Tag Archives: toyota

EVENTS: 2018 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 10 — Bubble Era

For 2018, the Japanese Classic Car Show expanded eligibility to cars up to 1995. That means for the first time, a flood of Bubble Era greats were able to attend. Welcome to a JCCS full of pop-up headlights, T-tops, and … Continue reading

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KIDNEY, ANYONE? Rare T120 2-door Corona

The seventh generation Toyota Corona isn’t as exciting as a classic Skyline or Celica, but there’s at least one version that bears mention. That version is the very rare 2-door sedan, which is so uncommon that it doesn’t even appear … Continue reading

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NEWS: Akio Toyoda checks out a classic Crown in Finland

Akio Toyoda was recently overseeing his business empire in Finland, when he came upon a vintage Toyota Crown. According to Toyota, the CEO was astounded to come upon the S40 sedan in a rural Finnish village, still looking as if … Continue reading

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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

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KIDNEY, ANYONE? 15k-mile Toyota Celica All-Trac

The Toyota Celica All-Trac is often overshadowed by its AE86, MR2 and Supra siblings. However, the all-wheel-drive, turbocharged, and rally-inspired sports coupe was just as important a pillar for Toyota’s lineup of “Fun to Drive” machines in the 1980s. Now, … Continue reading

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VIDEO: Jay Leno drives a Toyota Century with blood in the trunk

It’s the moment when Jay Leno is shown a blood stain in the trunk that he really warms up to the Toyota Century. Whether its really hemoglobin or not isn’t known, but Leno is clearly stoked to be driving what … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2018 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 05 — Trucks

Trucks are the unsung heroes of the JNC world. While many of us would love to have a Skyline or Supra, the truth is that these rigs did just as much to earn credibility and loyal customers for our favorite … Continue reading

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WILDLIFE: A Land Cruiser and Skyline GT-R become buds

You know those animal videos where a dog and a tortoise become friends? That is what this in-the-wild spotting of an R34 Skyline GT-R and a Toyota Land Cruiser in Yokohama reminded us of. Each one has come to represent … Continue reading

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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

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EVENTS: 2018 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 01 — JDM

Japan-only cars have been making their way into JCCS for a while now, but this year the trickle seemed to turn into a tsunami. You couldn’t swing a fender mirror without coming into contact with a RHD ride from the … Continue reading

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NEWS: Akio Toyoda actually built a Century GRMN

It seemed like a throwaway joke. Shortly after the Tokyo Motor Show last year, where Toyota unveiled only the third new Century design in 50 years, the company’s car-nut CEO Akio Toyoda was interviewed on a Japanese talk show called … Continue reading

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JCCS Spotlight: The Wild Cards always turn up

It’s become something of a tradition. The Wild Cards team rolls in like a storm with a gang of the show’s most stunning cars.  There’s always debut builds of the highest quality, but even many of their existing MVPs return … Continue reading

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MARKETWATCH: 2018 Monterey auction round-up

The collector car auctions that occur each year as part of Monterey Car Week are a widely accepted barometer of the state of the marketplace, perhaps even more so than the January auctions of Scottsdale. The clientele in Monterey represents … Continue reading

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Sam Mitani put Tuner Era dream machines into the mainstream

If you grew up in the pre-internet age, “buff books” like Road & Track were your bible. Magazines of its ilk were the only reliable sources of automotive news, but they were mostly concerned about cars that came fresh off … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2018 Japanese Automotive Invitational

It has been a banner year for Nihon steel at Monterey Car Week. The annual series of ultra-prestigious automotive events have traditionally excluded Japanese cars, but 2018 saw, for example, Nissan become the first carmaker from Japan to be honored … Continue reading

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SHOWA SNAP: Nakagin Capsule Tower, 1972

Designed by Kisho Kurokawa, the Nakagin Capsule Tower is one of Tokyo’s most famous buildings, and a symbol of Japan’s post-war emergence as an innovator of industrial design. The building consisted of two concrete towers and 140 modular capsules, each … Continue reading

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MINICARS: Tamiya releases new R/C HiLux based on real Hilux based on old Tamiya R/C Hilux

Remember when Toyota UK created a real Toyota HiLux inspired by the old Tamiya 4×4 Pickup radio control kit? Tamiya was so impressed that they released a new kit based on that truck. And because it is Tamiya, no detail is … Continue reading

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SHOWA SNAP: A daruma Celica under Mt Fuji

So far Showa Snaps have only taken a look at cityscapes. Today’s ventures far out into the stretches between Japan’s major metropolitan areas. This stretch of pristine expressway is most likely between Tokyo and Nagoya, which passes beneath the shadow … Continue reading

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VIDEO: How Toyota revolutionized mass production

Toyota is not only one of the most respected and efficient carmakers in the world, but one of the most respected and efficient manufacturers of anything, period. Companies from Boeing to Intel have adopted Toyota’s Just In Time manufacturing technique, … Continue reading

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JNC LIBRARY: Sam Mitani’s The Prototype is a thriller with Japanese cars at its center

In the world of spy thrillers, full of CIA agents, gunfights, and global power balance-changing secrets that cannot fall into the wrong hands, there typically aren’t a lot of Japanese cars mentioned. However, when the author is former International Editor … Continue reading

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