Japanese Nostalgic Car

You are starting a JNC grassroots motorsports team, and you’re going to compete in three distinct racing types:

• Autocross: Generally SCCA, but also marque clubs like the Porsche club if you want to. You’ll want a car with quickness and agility.
• Road racing: This includes NASA and SCCA, or vintage racing like HSR or SVRA if you prefer. Both, if you have the right car. This would mean actual racing and not just track days/HPDEs.) No 24 Hours of Lemons or ChumpCar. You’ll want a well-balanced car, preferably with a fixed roof, that gives you both speed and durability.
• Rally: We’re talking amateur performance rally — as in “on dirt” and not Time Speed Distance events — as well as rallycross. The temptation is to get something AWD. However, beginners are often advised to start out in an FWD car. Also, it’s pretty much 100 percent certain you’re going to crash at some point.

You’re going to need one dedicated car for each of the three series. You get a $25,000 budget, including any performance-oriented modifications. We’ll say that for the sake of this game you don’t have to budget for things like roll cages or running costs such as fuel, entry fees, or a tow rig; the budget is just for the race cars. The only restriction is that each car has to be a JNC. You can import something from abroad if you wish, and since they’re race cars you don’t have to worry about federalization. However, you will have to factor in shipping costs if you go that route.

What’s your $25,000 autocross, road, and rally race garage?

The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What are your favorite automotive-themed watches?” Continue reading →

For the most part, we at JNC are not Watch Guys. However, we do recognize that it’s a thing that might tick our boxes, if we weren’t pouring every spare dime into cars, and we know that there is a large overlap between those who like vintage cars and those who like a nice wrist-worn timepiece. But hey, convince us why watches are worth our attention, and maybe recommend some befitting of someone who likes vintage Japanese cars. Just know that we aren’t prepared to spend GT-R money on one.

What are your favorite automotive-themed watches?

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 JNC photo?” Continue reading →

It’s National Camera Day, so instead of a written answer this week we are seeking photos of JNCs. They don’t have to be of your car, taken today, or even good. As with the usual Answers of the Week, we will pick a winner based on entertainment value, whether it’s humorous, inspirational, or something that tugs at our heartstrings. It would be ideal if the photo told a story. If there’s a story behind the picture words are okay too, but remember, a picture is worth a thousand of them (side note: our website, which is so old it’s practically nostalgic itself, isn’t great for embedding photos, so feel free to copy/paste a URL link in the comments).

What’s your best JNC photo?

The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What did your dad teach you about cars?” Continue reading →