Tag Archives: ae86
EVENTS: Petersen Museum Cruise-in, Part 02
The Petersen Museum in Los Angeles puts on many events throughout the year, each with a theme ranging from hot rods to Porsches. Recently, they hosted their annual cruise-in for Japanese cars, inviting Nihon Steel both old and new to … Continue reading
EVENTS: All-Toyotafest 2018, Part 05 — A whole lot of RWD
Toyota still makes large sedans, economical cars with transversely mounted engines, and powerful sports cars (at least in V8 form), but the once plentiful species of lightweight, rear-wheel-drive compact has dwindled to just one model. Toyotafest might be the last place in the … Continue reading
VIDEO: Walk through Toyota history with this new Crown ad
Not content to update a mainstay of Japanese culture with the debut of the new Century last week, Toyota has now unveiled a redesigned version of Japan’s second-most time-honored model, the Crown. The fifteenth generation goes on sale today, marking an … Continue reading
It would be great if Toyota sold stuff like this AE86 sweat shirt again
Back in 2003, my brother and I went on our first trip to Japan. Being the Toyotaku that I am (and especially fanatical about AE86s), one of the first things on our agenda was hitting up Toyota’s Megaweb showroom in Tokyo. At the … Continue reading
50 YEAR CLUB: Hot Wheels celebrates half a century of toy cars
Fifty years ago today, the world was introduced to what just might be the most influential cars ever made. The automotive world was forever changed on May 18, 1968 when Mattel introduced the Hot Wheels brand of toy cars to … Continue reading
JNC THEATER: A review of Velocity’s JDM Legends
The premiere of JDM Legends on Velocity Channel premiere is old news by this point, but as a watcher of many automotive-themed TV shows I wanted to sit down and actually think about how I feel about the program. As the first TV series … Continue reading
Tokyo Auto Salon: The awesome stuff we didn’t get to
In the past, the Tokyo Auto Salon has been pretty easy for us to cover. The show is still geared towards cars on the cutting edge of performance tech and style, so true chrome-bumpered classics were fairly thin on the ground. However, as time … Continue reading
KIDNEY, ANYONE? Unmolested 1987 Toyota Corolla AE86 Coupe
A bone stock 1987 Toyota Corolla GT-S Coupe has surfaced auction on eBay in southern California. The AE86 chassis, famed for its drifting prowess and starring role in Initial D, has risen to legend status, especially as unmolested examples dwindle. That’s why even with nearly … Continue reading
ART CORNER: Japanese artist recreates Initial D touge scenes with amazing model cars
It’s an iconic scene from the pages of Initial D — Takumi Fujiwara’s AE86 touge-battling Keisuke Takahashi’s FD RX-7, drifting through a hairpin. A Japanese artist known as Shinga on Twitter has recreated the moment, but as much as the finished product looks … Continue reading
MOTORSPORT: Australia’s Improved Production Racing is absolutely riveting
Even to car guys, a lot of modern racing is boring because there simply isn’t a lot of differentiation in the actual cars. Sanctioning bodies have made the rules so strict that in many cases the cars are basically identical. … Continue reading
PIXELATED: JNCs of the Grand Theft Auto universe
With rumors of the next installment of the Grand Theft Auto franchise taking place in Vice City, we began to ponder the possibilities for in-game cars. If publisher Rockstar Games does indeed return to their caricature of 1980s Miami, it could make way … Continue reading
EVENTS: 2017 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 08 — Best Booths
JCCS has become an international show. For years, the event has been growing, with ever better builds and spectators coming from farther reaches of the globe. This year, however, many top companies from Japan attended, while US-based ones upped the ante with … Continue reading
EVENTS: 2017 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 04 — Shakotan Sleds
We’ve shown you the JDM rarities, competition machines and museum pieces of JCCS, but we know what you really came here for — Nihon sleds slammed on some vintage barrels. It’s the quintessential Japanese modified car look, and there was plenty of it on … Continue reading
KIDNEY, ANYONE? SCCA AE86, a Corolla with racing pedigree
By now, JNC readers are probably pretty familiar with the AE86’s roots as the weapon of choice during the underground touge battles of the 1980s. It’s no surprise, however, that the Hachiroku was also a formidable machine on the track. While the famed … Continue reading
Happy 8/6 Day from JNC
Happy 8/6 Day from JNC! Where will your touge battles take you today?
VIDEO: Celebrating 30 years since the AE86 conquered British Touring Car Championships
For cars that are immensely fun to flog in the twisties, there are few better than the Toyota AE86. Less discussed, however, is its racing provenance. We’re not talking about its touge battles on Mt Akina, here. Or even talking about Japan. … Continue reading