Tag Archives: a20

ART CORNER: Khyzyl Saleem’s bosozoku future

The cars Khyzyl Saleem draws seem to ask the question, “What if Mad Max took place in the dystopian future of Blade Runner?” Neon-lit cityscapes, heavily modified cars, and a substantial dose of Japan-influenced tuning styles combine to form an incredible imagined … Continue reading

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PRODUCT GUIDE: RS Watanabe Toyota Works replicas

RS Watanabe has revealed their latest wheel design, and it’s a gorgeous revival of the famed Toyota Works racing wheels of the 1960s and 1970s. The classic four-spoke crosshairs pattern is back, and is now available in a 15-inch size. 

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MINICARS: Scale-Master’s “Zero Celica” Hot Wheels custom

One of the great things about customizing Hot Wheels or building model kits is that you are free to create cars that you can’t build in real life. In the modern automotive universe, drifting is probably as close to the epic … Continue reading

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GRAND TOURING: Lake Okutama Getaway

In the far western outskirts of Tokyo, Okutama-ko (Lake Okutama) has been a popular weekend destination for many years.  The scenic touge on the north and south sides of the lake provide a popular destination for weekend motorcyclists and kyuusha drivers … Continue reading

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EVENTS: Old School Love, New School Flavor, Part 01: Toyotas

This gallery contains 2 photos.

Rarely do we feature events from the great Northern Midwest but being invited to Team_Nostalgic’s Old School Love, New School Flavor show in Chicago meant leaving my humble Minneapolis abode at 3:30 am on the day of the event. It … Continue reading

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VIDEO: The Aussie history of the Toyota Celica

Shannons, and Australian classic car insurance company has a great series of videos about collectors cars you should consider. While most feature Holdens and cars you’d see in Mad Max, one recent video is all about the Toyota Celica and its emergence … Continue reading

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NEXT VERSION: Can you name these classic Toyota racing liveries?

In preparation for the upcoming Goodwood Festival of Speed, Toyota UK has prepped six GT86 (known here as the Scion FR-S) sport coupes in racing liveries from the company’s past. Can you name them all (answers below, no peeking!)? 

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EVENTS: Petersen Museum Japanese Car Cruise-In

There are many things to hate about Los Angeles, but its car culture isn’t one of them. As the trendsetting capital of the custom automobile, it holds the motorcar in such high regard that there’s a shrine to it located smack … Continue reading

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EVENTS: Showa Car Preservation Meeting

The Old Car Club of Tokyo recently held it’s 3rd annual Showa no Kurma wo Mamoru Tsudoi or “Preserving cars made in the Showa Era” meeting. This is a gathering for cars made during the Showa Era, which ended in 1989 according to the … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 1st Touge California, 2015

This past Saturday a group of select cars and their drivers gathered in Thousand Oaks, California for the inaugural running of JNC‘s Touge California. Named for the hallowed Japanese roads where racing heroes honed their skills and where drifting was born, the event was … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2015 All-Toyotafest, Part 03

In the final installment of our 2015 Toyotafest coverage, we take a look at two types of vehicles Toyota is known for — its compact, rear-wheel-drive sport coupes and its famously indestructible workhorse trucks. The former once dominated the company’s lineup and the latter still … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2015 All-Toyotafest, Part 02

Registration for over 400 Toyotafest spaces sold out in under 24 hours this year, a new record. Perhaps it was the fact that it was the show’s 20th anniversary, or that in Japan it was already May 3, Akio Toyoda‘s birthday, or … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 20th All-Toyotafest, Part 01

Twenty years. That’s how long the annual Toyotafest has been taking place, making it one of the longest running import-only car shows in SoCal. It’s easy to see why. Toyota is the world’s largest automaker and has accrued many loyal fans along … Continue reading

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VIDEO: Toyota Motorsport GmbH’s warehouse

Located beneath a wind tunnel at Toyota Motorposrt GmbH in Koln, Germany is a warehouse of cars worth far more than their weight in gold. From a WRC Celica GT-4 in Castrol livery to the sole GT-One road car, it’s a Gran Turismo player’s … Continue reading

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ART CORNER: Bosozoku Cats and Kyuusha by San Mamiya

San Mamiya is a brilliant artist from Japan that operates mainly on Instagram. With an apparent fondness for old cars, bosozoku cats and the superdeformed style that populates manga, his illustrations exhibit a unique Nihon style that can probably be loosely described as Japanese Ed Roth. 

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EVENTS: 2015 Nostalgic2Days, Part 02

One of the featured marques at this year’s Nostalgic2Days was Isuzu. It’s a brand that usually doesn’t get much love, here or in Japan, so it was a rare opportunity to see some machines from the company’s own collection. 

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EVENTS: 2015 New Year Meeting, Part 05 — Racers and Replicas

There is no shortage of motorsports history in Japan, and it’s not uncommon there to find road-going replicas of some of of the nation’s most iconic — and some not-so-iconic — competition machines. Here at the New Year Meeting, it’s a … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2015 New Year Meeting, Part 04 — Shakotan Sleds

The previous installment of our New Year Meeting coverage focused on originality. In Part 04, we travel to the opposite end of the spectrum. But among all of Japan’s customization styles, shakotan is perhaps the most appealing to JNCers. Translated as simply “low,” shakotan cars are … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2015 New Year Meeting, Part 03 — Bone Stock Beauties

Japan has been the source of some truly extreme car cultures. Sadly, a “custom car” was the type of vehicle deemed most unseemly by Japanese women in a recent survey. No matter. Despite a western eye that cherry picks the only the most severe … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2015 New Year Meeting, Part 02: Sports Coupes and Sports Sedans

In Part 01 of our New Year Meeting coverage, we looked at the early days of Japan’s infatuation with sizzling Sixties sports cars. In Part 02, we look at the Disco Decade’s explosion of new sports coupes and sports sedans. 

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