Hiace Haiku

hiace

Born sixty seven,
Forty years of large one-box
Too square for the States.

[Toyopet]

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Bosozoku BRE Bluebird

boso bre We came across this absolutely insane bosozoku-looking Datsun 510 while browsing the web. Complete with vintage BRE paint scheme, flared fenders and a grille-eclipsing intercooler channeled through the headlight openings, this Bluebird possesses serious fear-striking potential.  Unfortunately, there was no mention of what motor might power this beast.

[no281750gtv]

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Upcoming Classic Events in Japan

130_aon07poster-l.JPG130_cp07poster-l.JPGFor those of you lucky enough to be in Japan in the next few weeks, a few tasty classic car events are coming up. The first is the All Odds Nationals, which is to be held in the Odaiba: take the Rinkai Like to Tokyo Teleport, and walk to the Fuji TV building (the big imposing one with the huge ball in the middle of it).

The big day is Sunday the 30th September. Last years event looked like a blast.

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Who cares? Mazda does!

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Generally speaking, it’s very rare to find a car manufacturer that devotes some serious time to sharing the intimate details of its history with us. And early Mazda racing history in Japan is not an area that’s well known, so we’ve tried to do our best to bring it to you in our earlier articles (here and here).

Hence it’s really so nice to see that Mazda has a nice motorsport retrospective going on in its website at the moment. Mazda are slowly adding racing photos from its motorsport archives with a brief article on the story behind each. There are regular updates, but it’s obviously a long term project (and a labour of love) for someone inside Mazda.

From us here at Grand JDM, we’d like to say good for you, sir! We only wish all the other manufacturers would do the same.

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Woz Gets Back in the Z

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As many auto blogs reported not too long ago (and no small amount of tech blogs), Steve Wozniak—co-founder of Apple Computers—starred in a television commercial in the early 80s for the Nissan/Datsun 280ZX. Well it turns out he’s always had a soft spot for the Z, as shown not only by the fact that he presently owns a three fiddy Z, but also by the fact that—as part of his plan to sell it for charity—he’s helped to recreate that original advertisement, using the 350Z. It’s lame as hell, but funny enough to get a bit of a chuckle out of. Check it out.

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Son of Toyota

toyodaToday, Shoichiro Toyoda spoke at the Woodrow Wilson Center International Center for Scholars in Washington DC. This is right in our backyard, so we made the haul down to Das Capital to see what the son of Toyota Motor Corporation founder Kiichiro Toyoda had to say.

Much of the speech centered on the Toyota Production System, the company’s US plants, and US-Japan relations. We’ll spare you the details. An interesting anecdote emerged, however. In 1957, Toyota debuted the Toyopet Crown in the US, where it completely failed to impress the car-buying public. Curious, Dr. Toyoda took two Crowns for a drive on American roads. The power-to-weight ratio was so horrid, he couldn’t even merge safely onto the highway if the on-ramp sloped uphill. The future Honorary Chairman of one of the biggest auto manufacturers on Earth was forced to drive around until he found a downhill ramp. True to the TPS, he returned to Japan with his research, and eventually gave us the modern ‘Yotas that can get up inclines with no problemo.

[Image courtesy of iccic.or.jp]

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The Datsun of Woz

When our windows machine died an untimely death earlier this year, we made the jump to Apple. The the guy in this video is partially responsible. There’s no doubt by now that you’ve seen the 80s-rific commercial in which Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak hawks the 280ZX resurface on auto and tech blog alike a few months back, and then again when he recently announced he was auctioning off his 2005 350Z for charity.

We have to hand it to the guy, rather than shy away from a 30 second yearbook photo The Woz embraces it fully and self-parodies, uh, himself. Weird Al Yankovic’s “White & Nerdy” even plays as he’s pulling away. When the news first broke he was asking a round $100,000, but the price has now been reduced to about half that. Sale of the century? Well, a brand new NISMO 350Z starts at $38,070, so it’s really like the car plus 20 grand for lunch at Wozniak’s house and the warm fuzzy feeling you’ll get knowing that he’s donating it to a charity, if UC Berkeley can be called that. The new video can be seen here.

[Source: TUAB via Autoblog]

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Daihatsu JDM Memorial Editions

memorial copenOn Monday, Japan’s small car specialist unveiled three limited edtions of its lineup.  As regular readers know, 2007 marks a whole century of Daihatsu, and to celebrate their 100th Anniversary the company is rolling out a fleet of Memorial Edition cars.  The coolest of the bunch also has the longest name: Daihatsu Copen Ultimate Edition II Memorial.  The hardtop convertible kei-roadster comes with goodies like Recaro seats, Momo steering wheel, BBS rims and Bilstein dampers.  The Esse and Terios Kid Memorial Editions accompany the Copen, and two weeks prior, three other button-cute kei cars were released, the Move, Move Custom, and Mira.

[Source: Daihatsu]

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There’s Intense, and Then There’s This.

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This is probably easily the most mental, insane Hako I’ve seen yet. Those crazy flares are well out there (not something that’s never been seen before, though), and the wheels nestled so tightly beneath them really help to set this beautiful blue beast right off.

Where it really gets hot is under the hood. Packing an RB26 supported by the full gamut of mods, this is about as crazy as I’ve seen a C10 get. If you’ve seen crazier, hit us up in the comments!

Check it out at Auto Otaku.

Posted in nissan | 1 Comment

2000GTs Are Forever

2000gt Last week we told you about Toyota USA’s very own blog. Well on that blog, as part of their countdown to the 50th anniversary celebration on October 31, a retrospective of significant Toyotas will be highlighted, the first of which is the 2000GT. We’ve cast many words into the electronic ether over this amazing automobile in the past, so we’ll let Open Road take the helm.

Of course, the one thing you will never hear us mention in any article about the 2000GT is its minor role in a laughably ridiculous series of movies about some British chap with a pistol. We understand that the unwashed may need the pop culture reference to orient themselves, but we think the car stands just fine on its own. Let’s just say that a current viewing of the film – which features both a bald, gray-suited, parody-ripe villain who builds a spaceship to usher in WWIII and a plastic surgery operation that turns Indiana Jones’s father into a Vulcan – proves it does not stand up to the test of time nearly as well as the machine itself.

[Source: Toyota Open Road Blog]

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Worldwide Enthusiasts

ta22 celica Classic JDM enthusiasts span globe, from California to Czeckeslovakia. In the Netherlands there is actually quite a following that might come as a surprise to some. Despite their harsh winters, somehow quite a number of classic Japanese cars have survived. In the Netherlands they have an annual show, the “Japan Classic Sunday”, which attracts some pretty hot cars (including a Toyota 2000GT in 2006)! The 2007 show recently took place but never fear, the 2008 show is already planned for July. But for now, here are a couple of links to the past events.

2007 Show

2006 Show

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TRD, Just TRD

Despite millions of TRD stickers gracing the flanks of everything from pickups to Priuses, nothing street-legal has ever had the gall to jettison the “Toyota” part of its name and go only by TRD. Well leave it up to the Aussies. I mean, if they can infiltrate Hollywood by concealing any trace of stretched vowels in their speech, surely they can strap a supercharger to a hotted-up Camry and squeeze 323 horses out of it. Well, they’ve gone and done just that, and the resulting hoon magnet is the TRD Aurion.

The nostalgic connection in all of this is that TRD Australia’s new website has an entire section devoted to Toyota’s 50th anniversary in motorsports with cool archival photos and a wicked video that includes, among other things, a first-gen Celica rally car in a sweeping powerslide through the snow, fiery explosions, an airborne Toyopet Crown. Fittingly, Toyota’s first venture into auto racing was in Oz’s Mobilgas Rally.

[Source: TRD Australia]

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Golden Skyline

In the past week, airwaves have been inundated with some important birthday news from the automotive world, the 50th anniversary of the Ford Edsel. Rarely does the mainstream media care about the anniversary of a single model, but apparently exceptions can be made when said model happens to be one of the biggest cases of hype-not-living-up-to-ness in history. The Washington Post called it “the flop heard around the world” and “Ford’s Titanic.” Time Magazine merely said its narrow, upright grille looked like “a vagina.”

In a parallel universe, enthusiasts are celebrating the golden anniversary of a car that racked up countless racing victories and became a legend the world over, even though it was never sold to most of it. Well, Japan is as close to a parallel universe as we’re ever going to get, and car nuts there have been observing 50 years of the Nissan Skyline. In April, a sample of each of the twelve generations was displayed in the newly completed, $3-billion Tokyo Midtown. Then, there was another display at Nissan’s futuristic, gleaming-white Ginza gallery. And then this one. And then wallpapers, a series of diecast cars, a desktop gadget, a commemorative CD, and even a cross-country tour that ended at the very tree used in the Ken & Mary commercials. Now that’s a birthday party!

[Source: Nissan]

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More S in S2000

s2000 type-s Automakers often resurrect famous model names from their past to inject some excitement into their lineups. Sadly, this often has the unintended effect of diluting the legacy of the original and spotlighting how glaringly unlike its namesake the current car is. A Dodge Charger with four doors? A Chevy Malibu with, um, anything? In Japan, sometimes they kill off a model name just for the heck of it. Toyota Corona to Toyota… Premio? Allion?

Fortunately, the Honda S2000 suffers from none of that. Like the S500, S600 and S800 before it, the S2000 is a taut, agile sports car. Both are open-top two-seaters and both power the rear wheels for motion. They even have the same sky-high redline, even though the two were separated by a span of 30 years.

Earlier this year, the Honda S2000 CR (for Club Racer) debuted at the New York Auto Show. With only 2000 units to be produced, it was supposed to be a North American exclusive, at least according to the reps at the show. But it has come to our attention that Honda will be debuting a suspiciously similar-looking S2000 Type-S in Japan soon. Absolutely no details exist at this point except for this photo. It’s said that this limited edition will be the final sayonara for the long-toothed roadster, and so far no news of a replacement has surfaced. Hopefully it won’t take another 30 years.

[Source: Honda]

Posted in honda | 2 Comments

Say it LOUD: Red Megaphone

skyline-c110_001.jpg Auto Otaku recently stumbled across a bunch of videos by Japanese restorer Red Megaphone, and has thrown a few of them up on his blog. Presumably these are some videos intended to show off the cars to potential buyers. The sound of these things, especially the three Nissans, almost brings a tear to my eye. So fine. Hit it here.

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Following Arrows

plym pickup By the time Bob Geldof was slowly swaying side-to-side with both Hall and Oates chanting, “We are the world, we are the children,” Plymouth (the car company, not the rock) had ceased being interesting for quite some time. Its only products that weren’t blatantly insulting to the American car-buying public were rebadged Mitsubishis.

Truck Trend‘s blog (a division of Motor Trend) recently spotted the specimen pictured here in greater LA, spawning what must be the most words ever written about the Plymouth Arrow Truck. Allow us to add some more: It started life as the Mitsubishi Forte in Japan, but first appeared on American shores as the Plymouth Arrow truck and Dodge D50 (later, Ram 50). This one comes in Spitfire Orange, either ironically or cluelessly named after the British planes that went head-to-head with Mitsubishi-built Zeros in WWII. It was sold between 1979 and 1982, after which the triple diamond mafia imported the Forte directly with the name Mighty Max. The Dodge continued on until 1993.

This Arrow Truck, it must be said, should not be confused with the Plymouth Arrow, which was an altogether different car based on the Mitsubishi Lancer Celeste, a variation of which was the Fire Arrow. Both, however, had an overabundance of decals.

[Source: Truck Trend]

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O, Canada!

As if their inexpensive health care and lack of violent crime weren’t enough, our neighbors to the north can import any car they please, as long as it’s 15 years old. Seriously, guys? Californians are still getting their exhaust holes sniffed on cars double that age. This article in The Globe and Mail about an imported Nissan Figaro really twists the knife.

We’ve always been fans of the retro stylings of Nissan’s March-based boutique cars, with their uncanny ability to evoke post-War transport while luxuriating the driver in digital age comforts. But think of the other gems that fall into this time frame, everything from an R32 Skyline GT-R to Showa Era sleds like the Z20 Soarer, or how about a hot hatch like the Honda City Turbo II? The possibilities, and seething jealousy, are endless.

There’s no telling how long this sushi buffet will last. Some areas north of the 49th Parallel are already exhibiting US-like tendencies. The Canadian government could decide to adopt our import rules like they did our transportation safety laws, and then we’ll just be one big continent of sadness.

[Source: The Globe and Mail]

Posted in nissan, retro | 3 Comments

Featured Car: Mike Castillo’s Skyline 2000GT

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When genuine KPGC10 Skyline GT-Rs are selling for upwards of US$110,000, it’s no surprise that there’d be plenty of interest in the replica genre. After all; not everyone’s got a spare hundred grand to throw down on an old car, but every classic JDM enthusiast wants the GC10 GT-R, and most if not all would be very content with a well-built replica. Michael Castillo’s 2000GT is one such example. Read on to discover more about this gorgeous car.

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Posted in Featured Cars, nissan | 3 Comments

Random House, Part II

So recently we found out about the M. Yokota Collection, a museum in the village of Ikaho in Gunma Prefecture that has – in addition to a fantastic heap of nostalgics – a wine & chocolate shop, vast amounts of vintage toys, and a squirrel zoo. We’ll leave the details about those to our friends at Japanese Contemporary Squirrel while we bring you some more pictures of old cars.

Further poking on the official website revealed that the museum holds car shows on its grounds and organizes a nostalgic car run each fall, the next one of which is coming up on September 16. Click here for the event details (Japanese only) and check out the dated links in right most column, each of which brings you to a gallery with photos from a classic car event.

[Source: M. Yokota Collection]

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The Real Deal

C10 S20

As you may know, there are stacks of C10 Skyline GT-R “lookalikes” in Japan. However, it’s not often that an authentic specimen (PGC10 or KPGC10) comes up for sale to the public. Not only are they very rare, but most trade hands without being advertised these days. If you can afford the hefty price tag, this car could be yours! J-Spec have offered their services to get it to you, wherever you are in the world.

1971 Nissan Skyline GT-R (KPGC10)

If you can’t afford that (and don’t scoff, it’s a good price), there are always replicas and alternatives!

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