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 →

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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.

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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.

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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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2006 Nagoya Nostalgic Car Show

Posted on July 9, 2007 by Van

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A great collection of photos from the Nagoya Nostalgic Car Show can be found right here. A lot of Garuchan/Boso-style old skool JDM, the likes of which I wish we could see more over here in the west, y’know?

Gallery 1 / Gallery 2

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Want your classic JDM to look this good?

Posted on July 9, 2007 by Van

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Ever thought about selling your services (or your body *cough*) to fund a project? Maybe your income just isn’t quite covering the cost of getting your interior retrimmed? I think we’ve all been there. Well one of the members over at Vic Z Car come up with a plan to help fund the plans for some major engine work on his Z – Selling his skills in Photoshoppery. Is that a word? Heck with it.

I have to say I like the idea! I’ve been toying with Photoshop myself for years, though I’m not sure I’m at this guy’s level of talent, especially when it comes to colour. I haven’t seen any more of his work other than what he’s shown in this forum thread at Vic Z Car, but hey, if I can help my fellow classic JDM fans get their projects paid for, and if I can help my readers get that little extra magic out of their car’s photos, then I’ll be happy!

Go and check it out.

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Random Pic: Crown Town

Posted on July 9, 2007 by Ben Hsu

It seems that Toyota is all too happy to promote their heritage in any country except the US. When the twelfth generation S180 Crown debuted in J-land, Toyota brought out eleven of its ancestors to promote one of the longest-running model names in their lineup. Here’s the display from Megaweb, Toyota’s uber-showroom in Tokyo.

As you all very well know, this year is Toyota’s 50th anniversary in the US, but nary a peep will be made by the Mr, Big T, much to the dismay of classic Toyota enthusiasts like us. The closest thing is they’ve done is release a 50th anniversary Camry hybrid. The Crown, the first Japanese car ever officially imported to these shores while pioneering 50 years of Toyota’s involvement in motorsports, was celebrated at the recent Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK. At least we can gaze on these machines from afar.

Posted in japan, toyota | 3 Comments

grandJDM links now online!

Posted on July 9, 2007 by Van

Mornin’ guys and girls,

I’ve added a bunch of links to the about page, so if you’d like to jump over and check it out, feel free.

grandJDM is getting a healthy amount of traffic these days – especially when you consider that we’ve been going for about three weeks! On top of that, the online classic JDM community isn’t as big as many of the other more modern-focused communities, so I think we’re doing quite nicely.

If you run a website, forum, or blog that is relevant to the Japanese cars scene (classic or modern), please feel free to contact us here at grandJDM to arrange for a link exchange. As they say mates, you scratch our back and we’ll scratch yours!

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Classic JDM Addiction #493

Posted on July 9, 2007 by Van

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If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably realised that as time passes, there’s less of a chance that you’re ever going to own at least one example of every single classic JDM car that you’d always sworn you’ll someday own. In a situation like that, it’s probably a good idea to start looking at alternative ways to feed that hunger for classic JDM! One such solution, for many folks, includes the building of scale models. With any level of modification options – such as the ability to buy different wheels and engines, there’s a world of possibilities.  It can still be a costly exercise – and finding room in the house for all those models can cause some headaches – but hey, think of scale model building as the Nicorette patch for your classic JDM addiction!

Japanese Nostalgic Car forum thread
Hobby Link Japan
ToyEast

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Bye Bye Blogger, Welcome WordPress

Posted on July 8, 2007 by Ben Hsu

Now, JNC is new and improved, with 10% fewer preservatives! As part of our recent revamp, we’ve added more details on the latest articles on our main page, provided an RSS feed subscription, and switched from Blogger to WordPress, which allows more freedom to customize the look of our blog. (Sayonara, annoying bar across top of screen!). Side effects may include increased drooling over hot-ass classic Japanese cars.

The only thing you might have to watch out for is the new address for our blog: http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/blog/. The old one, http://blog.japanesenostalgiccar, will no longer be updated, left to wither away like some future barn find.

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The ups and downs of engine swaps

Posted on July 8, 2007 by Van

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If you’ve ever thought about pulling out the old horse and dropping in a newer breed, you’ve probably got some idea of the amount of work and expense involved – if only because friends and peers have warned you about it a dozen times.  If you’ve already been there and done that, you no doubt already know what I’m talking about!  Today’s linked story comes from a bloke who put a lot of sweat into converting a customer’s RA28 from its original mill to a 1G-GTE powered twin turbo monster.

Check it out!

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