Tag Archives: nissan

DESIGN: Nissan VP reveals challenges of designing with DNA

We recently had the chance to glimpse into the the mind of someone who spends every day thinking and making decisions about the cars we buy, drive, and love. Taro Ueda is Vice-President of Design at Nissan Design America, the automaker’s … Continue reading

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VIDEO: Watch the R32 Skyline GT-R lap the Nürburgring

Nowadays, for any performance car worth their salt, a Nürburgring lap is a spec sheet staple, right there under horsepower, torque, and 0-60 time. But the Nissan Skyline GT-R was doing it before it was cool. Way before. Back in 1989, … Continue reading

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PIXELLATED: Forza Motorsport 6

Welcome to a new series about JNCs in video games. Perhaps you can’t have the garage of your dreams in real life, but you can have it in pixels. One of the best series of all time for JNCs, Forza has … Continue reading

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EVENTS: Old Car Heaven, Part 02

While Part 01 of our Old Car Heaven coverage concluded with a mob of rare Mitsubishis, we begin this installment along the perimeter of the show and a bevy of box vans. The Nissan Caravans were part of the Nissan Commercial Car … Continue reading

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EVENTS: Old Car Heaven, Part 01

Recently I was invited to accompany the Prince Driver’s Club to Kyuusha Tengoku, or Old Car Heaven, on the outskirts of downtown Tokyo. With many cars expected, we were asked to assemble on site at 06:00 in the morning. The early … Continue reading

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NEWS: Japan notes increase in Skyline, NSX prices due to overseas interest

The above chart was one of the most circulated automotive news items in Japan over the weekend. It depcits how the nation’s wheeled icons have skyrocketed in price since just four months, with a certain model jumping nearly 1 million yen. The cause? Cars joining … Continue reading

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PROFILES: The ultimate BRE 510 tribute

There are occasions, as any enthusiast will tell you, when whatever you are doing, no matter how important, must be immediately and emphatically dropped in order to turn around and look at a car. That’s the situation our fearless leader Ben and I found … Continue reading

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ART CORNER: The superdeformed model kits of Ryu Asada

Most of you know the name Ryu Asada from his work at Mattel designing hit diecast cars. The talented and creative veteran of both the Matchbox and Hot Wheels brands as penned some truly memorable castings, including JNC favorites like the Honda CRX, EF Civic, ’90 Acura NSX, and ’72 … Continue reading

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QotW: What’s the greatest VIP sedan?

Happy President’s Day from JNC! Now, which classic sedan would you most want to be seen emerging from as you conduct your official government business/captaining of industry/illicit yak duties? In other words: What’s the greatest VIP sedan? What say you, … Continue reading

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PROFILES: Take a ride with the Skylines of the Wild Cards

Spanning two states and twenty-plus members, the Wild Cards are one of the first Japanese-style zoku rengo, or alliances, in the United States. With inspiration from Nihon customization styles like bosozoku and kaido racers, many of the Wild Cards cars are the dream machines … Continue reading

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COLLECTIONS: A 1971 Datsun 521 pickup comes home

“Several people have tried to buy it from me,” says Marvin Askew of his 1971 Datsun 1600 pickup, “Especially kids. They want to strip it down and lower it.” But luckily Marvin didn’t sell it to them, because now the truck he … Continue reading

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ART CORNER: Beautiful dioramas of model cars from Japan

Takuji is a Japanese artist who places 1:43 and 1:64 scale minicars into beautifully constructed dioramas. From AE86s on touge roads to Mitsubishis tearing through a rally stage to mechanics tuning Skylines in a garage, each scene is a slice of … Continue reading

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VIDEO: Drag racing outside Makuhari Messe circa 1992

Makuahri Messe is the big convention center in Chiba that hosts events the Tokyo Auto Salon and (before its move to Big Sight) the Tokyo Motor Show. If Tokyo city is at the 11 o’clock position of Tokyo Bay, then Makuhari is at … Continue reading

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VIDEO: JNC Project Hakosuka hits the skidpan!

Since 2011 or so, a very nice LSD unit has been sitting under a cloth in the corner of  the JNC Hakosuka garage.  I never finished gathering all the parts I needed to install it until I had some spare … Continue reading

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Happy S130 Day from JNC

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PROFILES: Randy York’s rare 1973 Datsun 510

Long before social media, Randy York was one of the first members of the Bluebirds email list. He ran United Five-Ten Owners (UFO) SoCal from the mid-80s through the 90s before it faded, and was a founding editor for the definitive … Continue reading

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KIDNEY, ANYONE? 8,700-mile R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R [UPDATE]

Another year, another round of auctions in which Japanese steel is dangled in front of bidders who wouldn’t have given a flying Figaro two years ago. This time it’s another Skyline GT-R, not the Hakosuka or Kenmeri but Godzilla himself, the BNR32, and … Continue reading

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VIDEO: Drifting Hakone in 1992

Imagine a winding touge packed with Japanese drift machines — Silvias, RX-7s, Supras, Fairlady Zs and AE86s. So. Many. AE86s. Last year we showed a video proving that underground drifting was already reaching fever pitch by the late 80s. By 1992, Hakone Pass — one of … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2016 Tokyo Auto Salon, Part 04 – JNC Staff Picks

For our final installment of our 2016 Tokyo Auto Salon coverage, we asked some of our JNC team Tokyo staff to identify the coolest whips they encountered at the annual mega-fest of Japanese automotive excess. Here’s what they came up … Continue reading

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VIDEO: Jay Leno drives a Hakotora

When the Japanese builders at 09 Racing debuted their Hakotora at the 2013 Tokyo Auto Salon, it was easily one of the most talked-about cars at the show. The name comes from the blending of hakosuka and sanitora, the Japanese nicknames for the C10-generation Skyline … Continue reading

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