A couple of months ago we told you about this speculative drawing of the next iteration of Nissan’s iconic Z car. Now, what appears to be an official Nissan rendering of the final design has been leaked to the world. It looks like the sketch from March wasn’t too far off, but do you notice something? No, the 2009 Maxima headlights and bulging fenders were already identified in the March rendering. Look closer. That’s right, baby - the side glass and C-pillar is a nod to the original 240Z! Yeah, it’s not much but we’ll take what we can get. At least someone in the design department knows Datsun history. A comparison pic after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Why yes, that is an airborne 1980 Toyota Tercel leaping over a herd of the now-extinct species Compactus domesticus. Plus a Honda. Though it began life in Japan in 1978, the Tercel arrived on our shores for the 1980 model year. It was the Big T’s first attempt at a front wheel drive vehicle, and apparently they really hadn’t nailed down the whole concept of FWD because the 1.5L inline four was still mounted longitudinally. Yet, unaccountably, they rub Honda’s nose in it.
Did the Tercel herald the coming of a revolutionary new layout to Toyota’s lineup or tragically symbolize the beginning of the end for rear wheel drive? Also, our readers ask in this forum thread, whether in 2020 the Tercel will be a classic or merely an old car. All we know is, any stuntwoman who can catch that much air in a car of any drivetrain configuration turns the keys to our hearts.
This weekend promises yet more events in the magical land of J-tin known as SoCal. First up, the Z Car Club Inland Valley is having their sixth annual show in Murietta, CA from 10am to 2pm this Sunday, May 18. Click here for show details.
Next, there’s the Eagle Rock Vintage Nippon Swap Meet and Car Show on the same day. Doors open at 9am. Check out DatsunBluebird.com for details.
Unbelievable! If you live anywhere else in the world, here’s some more salt for your wound: the weather’s always good too.
Ever since we saw the awesome pics from a Thai enthusiast gathering, we’ve been craving more. As luck would have it, an email from Thailander George Manont popped up in our inbox the other day, telling us about the recent Bangkok Nostalgic Car Show. Problem was, the link he sent us was so image-heavy that it nearly crashed our computer. We normally don’t do this, but these rides were so cool we had to share, so we saved most of the photos are resized them in this thread.
Here’s George’s own words:
Like in Thailand, we have a bunch of Japanese Car Lovers as per the following testimonial. The above was some kind of gathering of ALL older cars. It just so happened that 90% + shown up with Japanese cars. Automobile in general in Thailand is , to western world, quite amazing as we have all kind of cars from almost all brands. But Japanese cars are always the market leaders. In this respect, Toyota is #1, follow by Isuzu (1 ton truck), then Honda. And the rest of around 25% or less is shared by the like of Nissan, Mitsubishi, Mazda and Suzuki. I realize that you don’t read Thai, but I’m sure that the pictures may have told a lot of story there!
If you’d like to see the original pics for yourself, click here, but be warned. Thanks for the tip, George!
One of our favorite posts over at Jalopnik is Murilee’s Down on the Street series, in which he photographs random interesting cars just sitting curbside in the city of Alameda, CA. There’s already been over 250 such sightings, not all of them well preserved, but all of them worthy of retrospect. Today’s just happens to be a very clean Datsun 1200, and 1200 owners should be beaming with pride when reading the outpouring of love in the post’s comments. Click here for our own forum thread of JNC reader sightings.
A few months ago, we welcomed Kev’s Nissan Skyline (aka Project Hakosuka) to the family. And since JNC/grandJDM merge was announced, the continuation of his (mis)adventures has been a top request. Kev was gracious enough to replicate all the posts documenting his work in this thread. So in case you haven’t seen it, take a look. The only downside is that it resides in Sydney, Australia so we won’t be able to see it in person for a long, long time.
The new Speed Racer live-action seizure movie opened this weekend to poor reviews. Therefore, we thought it would be nice to see some of the original Japanese anime about a boy and his car. We can all relate to that, right?
The Japanese version is called Mach GoGoGo but the Japanese pronounce it “Mahha GoGo” (note that one Go is not pronounced). It follows protagonist Goh Mifune, named by the creators after Toshiro Mifune, the star of films like Seven Samurai. The “M” logo on Speed’s helmet is actually that of Mifune Motors, the family business.
According to this article, neither creator Tatsuo Yoshida or director Tsuyoshi Sasakawa were car enthusiasts or even owned a drivers license. But that’s ok. The anime was always an allegory of Japan’s rapid post-war modernization anyway. It debuted in 1967 and after some quick dubbing sessions, soon became a worldwide hit.
For many of us Westerners, it was our first contact with anime and its catchy theme song and vivid colors were seared into our childhood memories, much like this remake sears retinas. Or, at least we imagine it would. We haven’t actually seen it, but considering the reviews and the critic-confirmed discontinuity with the original, we plan to skip it like the Mach 5 over a rival with its Auto Jacks.
A couple of months ago we told you about this speculative drawing of the next iteration of Nissan’s iconic Z car. Now, what appears to be an official Nissan rendering of the final design has been leaked to the world. It looks like the sketch from March wasn’t too far off, but do you notice something? No, the 2009 Maxima headlights and bulging fenders were already identified in the March rendering. Look closer. That’s right, baby - the side glass and C-pillar is a nod to the original 240Z! Yeah, it’s not much but we’ll take what we can get. At least someone in the design department knows Datsun history. A comparison pic after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
