Mazda just announced the specs for the 2021 model year Miata, with updated colors being the key change. In particular, the new Deep Crystal Blue exterior and white leather interior are nice nostalgic callbacks to the heritage of the iconic roadster. In fact, they evoke one of the most exclusive Miata variants in Mazda history. Continue reading
We recently learned that Nissan is offering an unparalleled nut-and-bolt restoration program for the Skyline GT-R. The ¥45 million ($433,000 USD) restoration ain’t cheap, but it’s far more thorough than the 240Z restoration program from the 1990s, and everything is handled by NISMO technicians at NISMO facilities. The treatment leaves you with a car that is like new or better, and makes a statement that Nissan believes that the Skyline GT-R is worthy of such effort. But, not all cars are.
Which car should receive the factory restoration treatment next?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s your playlist for the year your car was made?” Continue reading
The Tomei Expressway stretches from Nagoya to Tokyo, and recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. It’s a beautiful stretch of road, and when heading east you can see the flat outskirts give way to the tall buildings of the capital city. However, in this footage of a drive from the Kohoku Parking Area outside of Yokohama to the Shibuya line of the Shuto in 1987, a crew of kaido racers is spotted in the wild. Continue reading
Rapper J Cole’s triple-platinum album 2014 Forest Hills Drive came out six years ago, but a previously unseen music video for the track “Fire Squad” was just released. It prominently features a pair of drifting Toyota AE86 coupes sending up roostertails, and their high-revving 4A-GE motors can be heard throughout the video. Cole himself rides in one of them, caged and stripped of most of its interior trim. Continue reading
On December 7 Toyota held a closing ceremony for its Higashi Fuji plant. Today, all production lines will be shut down and the factory closed for good. The 53-year-old facility has produced some of Toyota’s most iconic models, including the Sports 800, Mark II, AE86, and Century. On the site next February, construction begins on an experimental city of tomorrow to test and develop technologies such as autonomy, robotics, personal mobility, smart homes and artificial intelligence. Continue reading
Naming a car can be difficult. Just ask the folks who came up with the Mitsubishi Pajero or the Buick Lacrosse (both of which turned out to mean wanker in other languages). There are also the unintentionally funny ones given by English dictionary-adverse marketers like Suzuki Every Joy Pop Turbo or the Hino Dolphin Dump. Thankfully, when Prince Motor named its premium Skyline sedan, it chose a word that had lasting resonance and helped the car gain international acclaim even though it was never intended to be sold overseas. It has now won an award for naming excellence, but the origins of the name have always been controversial. Continue reading
The Toyota Camry often gets a bad rap for being boring, but it’s really not a bad car. That is especially true when talking about the XV10 chassis, sold in the US from 1991-96, and we’re not even talking about its stone cold reliability. The steering isn’t sharp, but it actually holds the road surprisingly well for something that passes over every bump in the road like a puffy cloud. That goes doubly so for the sporty SE trim. Continue reading
One of the many charms of an old car is its ability to transport us back in time, whether it’s in the way they drive, sound, or smell. To truly immerse yourself in the motoring experience that your classic offers, though, we’d argue that you should include a soundtrack befitting of your car’s age. Imagine if you had bought your JNC new. What would you be listening to on its factory deck? I’ll share my playlist in the comments below, but for the purposes of this QotW anything from your car’s model year or older is eligible.
What’s your playlist for the year your car was made?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “How would you build your $10,000 JNC garage?” Continue reading
NISMO has announced an unprecedented restoration program for the renowned Nissan Skyline GT-R. It will soon be possible to take a car down to bare metal, balance the chassis, and rebuild its mechanical and electrical components and come back with a completely fresh car. The goal, NISMO says, is to use the motorsports and tuning division’s expertise and resources to “[leave] Japanese cars including the Skyline GT-R, which has started to obtain new value globally, to future generations in better condition.” Continue reading
Mazda UK has released a series of videos issuing “fun facts” about classic Mazdas. To be honest, it’s a bit of a stretch to call these facts “fun” unless you find scintillating tidbits such as “Mazda first used the 929 name in 1972” entertaining. But, it’s still a good opportunity to see some old Mazdas in action. Where else are you going to see an R130 Luce Rotary Coupé moving under its own power? Continue reading
Here’s some positive news we could all use in these difficult times. Earlier this year, Mazda asked people to nominate individuals in their communities who have gone above and beyond for the sake of others. Mazda would then select fifty deserving samaritans to each win a brand new 100th Anniversary Edition Mazda MX-5 Miata. Here’s the first few picks. Continue reading
The most heralded passenger car from Isuzu’s portfolio of classics is the 117 Coupé.Marketed as a flagship luxury GT, it was very much an image car intended to put Isuzu on the map against the Toyotas and Princes of 1960s Japan. Obviously, Isuzu has one in its collection, but it’s a great case of how a technically more exclusive model, especially compared to Isuzu’s more pedestrian cars and trucks, is, decades later, much easier to restore. Continue reading
For nearly 25 years, the Raybrig NSX has been a fixture in the Japan Grand Touring Championships. In the heyday of JGTC, the striking blue racing machine was one of the most recognizable on the track. Over the weekend, however, the Raybrig livery ran its final race. Though the colors won’t appear on another car again, it earned a fairy tale ending by clinching the checkered flag — and thus the championship for the 2020 SuperGT season — in the most jaw-dropping way imaginable. Continue reading
Fifty years ago this day, on December 1 1970, the first Toyota Celica went on sale in Japan. It proved to be a groundbreaking car, the first of Japan’s production “specialty cars”, fashionable personal coupes based on a sedan chassis. It oozed style, striking the market at just the right moment and immediately became a darling of racers both street and professional. Most importantly, it played a vital role in building the rich automotive lifestyle of Japan. Continue reading
There’s a whole subculture of customized Hot Wheels and, as it happens, an ever-growing list of Japanese castings. That gives ample opportunity to create something cool from Japan’s rich car culture, like this Kenmeri Skyline kaido racer. It’s hard to believe, but this custom started life as a standard $1 Hot Wheels. Continue reading
With the prices of Japanese cars climbing by the day, the ability to hop on Craigslist and find a fun, reliable J-tin classic are mostly gone. But, there are still great cars out there that haven’t yet seen Supra value trajectories. So, it’s time for another fantasy garage game. Let’s say you currently own no JNCs, but you have $10,000 to start a collection. There’s no space limitations, no need to allow for a daily driver. You can buy as many or as few cars as you want, but you only get $10,000. Project cars are allowed, but be realistic about valuations (Like, you can’t buy a rusty 240Z and then say, “I’ll find $100,000 to restore it.”)
How would you build your $10,000 JNC garage?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What JNC things are you thankful for this year?” Continue reading
As we approach the long Thanksgiving weekend, here’s a feast of a different sort. Let your eyes consume this incredible, high-definition video of Tokyo during the Showa Era. Spanning a period of almost two decades, the videos show how dramatically the changes come for the city and the cars that roam its streets. Continue reading
The Nissan Z Proto’s design leads, Executive Design Director Satoru Tai and Senior VP of Global Design Alfonso Albaisa, both have a strong love for Z-cars and worked on past Z generations. Tai said he in fact wanted to be a car designer because of the original S30 Fairlady Z. Eventually, he landed a job at Nissan and was part of the design team that created the Z32. The S30 also inspired Albaisa’s career choice, and on a trip to Japan as a young designer at Nissan on a trip to actually saw Tai working on the Z32. He went on to contribute to the Z33’s design. Continue reading
Kawasaki has just revealed one of the coolest bikes we’ve ever seen. Japan has seen no shortage of retro styled motorcycles in recent years, but none have been more of a throwback than this, the Meguro K3. Not only does it hearken back to an old model line, but it revives an entire long-dead brand. Continue reading
If you were a teenager in the late 80s or early 90s, wanting an Isuzu more than anything in the world was not an odd thing. Dealerships were lined with sleek Impulses and colorful Amigos. The coolest kid in my high school got several notches cooler when he showed up one day in a brand new red Rodeo. I was shocked that a Mustang or Z wasn’t the car of choice. It was at that time I should’ve seen the SUV-pocalypse coming. Continue reading
