Tag Archives: toyota

Japan Automotive Hall of Fame welcomes Nissan 510 Bluebird, Mitsubishi Pajero, Mazda 787B, and more

The Japan Automotive Hall of Fame has announced the inductees that will honored in its Historic & Heritage Vehicles category. The vehicles chosen have each determined to have contributed to the development of Japan’s automobile industry and car culture, and … Continue reading

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Toyota Tacoma X-Runner revived to take on the new Nissan Z

A huge SEMA surprise from Toyota this year came in the form of a revived Tacoma X-Runner. The original Tacoma X-Runner debuted in 2005 as a hot rod variant of the popular pickup. At the time, Toyota admitted to a … Continue reading

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Toyota’s “FJ Bruiser” is a mean, green rock crawler built from a worn-out FJ45

The over-the-top builds from SEMA keep on coming. Toyota’s centerpiece vehicle this year is the FJ Bruiser, a beast of an old Land Cruiser built to take on grueling rock crawls like King of the Hammers. The one-off started as … Continue reading

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Akio Toyoda admits he’s pushing for a Celica (and Subaru and Mitsubishi WRC) revival from behind the scenes

Akio Toyoda is no longer president of Toyota. We were sad to hear of his resignation, as he is was the most outspoken “car guy CEO” in the industry. His advocacy for fun-to-drive cars resonated throughout Toyota and Japan at … Continue reading

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Toyota Baby Lunar Cruiser takes FJ40 heritage to other worlds

If you had to take one production vehicle on an extraterrestrial expedition, the Toyota Land Cruiser would be a pretty solid pick. The designers at CALTY, Toyota’s southern California studio, seem to agree. As part of their 50th anniversary celebration, … Continue reading

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Never before seen Toyota concepts mark 50 years of first southern California design studio

This week marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of CALTY Design Research, Toyota’s southern California design studio. Today, almost every non-US auto company has a studio in this mecca of car culture, but Toyota was the first. To mark … Continue reading

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Toyota GR86 meets its Initial D and MF Ghost predecessors in new ad

Toyota has teamed up with the creator of Initial D and MF Ghost again in a new ad. The spot features the new GR86, the old 86, and the really old AE86 on a late night touge run while a … Continue reading

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Toyota Tacoma with FJ60 Land Cruiser face is Flex Auto’s first USDM offering

Last year we reported that Flex Auto was opening its first US office. The Japanese company is known for grafting old school noses onto modern Toyota vehicles, mostly classic Land Cruisers and HiAce vans. Upon opening their first American branch, … Continue reading

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JCCS Preview: A Toyota Celica Supra is the first ever JCCS “Event Car”

The Japanese Classic Car Show has always had great memorabilia, from dash plaques to T-shirts to stickers. This year the JCCS crew have come up with something truly special, their first “event car”. It’s a 1982 Toyota Supra in TRD … Continue reading

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Initial D sequel anime MF Ghost debuts next week

If you’ve been jonesing for some automotive anime action, your time has come. MF Ghost, the long awaited follow-up to Initial D, will make its debut this coming Sunday. Like its predecessor, it follows the tale of an unlikely racing … Continue reading

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Toyota celebrates 40 years of AE86 with GR86 anniversary edition

The iconic Toyota AE86 was introduced to the world in 1983 in Japan, making this year the 40th anniversary of the beloved classic. So it was only fitting that Toyota mark the occasion by releasing a tribute edition of the … Continue reading

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Subaru could return to WRC thanks to Akio Toyoda

Akio Toyota may have retired from being president of Toyota, but he appears to be active as ever when it comes to promoting cars. And it’s not just cars from his own company, which his grandfather founded, that he’s promoting. … Continue reading

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The Toyota Century SUV is here

At the time Toyota was developing the original Century, the most luxurious cars available in Japan were foreign made. Kiichiro Toyoda wanted to build a Japanese car that could go head-to-head with them, but Toyota’s experience in building passenger cars … Continue reading

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How Toyota recreated its long-lost first race car from scratch after 70 years

At long last Toyota has revealed the full story of how they recreated their first race car, the 1951 Toyopet Racer. News of the car’s existence was only made public last year, and after 71 years lost to history no … Continue reading

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The Toyota Century SUV sure looks like it’s happening

Toyota has released a teaser showing a white-gloved chauffeur hand resting on the door handle of a tall and upright black vehicle. What else could this be but the rumored Century SUV? It was rumored to arrive before the end … Continue reading

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Sam Mitani’s Red Mist packs action and espionage with Japanese cars

In his second novel, former International Editor for Road & Track magazine Sam Mitani continues to blend gripping action and international intrigue with fast cars, most of which are Japanese. It’s not hard to understand why. Almost 30 years ago … Continue reading

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Toyota Celica, the first convertible with 4-wheel-steering

Today, August 24, is the birthday of a car that is pretty unique in the annals of automotive history. It’s the day the fifth-generation Toyota Celica Convertible was introduced, a car that most observers don’t think of as being particularly … Continue reading

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Tokyo Landscapes circa 1971

In 1971 NHK went around Tokyo documenting scenes of everyday life. The footage shows a vibrant city full of hope and possibility. From children checking out at Mazinger Z toys in a Ginza department store to advertisements for Bruce Lee’s … Continue reading

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Cruise through the streets of Tokyo circa 1970

Seeing old cars is one thing, but how about an entire city-full of what are today rare classics? A portable video camera would have been very expensive back in 1970, but luckily someone had the foresight to get one and … Continue reading

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Barbie does indeed have some ‘JDM’ cars in her garage

A couple of weeks ago we wondered what “JDM” car Barbie would drive if she wasn’t in a Corvette. Turns out this chick has more cars than Jay Leno. We learned more than we ever wanted to know about her … Continue reading

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