Brap Magazine

Posted on July 16, 2007 by Van

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Brap (derived from the sound of the cars in question) is a magazine devoted to the Rotary scene in Australia – specifically in Mazdas, in case you were thinking of old folks sitting around tables in car parks on cold Sunday mornings hocking their old cutlery and photos of WW2 soldiers.

Presented in PDF format, Brap is now up to issue 3, and the guys have done some great work so far.  The Australian rotary scene is perhaps a little different to that seen elsewhere, with the exception of New Zealand.  Big power, big modern sports rims, and outspoken paint schemes are all par for the course down under the equator.  Not everyone’s cup of tea for sure, but it holds no shortage of appeal for a lot of people!

Check out Brap Magazine.

Posted in mazda | 2 Comments

Big Boys and Their Little Toys

Posted on July 15, 2007 by Van

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To help celebrate 50 years of the Nissan Skyline, Tomica – somewhat like Japan’s version of Matchbox or Hot Wheels – have introduced a series of six classic (well, 5 plus the 1, not everyone considers the R30 a classic yet) Skylines into their range of toy cars. From the S54 through to the R30, this is a great collection of accurately depicted miniature cars from the legendary suka family. They’ll each sell for ¥525 (AU$4.90, US$4.30), which is a steal! Remember when you used to buy one Matchbox car every week when you were 10 years old, because you had just enough pocket money to get one? Those days are back, at least temporarily, haha.

If you can get your hands on these, do it! I know I’ll be scouring the net for a source. Keep an eye on ToyEast and HobbyLink Japan, and you might just get lucky.

Here’s the original article at carview.jp, translated through Google.

Posted in Miscellaneous, nissan | 1 Comment

I Say Amon!

Posted on July 15, 2007 by Ben Hsu

Long before there was japanesenostalgiccar.com, there was just plain nostalgiccar.com, a Japanese site that, as far as we can tell, is a dealer called Amon and trades in minty fresh vintage J-rides. Clearly by being, in fact, Japanese, they didn’t feel the need to qualify their name with the actual word “Japanese,” which worked out well when it came time for us to get our domain name.

To see the good stuff, go to their main page and click on the squares on the right, but make sure you’re sitting down and not in the vicinity of any sharp corners. The first one with the date on it takes you to an events page that, while infrequently updated, has galleries from classic car shows that will drop your jaw straight into your lap. The square below it, the one with the pink sakuras, takes you to a list of cars they have for sale. Marvel at the immaculate condition of these old school treasures. Each and every one is cleaner than your dentist’s hands. I mean just look at them! Be sure to click on all 46 pages linked at the bottom. You’re welcome.

Images courtesy of Amon Nostalgic Car.

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Cool JDM Videos You Probably Haven’t Heard Of

Posted on July 15, 2007 by Kevin San

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Everybody knows about JDM car videos like Best Motoring, Hot Version, Video Option, etc, and they’re great entertainment. But if you go to Japan, you’ll realise that those flagship video titles are really just the tip of the iceberg. There are actually lots and lots of much more obscure and specific DVDs on basically anything car-related, from DIY videos on how to assemble an MX5 engine, to enthusiast tribute videos to great old cars like the C10 GT-R.

Continue reading →

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Random Pic: Instant Daruma

Posted on July 14, 2007 by Ben Hsu

clay celicaAt Toyota’s Megaweb showroom, there was a small section teaching the average shopper about the design process, and the specimen chosen to illustrate the journey from concept to finished product was none other than the 1970 daruma Celica. Here’s the beauty rendered in clay, sans wheels like Venus de Milo. And dare we say, it looks as fresh and gorgeous today as it did when the original debuted 37 years ago.

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Honda: High RPM Beginnings (Part 3)

Posted on July 14, 2007 by Kevin San

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The T360/500 trucks and the S500/600/800 sports cars demonstrated Honda’s racing pedigree and engineering genius. Mr Honda’s philosophy was that if you perfected every individual area of a car, then the overall car would be perfect, and the public would love it. A typical engineer’s philosophy, amply demonstrated in Honda’s production cars which had engine technology more akin to an F1 car at the time. And yet they didn’t really work as a package and worse…they didn’t really sell very well.

Mr Honda’s car division got a reprieve when the N360 Kei-car of 1967 (above) proved to be a sales winner. A simple FWD minicar, using a single cam two cylinder motor, it was well accepted by the Japanese buying public.

But for Honda to become a full fledged car manufacturer, Mr Honda knew that they would have to produce a proper, full size family car. Not just a kei-car which would only work in Japan, but a world-class sedan that could be sold anywhere. This would be the car simply called the “1300” and with it, Mr Honda would push his engineering philosophy to the limit, and it would bring the friction between Old Man Honda and his young management team to a head, changing the fate of the company forever.

Continue reading →

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One Kidney is Enough: 1971 Mazda Cosmo Sport

Posted on July 13, 2007 by Ben Hsu

Robert Frost was right. Take the road less traveled, as the Autoblog reader/E-Type owner who submitted this story to them did, and you just might stumble upon a 1971 Mazda Cosmo Sport for $36,000. No location is given. Unfortunately, the post does nothing but refer to the inaugural rotary sports car a Jaguar E-Type front with a ’65 Oldsmobile rear. Whaaa? We like the BBC too, but not everything with bubble headlamps is a Jag-yoo-are.

Considering what some owners expect from theirs, like this ebayer from Washington state ($57,500), and this owner from an Australian auction (unsold at $82,394), this example seems like a good deal.

You can contact the finder yourself if interested. Image courtesy of Chuck Goolsbee.

Posted in for sale, mazda | 3 Comments

Honda: High RPM Beginnings (Part 2)

Posted on July 13, 2007 by Kevin San

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Moving right along from the T360 and T500 trucks, Honda’s next foray into four-wheeled vehicles was the S500 roadster. It should be remembered that at this point Honda was already a massively successful international motorcycle manufacturer, mainly as a result of the Honda Cub: a cheap, simple, robust 50cc bike that is made to this very day and is the most popular vehicle ever made.

So the S500 was as much a treat for company founder Soichiro as anything else, and its sporty front-engined, rear wheel drive convertible layout predates the S2000 by some 35 years. Mr Honda was quite the anglo-phile when it came to cars, and so the S600 displays more upright influences from British sports cars of the day, rather than the more svelte and womanly curves of 60s Italian sportsters.

Continue reading →

Posted in honda | 3 Comments

Crown in 3 Seconds

Posted on July 13, 2007 by Ben Hsu

Rarely do the words “Jay Leno” and “money shot” appear in the same sentence, but for fans of the Crown the planets aligned last night. Here it is, the 1958 Toyopet Crown on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as part of the Toyota Concert Series, in all it’s low-def, rabbit-eared, 13-inch glory. Told ya our budget was low. Sure, the car was on screen for about three seconds, but so was the total elapsed time of Y2K’s remake of Gone in 60 Seconds worth watching.

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Honda: High RPM Beginnings (Part 1)

Posted on July 12, 2007 by Kevin San

497_T360For a great many car manufacturers, their DNA has roots in the distant past. It is hard to imagine Ford without the Mustang and GT40, it’s equally hard to imagine Nissan without the 240Z and C10 Skyline GT-R, and of course Mazda wouldn’t be the same without its long and proud history of rotary engined cars that stretches right back to the 60s.

But what of Honda? To most enthusiasts, an “old school” Honda is a mid 80s Integra. Think back and you might be able to conjure a mental image of the ground-breaking 1st Gen Civic, but that would be it for most people. And that’s a shame, because there are many interesting Hondas made before the Civic, and an examination of them tells you a lot about why the company is where it is today.

Let’s start.

Continue reading →

Posted in honda | 1 Comment

Bolt-on guards – The key to the universe.

Posted on July 12, 2007 by Van

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I don’t know about you lot, but I’ve always been of the opinion that a good set of bolt-on guards can really make the difference when toughing up a classic JDM car. There’s always a few ways you can go about restoring your car; you can make it a pristine example of how the car originally rolled off the line, with maybe a tweak here and there to make it better than new, or you can tough it right the hell up. Bolt-on guards, lowered, deepdish rims, whatever takes your fancy. And I’ve always been a fan of the bolt-on guards.

Head over to this Japanese Nostalgic Car forum thread for a few examples.

Posted in Miscellaneous | 4 Comments

Lesser-known birds of the rotary feather

Posted on July 11, 2007 by Kevin San

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When one thinks of the Mazda Rotary, its hard not to immediately associate it with immortal modern classics like the FD and FC RX-7s. Think back even further, and the racing heritage of cars like the Savanna RX3 and the first-generation (SA22C) RX-7 come to mind too. And if you really know your JDM history, you may be able to even add the Mazda Cosmo to that list: the very first Mazda rotary production car with its swoopy, Ford Thunderbird inspired styling and powered by the dimunitive 10A rotary.

Continue reading →

Posted in mazda | 2 Comments

The Gray Lady Wants YOU

Posted on July 11, 2007 by Ben Hsu

gray nissan cedric wagonThe New York Times is looking for an owner of a classic Japanese car in the New York area for a new section called Auto Ego. Penned by Richard Chang, it will explore not only the cars but each owner’s unique relationship with them, as seen in this story about a ’67 Citroen DS19. Considering Chang’s past work with Autoweek and Super Street, this should be an excellent addition to the paper. Richard also blogs cars for the Times. Get ready to hand over that Pulitzer, Thomas Friedman! And of course nothing thrills us more than seeing the cars we love gain more recognition. We know you guys are out there. See Richard’s post in our forum for details.

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New York, New York…Times

Posted on July 11, 2007 by Van

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Do you have a connection with your classic JDM car that simply defies all reason?  Have your friends stopped inviting you out on the weekends after having heard one too many times that you’re busy polishing your wheels?  Then you might be just the person the New York Times are looking for.  Richard Chang is a writer for the Times, and he’s in search of not only a beautiful example of a classic Japanese car, but also an appropriately obsessed owner.  He’s writing a series of articles about the bond between owners and their cars, and now he’s focusing on Japan.  Here’s one of his recent articles.

So if you think you might fit the bill, shoot Richard an email at rschang@yahoo.com.

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I Don't Know Much, But I Know I Love What You Do For Me, Toyota

Posted on July 11, 2007 by Ben Hsu

Just when we had posted a complaint about Toyota ignoring their half century of history in the US, they go and turn us into liars. Keep your pants on, pilgrim, it’s nothing to write home about. It’s just that tonight (July 11th) as part of Toyota’s Summer Concert Series on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, the Big T will display a 1958 Toyopet Crown as the Neville Brothers croon a tune from their latest album. This is probably the first appearance on network TV for the Crown, and for many Americans, this could very well be the first time the notion of a 1950’s Japanese automobile even enters their consciousness, though we expect it to depart just as quickly. If you decide to tune in, the show will air at 11:35 pm/10:35 pm central on NBC.

Thanks to our friends at Katysnest for the tip! We missed it last year, but they tell us that a similar feat of singing amidst vintage ‘Yotas was performed during the launch of the new FJC when some lucky recording artist got the chance to serenade a bunch of classic Land Cruisers.

Posted in toyota | 1 Comment

Crashdance

Posted on July 11, 2007 by Ben Hsu

RIP My Computer, 1999-2007. That’s right folks, the electronic wizardry behind JNC was actually a 700Mhz Windows machine almost eight years old. Our budget is that low. It finally crashed for the last time yesterday, leaving us scrambling like chickens in a mosh pit to buy a new MacBook. Now comes the fun part of transferring all our data to the new computer. The ungainly beige box is going into the garbage bin and our colleagues at Taiwanese Nostalgic Computer frown upon this discarding.

Image courtesy of zhome.

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This is a call!

Posted on July 11, 2007 by Van

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Alright lads and ladies, it’s time to put your voting hats on. The gang over at Jalopnik.com – a site dedicated to automotive news – have put together a poll on the best Skyline GT-R of all time. Now of course, you know what this means. Friends, countrymen, you must do the right thing! The hakosuka C10 GT-R is on the list (despite the fact they’ve used a GT-X for the photo), and as much as I would have loved to have seen a kenmeri C110 up there as well, this will at least narrow the options for us eh?

Get over there and vote for the C10!

Posted in media, nissan | 1 Comment

Skyline Surprise

Posted on July 10, 2007 by Ben Hsu

The irreverent bloggers at Jalopnik have a garage that they’re trying to populate with the 50 coolest cars of all time. Alas, it’s a Fantasy Garage but the idea is so cool that we might have to steal it one day. Nevertheless, today they’ve elected to fill one of the coveted spots with a legend in its own time, the Nissan Skyline. Problem is, the Skyline has so many unbelievably awesome generations that they can’t figure out which one to include and have put the vote to the public.

And the nominees are: the KPGC10 GT-R, the R32 GT-R, R33 NISMO 400R, and R34 GT-R. Right now, the classic is trailing in the votes like a fourth party candidate. The post on the C10 has a few errors, however. They seem to have lumped the fourth-gen C110 Kenmeri (pictured) into the same generation as the third-gen C10 Hakosuka, and call the C10 the “original Skyline.” We think they meant to say the “original GT-R” since the Prince Skyline debuted in 1957. Nevertheless, you know what to do. Get over there and show some support for the old school!

Posted in datsun, nissan | 2 Comments

WRX in Effect

Posted on July 10, 2007 by Ben Hsu

Ok, so this isn’t quite nostalgic, but Subaru has a new “Legend Reborn” mini-site to the launch the new high-po version of the Impreza, the WRX. The site goes into detail about the history of the rally-inspired WRX series, which got its start in 1992. That may not seem like a long time ago, but it was the same year that George Bush Sr barfed sushi into the lap of the Japanese Prime Minister, Nirvana ruled the airwaves, and the spelling bee championship aspirations of a young William Figueroa were dashed when Veep Dan Quayle signaled him to append an “e” to “potato.”

Given how difficult it is for some companies to promote their histories and the classic cars we know and love (ahem, Toyota), we practically wet ourselves whenever we do see an attempt at representin’ heritage. Of course, Subaru of Japan is no stranger to this concept.

Accompanying the mini-site is a New York Times piece taking a look at the advertising trend of using Asian, specifically Japanese, imagery to target the youth of today. The article also mentions similar trends from companies like Mitsubishi and General Electric. As if on cue, Scion today announced a T-shirt contest for they call the “Otaku generation.” Why do we mention all this? Because it’s encouraging to see the yutes of today interested in Japanese culture, particularly with respect to cars, which can only mean good things for nostalgics.

Posted in mitsubishi, subaru | Leave a comment

A Rainy Weekend’s Net Surfing

Posted on July 10, 2007 by Kevin San

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One of my favourite Youtube clips at the moment is this one.

Not only does it feature lots of delectable JDM classics, but also the impeccable taste of the smoky jazz soundtrack suggested that the video’s creator would be worth seeking out. Thankfully the clip ends with the www.double-clutch.net web address, and what a good site it is! It’s an active blog of a classic car fan in Japan, and often his entries are in English too. There’s plenty of coverage of classic car events in Japan and no shortage of event photo galleries to check out. Obviously a Nissan fan, the links section make for good surfing too. Recommended!

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Posted in nissan, Websites | Leave a comment