Tag Archives: x60

Toyota Chaser is perfect pursuit vehicle in ‘Lonesome Hitman’

We’ve featured many classic car chases from Japanese film and cinema, but there has never been one with a car so fitting. In 1989’s Lonesome Hitman, the pursuing car is, in fact, a Toyota Chaser. With a name like that, … Continue reading

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VIDEO: The Toyota Cressida was a magic carpet luxury subcompact

A lot has changed since the 1982 Toyota Cressida debuted. It’s a shocking amount, to be honest. Forty years ago Motorweek test drove the then-new second-generation Cressida, and we learned a lot from the review. For example, they state that … Continue reading

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Japanese Classic Car Show 2021, Part 01

To close out 2021, a year where things were finally opening up again, we’re going back to the Japanese Classic Car Show. After a hiatus in 2020 due to the pandemic, JCCS was back in full form. Perhaps trying to … Continue reading

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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

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Toyota has ended 51 years of Mark II, Mark X production

On December 23, Toyota held a farewell ceremony for the beloved Mark II and Mark X sedan. The final example, a white Mark X 250G, rolled off the line at Toyota’s second-oldest plant, the Motomachi factory in Aichi Prefecture, as … Continue reading

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VIDEO: Every generation of Toyota Mark II gathered for the final Mark X send-off

After 11 generations and 51 model years, the Toyota Mark II/MarkX line is coming to an end. Toyota announced the cancellation of the decidedly old school, Camry-sized rear-wheel-drive sedan back in April. Now, with the Final Edition coming to showrooms … Continue reading

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EVENTS: All-Toyotafest, Part 05 — Big Sedans

There’s nothing like a big Toyota sedan, and Toyotafest was full of ’em. Whether you’re talking about the brilliant luxury of a Lexus LS or the deadbolt reliability of a Camry, each one had its fans and fastidious owners. With … Continue reading

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NEWS: It’s the end of the road for the Toyota Mark X

All good things must come to an end, and today we must bid farewell to yet another steadfast nameplate of Japan’s automotive landscape. On the very same day that Mitsubishi announced the end of the Pajero, Toyota announced, after 11 … Continue reading

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EVENTS: All-Toyotafest 2018, Part 01 — Sedans

If there’s one thing Toyota is known for, it’s sedans. Yes, the Camry is basically the default car that pops into most brains when the word “sedan” is uttered, but Toyota also has a mean portfolio of old school, rear-wheel-drive mobbers. From Cressida … Continue reading

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Tokyo Auto Salon: A woman-run tuning house’s ultra-Japanese custom creations

The car world is still, unfortunately, very male dominated, with few woman-run shops anywhere on the planet. At the Tokyo Auto Salon this year, however, one of the most striking booths was that of L-Tide, a woman-led shop located in western Tokyo, and its … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2017 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 04 — Shakotan Sleds

We’ve shown you the JDM rarities, competition machines and museum pieces of JCCS, but we know what you really came here for — Nihon sleds slammed on some vintage barrels. It’s the quintessential Japanese modified car look, and there was plenty of it on … Continue reading

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VIDEO: Do any of these Toyotas remind you of the new Camry?

Toyota is launching the 2018 Camry in Japan, and pulling out their greatest hits to do so. The newest Camry commercial begins with images of the MR2, Soarer, Altezza, Celica and Supra, a stick-shift X70, and many more — all set … Continue reading

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GRAND TOURING: Chubu and Kinki, Part 01

After a longer than usual break between our tours, we decided to take a full week off and continue our Western Coast explorations through the Chubu and Kinki regions. As we embarked, the outer bands of a seasonal typhoon loomed over Japan. … Continue reading

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EVENTS: AE86 Nights 9th Anniversary

What started as a small gathering of enthusiasts of the last RWD Corolla eight years ago has grown into a gathering that attracts hundreds of cars from all over southern California. It all started with the beloved Hachiroku, and the types of … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2016 All-Toyotafest, Part 02 — Straight Sixes

As engines go, the Toyota straight-six is one of the best conceived by humankind. Smooth as Suntory whiskey, as long-lived as a mountain, and capable of stupid amounts of horsepower in later iterations, they are a triumph of automotive engineering. It’s no wonder the … Continue reading

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ART CORNER: Bosozoku Cats and Kyuusha by San Mamiya

San Mamiya is a brilliant artist from Japan that operates mainly on Instagram. With an apparent fondness for old cars, bosozoku cats and the superdeformed style that populates manga, his illustrations exhibit a unique Nihon style that can probably be loosely described as Japanese Ed Roth. 

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EVENTS: 2014 Japanese Classic Car Show
Part 07 — Taking Stock

As we near the end of our 2014 Japanese Classic Car Show coverage, we delve into the crux of what it means to have a classic car show.  Here are some of the rarest and best preserved Japanese nostalgic cars you’ll see … Continue reading

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EVENTS: 2014 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 05 — Made in the 80s

While chrome-bumpered machines from the 60s and 70s are still the Japanese Classic Car Show’s core, urethane capped 80s cars are making their presence known in a big way. In this installment we look at iconic cars from the Reagan decade.

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EVENTS: 2013 Japanese Classic Car Show, Part 04 – Rolling Stock

Purists will be pleased. This year’s JCCS had significantly more bone stock cars on display than any previous show. And they weren’t of the standard variety of, say, a 2000GT or Datsun 312, though those were well represented. We’re talking … Continue reading

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EVENTS: Shokuji J-Tin, Part 01 – Wangan Style

Last year a fantastic new show called the Bayline Gathering emerged on the NorCal scene. It brought out some of the best cars the region had to offer and filled a void that desperately needed filling. Last month, the organizers were … Continue reading

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