Automakers continue to find new ways to help us deal with being stuck at home during the coronavirus outbreak. Mazda’s latest scheme to help us kill some time is a downloadable coloring book that features seven of their landmark cars. Continue reading
ART CORNER: Ease your quarantine blues with an official Mazda coloring book
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Tagged 3-wheel truck, 323, 787b, cosmo sport, familia, Familia BD, le mans, mazda, mazda 3, Miata NA, mx-5, r360, Type-DA
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VIDEO: Every Honda S-car, driving
Every iteration of Honda’s S-series cars has been a hoot to drive. In a newly released video, the Honda Collection Hall in at Twin Ring Motegi compiles runs by each of their S roadsters around the narrow footpath behind the museum. The video starts with the original S500 and S600 before moving onto the S800, S2000 and S660. Continue reading
Watch all six episodes of Honda’s history as told by manga
Honda has re-released its full six-part cartoon history video series, told with manga panels. The series is based on the m the Shogakukan manga series about company founder Soichiro Honda. Though Honda has released the videos piecemeal before, the old ones have all been taken down. Now, you can binge-watch all six at once. Continue reading
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Tagged beat, Dream, formula 1, honda, Honda S-Series, manga, ra271, ra272, soichiro honda, super cub, t360, Takeo Fujisawa, Yoshio Nakamura
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Check out Isuzu City, the mind-blowing miniature town that is Japan’s largest diorama
Goodbye forever, readers. We at JNC have decided to move to a place in Japan where there are plenty of nostalgic cars, clean streets, and barely any traffic. It’s Isuzu City, population 3,300, located inside the Isuzu Plaza museum in Fujisawa. The town measures just 12 meters wide, but despite its size it’s Japan’s largest diorama and there’s plenty to see. Continue reading
There was a Subaru 360 on The Sopranos, youse guys
Last week we asked what show had the best background JNCs. I had no idea at the time that I would find one of Japan’s iconic kei cars on HBO’s groundbreaking Y2K-era mobster drama, The Sopranos. Continue reading
QotW: Do you have any fond memories of the Lexus GS?
We learned Friday that Lexus has killed off the GS name. It had been rumored for a while, and at the same time models like the ES are getting big enough to step on the GS’s toes. Plus, there’s that whole decline of the sedan and rise of the crossover thing. We can’t help feel a pang of sadness about its demise. It was always the cool middle child of the Lexus lineup; more elegant than the IS, not as ojisan as the LS. We know there will be some who say it makes economic sense for Toyota, but still:
Do you have any fond memories of the Lexus GS?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s a great movie or TV show for background JNC spotting?” Continue reading
The Lexus GS is no more.
Lexus has announced it is ending the GS nameplate. The Grand Sedan is no more. Sales for the luxury sedan have been slow as people move towards crossovers instead. It also spells doom for the wonderful 467-horsepower, naturally aspirated, V8-powered GS F sports sedan. Pour some 5W-30 out for the fallen. Continue reading
You can get the old Suzuki Jimny’s graphics on a new Suzuki Jimny
Not only is the Suzuki Jimny is one of the hottest new cars you can buy in Japan right now, but it’s one that’s ripe for modification. From functional off-road equipment to appearance packages, there’s tons of options available in the aftermarket. As it happens, Suzuki offers some of their own accessories, including two packages that make your brand new Jimny look like its predecessor from the 80s and 90s. Continue reading
ART CORNER: Here’s some classic Mazdas you can build out of paper
Carmakers have been coming up with creative ways to keep us occupied during the time of corona. The latest is Mazda’s recent release of papercraft cars marking its 100th anniversary. Specifically, they are the white and red Mazda R360 Coupé and ND Roadster used to commemorate a whole slate of 100th Anniversary Edition cars, but Mazda also has several more paper classics on hand. Continue reading
Posted in Art Corner
Tagged cosmo sport, CX-3, cx-5, familia, Luce Rotary Coupe, mazda, mazda 2, mazda 3, mazda 6, Miata ND, mx-5, papercraft, r360
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CONCEPT CARS: 1991 Honda EP-X
Here at JNC, we have an Earth Day tradition where we dig deep into the memory banks to highlight an environmentally themed, often bizarre concept. This time around, we’d like to draw your attention to the alien-looking 1991 Honda EP-X. Continue reading
VIDEO: More of the Daihatsu museum in a virtual tour
Daihatsu has uploaded more videos continuing the virtual tour of curiously named Humobility World, the company’s museum in Osaka. In part one, we saw the earliest Daihatsu products, a 5,842-pound diesel engine that’s likely the heaviest thing in Humobility World, and the Daihatsu-go three-wheeled truck. In these newly uploaded clips, we get to see some actual cars. Continue reading
Posted in Galleries
Tagged charade, copen, daihatsu, Daihatsu Humobility World, Fellow, kei, midget, mira, Taft. Rocky
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QotW: What’s a great movie or TV show for background JNC spotting?
While we’re all continuing to shelter from home, it’s a great time to catch up on movies. Going back to watch some of the classics, it can be amazing to see some of the JNCs populating the backgrounds. Take the above scene in the original Back to the Future, for example. The idyllic town of Hill Valley circa 1985 is absolutely packed with mint condition JNCs — B210, Civic, Tercel, Celica, B110, 240Z, Toyota Van, and so on — and that’s not even counting the Toyota pickup that is featured front and center as Marty’s dream car. Forget 1955, we’d love a time machine to take us there.
What’s a great movie or TV show for background JNC spotting?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “Daily, Garage, Sell — Flagship Sedans Edition.” Continue reading
PIXELATED: The A70 Supra is available in Forza Horizon 4 this week only
A couple of months ago we reported that Forza Horizon 4 is finally getting Toyota back in the game. With the exception of the A80 Supra, these cars are available only by completing weekly challenges. So far the roster has included the AE86, 2000GT, and now the A70 Toyota Supra. Continue reading
ART CORNER: Stave off coronavirus boredom with an official Nissan coloring book
The time of coronavirus can be scary and boring, but being forced to quarantine can spawn creativity as well. Case in point. Nissan employees have been working from home for weeks now, and the quarantining designers have used some of that time to create a downloadable coloring book for the rest of us. Continue reading
Mazda RWD rotary hybrid patent discovered
News about Japanese sports cars just keep on coming this week. First there was the RWD straight-six Mazda 6, then some rumors about the new Nissan Z. Now, there’s been some discoveries about a Mazda rotary-powered hybrid mounted in a longitudinally in a rear-drive layout based on some unearthed patent filings. Continue reading
Good guy Mazda will change oil and wash cars of health care workers, even if they don’t own a Mazda
Health care workers are fighting the good fight on the front lines right now, putting themselves at risk so that the rest of us don’t get sick. To support them, Mazda has announced that they will change their oil and wash their cars for free, a generous move on its own, but even better in this case because the health care workers don’t even have to own a Mazda. Continue reading
Toyota UAE’s Land Cruiser Heritage Edition has stripes
Toyota released a Heritage Edition of the J200-series Land Cruiser in the US last year, one with some snazzed up wheels and brightwork, as well as cool old school badges and logos. In the United Arab Emirates, where Land Cruisers are as aspirational as Cadillacs in 1960s America, there’s also a Heritage Edition but it’s quite different. Continue reading
NEWS: A retro-styled Nissan 400Z is rumored for 2021
A new report suggests that the seventh-generation Nissan Z is scheduled for an appearance by the end of this year, and that it will boast retro styling. We’ve reported last month on Nissan’s trademark filing of a retro Z logo, though at the time we couldn’t say anything about its styling. We still can’t, but the rumor mill is churning, and here’s what it’s saying. Continue reading
Mazda’s upmarket move will spawn straight-six RWD chassis, provide a beacon of hope to future enthusiasts
It’s next to impossible to get genuinely excited about a new car these days, but if there’s one that gets our loins burning, it is the next Mazda 6. That’s because it will ride on an all-new FR platform and have a straight-six powering the rear wheels. That’s right, everyone’s favorite underdog company from Hiroshima is going to do what much larger automotive giants are unable — or unwilling — to. Continue reading
SHOWA SNAP: Tokyo Tower under construction, circa 1958
This Tokyo street scene shows a variety of vehicles, from sedans like the Toyopet Crown to large trucks like the Toyota Toyoace to three-wheelers like the Daihatsu CO10T. What really makes the shot, though, is the ghostly bones of Tokyo Tower coming together in the background. Based on the vehicles and level of completion of the tower, we’d guess this photo was taken in early 1958. Tokyo Tower was finished that October, serving as a radio broadcast antenna to take the place of hundreds of smaller antennas throughout the city. For a time, it was the tallest freestanding structure in the world. It must have been an awe-inspiring sight as you drove around Tokyo in your Daihatsu Midget. Click through for another photo of the tower nearing completion. Continue reading
