Tag Archives: toyota
A brief history of JCW, Japan’s first carwash company
We recently came across a news item about a new system in Japan that washes coronavirus off of your clothes and shoes. You walk through a metal frame while nozzles spray chemicals all over you, in droplets too small to … Continue reading
Posted in Nihon Life
Tagged corona mark II, crown, ms51, publica, s60, shinkansen, toyota
6 Comments
VIDEO: The Toyota T100 was the right truck for the wrong time
When it was new, the Toyota T100 pickup defied categorization, as Japanese car often do. Upon release, it was derided as being less powerful than the full-size pickups from the Big Three, but too large for the compact pickup class. … Continue reading
Happy New Year from JNC, and our top stories of 2020
It has been a year like no other, but 2020 is finally coming to an end. Hopefully 2021 will bring us more cheer, and allow us to get back together with friends, family, and our car community comrades. Until then, … Continue reading
MINICARS: This 1:150-scale Toyota Crown is one of the smallest R/C cars we’ve ever seen
There are minicars and then there are minicars. A Japanese radio controlled car builder has constructed one of the smallest R/C cars we’ve ever seen. It’s based off of a 1:150-scale Tomytec Toyota Crown, but all its guts have been … Continue reading
Toyota shows one-off Heritage Edition Supra Sport Roof
Officially revealed this morning, Toyota has brought back a feature of the legendary A80 Supra: the Sport Roof. The removable roof panel was a Supra trademark, having been a feature of both A70 and A80 generations (so in Japan, where … Continue reading
TUNE UP: J Cole’s “Fire Squad” video features the sweet sound of AE86s revving and drifting
Rapper J Cole’s triple-platinum album 2014 Forest Hills Drive came out six years ago, but a previously unseen music video for the track “Fire Squad” was just released. It prominently features a pair of drifting Toyota AE86 coupes sending up … Continue reading
The legendary Toyota plant that built the AE86, Mark II, and Century is now closed
On December 7 Toyota held a closing ceremony for its Higashi Fuji plant. Today, all production lines will be shut down and the factory closed for good. The 53-year-old facility has produced some of Toyota’s most iconic models, including the … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged ae86, century, chaser, corolla levin, cressida, cresta, Crown Comfort, Isis, JPN Taxi, lexus sc, mark II, origin, Porte, soarer, sports 800, toyota, x30, x60
6 Comments
50 YEAR CLUB: The Toyota Celica, a pivotal player in Japan’s car culture
Fifty years ago this day, on December 1 1970, the first Toyota Celica went on sale in Japan. It proved to be a groundbreaking car, the first of Japan’s production “specialty cars”, fashionable personal coupes based on a sedan chassis. … Continue reading
Posted in 50 Year Club
Tagged a10, a20, carina, celica, fuji speedway, tokyo motor show, toyota
19 Comments
VIDEO: Feast your eyes on 20 years of high-def Tokyo streets
As we approach the long Thanksgiving weekend, here’s a feast of a different sort. Let your eyes consume this incredible, high-definition video of Tokyo during the Showa Era. Spanning a period of almost two decades, the videos show how dramatically … Continue reading
Posted in Video
Tagged bellett, cedric, debonair, isuzu, markII, mitsubishi, nissan, toyota
9 Comments
Toyota will drown 65 years of history and tradition in a shallow bathtub by discontinuing the Crown sedan
It’s been a hard year and we’re so close to the finish line. Before it leaves us, though, 2020 is going to deliver one last sucker punch to the gut. The Chunichi Shimbun newspaper reports that Toyota will kill off … Continue reading
The Toyota Automobile Museum has opened a “Motorsport Biography” exhibit
“A harsh environment of competition toughens our people and cars,” said Toyota Motor founder Kiichiro Toyoda once said. It’s a quote framing the Toyota Automobile Museum in Aichi, Japan’s newly opened an exhibit highlighting some of the company’s historic race … Continue reading
Posted in Galleries
Tagged 2000gt, 24 Hours of Le Mans, 89C, celica, crown, imsa, mobilgas trial, s30, T165, TF109, toyota, toyota 7, Toyota Automobile Muesum, TS020
7 Comments
Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia is restoring a ruined 2000GT
Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia recently announced they are undertaking a tremendous project: restoring what might be the country’s only 2000GT. The car was stuffed in a garage for 40 years, surrounded by junk, but it had been ruined long before … Continue reading
Japan’s Automotive Hall of Fame inductees for 2020 include the Suzuki Jimny, Honda RA272
Each year the Japan Automotive Hall of Fame choose three classic automobiles of historic significance to honor, and they’ve announced their inductees for 2020. More so than in past years, the trio covers extreme opposite ends of the vehicular spectrum. … Continue reading
Posted in News
Tagged formula 1, honda, japan automotive hall of fame, jimny, lj10, ra272, suzuki, Tatsuo Hasegawa, Toyopet SKB, toyota, trucks
1 Comment
To eradicate smallpox in the world’s most remote regions, the WHO employed a fleet of FJ40 Land Cruisers
We might be knee-deep in a pandemic right now, but let’s remember what humanity can achieve if we work together. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, a painful and deadly disease that was killing 2 … Continue reading
VIDEO: Behold, a loop of Tokyo’s Shuto Expressway in 1986
While most people are downing large quantities of Netflix right now, here’s something a bit more relevant to our interests: Home videos of driving through Tokyo in the Showa Era. It’s a clockwise loop of Tokyo’s Shuto, and speaking of … Continue reading
VIDEO: If you love Toyota Celicas, look away from this Pro/Celebrity race
For three decades, Toyota sponsored an annual automotive carnage-fest known as the Pro/Celebrity Race. It gathered a bunch of drivers, some who were actual professional racers and some who were movie and television… well, stars, might be too strong a … Continue reading
Posted in Video
Tagged celica, long beach grand prix, Motorweek, T180, toyota, Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race
6 Comments
2020 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 01 — 60s and 70s
This year, the Japanese Classic Car Show could not be physically held due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the organizers took the opportunity to expand the show into a global virtual event for 2020, allowing entries from all over the … Continue reading
KIDNEY, ANYONE? 5,400-mile Lexus LS400
As the world creeps towards apocalypse on a daily basis, we are reminded of the necessity of an apocalypse-proof vehicle. As luck would have it, a 1994 LS400 with a scant 5,400 miles on the odometer has appeared on the … Continue reading
