The 15th annual sapanese Classic Car Show is this Saturday, September 21. For many, it has been the one place in America where you can see the vast range of Japanese cars all in one spot. There is always something new to see, and where many people debut long-awaited projects that have never been seen. Whether is the most carefully preserved Mazda RX-4 wagon, a 100-point restoration Subaru 360, a bosozoku Toyota Mark II imported directly from Fukuoka, or a classic Datsun skin with the running gear of a 600-horsepower Nissan powertrain, there is something for everyone. But if you had an unlimited budget:
What’s your ultimate JCCS build?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What kind of JNC stuff can you find for a baby?”
Our winner last week provided a very punny answer to the question. A very specific 2+2 Z is a creative and grin-inducing answer, even though it’s not something we could easily buy (like the awesome Z pajamas suggested by Tofu Delivery, which also happen to have a 2+2 Z on them!). Still, we have to give it to John Moran, who said:
My Z.
It is a 2+2, which might be the bane of the sports car enthusiast, but starts to enter the conversation at the new parent BBQ.
It came in 305 light blue metallic, aka baby blue.
It has a rattle, actually a few.
It has keys to play with.
It has dim headlights that are good for a nightlight.
The worn out suspension makes a fun bouncer.
You can play guess that smell – the car or the baby.
And with a quick trip around the block (and maybe the fumes), they will be out like a light.
Congratulations!
Omedetou! Your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop.
Nismo R32…Midnight Purple !!
First generation Honda Prelude with a H22 swap for commuting, and a 1988 CRX with a VFR800 motor for the weekends!
Unlimited budget?
A full Kaido-racer style Z20 Soarer complete with fender flares and shark-nose hood. It would sit low on SSR Starsharks and wear a brown lower and forest green upper two-tone paint. The real money would come into play with the 1GZ-FE V12 engine with 12 ITBs and velocity stacks. It would push a sweet symphony of V12 sound into the sky out the dual takeyari pipes. Throw in a V160 transmission just for bragging rights.
I’m torn between a couple of project ideas. A resto-moded Honda City Turbo with matching Motocompo. The City Turbo would be running the original motor, but the Motocompo would rock the motor from the new Monkey.
Alternatively, a thoroughly Singer-ized Toyopet Crown rocking a 4AG, Watanabes and an AAR Toyota Celica tribute paintjob.
Part 2 : An R30 from R31 House (Nismo components)…Midnight Purple.
My project would be a rear mid-engine FC RX-7 with a 20B. Since the front would no longer need to house the radiator I would restyle the nose to be more like a 930 Porsche Slantnose of the same era. The FC already looks like a 944 so I would just be keeping the Porsche familiarity going since the final product would essentially be what Mazda could have done to compete with the 911. Why not do a 4-rotor? Simple, I would want it to be capable of being street driven and I really don’t want to compete with Rob Dahm.
When I think of Japanese Classic Cars.. I think of era correctness. I was fortunate enough to come up in the 2000s era of Import tuning and seen how many cars (mainly Hondas) were transformed.
Now that these 80s/90s cars are disappearing or being changed out (some good and some bad), I can’t help but enjoy how many of them are mildy changed/tuned and kept clean or pretty much stock.
I think most of the time, when it comes to building a car, I’ve always felt that I would need to build a car that is different. Sometimes that is good and sometimes it’s bad. These cars, especially being older, and if not mainstream are cars that don’t have much aftermarket.
My build would be the Infiniti M30. Yes, I am bias since I own M30s and run F31club. But I have always liked the M30 for it’s familiar yet different feel. My history with the M30 community in the US, my travels to Japan (which have been F31 centric) and knowing various F31 owners in Japan (and other parts of the world) have given me access to SOME parts that are out of production, custom or rare.
1. First build would be a clean M30 with the Zenki Nissan leopard front end. The front end is more square than the kouki Leopard/Infiniti M30. This is my current car/project.
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2. Not following the stance crowd, I would like to build a VIP style car. Obviously parts have to be obtained. Diana Kit was the VIP kit for the F31.
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3. A TRUE Kaido built F31. I say this because I feel foreigners have misinterpreted the style/genre because we are going of info that isn’t translated properly or we try to mix styles. I’m a huge fan of Kaido/shakotan/Grachan cars, but I also want to make sure I get the info directly from the people that live this lifestyle. One of my friends has a Kaido leopard he built and used for a few years.
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It’s just bring it over to the US!
When I do think of JCCS, I do think era correct car and parts, which would include the build itself. Like I wouldn’t rock dancing LED tail lights because that wasn’t a thing in the 90s.
Some time ago, I saw here a Toyota 2000 GT crushed by a tree, If money is not impediment, I would purchase that car, buy all spares and head up to master metal artisan to give an opportunity to back to road again on original spec.This is not about insane amount of power or superb handling, is only to see that car rolling and appreciate the driving experience of a well restored JNC.
I wonder if they are selling copies of this years JCCS poster ?
Price and other considerations no object? A widebody Mk. 3 Supra with a complete LFA driveline swap and custom suspension/running gear.
A more feasible dream build? A Dodge Challenger or Plymouth Sapporo with a MIVEC 6A12 out of an FTO turned 90° to mate with a 5- or 6-speed manual, lowered over a set of Hayashi Racing Streets.
An GMC N-Series (the boxy ones) built to a full-blown JDM-spec flatbed dekotora, with a Yakuza-styled first gen Toyota Century on its back would be awesome.
It is the morning of JCCS. The dim red glow of the sun is just starting to peek over the horizon, haze grey gulls sail on the cool breezes over the city of Long Beach.
The calm silence is shattered by the rumble of a big diesel. Rainbow colored lights glint off the parked classics on the lawn, the ground rumbles and quakes.
Chrome, candy paint, airbrushed murals, and brightly colored lights all compete for the eye’s attention as a full Dekotora’d Hino heavy-duty flatbed rolls into the park, looking as if someone carved several square meters out of Shinjuku and dropped it directly into SoCal.
But this is only the tip of the iceberg. Riding on it like a misshapen mechanical jockey is an odd form under a tarp. The Hino rolls to a stop, its airbrakes hissing a great sigh, the Supras parked next to it looking on in envy with their puny blow-off valves.
The cover is removed from the flatbed. On it, yellow lights flashing, is a Toyota Hi-Ace Shuto Expressway recovery truck, it’s shiny yellow, white, and red paint recalling its heyday in the nineties, gingerly plucking the wrecked GTR’s, Evo’s, and Porsches of Wangan Hashiyara out of the concrete barriers of Yokohama. But that isn’t what is riding on its flatbed. Yet another tarp covers an odd form.
The second tarp is removed. Eyes dart first to an iconic logo, a geometric mother cat tenderly carrying her equally geometric kitten. They take in the sharply raked windscreen, and the teal and beige livery. A Kuroneko Yamato Toyota Lite-Ace truck stands resplendent on the back of the Hi-Ace. But this isn’t the typical box-version you see parked on every street in Tokyo. Like all the other trucks it sits on, this one is a flatbed. And it too is carrying a tiny bundle, like a mother cat carrying its kitten.
The third and final tarp is removed. Once again there are flashing lights, but these are red.
Balancing on the small flatbed of the Kuroneko Yamato Lite-Ace is a cute, tiny form, bright gold leaf details on a cherry red body. A joyful little Daihatsu HiJet Climber Firetruck sits atop the entire pile, like a puppy climbing its way to the top of its litter. Shovels, buckets, ladders, and hoses festoon the baby fire engine, making it look well prepared to fight the blaze of a tiny 3-seat Tokyo whiskey bar.
The imposing figure of the Russian nesting dolls of Toyota utility trucks cast a long shadow over the grass. Seagulls adjust their course away from the park, frightened off by the slow clapping of ones and even twos of people.