Tag Archives: honda
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
SHOP LIFE: The return of Racing Mate
Racing Mate, the Japanese motorsport accessories company, founded in the 1960s by race car drivers Soukichi Shikiba and Tokudaiji Aritsune, is back. While the relaunch has been planned as early as 2013, they have just recently released the first complete kit, and it’s … Continue reading
MOTORSPORT: 1968 Honda RA302 replica
Do you wish you could have a 1960s Honda F1 car of your very own? A British outfit called Stuart-Taylor Motorsport is building a life-size replica of the 1968 Honda RA302, an interesting choice considering the original’s morbid history.
KIDNEY, ANYONE? The perfect EF Honda Civic
Leave it to the Canadians to preserve the holy grail of EF Civics. Not only is this pristine example a final-year, top-spec Si performance model, it’s finished in Tahitian Green Pearl, an achingly proper shade of period correct teal considered highly … Continue reading
VIDEO: Honda animated ad reminds us of all the great cars they no longer make
A clever new Honda ad hit the airwaves recently, opening with an animated CRX chugging merrily along. Soon pixels morph it into a host of Hondas from the company’s past. “Look at all the great cars we used to make!” it … Continue reading
QotW: What’s the craziest thing you’ve done to fetch a car?
Most of us car guys can’t even be bothered to assemble a respectable outfit for the social rituals that humans have to endure, such as weddings, dinner with the in-laws, or going to stores that are not Autozone. But then your friend sends you a Craigslist link … Continue reading
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
VIDEO: Honda origin story in manga form
In 1946 Soichiro Honda began strapping surplus WW2 generators to bicycles to create the first Honda motorcycles. In a new series of videos issued by Honda Japan, excerpts of the Honda origin story come to life in videos narrated in English and … Continue reading
VIDEO: Motorcycle-powered hot rod Honda S600
Talk about a dream touge build. Back in 2007, my brother from the same mother Ben and I were freezing our arses off in a drafty Nagasaki apartment dreaming about insane Japanese hot rods that we wanted to build. None was nuttier than … Continue reading
NIHON LIFE: Commuting above-ground
Living in Tokyo’s 23-ku has many benefits, and detractions too I suppose. However, one of my great pleasures is the early morning commute across town. Many years ago I decided to ditch the usual meek-gray-mouse-crammed-onto-the-Ginza Line experience for a motorcycle.
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
EVENTS: Akio Toyoda shows up at Cars & Coffee Tokyo
At a recent Cars & Coffee event in Tokyo, the usual proceedings were disrupted when a formation of Lexus supercars arrived on the scene. Emerging from the fleet was the most famous man in Japan’s auto industry: Akio Toyoda, president and CEO of Toyota Motor Corp, … Continue reading
QotW: What JNC is so ugly it’s cute?
This question came up because of an encounter with a Nissan Juke. Sure, it might have the kind of face only a blind mother could love but Nissan still has no problems moving a couple thousand a month. That’s better than the Subaru BRZ … Continue reading
VIDEO: Honda “I Like Sports” commercial
With the return of the S-Series in the S660, a reborn NSX launching later this year, and new one-make race series based on the funky retro N-One, Honda is looking once again like a automaker with some soul. Their latest Japanese ad … Continue reading
SPOTLIGHT: Fastest “car” at the Tokyo Bayside Classic Cup
What’s mid-engined, twin-cam, hits 11,000rpm, and laps Sodeguara Forest Raceway faster than most things that were on the track at the recent Tokyo Bayside Classic Cup season closer?