Tag Archives: a20
Happy Year of the Dragon from JNC
Today, February 10, is the Lunar New Year, and that means it’s officially the Year of the Dragon. The A20 Toyota Celica is the car that represents this mythical beast. For a creature that is so prominent in Asian culture, … Continue reading
TOM’s launches Toyota restoration business to mark 50th anniversary
Tachi Oiwa Motorsport, better known as TOM’s, has been modifying the latest and greatest Toyotas for 50 years. To mark the occasion, the famed tuning house announced at the 2024 Tokyo Auto Salon that it has started its own restoration … Continue reading
Follow vintage Toyotas from factory to family in this 1973 promotional film
In 1973 Toyota released a 20-minute promotional film called “In Small Packages”. It was created to introduce the company and its various models to Americans. Not only is it filled with beautiful footage of Corollas, Celicas, Coronas, and Land Cruisers, … Continue reading
The Toyota Celica Liftback debuted 50 years ago today
On April 6, 1973 the Toyota Celica Liftback was born. It joined the lineup just two years and four months after the original Celica in Japan, though it wouldn’t appear in the US market until 1976. Thanks in part to … Continue reading
Happy TA22 Day from JNC
Please excuse this terrible angle of this shot, taken hastily in the parking lot of the 2011 New Year Meeting, back when that was still a thing. The key part of this Celica is the wild rear spoiler, anyway, which … Continue reading
Barn find Toyota Celica is Stephan Papdakis’ next project
For those who grew up in the Tuner Era, Stephan Papadakis needs no introduction. A pioneer in the import drag racing scene, his tube-frame Hondas broke records and were a regular presence in tuning magazines of the day. With his … Continue reading
Toyota GR Corolla joins the family — Rate This Ad
The Toyota GR Corolla is hitting the showrooms soon, so it’s time for some new ads. For Americans, the 300-horsepower AWD hot hatch is probably the most anticipated Toyota in decades, especially if you count only the cars fully developed … Continue reading
In its 26th year, Toyotafest is still going strong — a brief history of TORC, the Toyota Owners and Restorers Club
We’ve been attending Toyotafest every year since JNC started in 2006, and it’s consistently one of our favorite events. Last year was the 25th Toyotafest, which means the show itself is now old enough to wear historic plates, buy collector … Continue reading
Rent a classic Toyota on your next trip to Japan
About five years ago a bunch of automakers were trying to rebrand themselves as “mobility companies” to deal with the shifting trends of the industry. Car ownership was dead! People were just going to pay subscriptions to borrow a car … Continue reading
Classic Toyota Celica and Truck appear in 2022 Superbowl commercial
Toyota has released their 2022 Superbowl ad, and it features a couple of classics. Toyota has chosen to focus not on the cars, but on two real-life brothers, Brian and Robin McKeever, who are Olympic and Paralympic medalists. Much of … Continue reading
Happy TA22 Day from JNC
Toyota made 411,815 first-generation Celicas. It was a huge hit. You sure don’t see many around but, then again, it is more than 50 years old. Toyota sold 83,775 Scion FR-S/86 in the US and Canada during the car’s entire … Continue reading
A 1974 Toyota Celica has sold for $61,000
We don’t need to tell you that the acceptance of Japanese cars as collectible classics is pushing prices to previously unseen heights. Among some makes and models, values of so-so condition cars are shooting past what cream puffs once traded … Continue reading
2021 All-Toyotafest, Part 01 — Starlet, Corolla, Celica, MR2
After a year and a half of no major car shows, it was good to be back. The 2021 Toyotafest picked back up right where 2019 left off, although a few changes had to be made due to the pandemic. … Continue reading
The Toyota Celica Liftback that sold for $62,000 is a gift from a loving wife
A 1976 Toyota Celica Liftback has sold for $62,000. That’s a new high for this model, and of course it appears to be in exceptional condition. However, perhaps the better hook here is the back story of why the Celica … Continue reading
Happy Daruma Celica Day from JNC
Today is February 2, or 2/2, as in TA22. As it happens, it’s a pretty good year to Celica-brate the Daruma. We just marked the 50th anniversary of the Celica a couple of months ago, and learned last week that … Continue reading
50 YEAR CLUB: The Toyota Celica, a pivotal player in Japan’s car culture
Fifty years ago this day, on December 1 1970, the first Toyota Celica went on sale in Japan. It proved to be a groundbreaking car, the first of Japan’s production “specialty cars”, fashionable personal coupes based on a sedan chassis. … Continue reading
ART CORNER: These pixel art JNCs are the bee’s knees
There’s probably a pretty big overlap in the Venn diagram of people who are really into Japanese classic cars and people who are really into old video games before the graphics got too realistic. That’s why these pixel art cars … Continue reading
MOTORSPORT: Touring car classes mix it up at the 1973 Japan Grand Prix
While open-wheeled cars were the main event at the 1973 Japan Grand Prix, the supporting Touring Car races were where the action was. Take the TS-a class, for example. Here were racers based on cars that anyone could afford. Nissan … Continue reading
ART CORNER: Here’s your classic Toyota papercraft
If you’ve ever visited the Toyota Automobile Museum, you may be familiar with the exclusive papercraft they give away at the info desk. It changes every so often, so you’ll never get the same one twice. Well, the museum has … Continue reading