Kujira Weather
The weather has cooled considerably, which means cruising with the windows down. I gotta say, it was a good day.
Raising a family in Thailand // Documenting Issan food, culture, music, and people
The weather has cooled considerably, which means cruising with the windows down. I gotta say, it was a good day.
I happened to be watching an 8mm home video of a German family visiting Pattaya in the late 70’s and spotted what could very well be my MS-60 Toyota Crown: It seems to be the right color and model, and these cars were originally used for government bigwigs, so it’s possible that one of them […]
The Crown needs to be stripped, patched, and repainted. The last time it was done, it was done poorly. I’m thinking about using a shop just around the way, so I can go watch over the work every day. Just need to save up some money now.. I’m sure I’ll have enough in a few […]
Beware, there’s a monster in these woods! #Kujira #Crown #black_or_die Posted from WordPress for Android
After five months of being held hostage by a rogue body shop, a brief return home, and then a serious accident caused by a negligent repair shop, the Kuj has returned. These are the kinds of photos I really wanted to take before the accident, but I never had the chance. The body shop to […]
After owning a 1971 MS60 for a few years now, I can tell you one thing: It’s been pretty damn near impossible to find spare parts for it. After spending countless hours trying to find parts overseas on the internet (because there were almost none advertised in Thailand even last year) that I could afford […]
It took a while, but I found a Japanese commercial for my car on YouTube: You think that’s seventies bad? Here’s a bonus video to remind you of the timeframe: /////////////////////// What were you driving/doing back then? (Waiting for a steam locomotive? Skipping gaily through stacks of hay in a dried-out rice paddy?)
mooban def: a village or community (Thai) (note: I previously wrote about my new ride here) Maybe I should say the legend “continues,” since I’m told it’s quite possibly run a million kilometers over the past 36 years, but the legend of the Kujira Crown began for me on September 1, 2007. I happened across […]
I need another car – just a reliable beater to convey me around town – since I want Nam to drive the Cefiro (and its newfangled safety features) when we move to the new house. The new house is within walking distance of my university, but I need something for rainy days and whatnot. I […]
I miss my Silvia from our days in Japan and will no doubt miss my Kujira when we go back to the states. Maybe I’ll get a red Miata for Nam (she’s always wanted a sporty red car) – so glad I taught her how to drive stick. Don’t ask me why, but I’m testing […]
We had to take our Mazda 2 Elegance (TH only sedan model) into the new dealer down the highway to fix the most annoying vibration in the world (which will require removing the dash so I’m totally not doing it myself). Anyway, someone cut me off on the way home just as this came up […]
This is probably the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. I asked the guy who posted it to Twitter for more info, and he told me it’s from Iceland. If anybody knows anything else about it, please comment on this post. #monstercrown #bigfootkujira #monsterMS60
Cruising Van Nuys Boulevard In The Summer Of 1972 In Stunning Black And White Photos By Rick McCloskey This culture was pretty much gone when I grew up in SoCal. These photos were taken a couple years before I was born, but I feel a deep connection to them every time I see my driveway.
Note: My Kujira Crown is still running strong and you can find every post on it by browsing through my Cars category. Recently, there have been a lot of interesting JDM classics popping up in my Facebook feed for sale in Thailand. There’s nothing I would consider buying as most of the sellers are just […]
This is my Kujira’s VIN. There are many like it, but this one is mine. Well, actually, there are probably a thousand or so left in the world. This one’s still mine, tho.
A Kujira Crown (slight model change from mine) is featured in a new Kansai Television show: Suteki na sentakushi
Just centered this bad boy with a tire iron and a cop came to ask me if he could borrow some tools to fix his motorcycle… He wasn’t a very good mechanic, and I ended up adjusting his carb with the mixture and idle adjustment screws. The kids are still at TKD…. I feel like […]
… or at least, my sister-in-law in Bangkok asked a garage who did… Amazing Thailand! The replacement part is actually in much worse condition, over all, than the one I took off my car, but the plastic latch that holds the turn signal in place (and keeps me from having to hold the lever when […]
The story of restoring my beloved Kujira Crown is long and unimportant. The sad fact is that the shop promised to be done in a month and a half and it’s been four and a half months with it still not quite done. On the upside, I won’t feel bad for getting it done so […]