Roberta Flack, singer, pianist, and all around class act, passed away Monday. She was well-loved in Japan and gained popularity there after a nationwide tour there in 1975. She performed in Japan many times in the decades since, with her final concert there taking place in 2013. She achieved even more fame when her duet, “Tonight, I Celebrate My Love” with Peabo Bryson, was featured in an 80s commercial for Bridgestone Regno tires. Continue reading
The Mazda-built Ford Festiva was technically the first Kia sold in the US
Korean cars are common sights on the road today, but in 1987 the name Kia was a complete unknown in pre-internet America. Long before our streets teemed with Sephias and Souls, the first Kia to achieve widespread sales in the US was the Ford Festiva. But wait, you haven’t accidentally stumbled onto Korean Nostalgic Car because the Festiva was engineered and designed by Mazda. Continue reading
QotW: Which JNC is a must-have for a car museum?
In case you hadn’t heard, San Francisco’s Academy of Art University is selling off most of its collection of 150 classic cars. As one of the nation’s top industrial design schools — and headed by none other than Tom Matano — it keeps a car museum to serve as inspiration for students. However, the school feels that today’s generation has lost interest in Pierce-Arrows or Duesenbergs. So the museum is selling most of its pre-war automobiles to acquire more modern Japanese and muscle cars, particularly of the 60s-80s era, which it believes are more relevant to students who will go on to design the next generation of vehicles.
Which JNC is a must-have for a car museum?
The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “How can we save my friend from buying a 12-year-old EV?“. Continue reading
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Takuma Sato drives the 1965 Honda RA272 Formula 1 racer
The Honda RA272 was at the Maniwa Speed Festival, but it didn’t actually participate in the hill climb. That doesn’t mean it’s just a museum queen, though. The cars from the Honda Collection Hall are operable, and the No.12 Honda RA272 recently got taken for a spin by none other than two-time Indy 500 winner and former F1 driver Takuma Sato. The V12 sounds otherworldly as Sato gives it the full beans, revving it up to its 12,000-rpm redline. Continue reading
Legendary Japanese race cars gather at the Maniwa Speed Festival
After a 10-year hiatus the MH Hill Climb, the centerpiece event of the Maniwa Speed Festival, has returned. The event, now in a new location, gathered an impressive roster of legendary Japanese race cars both old and new, from tuner demo car to classic Formula 1 racer. Many of the priceless machines were even sent up a winding mountain road in damp conditions, and the entire spectacle was put to film. Continue reading
‘JDM: Japanese Drift Master’ game coming next month
There’s a new game packed with Japanese cars coming soon. It’s been compared to the upcoming Tokyo Xtreme Racer reboot, but with a focus on drifting instead of expressway racing. Despite the somewhat cheesy title of JDM: Japanese Drift Master, the game looks to be entertaining with beautifully rendered cars. Continue reading
QotW: How can we save my friend from buying a 12-year-old EV?
A friend recently called to ask for car buying advice. He commutes 60 miles each way to work and the fuel bill’s adding up. He is a car guy and owns a stable of fun cars, but they’re all either too precious or too thirsty to daily. He fills up twice a week on premium right now. He’s considering a 2012 RAV4 EV for around $5,000, thinking he’d make the cost back in fueI savings in about a year. He only has access to an EV charger at his workplace, not at home. I had suggested a kei car, but his commute has no traffic and he was worried about sustaining 75 mph in one. Also, the roads aren’t great so a low car isn’t ideal.
How can we save my friend from buying a 12-year-old EV?
The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What LHD car would you drive in Japan?“. Continue reading
A President gets away from special investigators in Frontline police show
Seibu Keisatsu wasn’t the only cop show full of product-placed Nissans. In fact, Special Investigation Frontline debuted earlier and ran for twice as long. Nissan provided the cars for the show, so the good guys typically cruised around in Cedrics, Glorias and Skylines. In this scene, the bad guys’ President evades justice with the help of a civilian that cuts off the investigators at the worst possible time. The police even comment on the brazen move but are powerless to continue their pursuit. While not as action-packed as the scenes we’re accustomed to, it’s a rare instance of a President used as a getaway vehicle. We’ll be back tomorrow with our regularly scheduled QotW. Happy Presidents’ Day from JNC!
Posted in Friday Video
Tagged cedric, h250, nissan, president, r30, skyline, Special Investigation Frontline
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Here are some actual Tomica cars to go with your Tomica chocolates
For a number of years now Tomica has been offering car-shaped chocolates. The unfortunate thing with chocolate, though, is that once you eat it it’s gone. The alternative would be to get this newer form Tomica valentine, where you receive an actual (inedible) toy car, and the chocolate comes in the traditional red-and-white box that typically contains the car. Continue reading
Off-roading game from ‘Art of Rally’ creator announced
In 2020 the indie game Art of Rally dazzled us with its gorgeous lo-fi graphics and incredible selection of cars. Its creator has now announced Over the Hill, a new game with the same graphical style but with classic off-roaders inspired by the real cars like the Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser. Continue reading
The meaning behind MF Ghost’s “MF” initials finally revealed
Since MF Ghost’s inception there has been speculation about what the “MF” initials actually stand for. Author Shuichi Shigeno didn’t reveal it from the jump, and fans have been speculating about the meaning since the manga debuted in 2017. Some suggested it might be “My Father’s” Ghost, as protagonist Kanata returns to Japan and enters the race in order to find his long-lost father. Others have guessed “Master Fujiwara’s” Ghost, as it’s revealed that Initial D‘s Takumi Fujiwara was one of Kanata’s instructors. Or, maybe Shigeno was just having some fun with us Monkey Fighters. Continue reading
Classic Subaru Wagons take to the slopes at ‘Gelande Taxi’ event
Speaking of Naeba Ski Resort, Subaru recently revived its Gelande Taxi promotion at the famed winter sports destination (it had been on hiatus since 2019 due to the pandemic). Instead of lifts, skiers and snowboarders can opt to take a Subaru wagon to the top of the slope. The cars all have professional drivers at the wheel, and it serves as an opportunity to show off Subaru’s all-wheel-drive system. This year, however, Subaru treated participants to a show of classic wagons that have served as official transport for the Japan Ski Team. Continue reading
QotW: What LHD car would you drive in Japan?
It’s much easier to import a USDM car to Japan than it is to import a JDM car to the US, especially if you live in California. In Japan, you do have to prove its smogworthiness, but different emissions equipment isn’t an automatic fail. And major cities actually have LHD toll booths. Many marques, like Chevrolet, sell LHD cars directly from the dealership. Imagine going into an American Nissan showroom and being able to drive out in a RHD Skyline GT-R.
But contrary to popular belief, there are USDM cars that were “better” than their Japanese versions. Our S12 200SX/Silvia, for example, came with a V6 while Japan only got four-cylinders. Today, February 10, is Left Handed Day in Japan, a play on the word le (0) fu (2) to (10) in Japanese, and established by the Japan Southpaw Association.
What LHD car would you drive in Japan?
The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What kid-friendly commuter is still fun to drive?“. Continue reading
Happy B210 Day from JNC!
You think your Skyline GT-R is so cool with your quad afterburners? Well the B210 Nissan Sunny Excellent came from the factory with six round taillights, and as a bonus you can call them sex (short for sextuple) afterburners. Whereas the standard Sunny came with a 1.2-liter A12, the Excellent borrowed the 1.4-liter A14 from the larger Nissan Violet. The Excellent was also slightly longer overall due to a longer front end. In Japan the nickname for this car was the Rocketto (rocket) Sunny for obvious reasons, and we’re still waiting for someone to import one and bring it to JCCS. Happy B210 Day from JNC!
Honda ATC250R 3-wheeler still new-in-box from 1986 sells for $200,000
An incredible collection of almost 100 vintage Honda ATVs has gone up for sale. Many are described as museum pieces but the biggest prize of the bunch, what the consignor calls the “holy grail” is a 1986 Honda ATC250R that has remained “crated” — meaning it’s been stored in the box it was shipped in — for nearly 40 years. That one was sold ahead of the other pieces in the collection for a whopping $200,000. Continue reading
Toyota Celica GT-Four skiing movie gets GR Yaris tribute
The 1987 romcom Take Me Out to the Snowland is said to have created a skiing boom in Japan, but the hit movie didn’t just hype up snow sports. The star car, a Toyota Celica GT-Four, became a popular sight at the slopes. Now, to celebrate a concert tie-in with the film, Toyota has created a tribute video with the GR Yaris. Continue reading
Watch a Toyota Comfort GT-Z get a supercar-worthy restoration
The Toyota Comfort GT-Z Supercharger looks like a taxi, but is one of the best sleepers and rarest car Toyota ever made. Only 59 were built and, as the name implies, the base 3S-FE engine was forcibly induced by a Roots type blower, upping power from 110 to 160 horsepower. It’s likely the only car ever to come from the factory with RS-Watanabe 8-spokes. Now, a Hong Kong restoration shop that typically works on high-performance supercars has given one a thorough restoration worthy of the ages. Continue reading
Finally, a Mitsubishi Galant Sigma review from when it was new
One car that has always held a strange fascination for us when it was new was the US-market Mitsubishi Galant Sigma. We vaguely remember seeing these when they were new but they weren’t very common then; today they seem to have completely vanished from existence. It’s a car so obscure that the Wikipedia entry on it is just one paragraph with a major error in it. (it was introduced in 1985, not 1987). Continue reading
QotW: What kid-friendly commuter is still fun to drive?
As much as I love my Land Cruiser, I’ve been fantasizing about a car that’s a bit more fun-to-drive on a daily basis. Right now the LC is the only car in my fleet that’s kid-friendly (four doors, big trunk), but I’d like something that’s a bit more exciting in the traditional sense (sharp handling, three pedals). My son is old enough now that he’d appreciate if driving wasn’t just a slow lumber through traffic.
As a bonus, it would be nice if the car didn’t cost a lot, got decent mileage, and was nondescript enough that I could park it anywhere in LA without drawing attention. I have my AE86, for example, but it fails on the parking, attention, and door count metrics. Whichever car it is, if this ever becomes more than a fantasy, wouldn’t replace the Land Cruiser; I still need that for apocalypse reasons.
What kid-friendly commuter is still fun to drive?
The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “Which Japanese classic should be remade for the modern age?“. Continue reading
Tokyo Auto Salon sonohoka (odds and ends)
The Tokyo Auto Salon can be sensory overload. There’s just so much to see, you probably can’t finish it all in one day. In Japan the term sonohoka means “the rest” or “the others”, sort of like “etc.” in English. We featured several cars already, but here are sonohoka that caught JNC‘s eye, starting with a B110 Sunny at the Endless Brakes booth. Continue reading
