Posts Tagged ‘Japan’

Japan Tweaks 'Koreisha' badges

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

According to JNCB the Japanese government is bringing out a new Koreisha Mark– which is a badge that senior citizens are required to wear on their cars — to warn, presumably, the genral public of their elderly status. Apparently a lobby of Japanese senior citizens deemed the Autumnal-​​toned, teardrop shaped badge less than flattering.

It’s under­standable that the elderly would not relish the prospect of being reminded of their impending mortality with a symbol that evokes the Autumn of their existence.

The image above contain the four final proposed symbols. Read what you will into the future designs – we think it’s still unacceptable to brand our most exper­i­enced drivers with a mark of Cain. What next: an oblig­atory pink fluffy Garfield for women drivers?

Fuji Speedway Cine

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

This film, which we stumbled upon at oldschool.co.nz seems to be a bit of Mazda propa­ganda from the early seventies.

Dig the kodachrome-​​style colour satur­ation of the film itself. Dig the wickedly spooky loungecore soundtrack. Dig the style of the Japanese ladies and the beefy beauty of the boxy Sylines Mazdas and Nissans. And dig especially waved-​​out, silky-​​styled ‘dos of the drivers. But the highlight for us is the hi-​​revving buzz of the Mazdas’ rotary engines.

Unusually, the voiceover is in a quiant version of American English. Great piece of oriental nostalgia.

RX2 Image above from Shane Mcmanus

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Hail the Mazda RX-3

Monday, December 14th, 2009

jclassics70

There’s a lot of people who can’t get enough of this boxy Japanese saloon from the 1970s. We think it has something to do with the simplicity of the three box form, which perhaps found its purest expression in these cars – and is almost wholly absent from the crurrent gener­ation of forum-​​designed, digitally rendered focus-​​group tested new machines.

If drag factor and flow conver­gence are the new design tyrannies — then the simple three box solution ruled in the analogue age.

Of all the sarariman staples of the era the Mazda RX 3 is perhaps the most inter­esting. Clashing head-​​to-​​head with the iconic Skyline throughout the seventies in Japanese motor­sport, they came with a high-​​revving, super reliable rotary engine that ensured that Nissan were given a run for their money on track.

And as far as marketing goes, we’re digging the way the RX 3 was sold. Unashamed racey DNA encoded in an everyman’s body: a sure fire hit for gener­a­tions of boy racers.

The RX3 is a less-​​obvious choice for a connoisseur collector of Japanese muscle.

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The Art of Shusei Nagaoka

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

Cordia_3

Remember orchestral disco music? Remember prog rock? Well, if not, let me clue you up. Both of these much-​​maligned forms was charac­terised by the wearing of outrageous costumes, the rocking of over-​​long solos and excessive hairdos. That, and a strange aesthetic affinity with Science Fiction.

Think Russell Brand crossed with Bill Bailey, and you’re getting close.

Acts who made it big in seventies, like Earth Wind and Fire, Deep Purple, The Sylvers and ELO all bought heavily into this look and feel.

And one of the chief arbiters of the look was Japanese artist Shusei Nagaoka.

Mitsubishi_Cordia

It comes as no surprise then, that the great man’s delectably colourful airbrush work was utilised by the Japanese car industry.

I stumbled upon these ads for the Mitsubishi penned by Nagaoki: they formed part of the campaigns that promoted the Starion and the Cordia to be exact. Wether the relativel conser­vative design of each of the cars justified such outrageously colourful backdrops or not, we’ll leave up to you.

Cordia_2

Either way, you’ve got to respect a man that can reimagine such a workaday design into the future, deep in space.

Thanks to Pink Tentacle for the scout.

Japanese Car Culture & Saki!

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

kimi_kurasu_machi_carrot_shochu_isuzu_117_coupe-560x420

If you’ve never tried Kimi Kurasu Machi carrot shochu you haven’t lived. Alcoholic carrot juice refreshes the parts that Bacardi Breezer can never reach. But more thsan that, the drink’s packaging it combines three of our favourite things — that of regional delic­acies, alcohol, and cool Japanese cars.

For at least two years the Japanese beverage company have done commem­or­ative bottle labels for their potent veggie juice. The labels on the limited edition bottles and feature cars like the Subaru 360 Coupé, the Daihatsu Midget and the Subaru Sambar.

Only in Japan. Surely if WKD decided to do a line in modded Golfs and Saxos, there’d be a turmoil in middle England.

Toyota FT-86: The Scooby Counterpunch

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

subaru_216A

No sooner had Toyota announced the advent of the long-​​awaited FT-​​86 supercar, than the digital rumour mill had begun to grind out the prepos­terous idea that that Subaru would also be offering a version of this prodigal child –  and a bigger, badder, faster version to boot.

According to various sources out there on the WWW, it seems that a turbocharged, 4WD version of the FT86 with the scooby magic has been confirmed as the Subaru A 216.

It has been known for a while that the two companies have been collab­or­ating on the devel­opment of the the new model, but sources close to the industry have revealed finally that there will be clear water between the Toyota badged manifest­ation of the car and that bearing Subaru’s five stars.

As well as different model codings, the Subaru version will be driven by a 2-​​litre turbo, probably in the shape of an evolution of the lump that powers the Impreza 2.0 GT. Look out, also, for the inevitable STi version someowhere down the line. The 216’s body will be fatter, wider and longer, and of course the extra drive train metalwork will inevitably add a substantial bit of weight.

Prices haven’t as yet been released, but we reckon it would make sense for the scooby to sit somewhere around the £60K mark, broadly in line with the Nissan’s delectable GT-​​R.

Thanks to 7Tune for the scout.

Hybrid Subaru Tourer

Friday, October 16th, 2009

Subaru
Later this month at the Tokyo Motor Show Subaru will reveal its Hybrid Tourer Concept. It will feature key elements of the company’s ‘DNA’, notably a horizontally-​​opposed engine – in this instance the world’s first ‘boxer’ hybrid power­plant – and Symmetrical All-​​Wheel Drive (AWD).  It marries these with an opulent and spacious cabin accessed through elongated gullwing-​​style doors, and an eye-​​catching, finely sculpted body.

Articulating with the new trend toward hybrid tourer-​​saloon cars like BMW’s Grand Tourer, this is Subaru’s first salvo in this upmarket battle for new market. Throwing in a hybrid Boxer is nothing if not intriguing.

The hybrid system appar­ently uses Symmetrical All-​​Wheel Drive and a 2.0-litre horizontally-​​opposed, direct-​​injection, turbocharged petrol pugilist allied to two electric motors. The electric motors are powered by lithium-​​ion batteries.

According to press releases, in normal driving condi­tions the direct-​​injection petrol engine is used, but at lower speeds and start-​​up, the rear electric motor drives the car.  The forward electric unit, which is mainly used as a power generator, kicks in to assist performance and efficiency while tackling inclines.  Subaru’s in-​​house designed Lineartronic automatic trans­mission is featured, further boosting fuel efficiency and driving performance.

Wether it can retain the passionate punch of the standard scooby Boxer-​​driven cars remains to be seen of course. But the concept certainly looks good.

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