Tag Archives: rally

Akio Toyoda is so badass he flipped a GR Yaris rally car

Posted on June 13, 2024 by Ben Hsu

When Chairman Akio Toyoda spoke recently at the opening of Toyota’s new R&D center, he did it standing before a wrecked GR Yaris rally car. It was one he overturned himself while hot-shoeing it at the newly built Shimoyama Technical … Continue reading →

Posted in News | Tagged A80, akio toyoda, GR Yaris, nurburgring, rally, supra, toyota | 5 Comments

Toyota Starlet revival could actually be happening, maybe

Posted on April 30, 2024 by Steve Chang

After Akio Toyoda stepped down as CEO of Toyota last year a shuffling of the ranks put Tomoya Takahashi at the helm of Gazoo Racing. As it happens Takahashi was a big fan of the Toyota Starlet hot hatch, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Next Version | Tagged Gazoo Racing, GR Starlet, GR Yaris, rally, starlet, takahashi, toyota | 3 Comments

Mitsubishi restored the Lancer Evolution III that won the 1000 Lakes Rally in 1996

Posted on April 17, 2024 by Steve Chang

If you were to ask which Japanese carmaker was least likely to drop some coin on their heritage collection, we doubt Mitsubishi would be at the top of anyone’s list. It hasn’t been a good couple of decades for them, … Continue reading →

Posted in Heritage Collections | Tagged lancer evolution, mitsubishi, rally, wrc | 1 Comment

Mitsubishi on why there won’t be a Lancer Evo, even though shareholders requested it

Posted on June 24, 2021 by Ben Hsu

Mitsubishi made its first newsworthy announcement in years in May when it said it would revive Ralliart, its motorsports brand for all things rally. On June 23 at Mitsubishi Motors’ annual shareholders meeting, CEO Takao Kato got a bit more … Continue reading →

Posted in motorsport | Tagged lancer evolution, mitsubishi, rally | 3 Comments

Mitsubishi Motors announces Ralliart revival

Posted on May 12, 2021 by Ben Hsu

Japanese companies are in the midst of releasing their fiscal year financial reports right now. These are typically pretty boring investor briefs, but on May 11 Mitsubishi Motors divulged an interesting tidbit in theirs — that it plans to revive … Continue reading →

Posted in motorsport | Tagged lancer evolution, mitsubishi, Ralliart, rally, starion, Triton | 6 Comments

Subaru Impreza 22B STi sells for $312,555

Posted on April 20, 2021 by J Elrick

The GC Impreza turned 25 years old three years ago, and prices have been on the rise ever since. The WRC test car, chassis 97001 sold for under $300,000 that same year. Yesterday, its legendary road-going incarnation, a 25,000-mile 1998 … Continue reading →

Posted in marketwatch | Tagged 22B, impreza, Impreza GC, rally, subaru, wrc, wrx | 5 Comments

PIXELATED: Art of Rally looks like a ripping good time

Posted on September 30, 2020 by Ryan Senensky

A new driving game, Art of Rally, has been at the top of the upcoming games chart on Steam for a while now and it looks like loads of fun. Described as a stylized game that lets you progress through … Continue reading →

Posted in Video Games | Tagged 222D, ae86, Art of Rally, aw11, celica, group b, impreza, lancer evolution, mazda, mitsubishi, mr2, rally, rx-3, rx-7, sa22c, st185, subaru, toyota, wrc, WRX STI | 8 Comments

ART CORNER: Learn how to color like concept car artists, courtesy of Nissan

Posted on May 13, 2020 by Ben Hsu

Have you ever wanted to draw cars like professional designers? Specifically, using color to light the car so it jumps off two-dimensional paper like a proper three-dimensional object? To help kids (and adults) deal with more coronavirus quarantine time, Nissan … Continue reading →

Posted in Art Corner | Tagged a10, datsun, gt-r, nissan, r35, rally, skyline, violet | 5 Comments

Toyotafest 2020 has been canceled, but you can still get these 50th anniversary of the Celica T-Shirts

Posted on April 30, 2020 by Ben Hsu

We are sad to report that Toyotafest 2020 has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The show, originally scheduled for June 6, was to be the 25th annual Toyotafest, a momentous occasion to be sure. So, while quarter-century celebration … Continue reading →

Posted in Reminder | Tagged a20, celica, rally, st165, st185, toyota, toyotafest, wrc | 5 Comments

Toyota brought out stock and rally Celica GT-Fours to the GR Yaris debut

Posted on February 5, 2020 by Ben Hsu

The Toyota GR Yaris seems like it will be an insanely awesome hot hatch, even if its connection to the Celica GT-Four is dubious. We said it smelled like a retcon, but we have to admit, when Toyota put all … Continue reading →

Posted in Tokyo Auto Salon | Tagged A90, ae86, celica, corolla, corolla levin, Dakar Rally, GR Yaris, J200, land cruiser, rally, st165, SuperGT, supra, tokyo auto salon, toyota, TS050, wrc, yaris | 8 Comments

Toyota says the GR Yaris is a Celica GT-Four successor

Posted on January 10, 2020 by Ben Hsu

At the Tokyo Auto Salon, Toyota has debuted a new hot hatch that it says is the spiritual successor to the almighty Celica GT-Four. While that claim does raise an eyebrow, the GR Yaris is a potent machine that could … Continue reading →

Posted in tokyo auto salon | Tagged celica, Celica GT-Four, GR Yaris, homolgation, rally, st165, st185, st205, tokyo auto salon, toyota, wrc, yaris | 10 Comments

NEWS: Subaru rally car restoration program announced

Posted on December 9, 2019 by Ben Hsu

In recent years a number of Japanese companies have started up factory restoration programs for their iconic cars. Nissan, Mazda, Honda, and Toyota all have programs in place or in the works. Now, your dreams of creating the ultimate Gran … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Colin McRae, impreza, legacy, Petter Solberg, Prodrive, rally, Richard Burns, subaru, wrc, wrx, WRX STI | Leave a comment

SEMA 2019, Part 04: More Nihon Steel

Posted on November 8, 2019 by Ben Hsu

It’s really hard to capture everything at a show as big as SEMA, but here are a few more slabs of Nihon Steel we found lurking around. There was everything from slammed sleds to off-road heroes, sometimes both in the … Continue reading →

Posted in events | Tagged 370z, acura, civic, Civic EG, cressida, eclipse, fc3s, fj40, fj62, Frontier, honda, hot wheels, J200, J60, J70, J80, jimny, Kicks, land cruiser, mark II, mazda, mitsubishi, N260, nissan, nsx, rally, Rocket Bunny, rx-7, rx-8, s13, sema, silvia, subaru, suzuki, tacoma, Titan, toyota, WRX STI, x80, z34 | 5 Comments

KIDNEY, ANYONE? Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 Rallye Côte d’Ivoire winner

Posted on April 20, 2018 by Ben Hsu

Before the Lancer Evolution, Mitsubishi’s AWD turbo rally warrior was the Galant VR-4. Starting in 1988 and until the launch of the Lancer Evo, Mitsubishi campaigned the Galant VR-4 in World Rally Championship races across Europe, earning the triple-diamond marque an early reputation for ruggedness and … Continue reading →

Posted in for sale | Tagged Côte d’Ivoire, galant, Galant VR-4, kidney anyone, mitsubishi, rally | 4 Comments

MOTORSPORT: Mitsubishi rally cars showcased at Megaweb

Posted on April 18, 2018 by Ben Hsu

Though owned by Toyota, the Megaweb showcase in Odaiba, Tokyo and the adjacent History Garage offer much more than Aichi steel. Since last year, there has been a rotating exhibit of famous rally cars, often on loan from other automakers. Currently, it is Mitsubishi’s … Continue reading →

Posted in motorsport | Tagged lancer, Lancer Evolution III, Megaweb, mitsubishi, rally, safari rally, wrc | 8 Comments

25 YEAR CLUB: Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution

Posted on December 30, 2017 by Ryan Senensky

Our last inductee to the 25 Year Club for 2017 is arguably the crowning achievement of Mitsubishi Motor Company’s illustrious 100-year history, the Lancer Evolution. Birthed as a pure homologation model for rally racing, it transformed an otherwise innocuous economy … Continue reading →

Posted in 25 Year Club | Tagged Kenjiro Shinozuka, lancer evolution, Lancer Evolution I, Lancer Evolution II, Lancer Evolution III, mitsubishi, rally, Tommi Mäkinen, wrc | 18 Comments

KIDNEY, ANYONE? The Subaru Impreza WRC test car that you can’t have

Posted on June 8, 2017 by Dave Yuan

Above is a press photo from 1997 of the then-newly debuted Subaru Impreza WRC, built to the new World Rally Car specification that replaced Group A rules. Though similar in livery as Subaru’s older works Impreza and Legacy, this model would go on … Continue reading →

Posted in for sale | Tagged impreza, rally, subaru, wrc, wrx | 8 Comments

Mitsubishi does not need subwoofers and TV screens

Posted on May 18, 2017 by Ben Hsu

The news that Mitsubishi was seeking West Coast Customs to recreate their first car, the 1917 Model A, was pretty disappointing. Here’s a friendly reminder that Mitsus don’t need useless gimmicks to be cool. That is all.

Posted in motorsport | Tagged mitsubishi, rally, starion | 6 Comments

VIDEO: Let’s not forget how awesome the Legacy RS was

Posted on February 2, 2017 by Ben Hsu

Before the WRX, STI or any of Subaru’s three-letter suffixes for the Impreza became synonymous with rallying, there was the Legacy RS. Here’s a thrilling video of Colin McRae tearing through the 1993 Tour de Corse. Turbocharged first-gen Subaru Legacys are … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Colin McRae, legacy, rally, subaru | 7 Comments

VIDEO: A 240Z built for a 10,000-mile off-road race

Posted on May 9, 2016 by Ben Hsu

You thought Touge California was tough? It was only eight hours, 200 miles, and took place on pavement. This Datsun 240Z was built to tackle a rally that starts in Beijing, China, goes 10,000 miles through the Gobi Desert, Mongolia, Russia … Continue reading →

Posted in Video | Tagged 240z, datsun, fairlady z, nissan, Peking to Paris, rally, s30 z | 3 Comments