Tag Archives: kp61
In its 26th year, Toyotafest is still going strong — a brief history of TORC, the Toyota Owners and Restorers Club
We’ve been attending Toyotafest every year since JNC started in 2006, and it’s consistently one of our favorite events. Last year was the 25th Toyotafest, which means the show itself is now old enough to wear historic plates, buy collector … Continue reading
MINICARS: Here’s the cars from the upcoming Hot Wheels Toyota series
We got an extraordinarily positive response about the Hot Wheels FJ60 Toyota Land Cruiser yesterday. As you can see from the packaging, it’s part of an all-Toyota premium series. We promised there would be some new castings in it, and … Continue reading
Japanese Classic Car Show 2019: Upping the Game and Best in Show
We are 60 percent of the way to the point where the JCCS itself, if it were a car, would be eligible for classic status. In its 15 years in existence, the Japanese Classic Car Show has grown from a … Continue reading
SEMA 2019, Part 01 — Japanese Hot Rods
When there are 2,400 companies and 2.2 million square feet of exhibits, limits are constantly pushed in order to garner attention. It can result in show cars that are insanely expensive but absent of taste. Still, there can be gems … Continue reading
2019 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 06 — Awesome 80s
The 80s were a pivotal time in Japan’s automotive history, and the JCCS did not disappoint with a of turbocharged, retractable-headlight, angular-bodied machines.
KIDNEY, ANYONE?: Eric Bizek’s KP61 Toyota Starlet
Typically, we don’t name drop the Kidney Car’s seller, but if you are even remotely familiar with our site, or the American JNC community, the shop JDM Legends is a household name. The Utah-based restomod shop has been around as … Continue reading
Toyotafest Spotlight: This mint Starlet was once part of the Toyota USA Museum
We’ve already covered the Starlets from this year’s Toyotafest, but there was one particular example we had to point out. It’s not that it was bone stock, or flawless, or a rare 3C5 Coral Metallic color, though it was all … Continue reading
EVENTS: All-Toyotafest, Part 04 — Starlets & Tercels
Over the years even traditional, Camry-hating mainstream car enthusiasts have come to appreciate some Toyotas, your Celicas, MR2s, and FR Corollas. However, when it comes to the marque’s most diminutive compacts, the love still tends to emanate only from the … Continue reading
VIDEO: Starlet, Sunny, and AE86 on Maou Touge
In a recent Hot Version video, the gang takes a pack of highly tuned cars to the Maou Touge. However, rather than the standard Honda S2000 and WRX STI models, this time they are modified versions of old school RWD … Continue reading
EVENTS: 2018 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 02 — Toyotas
For the first time since the show’s beginning, Toyota didn’t have a booth or any of its museum cars at the Japanese Classic Car Show. Mazda, Nissan, and Honda all had an official presence, but not the Big T. That’s … 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
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
VIDEO: B110 Nissan Sunny vs KP61 Toyota Starlet touge battle
“Why no moar horsepower?” is probably the most oft repeated and annoying gripe leveled at Japanese cars. If you’d like to see a video that answers why, here it is. Japan’s roads are mountainous, tight and a ton of fun in small, … 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
Happy KP61 Day from JNC too
As many of you have reminded us here on JNC and on Instagram, today is KP61 Day too. So, happy day to all the owners and fans of one of the very few RWD hot hatches around!
VIDEO: Tommy Dolo’s bagged KP61 Starlet
Hawaii, a tropical paradise with warm beaches, beautiful marine wildlife, a thriving JNC community. Tommy Dolo is the godfather of Old School Imports Hawaii, and he’s built one badass bagged Toyota Starlet.
EVENTS: 2017 Tokyo Auto Salon, Part 02 — Restomods
Since its inception in 1983, the Tokyo Auto Salon has been Japan’s showcase premier exhibition of automotive trends. Back then, it went by the very literal name of Tokyo Exciting Car Show, but the idea was the same — showcasing what Japanese tuners … Continue reading