Nissan has produced some amazing race cars over the decades and its NPT-90 IMSA GTP racer is one of the very best. Just six examples were ever manufacturer and chassis 90-01 is currently up for sale.

One of the longest running and most famous nameplates in Nissan's history is that of the Z car. It has been with us since 1969 nearly continuously, and with only occasional missteps. Only a couple Nissans can match it for history and notoriety, such as the Skyline sedans and coupes, and the Patrol SUVs. The Z is also getting a much needed successor in the near future, previewed by the Z Proto. As such, it seemed like a good time to take a look back at the different generations that got us to today.

The first Z arrived in 1969 as the Fairlady Z in Japan, and the 240Z in the U.S. The Japanese name picked up from the roadsters Nissan built in the 1960s under the Fairlady name, the later versions of which were sold in the U.S. as the Datsun Roadster. The American name came from the 2.4-liter single overhead cam inline-six under the hood. It made 148 horsepower and 152 pound-feet of torque and was mated to a manual transmission. It had fully independent suspension with struts at each end. Disc brakes at the front and drums at the rear would bring it to a stop. Over the years, Nissan increased the displacement of the U.S. cars to compensate for power-sapping emissions equipment, leading to the 260Z and 280Z with 2.6-liter and 2.8-liter versions of the straight-six. Larger bumpers appeared on these later models, too, to meet U.S. safety regulations. Nissan also added a lengthened 2+2 model later in this car's lifecycle.

A White House spokesperson said in a statement that President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Abe Shinzo spoke at length and reflected on the last four years.

Judd Deere also said that the two leaders "remarked that their relationship is extraordinary; the President called Prime Minister Abe the greatest prime minister in Japan's history."

There are plenty of cars I remember existing, but actually know very little about due to the passage of time or just not particularly caring when they were new. Take the Isuzu VehiCROSS, which I fondly recall as this wackadoo off-roader from the late 1990s and early 2000s. But honestly, that's about it.

So, since I've got a little extra time kicking about, I decided to fall into the rabbit hole labeled Isuzu VehiCROSS for an hour to see how much I could find out about this SUV (or "sport/utility" in 1999 parlance) that shared labeling with the watch I wore in 1999. Enjoy.

Former Autoblog editor-in-chief Mike Austin was kind enough to drop this little nugget onto Twitter yesterday: the history of Mitsubishi timeline on the company's press website. Basically, it's a virtual museum, spanning from the 1917 Mitsubishi Model A to the 2008 Galant Fortis Sportback. Frankly, it's not that surprising that they didn't go much further beyond that, but still, the timeline provides both a fun trip down memory lane and an introduction to fun and/or wacky JDM models we never got. 

Besides showing photos, there's actually a sizable amount of info for each, which has quite clearly and often delightfully been translated from Japanese.