Past Gas

From the early days of innovation after WWII to the brand new supercars coming out of Japan, "The Golden Era" of the Japanese Car Industry spans many generations and is more far reaching than anyone realizes. In this final installment of Season 2 of Past Gas, Nolan Sykes and Joe Weber recap their favorite parts and unpack what didn't make it to the episodes.  This episode is brought to you by Shop...

From legendary 90s JDM icons skyrocketing into the millions, to corporate scandals, economic crashes, and a generation forced to trade the steering wheel for a smartphone, this is the true story of how we lost the greatest automotive era in history, and why the "car dream" is now completely out of reach for most of us. The golden era of Japanese sports cars is officially dead... or is it?

By the late 2000s, shrinking markets, tightening emissions, and a younger generation losing interest in vehicles signaled the end of the legendary JDM era. But a few rebellious engineers refused to go quietly, choosing instead to make their last cars arguably their greatest. In this second-to-last episode of Past Gas: The Golden Era of JDM, we explore the dramatic conclusion of Japan's greatest au...

In this episode, we explore the unbelievable evolution of drift culture. From Keiichi Tsuchiya—the legendary "Drift King"—cutting his teeth by sliding through blind corners, to the creation of the D1 Grand Prix and the birth of Formula Drift, drifting had to invent its own competitive rules and scoring systems from scratch. Join us as we dive into how this underground Japanese phenomenon captured...

When The Fast and the Furious hit theaters in 2001, it lifted Japanese car culture out of the mountain passes and dropped it straight into the American mainstream. In this episode of Past Gas , we explore how Japan responded to the world's newfound obsession with its vehicles. We break down Daijiro Inada's terrifying 200 mph rollover crash in the Nevada desert, the intense enthusiast demand that f...

In this episode of Past Gas, we dive into the explosive rise of the tuner revolution. We explore the wild Motorex scandal that illegally brought the legendary Nissan Skyline GT-R to the US, the neon-lit spectacle of Hot Import Nights, and how a single magazine article birthed The Fast and the Furious. Discover how the World Wide Web and Hollywood mutated grassroots garage builds into a massive glo...

Initial D exploded beyond the confines of car culture to a global phenomenon and broke a lot of rules along the way. In the seventh installment of our 12-part series, we explore the origins of the Initial D series, how drifting went global, and how Keiichi Tsuchiya, The Drift King himself, helped every step of the way. 

For decades, the world saw Japanese cars as just efficient, economical daily commuters. Then the 1990s hit, and Japan unleashed a lineup of obsessively engineered racing monsters that completely stunned the established European and American giants. Backed by the limitless budgets of the nation's economic "bubble era," Japanese engineers were given the ultimate green light to overbuild their machin...

Join us in the fifth installment of Past Gas: The Golden Era of JDM, as we dive into the history of one of Japan's most elusive car clubs, The Mid Night Club. What later became a popular video game started as a way for Japan's elite car tuners, enthusiasts and even Automotive Executives to test and tune their cars... on public roads. Thanks to Warby Parker for sponsoring this episode! Our listener...

Before the internet, Japan's underground car culture was built on independent, cheaply printed zines, word-of-mouth networks, and late-night highway runs. In this episode of Past Gas, we explore how car magazines transformed Japanese tuning from a hidden, unauthorized subculture into an absolute global phenomenon. We dive into the story of visionary editor Daijiro Inada and his revolutionary publi...

This week, we're exploring how Japanese automakers fared during the gas crisis of the early 1970's. What led to them being in the right place at the right time? How did they expand across the globe so seamlessly? And what makes Honda's CVCC engine so revolutionary for the time? All of this and more on this week's episode.

In this episode of Past Gas, we're diving into the first ever Japanese Gran Prix, and how it shaped motorsport from that day on. How did Japan's cars do against Europe's elite and experienced Formula teams? Which companies competed? And what did they learn from the first Gran Prix that they took into development for road cars? All that and more in this episode!

In this season of Past Gas, we're exploring the origins of Japan's Golden Era of Cars. How did Japan bounce back from the devastation of WWII? What made their economy so strong? And when did their sports cars become the icons we know today? All will be explained in this 12 part series, stay tuned!

Thanks to Allstate for sponsoring today’s episode! Click here [ https://bit.ly/3Kj2XLO ] to check Allstate first and see how much you could save on car insurance. Thanks to Hankook for sponsoring today's video! Click here [ https://bit.ly/44f5Sgl ] to learn more about Dynapro tires! Thank you EveryPlate for sponsoring this episode. Try EveryPlate and get $2.99 per meal on your first box, plus free...

Thanks to Allstate for sponsoring today’s episode! Click here [ https://bit.ly/4mgo1jE ] to check Allstate first and see how much you could save on car insurance. Thanks to Indeed for sponsoring this episode. Listeners of this show will get a $75 SPONSORED JOB CREDIT to help get your job the premium status it deserves. Go to ⁠https://indeed.com/PASTGAS⁠   right now and support our show by saying y...

Thanks to Allstate for sponsoring today’s episode! Click here [ https://bit.ly/4n4xlrY ] to check Allstate first and see how much you could save on car insurance. And thanks to Hankook for sponsoring today's video! Click here [ https://bit.ly/4nsAXo6 ] to learn more about Dynapro tires! This episode is also brought to you by Aura Frames. Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at  https://on.auraframes.com/G...

Thanks to Allstate for sponsoring today’s episode! Click here [ https://bit.ly/4mVSVPj ] to check Allstate first and see how much you could save on car insurance. And thanks to Aura Frames for sponsoring this episode. Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at  https://on.auraframes.com/GAS . Promo Code GAS This week on Past Gas, we’re telling the story of Kunimitsu Takahashi — the motorcycle phenom who surv...

Thanks to Allstate for sponsoring today’s episode! Click here [ https://bit.ly/463GZoO ] to check Allstate first and see how much you could save on car insurance. This week on Past Gas, we’re telling the story of Pininfarina — the small Italian coachbuilder that became the world’s most iconic design house. Before their name appeared on Ferraris and Peugeots, Battista “Pinin” Farina was just a kid...

Thanks to Allstate for sponsoring today’s episode! Click here [ https://bit.ly/3VhqAH3 ] to check Allstate first and see how much you could save on car insurance. Also thanks to Hankook for sponsoring today's video! Click here [ https://bit.ly/3ZWwwYL ] to learn more about Dynapro tires! This episode is also sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at  https://betterhelp.com/PASTGAS  and...

Thanks to Allstate for sponsoring today’s episode! Click here [ https://bit.ly/4gmCSHD ] to check Allstate first and see how much you could save on car insurance. Also thanks to Hankook for sponsoring today's video! Click here [ https://bit.ly/3GjjL3S ] to learn more about Dynapro tires! This week on Past Gas: one of the most insane tuner stories ever told. In the ’80s and ’90s, Gemballa turned Po...

Thanks to Allstate for sponsoring today’s episode! Click here [ https://bit.ly/47IpOdG ] to check Allstate first and see how much you could save on car insurance. This week, when Dodge said a 383 big-block wouldn’t fit in a Dart, a Chicago car guy proved them wrong — and forced Detroit to copy him. From selling 50 Dodges in a snowstorm to building the first dealer-tuned muscle cars, Mr. Norm turne...

Thanks to Hankook for sponsoring today's video! Click here [ https://bit.ly/4ewUjVf ] to learn more about Dynapro tires! Thanks to Allstate for sponsoring today’s episode! Click here [ https://bit.ly/4mcrYFS ] to check Allstate first and see how much you could save on car insurance. This week, before it was America’s fastest sport, drag racing was pure anarchy — street duels, homebuilt death traps...

Thanks to Allstate for sponsoring today’s episode! Click here [ https://bit.ly/3GSyliQ ] to check Allstate first and see how much you could save on car insurance. This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at  https://betterhelp.com/PASTGAS  and get on your way to being your best self. Meet Bill Mitchell, the hard-drinking, womanizing, design genius who shaped General...

Thanks to Hankook for sponsoring today's video! Click here [ https://bit.ly/3Tif5OF ] to learn more about Dynapro tires! Thanks to Allstate for sponsoring today’s episode! Click here [ https://bit.ly/4jROVOr ] to check Allstate first and see how much you could save on car insurance. This week, we’re headed to Sicily for the Targa Florio—a road race with 6,000 corners, zero guardrails, and drivers...

Get After It! Enter for a Chance to Win a Custom Car Co-Built by Donut and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. All brought to you by NOS Energy. For more details visit: https://bit.ly/3Jb9w2L Thanks to Allstate for sponsoring today’s episode! Click here [ https://bit.ly/4kk8WwW ] to check Allstate first and see how much you could save on car insurance. Also thanks to Hankook for sponsoring today's video! Click he...