Tag Archives: toyota

Bubble Era Toyota classics meet their successors

The British sure know how to appreciate the classics. In fact, Toyota UK is quietly amassing a proper heritage collection of the company’s best and brightest. Back in April they found what they describe as “quite possibly the best original MR2 in existence” in the … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

KIDNEY, ANYONE? One of the finest Toyota 2000GT restorations you’ll ever see

Sometimes life throws you lemons. Or, perhaps, an entire lemon tree aimed squarely at your Toyota 2000GT. Other times, the car nut friend you meet in college turns out to be Akio Toyoda. To be clear, Javier Quirós‘s family was already knee-deep in Toyotas … Continue reading

Posted in for sale | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

LOST CARS: 1962 Toyopet Stout world honeymoon truck

Ivan Shkirev knew that the 1962 Toyopet Stout he had purchased was unique, but not how unique. Upon receiving delivery to his home in New Mexico, Shkirev found the faded declaration “Tokyo, Japan to Chicago, Illinois” painted across the Stout’s tailgate, along with the names of … Continue reading

Posted in Lost Cars | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

KIDNEY, ANYONE? 1967 Mazda Cosmo Sport, Toyota 2000GT to be auctioned at Monterey Historics

In addition to the hakosuka GT-R at RM Auctions, there will also be a 1967 Mazda Cosmo Sport at Gooding & Co.’s Monterey Historics auction this year. The Cosmo Sport has been restored by noted restoration shop The Finishing Touch of Fountain Hills, … Continue reading

Posted in for sale | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

NEWS: Tree-damaged Toyota 2000GT arrives at repair shop

We were all saddened by the recent loss of a Toyota 2000GT in Japan, crushed when it passed under a tree at the exact instant the aged beech decided to fall. The good news is, the owner has decided to rebuild it. We have the … Continue reading

Posted in News | Tagged , | 31 Comments

NEWS: Passing Toyota 2000GT crushed by tree

There were only 337 production examples of the Toyota 2000GT built. Now there’s one less. At about 9:00 am this morning in the Gokayama area of Toyama Prefecture, the classic flagship car passed under a 100-foot beech. Unfortunately, that’s the exact moment the tree came … Continue reading

Posted in News | Tagged , | 33 Comments

MINICARS: Get these 2014 Hot Wheels right now

Can’t find any J-tin on the pegs? You must live in California. However the consensus from other parts of the country seems that miniature Nihon steel is getting hard to find in those areas too. Much like 1968 was a banner year … Continue reading

Posted in minicars | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 22 Comments

Classic & Sports Car pits Toyota 2000GT against UK and US counterparts

The June 2014 issue of the UK’s Classic & Sports Car pits a Jaguar E-Type against a 1965 Corvette and a Toyota 2000GT to see which continent produced the best sixties sports coupe. Long-time readers know what’s coming next: A genuflecting ode … Continue reading

Posted in media | Tagged , , | 22 Comments

GRAND TOURING: Okinawa

To Americans, the name Okinawa immediately conjures images of US military bases. However, the archipelago located south of Honshu, Japan’s main landmass, is also a popular subtropical tourist destination. Okinawa literally means “a rope in the open sea” and is comprised of a 600-mile … Continue reading

Posted in Grand Touring | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

BOOK CLUB: Koichi Inouye’s 1960s Japanese sports cars volumes now available in English

Three Koichi Inouye books about 1960s Japanese sports cars have been translated into English and published as e-books. The works cover seminal automobiles from Japan’s largest automakers, the Honda S-Series, Toyota 2000GT and Sports 800, and the Datsun Fairlady roadster. 

Posted in Books | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

FAUX-STALGICS: 2000 Toyota Origin

On the heels of another Toyotafest, let us return to the series where we check out some examples of modern retro-inspired cars along with the JNCs they mimic. In this post, we turn to a quintessential classic Toyota, the Crown, … Continue reading

Posted in Faux-Stalgics | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

JNC THEATER: Initial D Final Stage

The anime that brought touge culture to US screens is coming to an end. Initial D, in manga form, concluded its 18-year run last summer. Now, the animated account of the story is following suit. Animax will air a total of four 30-minute episodes wrapping … Continue reading

Posted in JNC Theater | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

EVENTS: 2014 All-Toyotafest, Part 04 — Museum Pieces

For our final installment of Toyotafest coverage, we bring you the museum-worthy cars that put meaning to the word classic. Whether its racing provenance, rarity, pop culture status or just a stupendously fantastic specimen, these are the cars that are should be exhibited and preserved as inspiration … Continue reading

Posted in events | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

EVENTS: 2014 All-Toyotafest, Part 03 — Practicals

We’ve seen the high-end luxocruisers that gave Toyota its reputation of apocalypse-grade reliability and the long-forgotten sports coupes Akio Toyoda hopes will rekindle passions for his great-grandfather’s company, but Part 03 of our Toyotafest coverage is about the everyday cars and trucks that made the ToMoCo kingdom possible. 

Posted in events | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

EVENTS: 2014 All-Toyotafest Part 02 — The Sports Coupes

This year Toyotafest fell on a very special occasion — President and CEO Akio Toyoda‘s 58th birthday. Since taking the helm of his great-grandfather’s company in 2009, Toyoda-san has vowed to bring the wakudoki back. What’s wakudoki? “A palpable, heart-pounding sense of excitement,” says Toyota. … Continue reading

Posted in events | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

EVENTS: 2014 All-Toyotafest, Part 01— Luxe & GT

Hanging like a cloud over the festivities of the 19th annual All-Toyotafest this year was the news that had been leaked to the press a week prior: Toyota USA was moving its headquarters, which had been a southern California fixture … Continue reading

Posted in events | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

JNC THEATER: Operation: Mystery! and the Tortoise

Kaiki Daisakusen (or Operation: Mystery! in English) was a 26-episode Japanese TV series about a team of investigators dispatched to solve cases involving supernatural phenomena. The SRI, or Science Research Institute may have been Japan’s 1960s counterpart to the FBI’s X-Files department, but Mulder and Scully never had … Continue reading

Posted in JNC Theater | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

KIDNEY, ANYONE? 19k-mile 1974 Toyota Corolla

Proof again that California does not have a monopoly on classic J-tin comes in the form of this Philadelphia-based 1974 Toyota Corolla 1600 Deluxe. Said to be a one-owner car with just under 19,000 original miles, it is likely one of the least … Continue reading

Posted in for sale | Tagged , , , | 17 Comments

19th Annual All-Toyotafest, a preview

JNC on the way to the 19th annual All-Toyotafest, stopping for an early morning breakfast of champions. Supra-size me! 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

2014 All-Toyotafest, a reminder

There are only three days till the 19th annual All-Toyotafest. As usual, JNC will be there with a booth, and we’ll be making the drive in this black 1980 Toyota Supra. Stop by and say hi. As it happens, the day of … Continue reading

Posted in events | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments