On Jay Leno’s Garage, there’s apparently a recurring segment where the prolific car collector puts blindfolds on his fellow showbiz car guy friends and makes them guess what car they’re riding in. In a recent clip Tim Allen, star and creator of the 90s sitcom Home Improvement, is Leno’s latest victim. Continue reading
At the Tokyo Motor Show last year Honda showed a cool little concept bike that looked like a revival of the 1980 CT110. Also known as Trail Cub or Hunter Cub, the original was a more rugged version of the venerable Super Cub for light off-road duty. Honda said the concept was merely there to gauge customer reaction. Customer reaction must have been quite good, because Honda has just announced it’s going into production. Continue reading
We’ve given Toyota a lot of shit recently, but maybe there’s a method to their madness after all. Yesterday, a slide from a dealer meeting was leaked, revealing Toyota’s plans for six models extending to the 2022 model year, including the next-generation 86 and Land Cruiser. Continue reading
Even though it’s about the size of Connecticut, and despite a devastating hurricane just two years ago, Puerto Rico has a thriving car scene. It’s downright amazing what enthusiasts on the small island territory are able to accomplish, considering the extra hurdles they have to jump just to finish a car. But, the results speak for themselves, as seen in a newly released video. Continue reading
Today is the birthday of one of the greatest humans ever to work behind a camera, director Akira Kurosawa. If he were alive today, Kurosawa would be 110 years old. Film (and digital) shots, whether still or moving, can make the mundane beautiful, and make the beautiful breathtaking.
One of my personal favorites of all time is the one that introduced to the world the 1967 Mazda Cosmo Sport and its baby brother, the Familia Rotary Coupé,. Angling skyward on a banked curve during testing, the brightness in the image of the cars, the sky, the unblemished track surface, perfectly captured the optimism and seemingly unlimited potential of not just the new type of engine under the hood, but of Japan’s coming industrial boom.
What shot of a JNC will be forever seared into your brain?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s your JNC project until this whole coronavirus thing blows over?” Continue reading
Being cooped up at home under COVID-19 quarantine is a great way to spend some quality time with your family. It’s fitting, then, that today is Familia Day, also known as 323 Day. Be sure to tell your loved ones what good little kids they are (before you go insane arguing over what to watch on Netflix).
Nissan has filed trademark applications in at least three countries for a new Z logo. For Zed heads waiting for a new Z, this alone would cast a ray of hope for a next-generation Z, but there’s one aspect that’s even better. The Z logo is a throwback to those found on the original 240Z. Continue reading
The T12 Nissan Stanza was called the Nissan Auster in Japan, but even if you owned this sub-Maxima compact it didn’t necessarily mean you were living in austerity. It offered styling and features above its station in the Nissan lineup, and provided excellent value — as long as you weren’t expecting it to do everything its big brother Maxima could. Continue reading
Nissan knows people are staying home to prevent the spread of the corona virus. So, to keep us occupied, it’s going to offer a live two-hour virtual tour of its heritage collection, otherwise known as the Zama warehouse, of 400-plus classic, racing, and concept cars. For those who have never had the opportunity to visit Nissan nirvana in person, this will be the next best thing. Continue reading
Well, it’s happening. Production of the Subaru BRZ is coming to an end, and the Toyota 86 is likely to follow. After eight years on the market, the last of the lightweight, RWD, Japanese sport coupes will soon bid us sayonara. Germany is the first country to get a farewell edition, called, appropriately, the BRZ Final Edition. Continue reading
The Japanese website of Brother, the printer company, has an astounding array of things you can do with paper. There are coloring books, greeting cards, forms, business card templates, and a whole lot more. Naturally, there is also an insane amount of papercraft, including a diorama set for a Toyota RTX race car, based on the T50 Corona. It’s one way to kill some time with while you’re stuck at home because of the corona virus. Continue reading
We are members of the green car fan club around here, and the Kyoseki Nissan Skyline GT-R Group A race car is one of our favorites. Stay safe and Happy St. Patrick’s Day from JNC!
The Ford Probe is now largely forgotten, but even at the height of its popularity it was mostly known as the butt of jokes about its orifice-seeking name. Developed during Ford’s ownership of Mazda, it shared a platform with the MX-6, but boasted styling more futuristic — it was used in the 2015 scenes from Back to the Future II — that was different enough to not simply be a badge-engineered renaming. Continue reading
Many places around the world are shutting down because of the COVID-19, a.k.a. the coronavirus. Though the virus has nothing to do with vintage Toyotas, this is an excellent time to get some work done on your JNC project if your workplace has shut down or your area is under home isolation advisement. Those circumstances may cause some people to go stir crazy, but luckily we are Car Enthusiasts. Social isolation? That sounds like wonderful hours of uninterrupted time in the garage, whether its swapping in a new transmission, claying your paint job, or redecorating the ol’ shed. Hell, since no one else is on the roads, it’s a great time to go for a drive.
What’s your JNC project until this whole coronavirus thing blows over?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “Which JNC model deserves its own museum?” Continue reading
At the Tokyo Auto Salon in January, Toyota unveiled a close-to-production concept of a special edition 86 called the Black Limited. A throwback to one of the most desirable AE86 special editions of all time, it seemed to signal an upcoming model. Now it’s here, in all its midnight glory. Continue reading
One of the most anticipated Hot Wheels castings of this year has been the fifth-generation Honda Prelude. We showed you the prototype last October, and Hot Wheels’ design team has revealed the first color, silver. Now, they’ve given us some exclusive photos of the second color, and it’s a tribute to one of the most memorable Honda colors of the 90s. Continue reading
If you’re a hard-core enthusiast, or even just a casual fan, of Isuzus, the the new book A History of Isuzu Passenger Cars by Setsuo Toma should be in your library. As the title implies, it spans the entire run of non-commercial Isuzus, from the company’s founding in 1916 as the oldest automaker in Japan to the end of its passenger car production in 2002. Continue reading
How does one celebrate a milestone anniversary? If you’re Lexus, it’s with champagne… glasses in the form of a tower on the hood of an LS. One of the most famous car commercials of the 1990s was Balance, the spot where a pyramid of champagne glasses was stacked on the hood of a then-brand new Lexus LS400. Now, Lexus has recreated the ad with CEO Akio Toyoda himself. Continue reading
You know, even though we have been celebrating holidays like 510 Day for years, we’ve been neglecting the poor Sunny. No more. The sub-Bluebird compact deserves some love too. Happy 310 Day from JNC!
COVID-19 is no laughing matter, but sometimes the jokes write themselves. Toyota has closed several of its facilities in Japan, including the Toyota Automobile Museum and Megaweb showroom, due to the coronavirus. Continue reading
