On June 30 Honda announced a factory “Refresh Plan” for the 1987-90 VFR750R motorcycle, more commonly known by its model code, the RC30. The bike was an important part of Honda’s motorsports history, a factory homologation special created to win the inaugural World Superbike Championship of 1988. It did that, repeated the feat in 1989, and won a slew of other two-wheeled championships as well. Crammed with loads of race-developed technology, at the time of launch the ¥1.48 million (approx. $15,000 USD) street-legal version was the most expensive motorcycle ever sold in Japan. Continue reading
Mazda’s 100th Anniversary Edition Miata is coming to the US
Back in April, Mazda announced a slew of 100th Anniversary Edition models to commemorate a century of doing business. Now, Mazda North America has announced that at least one of those models — the most important one, arguably — is coming to the US (Mazda Canada has announced more 100th AE models, including the 3, CX-5, CX-9). Here’s your chance to get a white Miata with a classy wine red top and interior. Continue reading
QotW: What’s your best JNC photo?
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
Happy 626 Day from JNC
The Mazda 626 was known as the Capella in Japan, and though it had some really trick technology on it, it was mostly remembered as a fairly middle-of-the-road compact in the US. However, if you were in Japan, you could get the Capella Canvas Top. It was basically a regular Capella except with an old-timey rollback canvas roof, but instead of cruising by the Riviera in the 1960s you were gliding through Bubble Era Japan. Happy 626 Day from JNC!
VIDEO: The FJZ80 Toyota Land Cruiser was expensive in 1993 but it’s hard to beat its value today
The 80-series Land Cruiser brought Toyota’s venerable off-roader into the modern age. The 70-series was never sold in the US, and as capable the 60-series was, by 1990 it was getting pretty ancient. The 80-series balanced perfectly the off-road capability of the older Land Cruisers while not delving into full-blown luxury mode that following generations did. Though the Supra existed, the 80-series became something of an unofficial flagship for Toyota, with a price to match. The updated 1993 model was reviewed favorably when new, but in hindsight it was drastically underrated. Continue reading
Japanese racing seat company BRIDE is now making face masks
Anyone who is into Japanese cars needs no introduction to BRIDE. The racing seat company has produced all manner of butt-holders for the aftermarket and racing community. However, in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the company says it will use its racing seat knowledge to create branded face masks as well. Continue reading
MOTORSPORT: Help restore this JGTC Supra race car
Recently the internet helped get the restoration of a rare left-hand-drive 1960 Prince Skyline underway. As fate would have it, another chance to help resurrect a glorious piece of Japan’s automotive history has presented itself. And the car in question could not be more different — a Supra race car from the height of the Tuner Era, one of the Toyota Team Castrol TOM’s Supras that raced in JGTC. Continue reading
UPDATE: That 1960 Prince Skyline is on its way to Japan for restoration
Just a quick update about the rare 1960 LHD Prince Skyline that was found in an Idaho junkyard. In an Facebook update yesterday by Alexis Campos, who discovered the car originally. It reads “I have received numerous amount of messages, phone calls, emails about the Prince! Didn’t think this would blow up like it did. Today, the Prince is officially sold! It will be on its way to Japan ?.” [UPDATE: According to the yard, the car has been paid for and they are looking for wheels to slap on so it can be shipped to Japan immediately.] To everyone who helped get the word out about this rare car, great work helping saving this car. Hopefully we’ll see it at a car show in Japan in a few years!
ART CORNER: Look at these amazing cars made out of cardboard
Are you having trouble figuring out what to do with all your used Amazon boxes? Perhaps these incredible cardboard cars can spark an idea or two. YouTuber Papa Ken has several videos showing off his amazing skills in building corrugated kyusha. Not only do they have accurate exteriors, but Papa Ken has, impressively, crafted detailed engine bays and interiors that you can once you open the hinged hood and doors. Continue reading
SHOWA SNAP: Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo, 1974
The Shibuya Crossing, also known as the Shibuya Scramble, is the busiest pedestrian intersection in the world. It’s the intersection Sean’s Evo, Han’s Veilside RX-7, and the Drift King’s Z (digitally) slid through in Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift, and by some estimates at peak times 2,500 people can cross the 5-way intersection in a single light cycle. A quarter million people can stroll through it in one day, but in 1974 it was a bit less hectic.
A Prince Gloria sedan heads west down Dogenzaka Street to the left, while a Kujira Crown taxi, Skyline Van, and TE27 Corolla wait to come eastward. On the right, what appears to be a Toyota Corona Mark II drives towards the camera Bunkamura Street. The cute little Mitsu Maru shop at the corner was replaced just a few years later by the Shibuya 109 mega-mall in April 1979. Here’s what this Shibuya Crossing looks like today.
QotW: What did your dad teach you about cars?
We hope you had a good Father’s Day yesterday. The JNC family welcomed three babies over the last year or so, my son included. Personally speaking, I can’t wait until he is old enough to hang with me in the garage, and it has made me think a lot about what I will share with him when he’s ready (We don’t want to exclude anyone whose mothers were the wrenchers in the family, so feel free to respond with mom lessons too).
What did your dad teach you about cars?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What would you store in a Global JNC Vault?” Continue reading
Happy Father’s Day from JNC
Being a dad is a thankless but ultimately rewarding job. Now, there’s the 1980 Honda Ballade — it even rhymes with “dad”! — in 1300 and 1500 cc engine sizes. The katakana even offers a cheers “To the nicest family.” the one that you made! Happy Father’s Day from JNC!
Happy 620 Day from JNC
Speaking of how some owners go through incredible effort and expense and just for a small, barely noticeable change? Hayato Muramatsu did that with his 1979 Datsun 620 by shaving the bed and combining it with the cab. The resulting “ute” is simply stunning. Happy 620 Day from JNC!
That time a Honda Prelude raced an F1 car at Suzuka Circuit
“How would a 1990s Formula 1 car stack up against a contemporary sports coupe of the era?” is something you were surely pondering over your Corn Flakes this morning. Luckily, a pair of Hondas answered this exact question back in 1992 at Suzuka Circuit. A then-new fourth-gen Prelude, used as a pace car at the Honda-owned track, was pitted against a Tyrrell 020 powered by a RA101E Honda V10, and that was just one of the reasons it was an unfair fight. Continue reading
Posted in Video
Tagged formula 1, honda, prelude, Prelude 4g, Satoru Nakajima, suzuka circuit, Tyrrell 020
Leave a comment
MOTORSPORT: How Ikaten bridged illegal and professional drifting, with silver cephalopods
Drifting went pro in 2000 when the D1 Grand Prix series was founded. But long before D1GP, there was the Ikasu Hashiriya Team Tengoku (roughly translated to Ikasu Racer Team Heaven), an amateur drift series that bridged the era between completely illegal night-time touge drifting of the 1980s and the professionally sanctioned D1GP of the early 2000s. Continue reading
Posted in motorsport
Tagged 180sx, a70, ae86, corolla levin, drifting, fc3s, fd3s, Ikasu Hashiriya Team Tengoku/Ikaten, mazda, nissan, rx-7, s13, s14, S15, silvia, soarer, sprinter trueno, supra, toyota, z20
4 Comments
The insane details on this Mugen CR-X Pro shows how hard-core tuners can be
The level of detail on the best Japanese customs can be mind-blowing. Take Kenichi Iizuka’s Mugen CR-X Pro, for instance. The aero kit from the Honda specialists at Mugen is already a Bubble Era aftermarket classic, but it was much more than simple ground effects. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
9 Comments
DESIGN: In another dimension, the Mitsubishi 4000GT
In our dimension, the once mighty Mitsubishi Motors has been relegated to just a few unremarkable models for penny pinchers. In an alternate dimension, a futuristic sports car, a true successor to the flagship 3000GT VR-4 of the 1990s, exists. This is one designer’s vision of what could have been. Continue reading
Ultra rare 1960 Prince Skyline found in Idaho scrapyard
A true unicorn has surfaced in a junkyard in Nampa, Idaho when a 1960 Prince Skyline found its way into the inventory at Jalopy Jungle. What’s more, it is an unobtainable left-hand-drive example of an already extremely rare specimen. While this vehicle is far from a prime example of an ALSI-1 Skyline, it is one of only a handful of export models known to exist. Continue reading
SHOWA SNAP: An Isuzu escapes a flood of taxis in 1966 Tokyo
With the popularization of the motorcar by the mid 1960s, Tokyo’s pre-war narrow streets could become quite crowded. Even today, there are many side streets where no sidewalks exist and cars simply whiz by as pedestrians side-step street signs and utility poles. Here, a shopping lance is already packed with Toyota Crown taxis as a Kokusai Kogyo bus enters the scene. “Sweet freedom!” the people in the Isuzu Bellett must be thinking as they escape the chaos.
Images: 2ch
Posted in Showa Snap
1 Comment
QotW: What would you store in a Global JNC Vault?
On this day in 2006, construction began on the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, an international bank that stores the building blocks of important plants in case of a global catastrophe. The seeds tell the story of Earth’s flora, and is intended to last 1,000 years. What if there was a similar vault for JNCs? A place to store important items, information, and actual cars that future generations will be able to admire, learn from, and maybe even replicate so they can comprehend this one shining moment in automotive and industrial history.
What would you store in a Global JNC Vault?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What JNC from 1984 would you buy new today?” Continue reading
