Japanese Nostalgic Car

In the 22nd century rotary-powered Mazdas will have taken the form of mobile suits of armor, and these RX-78s will agile and intuitive to operate, not unlike Mazda cars of today. We could also see an Infiniti G3000 covered in tasteless mods, or Toyota just cold giving up on building the A190 Supra and letting aliens build it instead. The possibilities are endless.

What will your favorite cars be like when they become robots?

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 best story involving a small car?” Continue reading →

Small cars are going the way of the dodo. Toyota has killed the Yaris, Honda has killed the Fit, and Mazda has killed the 2. Only in the US market, of course; all those cars are alive and well in other markets. Still, it’s sad that its getting increasingly harder for those who want (or need) affordable, reliable transportation to get it. Cramming all your friends or worldly possessions into a cheap, tiny car is practically a rite of passage. As is squeezing herculean feats out of a car that just shouldn’t be able to do that, or getting butterflies in your gut when you introduce a date to your econobox for the first time. These are things RAV4 drivers with power everything will never know the joys of.

What’s your best story involving a small car?

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 fondest Pajero/Montero memory?” Continue reading →

The death of the Mitsubishi Pajero has hit us pretty hard here here at JNC. So, we’ve been watching old Dakar videos and trying to remember the fond times we had with Pajeros. For me, it was the time a friend’s parents lent us a brown LWB first-gen to move. It was slow but it swallowed an entire apartment’s worth of stuff with room to spare. I recall us chuckling like idiots every time the tall body leaned into a corner at what seemed like a 45 degree angle. For other JNC staffers, it was a layover at the Dakar airport (voted the world’s worst), spotting a Pajero in Operation Condor, or the time when someone in San Gabriel opened a JAOS store and did up a Montero to the nines with what must have been 1,000 pounds worth of JDM off-road gear.

What’s your fondest Pajero/Montero memory?

The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “At what point do you fly instead of drive?”  Continue reading →