Japan

  • Honda S660-based Neo Classic racer concept

    The Honda S660 is a neat little kei car, but no, it's still not coming to the United States. Instead, the pint-sized roadster lives on in Japan and Honda has a retro-inspired body kit prepared for the Tokyo Auto Salon. Last Friday, the brand revealed the custom S660 Modulo Neo Classic racer concept with nods to race cars of the past. The race car concept comes after Honda showed the S660 as the Neo Classic concept in 2016. The retro look proved so popular that the automaker released a body kit in Japan to recreate the concept car with a standard S660. The Modulo Neo Classic racer takes things...

  • Subaru WRX STI TC 380 teaser
    Subaru could be cooking up a 380-horsepower WRX STI—for Japan

    Subaru has a more powerful WRX STI in the works for its home market and it's called TC 380. The brand officially teased a sole image of a "TC 380" badge on Monday. While it's not confirmed, the 380 figure could point to a 380-horsepower WRX STI. It wouldn't be the first time Subaru gave the...

  • 1992 Mazda Autozam AZ-1 on "Jay Leno's Garage"
    Mazda Autozam AZ-1 stops into Jay Leno's Garage

    Something completely different dropped by for the latest episode of "Jay Leno's Garage." It was a 1992 Mazda Autozam AZ-1. Never heard of it? Most Americans haven't. The AZ-1 was one of many Japanese cars built for the kei car space. For an incredibly quick debrief on kei cars, the pint-sized...

  • Nissan GT-R police car for Tochigi, Japan
    Speeders beware: Nissan GT-R patrol car joins Japanese police force

    Perps in Japan best watch their rearview mirrors. Nissan has donated a new GT-R police car to the Tochigi Prefectural police department. Japanese Nostalgic Car reported last Friday that the GT-R patrol car is a gift to the prefecture of Tochigi, the same area where Nissan builds Godzilla in the...

  • Nissan Serena Autech
    Nissan launches Autech sub-brand in Japan focusing on craftsmanship, sportiness

    Following Nissan's expansion of the Nismo sub-brand, the company announced its latest sub-division last Friday: Autech. The new sub-brand will combine sporting characteristics with an eye for "premium craftsmanship" and top-quality materials in the company's home market of Japan. We reached out to...

  • 2018 Chevrolet Sonic
    Service, not protectionism, is why American car brands suffer in Japan

    It's something that has bothered numerous U.S. leaders for decades: Why do American automakers struggle to gain a foothold in the world's third-largest auto market, Japan? Recently, President Donald Trump opened up this conversation yet again on his 12-day-long Asia-Pacific trip. He referenced the...

  • Subaru WRX STI S208

    We thought Subaru was finished with the WRX STI lineup following the reveal of the 2018 WRX STI Type RA, but the Japanese automaker is back with yet another high-performance sedan. This one's called the WRX STI S208, and it does two important things: adds horsepower and sheds weight. If the S208 name sounds a tad familiar, that's because this car is a follow-up to another car: the WRX STI S207, revealed in 2015 at the Tokyo Motor Show. Once again, Subaru will take to the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show to reveal the WRX STI S208. Unfortunately, also like the S207, the car is a Japan-only affair. So...

  • 1989 Nissan Skyline GT-R (R32)
    First JDM Nissan Skyline GT-R Legally Imported To U.S.

    In Europe, importing a car is easy. You simply arrange for it to be shipped, have it inspected to ensure it meets local safety laws, and pay any applicable taxes. In the U.S, all of the above also hinges on the car being over 25 years old, after which point the usual NHTSA and EPA regulations are...

  • Nissan Leaf autonomous car prototype
    Nissan Launches Autonomous Vehicle Trials On Japanese Roads

    Would you share the roads with a car that was driving itself? Several Japanese drivers already have, as Nissan has completely its first public highway test for an autonomous vehicle. The Nissan Leaf electric car successfully negotiated a section of the Sagami Expressway in Kanagawa prefecture...

  • Honda Vezel (Japanese market model) at 2013 Tokyo Motor Show
    Honda Vezel Unveiled At Tokyo Motor Show: Photo Gallery

    At the Tokyo Motor Show today, Honda unveiled a new model that it calls the Vezel, which will go on sale in Japan before the end of the year. That name may well not be the one it carries in North America, however, where it will give Honda a new and smaller crossover that sits below the compact...

  • China and Cars
    Japanese Automakers Face Off With China

    If you know your world history, you know that China and Japan have a long history of not getting along well with one another. While relations between the two have generally been cordial as of late, a recent dispute over the uninhabited Senkaku Islands has stirred-up strong anti-Japanese sentiment...

  • Pressure-sensitive security car seat
    Japanese Security Car Seat Knows One Backside From Another

    Car thieves of the future had better hope they have exactly the same build as you, otherwise they won't be getting very far. It's already difficult enough to steal modern cars, but according to TechCrunch (via Digital Trends), Japanese engineers have been working on a car seat that won't let anyone...

  • Kobot personal transportation electric vehicles

    Japan's car industry has a bit of a problem. As the cost of motoring rises and cities like Tokyo become ever more crowded, Japan's youth is quickly getting turned off owning cars - even diminutive Kei cars dwarfed by vehicles like the Ford Fiesta. In a busy world mobility is still important though and increasingly, electric power is seen as the way to go. All the major Japanese carmakers showed off some form of electric personal transportation at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show, but the Kobot City EV (via Engadget) is further proof that transport is changing in Japan. Unusual looks have never...

  • ZMP RoboCar MEV-C automated vehicle
    Latest RoboCar Prototype: Ugly, But High Tech And Autonomous

    Some cars are beautiful. Others are fast. Some others are incredibly practical. Some other cars are none of these things, but their importance isn't in their looks, speed or usability but the technological advancements they'll offer to the car industry as a whole. The RoboCar MEV-C is one of these...

  • Ferrari charity auction in Japan
    Ferrari Auctions Off First FF In Japan For Charity

    Ferrari held a special charity auction in Japan this past weekend where the Italian automaker helped raised more than $724,000 in aid relief for victims of the island nation’s recent earthquake and tsunami disaster. Over 200 passionate clients and collectors participated in the charity...

  • 2010 Mazda Mazda6
    Mazda 6 Walks Out On Michigan, Ford Plant, Next One Made In Japan

    Last week we heard talk of the further separation of Ford and Mazda, with the end of Mazda's U.S. production at the forefront. Today, Mazda has announced that the next mid-size sedan for the U.S. will be built in Japan. The car, of course, will be the follow-up to the Mazda6. It will likely...

  • Scuderia Toro Rosso driver Sebastian Buemi crashing into crazed fan
    Formula 1 Car Crashes Into Crazed Fan At Red Bull Event: Video

    A crazed fan attempting to jump over a moving Formula 1 car at a Red Bull sponsored exhibition event in Japan this weekend was captured on video spectacularly failing to complete his dangerous leap. Driving the F1 race car was Scuderia Toro Rosso driver Sebastian Buemi who luckily was only doing...

  • ZMP RoboCar automated vehicle
    Video: Look Ma, No Driver! ZMP RoboCar Memorizes Route Map

    Feeling lazy? Don't feel like driving home from work tonight? Sounds like an autonomous car would be right up your street... ZMP's RoboCar doesn't quite have the aesthetics or practicality (and especially not the performance) of Google's automated Toyota Prius, but the technology it demonstrates is...

  • Aston Martin CEO Dr. Ulrich Bez

    It’s been two months since the Japan earthquake disaster but the effects, especially on the auto industry, are still being felt all around the world. Aston Martin is showing its full support for the island nation, with its CEO Dr. Ulrich Bez announcing plans to auction his Rapide company car at this year’s annual Bonhams auction at Newport Pagnell in the UK, with all proceeds to go to charities providing aid to victims of the recent earthquakes and Tsunami in Japan. Chassis number ‘F00039’ is a UK specification, right-hand drive Aston Martin Rapide built in late 2009...

  • Laser beams on a car windshield, photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
    Losing The Spark: Lasers May Replace Plugs For Igniting Fuel

    "You can't start a fire without a spark" sang Bruce Springsteen in his 1984 hit Dancing In The Dark. Great line, but unfortunately for old Bruce he wasn't quite technically accurate, as a research team in Japan and Romania is looking into using lasers to ignite the fuel-air mixture in combustion...

  • Willer Express luxury Japanese bus
    Don't Like Your Fellow Bus Passengers? Crawl Into A Cocoon!

    If you regularly use public transport, you should start writing to your local transit authority, because the Japanese have an idea that could make things a lot more pleasant! Passengers travelling on the Willer Express between the sprawling cities of Osaka and Tokyo in Japan get to enjoy a first...

  • 2012 Nissan GT-R live photos
    2012 Nissan GT-R Deliveries Safe Despite Japan Earthquake

    It looks as though Japan’s earthquake crisis won’t hamper deliveries of Nissan’s long-awaited 2012 model year GT-R supercar. As we all know the facelifted 2012 Nissan GT-R is substantially quicker and more powerful than the outgoing model, as well as being greener, and we...

  • 2012 Nissan GT-R
    2012 Nissan GT-R Shipments Delayed By Japan Earthquake

    We reported just this month that customers in the U.S. were holding off on buying the Nissan GT-R in the lead up to the arrival of the facelifted 2012 model, which has been trickling into showrooms this past few weeks. It now appears the wait for the new GT-R will be slightly longer as the recent...

  • Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 carbon fiber monocoque
    Carbon Fiber: The Next Step, Courtesy Of New Teijin Tech

    Carbon fiber is enjoying something of a birthday this year. With the release of the 2011 McLaren MP4-12C supercar, McLaren celebrates thirty years since they developed the first carbon fiber monocoque chassis, used in their 1981 Formula 1 racing car. They were then the first to develop a carbon...

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