Tag Archives: chaser

Toyota Chaser is perfect pursuit vehicle in ‘Lonesome Hitman’

We’ve featured many classic car chases from Japanese film and cinema, but there has never been one with a car so fitting. In 1989’s Lonesome Hitman, the pursuing car is, in fact, a Toyota Chaser. With a name like that, … Continue reading

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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

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Alive Hoon, the first movie about pro drifting, has a trailer and behind-the-scenes video

It’s been over 20 years since the D1GP, the first professional drifting league, was born. So it’s a bit surprising that, in all this time, there hasn’t been a feature film about the sport (no, Tokyo Drift doesn’t count). But, … Continue reading

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The legendary Toyota plant that built the AE86, Mark II, and Century is now closed

On December 7 Toyota held a closing ceremony for its Higashi Fuji plant. Today, all production lines will be shut down and the factory closed for good. The 53-year-old facility has produced some of Toyota’s most iconic models, including the … Continue reading

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Toyota has ended 51 years of Mark II, Mark X production

On December 23, Toyota held a farewell ceremony for the beloved Mark II and Mark X sedan. The final example, a white Mark X 250G, rolled off the line at Toyota’s second-oldest plant, the Motomachi factory in Aichi Prefecture, as … Continue reading

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VIDEO: Every generation of Toyota Mark II gathered for the final Mark X send-off

After 11 generations and 51 model years, the Toyota Mark II/MarkX line is coming to an end. Toyota announced the cancellation of the decidedly old school, Camry-sized rear-wheel-drive sedan back in April. Now, with the Final Edition coming to showrooms … Continue reading

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EVENTS: All-Toyotafest, Part 05 — Big Sedans

There’s nothing like a big Toyota sedan, and Toyotafest was full of ’em. Whether you’re talking about the brilliant luxury of a Lexus LS or the deadbolt reliability of a Camry, each one had its fans and fastidious owners. With … Continue reading

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NEWS: It’s the end of the road for the Toyota Mark X

All good things must come to an end, and today we must bid farewell to yet another steadfast nameplate of Japan’s automotive landscape. On the very same day that Mitsubishi announced the end of the Pajero, Toyota announced, after 11 … Continue reading

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Koyorad releases new radiators for 90s Chaser, 300ZX, Maxima

Our partners at Koyorad are releasing a slew of new cooling options for 90s cars, including the JZX90 Toyota Chaser, Mark II and Cresta triplets, as well as the Z32 Nissan 300ZX and J30 Maxima. It may seem odd to sell an aftermarket part for cars … Continue reading

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VIDEO: A bosozoku night cruise

Do you like bolted on bubble flares, takeyari shaped like lightning bolts, and blinding dome lights that look like they’re off a 1960s police car except they’re purple? If not, well, maybe avert your eyes so you don’t see the parade of Celicas, Soarers … Continue reading

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EVENTS: Radwood 2 – Electric Boogaloo

From the moment co-organizer Art Cervantes told us the name of the event, we knew it would be incredible. Radwood. It was a car show exclusively for 80s and 90s machines. Like Goodwood but, you know, rad. 

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EVENTS: Houston Morningstar Meet

You might have heard there was a football game in Houston over the weekend. We were in town for the epic clash — something about classic Fords versus Jeep crossovers — but before the big game the local JNC community welcomed us to a Sunday morning meet. 

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EVENTS: 2016 Meiji Jingu Classic Car Festival, Part 02

In Part 01 of our coverage of Tokyo’s Classic Car Festival at Meiji Jingu Gaien Park, I had just finished rolling up my tongue back into my mouth from which it had dropped, Tex Avery style, due to the cars brought out … Continue reading

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QotW: What’s the best Japanese getaway car?

Japan has one of the lowest crime rates in the world. but when a heist goes down, it’s a big one. As in, the kind you need a getaway car or two to pull off. A getaway car has to be … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2016 All-Toyotafest, Part 02 — Straight Sixes

As engines go, the Toyota straight-six is one of the best conceived by humankind. Smooth as Suntory whiskey, as long-lived as a mountain, and capable of stupid amounts of horsepower in later iterations, they are a triumph of automotive engineering. It’s no wonder the … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2016 New Year Meeting, Part 04 — The Streets

In the last two installments of our 2016 New Year Meeting coverage, we prowled the parking area to find as much diversity in marques and models as there were in customization styles. In our final installment of the 2016 New Year … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2016 New Year Meeting, Part 03 — This is Japan

A life-size Gundam robot towers above the trees. Giant windowless shopping centers operate like small cities. In this snapshot of a hyper-futuristic metropolis floating on a man-made island in Tokyo Bay, tradition comes in the form of a parking lot teeming … Continue reading

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NIHON LIFE: Summer Evening on the Wangan

The O-Bon is an annual festival that honors the souls of one’s ancestors. Many Tokyoites head to their hometowns to visit the graves of their forebearers, leaving the city strangely free of its dreaded logjam traffic. In other words, it’s the perfect … 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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GRAND TOURING: Boso Hanto, Day 02

On Day 01 of our Boso Hanto tour we visited visited hallowed ground, a Skyline specialist shop, and stopped for the night with some curry and a bit of Honda tourism. Welcome to Day 02, where we continued through the peninsula in the … Continue reading

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