Tag Archives: crown

VIDEO: 8-second kujira Crown

So you find one of the rarest Toyotas ever to make landfall in the US, and what do you do? Tub it out, drop in a 2JZ bored .40 over with HKS 280 cams, and take it to the strip, … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2014 Nostalgic2Days, Part 04

We start our final installment of our 2014 Nos2Days coverage with a beautiful butaketsu Laurel by Red Megaphone. The Nissan restoration shop is known primarily for its Skylines, but this white C130 hardtop showed that there’s more than hakosukas and kenmeris … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2014 Nostalgic2Days, Part 02

Welcome to Part 02 of our Nostalgic2Days coverage, as we make our way across the Pacifico Convention Center on Yokohama’s historic waterfront. In this installment we’ll see the displays kyuusha tuning houses, some of the famous cars that have graced Nostalgic … Continue reading

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JNC THEATER: Someday Into the Glare

Though it came out in 1992, there’s still plenty of 80s car-nage in Kinji Fukusaku’s Someday Into the Glare (English title, The Triple Cross). Fukusaku’s ultra-violent crime stories were a staple of Japanese cinema in the 70s and 80s, but by 1992 a … Continue reading

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JNC THEATER: Boso Panic – The Big Crash

1976’s Boso Panic: The Big Crash was your typical action movie from the era. All the gritty ingredients were there: bank robber anti-heroes, a femme fatale, gunfights, and loads upon loads of car chases. What sets it apart is the fact that it … Continue reading

Posted in JNC Theater, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 15 Comments

EVENTS: Meiji Jingu Classic Car Festival & Parade, Part 02

When Toyota holds a car show in the middle of Tokyo’s equivalent of Central Park, people notice. In Part 01 of our Meiji Jingu Classic Car Festival coverage we had the rare opportunity to see the best of Japan’s historic … Continue reading

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EVENTS: Meiji Jingu Classic Car Festival & Parade, Part 01

We’re extremely lucky to attend as many J-tin filled shows as we do, so it might sound like a first world problem when we say there’s always one teensy issue: The cars are stationary. That’s why when the Toyota Automobile … Continue reading

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One last tour of Toyota’s Amlux showroom as it closes for good

Today marks the end of a Tokyo institution. Toyota‘s Amlux showroom is closing after 23 years of operation. Most residents of Japan’s constantly morphing metropolis probably didn’t even notice, but for die-hard Toyotaku it’s the end of an era.

Posted in museums, toyota | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

EVENTS: Yokohama Hot Rod and Custom Show

Step into Mooneyes‘ Yokohama Hot Rod and Custom Show and you might think you’ve stepped through a wormhole to 1960s America. Every style you can imagine, from high-boys to lowriders, is represented, including ones actual Americans no longer care about. Raked … Continue reading

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PROFILES: Touring Osaka in a Seibu Keisatsu Skyline

Driving through Japan in a red-on-black DR30 Skyline festooned with emergency lights is akin to prowling rural Georgia in an orange ’69 Dodge Charger. Or Miami in a white Testarossa. Or Los Angeles in a black ’82 Firebird with a … Continue reading

Posted in nissan, profiles, Uncategorized, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

EVENTS: Naniwa Swap Meet

Among the items on our Japan bucket list was checking out a real swap meet. Turns out, automotive-themed ones are not terribly common there, but we were fortunate enough to have Osaka’s Naniwa Swap Meet coincide with our stay. 

Posted in events, honda, kei, mazda, Motorcycles, nissan, suzuki, toyota, wagons | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

EVENTS: Tokyo Motor Show, Day 02

On Day One of the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show we saw one of the most significant concepts to come out of Japan since the FT-86. With that excitement out of the way, we spent Day Two seeing what Nissan’s major … Continue reading

Posted in concepts, events, honda, mazda, minicars, Motorcycles, toyota | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

PROFILES: Mooneyes’ 1JZ 1970 Toyota Crown Hardtop

With 14 consecutive generations and counting, the Toyota Crown is the standard of Japanese sedans. In its 58 years of continuous production, it’s inhabited many guises — saloon, wagon, pickup, ambulance, and even police pursuit vehicle — but the most … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2013 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 06 —Gladiators and Flagships

For the final installment of our 2013 JCCS tour, we present a rarefied selection of automobiles. Some have been sent into battle for their respective marques. Others were made to be proud standard bearers.

Posted in events, honda, mazda, nissan, toyota | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

EVENTS: 2013 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 01 – Debuts and Historic Cars

With the Japanese Classic Car Show closing in on a decade, the theme of its 9th holding could be summed up in one word: More. More cars, more rarity, more stock survivors, more booths, more people, and more staggering Nihon … Continue reading

Posted in events, nissan, toyota | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 29 Comments

EVENTS: Mooneyes Open House, Mitsubishi Owners’ Day, SpoCom 2013 — Attend All the Shows!

Life is soooo hard in SoCal. Gorgeous women dress too scantily, it’s hard to decide between beautiful roads in the mountains and beautiful roads by the coast, and it barely ever rains. And then we have the horrible inconvenience of … Continue reading

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GRAND TOURING: The Ise Peninsula, Part 01

Our destination for this tour was Mie Prefecture, some 250 miles southwest of Tokyo on the far side of Ise-wan (the same wan in Wangan, meaning “bay”). Known for its ancient craft ceramics and as the birthplace of the ninja, … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2013 All-Toyotafest, Part 02 — The Seventies

As we mentioned, there was more urethane than chrome at this year’s Toyotafest. Still, it’s  the strong presence of Aichi classics that anchor this must-see event and separate it from other shows. 

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EVENTS: 2013 All-Toyotafest, Part 01 — The Very Old & Very New

The year is 2013, and that means the official JNC 25-year-or-older rule puts the nostalgic cutoff squarely in 1988. Yes, it’s hard to believe that MkIII Supras are elegible for historic tags in most states now but it’s true. The … Continue reading

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VIDEO: JNCs make the cut in Ron Howard’s Rush

The hottest video circulating automotive sites today is the trailer for Rush. Last year we reported that some classic Nihon cars were spotted on set, specifically, two daruma Celicas and a kujira Crown Hardtop. Moreover, the screen shot above, which … Continue reading

Posted in toyota, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments