
S2 Ep11: The Golden Era of JDM: The Last Great JDM Halo Cars
From Past Gas by Donut Media
June 9, 2026 · 53 min · Season 2 · Episode 11
About this episode
This episode explores the dramatic conclusion of Japan's greatest automotive era, focusing on the last great JDM halo cars and their impact on the automotive industry.
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 automotive era. Discover how Nissan built the R35 GT-R from scratch to successfully crush Porsche at the Nurburgring, why Toyota intentionally lost money on every screaming V10 LFA they built to educate their next generation of engineers, the heartbreaking cancellation of Honda's highly anticipated V10 NSX, and how Mazda kept the pure driving spirit alive despite the death of the rotary engine. This episode is brought to you by Lumi Gummies! Go to https://www.LumiGummies.com and use code PASTGAS for 30% off your order!
People in this episode
Host: Donut Media
Topics covered
- JDM era
- automotive history
- Japanese cars
- engineering
- performance cars
- Nurburgring
- market trends
Keywords
- JDM
- Nissan
- Toyota
- Honda
- Mazda
- performance
- automotive engineering
- V10
- GT-R
- NSX
Sponsors
Lumi Gummies
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Nissan, Porsche, Toyota, Honda, Mazda
Products: V10 LFA, R35 GT-R, V10 NSX, rotary engine, Lumi Gummies
More episodes of Past Gas
- S2 Ep10: The Golden Era of JDM: The Secrets That Made Tokyo Drift Successful · June 2, 2026 · 37 min
- S2 Ep9: The Golden Era of JDM: The Forbidden Japanese Cars The US Demanded · May 26, 2026 · 33 min
- S2 Ep8: The Golden Era of JDM: Nitrous, Neon and... Internet Forums? · May 19, 2026 · 42 min
- S2 Ep7: The Golden Era of JDM: Why The Drift King Chose The AE86 for Initial D · May 12, 2026 · 45 min
- S2 Ep6: The Golden Era of JDM: How Japan Embarrassed the Racing World · May 5, 2026 · 49 min
- S2 Ep5: The Golden Era of JDM: Inside Japan's Exclusive Outlaw Race Club · April 28, 2026 · 54 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Past Gas podcast page.