Over the weekend a minor panic ensued among Nissan fans and car enthusiasts when the Nikkei Shimbun newspaper reported that Nissan was discontinuing the Skyline. The Fuga and Cima would go along with it, the article stated. Reasons cited included a shift towards the almighty SUV, and that resources would be reallocated to develop electric cars. However, a high-ranking Nissan executive has just denied that report. Continue reading
VIDEO: The Mitsubishi Montero Sport was a nice truck
With Land Cruiser pricing getting into nosebleed territory, 4×4 fans have moved onto Lexus GXes, Monteros, and even the occasional Trooper, driving all their prices up. So far, the Mitsubishi Montero Sport seems to have evaded their gaze. Debuting at the height of the SUV craze, it was a ladder-frame, leaf-sprung, and lower-priced alternative to the 4Runner and Explorer. Continue reading
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QotW: What’s the biggest hurdle to keeping your JNC nice?
It’s a myth that southern California is really good to cars. Sure, due to the desert climate old cars don’t rust (unless you live near the beach), but you can always fix rust if you’re determined enough a welder. What you can’t fix is the sun, and how it absolutely fries the brittle, vinyl-wrapped interiors of brittle, old Japanese cars. And it’s a lot harder to fix old dashboards, upholstery with intricate little embroidered logos than metal, and foam cushions that crack and turn to powder.
However, that’s a probably largely unique to the southwestern US. Depending on where you live, the issue could be the lack of parts support from OEMs, bad drivers, Honda thieves, or any number of phenomena constantly threatening your vintage car.
What’s the biggest hurdle to keeping your JNC nice?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What tuning house demo car do you want to own?” Continue reading
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Toyota benchmarked the 80-series for the new Land Cruiser 300
Toyota went all-out in launching the J300 Land Cruiser, digging deep into its history to inform development of the latest iteration. One of the many revealing tidbits to come out of the LC300’s launch is the fact that the engineering team used the much-revered J80-generation Land Cruiser as their north star during the development process. Continue reading
Production Nissan Z to debut in New York August 17
We finally have an official date for the Z35’s debut. Nissan tweeted that it will unveil the seventh-generation Z-car in New York on August 17, 2021. This means it will likely debut as a 2022 model, matching the GT-R Proto’s timeline over a decade and a half ago. Continue reading
The Land Cruiser still carries the enthusiast flag for Toyota
In an age when Toyota’s sports cars are built by other carmakers, Aichi still has one historic world-dominating model that the company will pull out all the stops for: the Land Cruiser. A new generation of the venerated truck debuted on June 10, marking its tenth iteration, and for the debut Toyota leaned heavily on Land Cruiser history, enthusiasts, and clubs to make it statement. That part should be of no surprise, and while it says a lot about the Land Cruiser’s place in Toyota’s family tree, it says even more about cars like the Supra and 86. Continue reading
Happy 610 Day from JNC
Rob McFarlin of FAR Performance raced a number of different popular Datsun models. While he took his 240Z, 510, and Fairlady roadsters all to the SCCA Runoffs, it wwas perhaps his 610 that was the most unexpected finalist. Happy 610 Day from JNC!
Daihatsu might bring back the Rocky as a Jimny rival
There’s a rumor swirling around Japanese automotive media right now that Daihatsu might be bringing back the mighty Rocky. Well, technically it’s not the Rocky, but the vehicle that the original Rocky was based on, the Daihatsu Rugger. It’s said to be a very compact, ladder-frame 4WD, one that will go head-to-head with the tremendously popular Suzuki Jimny. Continue reading
Suzuki’s COVID project was a stunning retro Katana
The year-long lockdown due to COVID gave all of us a lot of downtime to catch up on back burner projects. Hopefully, you used that time as wisely as Suzuki did. The company has just revealed a stunning, one-off, road-going retro Katana based on a 2008 GSX-R1000 Superbike World Championship race motor. Continue reading
Nissan previews 70th anniversary of Patrol with some really bad CG
The Nissan Patrol turns 70 this year, and Nissan has released a new video previewing some kind of occasion to mark the milestone. It’s a worthy goal, as the Patrol enjoys a huge following on par with that of the Toyota Land Cruiser in some parts of the world. Unfortunately, the computer generated images of the Patrol used in the video are absolutely terrible. Continue reading
QotW: What tuning house demo car do you want to own?
We recently learned that the Jun Auto Mechanic Honda Civic is up for sale. Tuning houses are small outfits, especially in Japan, and it’s basically impossible for them to keep everything they’ve built. Many once-revered demo cars plastered on the covers of magazines and catalogs have been released into the wild. Let’s say for a moment that you could take any one of these shop specials — even if it’s still owned by the original builders or has since been destroyed — home.
What tuning house demo car do you want to own?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What JNC concept deserves to be found or restored?” Continue reading
The Toyota S-FR was almost certainly a Mazda Miata underneath
The Toyota S-FR concept debuted at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2015 to much fanfare. The lightweight, rear-wheel-drive coupe had a manual transmission and was said to complete Toyota’s “three sports car brothers” trio below the 86 and Supra. Aichi even said its purpose was “to make a whole new generation fall in love with driving.” They got everyone excited about the notion of a sporty Toyota, even built a racing version, licensed Tomica miniatures, and then it disappeared without a trace. What happened? Five and a half years later, we think we’ve solved part of the mystery. Continue reading
Mitsubishi almost made a Starion 4WD Group B road car
This past Monday’s QotW explored “What JNC concept deserves to be found or restored?” Coincidentally, a never-before-seen Mitsubishi Starion 4WD Group B road car has just been unearthed, albeit in an illustrated and archival form. If it were put into production, it would have been one of the greatest Mitsubishis ever made. Continue reading
KIDNEY, ANYONE? Jun Auto Mechanic’s 1996 Honda Civic
While Honda honors the history of the Civic with hidden easter eggs, celebrating it outright would entail driving a brightly colored screamer built by one of the powerhouses of Japan’s tuning world. There’s no better way to start off the month of June, than with possibly owning a Jun-modified Civic. Continue reading
QotW: What JNC concept deserves to be found or restored?
Mazda recently went through great lengths to restore the MX-81 concept, paying respects to the first car to bear the “MX” designation. As you can see, it needed significant reconditioning to bring it back to its former glory as it had been, according to the company, languishing at a warehouse somewhere (we’re imagining a room like at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark). Prior to that, it had not been seen in public in many years and no one would’ve blamed you if you assumed it had been destroyed (the fate of many a concept). It makes us wonder, though, what else might be lurking out there in a forgotten storeroom?
What JNC concept deserves to be found or restored?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What theft prevention measures do you take for your car?” Continue reading
The 2022 Honda Civic has a cool throwback Easter Egg
The 11th-generation Honda Civic makes a departure from the spaceship-like previous generation and leans toward the upscale, its angular lines replaced with a more sophisticated dynamic shape reminiscent of Acura. The new interior is said to “reimagine the clean and uncluttered lines of earlier generations of Civic.” Little did we know, it would give a nod to them as well. Continue reading
The City wasn’t the first Honda with a bike-in-car concept
If you utter the words Honda City to any enthusiast of Japanese cars, the first thing their brains will map to is the foldable Motocompo bike that lived in its trunk. Although it’s the most recognized execution of the bike-in-car concept, it’s apparently not the first. A decade and a half earlier, Honda introduced the same idea in the S600 Coupé. Continue reading
MINICARS: The Kaido House Datsun 510 begins Jun Imai’s next chapter
Jun Imai is a pivotal figure in the diecast world, having transformed the most “hot rod” of diecast brands into a leader in Japanese minicars. For that he became a star in the collectible car world, and ever since he left Hot Wheels in 2018 people have been clamoring for his next project. Now, Kaido House is finally here, we think it’s safe to say it takes the adult collectible 1:64 diecast car into new and exciting realms. Continue reading
Toyota Supra owner selling car to pay for his cat’s medical expenses finds there is still good in the world
The pandemic has been a reset for mankind, with shelter-in-place orders last year giving us time to wrench on our projects and spend time with our loved ones. However, one man in Osaka was posed with a very difficult choice between keeping his A70 Toyota Supra and saving his cat, and the resulting story is one that will completely restore your faith in humanity. Continue reading
QotW: What theft prevention measures do you take for your car?
The theft of a Hakosuka Skyline last week left the JNC world in a bit of a panic. Of course we have been accustomed to bandits wreaking havoc in the select communities, but to target a very specific, 50-year-old car like a custom Hakosuka Skyline signaled that perhaps a new breed of guns for hire were out to capture iconic Japanese classics. It was more akin to an art heist than your typical larcenous behavior. Luckily, this time the car was recovered and the criminals seemed didn’t seem to know what they had, but whether you’re driving a Hako or a Honda, caution must be taken.
What theft prevention measures do you take for your car?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What automotive stuff do you hoard?” Continue reading
