaps our German-speaking readers can succeed where translation software fails. Thanks to Rich at Classic Toyota Town for the tip!

Posted in museum, toyota | 2 Comments

Auto Classica: Oldschool Nissan Meets High End Luxe

Posted on January 19, 2008 by Kevin San

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A few weeks ago we profiled Tokyo Hakosuka tuner Victory50. But Japan has quite a few Hakosuka/Old Nissan tuners as you would expect, and a particularly notable one is Auto Classica.

Located in Yokohama, Auto Classica is decked out like a high-end home stereo store, complete with cafe.

Continue reading →

Posted in Miscellaneous | Leave a comment

Cool JDM Thing of The Week: I Rev…therefore I am

Posted on January 18, 2008 by Kevin San

220_15a458b31cc.jpgOne of the cool things we saw in Japan during Autosalon is the I Rev Car Series. It’s a box set, which includes a 1/24th scale car model kit, a DVD featuring the car, a booklet reproducing some original brochure material, and a small 60-page magazine, courtesy of JDM-classic-car-ubermag, Nostalgic Hero.

Cost is Y3300 (about A$35).

And the first model in the series is the KPGC10 Hakosuka Skyline 2000GT-R.

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Posted in Nuts and Bolts | Leave a comment

FlexAuto: The Mother Lode

Posted on January 18, 2008 by Kevin San

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A couple of days ago we posted a link to classic JDM dealer Harfees’s. But today, we seem to have hit the jackpot with FlexAuto, which has many, many more interesting used cars in stock. Check out their stock, you can click and view pics and details on each car, even the “Sold Out” ones..

Posted in Businesses | 2 Comments

I'm In Ur Kar, De4min Itz Proporshuns

Posted on January 18, 2008 by Ben Hsu

celica.jpgIf there’s one thing the Japanese love, it’s superdeformation. Do not be alarmed. That simply means the superdeformee’s features are exaggerated to give it a cartoonish, caricatured look. Everything from animals to anime characters get the treatment, and even inanimate objects can’t escape the process, with several whole toy car lines dedicated to it, like Maruka’s Drive Town and Takara’s Choro-Q, the latter of which you may remember as Penny Racers here in the States.

There’s just something indescribably cute about these cars, so please excuse us while we shout “Kawaiiiiii!” like a 12-year-old Japanese girl at Sanrio Puroland. Now, for your viewing pleasure, here are some 3D rendered versions, which, if not for their distorted proportions, would look entirely real. In fact, art66 has a whole gallery of these, along with other vehicular works of art in the form of shadowboxes, 2D illustrations, and that other Japanese favorite, papercraft. Check them out, adore them, and maybe create some lolcars. Kthxbai.

Posted in minicar, minicars, toyota | 4 Comments

Tomytec: little classics

Posted on January 17, 2008 by Kevin San

lv49_03.jpgThe fact that Tomy make little toy cars should come as no great surprise to any GrandJDM reader.  But did you know that it also has a special line of classic toy cars?  Well…you do now!  It’s called TOMYTEC.

They make trains, etc, but have some tasty selections in cars.  Check out Mr K’s Selection (older favourite Nissans of the ex-Nissan USA president and “father of the Z-Car”), their eclectic collection of trucks, police cars and taxis, their historic race car collection and their vintage sedan lineup. Make sure you click on the links at the bottom of each page to see the other models in the range!

Posted in Businesses | 1 Comment

Little GTO, You're Really Lookin' Fine

Posted on January 16, 2008 by Ben Hsu

mitsugtor73x.jpgJust as we finish whining our arses off about how tough it is to decide between freezing said arses at the Detroit Auto Show or Tokyo Auto Salon – and attending neither because we’re busy with the magazine – Damon Lavrinc of Autoblog rubs salt in the wound by emailing us to say that Mitsubishi had not one, not two, but three legendary machines on display in Motown. Aargh!

This travesty is somewhat tempered by the fact that we’ve seen the Starion at JCCS and the ’81 Lancer at the LA Auto Show, but oh baby, that third one is a gem. There, glimmering in all its chocolaty brown glory, is the Galant GTO R73-X concept that originally debuted at the 1972 Tokyo Motor Show.

Looking absolutely wicked, like something out of Mad Max, the R73-X was based on the existing Galant GTO. Mitsu extended the fenders and hood (now with scoop!) by 60mm for the potential to house several different engines, including a 6-cylinder. The show car, however, was equipped with the R69B, a 2.0L four-cylinder whose dual overhead cams, 16 valves, and 180PS was capable of mowing down pmitsugtor73x2.jpgost-apocalyptic biker gangs at 137mph. Sadly, much like the Road Warrior, this car was also doomed by an oil crisis. In 1973, Mitsu suspended their racing program as a result of the OPEC embargo and cost overruns from tighter emissions controls ensured the motor was never produced. In what’s surely one of history’s minor tragedies, this means we missed out on the R73-X’s hidden adjustable spoiler, activated from the cockpit.

Of course, these relics were all an effort to draw attention to the 2009 Lancer Ralliart, which slots in between the base Lancer and bat-guano-insane Evo X, and the Concept-RA, whose engine is pushing through the hood like cold nipples in a tight shirt.

Hats off to the Triple Diamond Mafia for really pushing its heritage on the auto show circuit. Last year at Motown, they showed King of Cars, the 1974 Lancer 1600GSR of the East African Rally car at Motor City, and in 2006, the 1937 PX-33 at Paris.

Thanks, Damon. Hopefully we’ll catch you next year in Detroit!

[Images: Autoblog]

Posted in events, mitsubishi | 5 Comments