It’s somewhat of a large juxtaposition…good friend and fellow Tokyo Expat Tatra87 spends his Sundays perusing the Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and Shoebox Fords of Tokyo’s upscale Gaien district. I, on the other hand, hike the industrial suburbs on the outskirts of the city – and come across finds like these three. I’m not complaining though…
Actually I enjoy these Sunday walks – for one reason. I get to experience something that you rarely find in Tokyo – no people. These areas clear out on Sundays and there’s not a soul to be seen. Another reason is finds like this trio. Surprisingly, stumbling across older, abandoned cars like this in these industrial areas is rather common. The business owner/President/CEO has only two parking places at his Tokyo condo, so he finds a place on the edges of his company parking lot for his weekend/project cars. Sadly, he passes away, and the new company head is too nervous to throw the old guy’s cars out so they sit – until they rust into pieces, then he can rationalize carting them off without facing any wrath from Tengoku.
The Volvo looks to be a late 80’s/early 90’s 240 GL Limited Wagon. My guess is it has a hardy Red Block 2.3 four under the hood. Which means that with a new battery, a little gas, and a few puffs of starter fluid, it would likely crank over. Unless the dreaded biodegradable wiring harness has done its degrading thing – then it would probably be game over. My understanding is that’s the only thing that can kill a 240.
I’m pretty limited on identifying Bug years so feel free to comment below if you know. It still looks resuscitable though.
This must be his weekend club racer – it’s a 1996-98 Daihatsu Mira Moderno. It’s not tagged so it wasn’t road-legal. It no doubt gets more horsepower out of its 659 cc turbocharged three-cylinder than the government kei-class mandated 64. Looks like it spent time up at the Fuji International Speedway.
As an aside, these two-story lattice steel parking structures are fairly common at locations like factories, government buildings, and pachinko parlors. Double your available parking space for a fraction of the cost of a new parking garage.
I had another pleasant surprise this same day also – long-time CC readers may remember this cute blue Mazda Porter Wagon I had written up twice (here and here). I went by a few months after the last 2019 post and it had disappeared, and I assumed the worst. But thankfully it’s reappeared – and looks to have been given a light freshening.
A wipe-down, new tires and a cleaned-up interior.
I always get a smile when I see it – it’s so tiny. Here’s a pic with me standing next to it – doubt if I could fit inside.
Love the Porter! And of course the 240 wagon, we’ve had 1 and 3 sedans.
Always am impressed at how clean and organized everything is in Japan, even industrial areas! Have always wondered how it would be to live there, such a disciplined people. And of course admire their cars as well, buying Japanese vehicles exclusively as drivers since the mid-’90s. Recently a 4 yr old RAV4 that is a rock and hopefully will be for a long time… our last car?.
Many North American cities are very wasteful, in how they utilize urban spaces.
My city has a problem with many heavy trucks passing through the urban core. Using regular city streets. Increases the stress for downtown dwellers, pedestrians, and bicyclists. The city talks of building another perimeter freeway, and bridge. Nothing resolved, after at least ten years of discussion. When my solution (thanks to Boston’s downtown inspiration), would be a truck and car tunnel, underneath one of the existing crowded downtown roads. Invisible, and no impact, for those at street level. Plus, no need for snow plowing.
That Mazda Porter is fantastic ! I have short(ish) legs so mayhap I could fit and safely drive it .
The VW is interesting, I can see it’s 1970’s vintage but the rest I’m not sure about .
VW made basic 1200C.C. (40hp) beetles for years and years and they’re always oddly equipped .
I’ll take it ! .
-Nate
Great finds, and pics. I would take the Volvo. Love that very revealing last photo. Though, I am only 6’0″ in height, I cannot fit in a Mini. Too much of my height is above my waist. My head presses tightly, against the headliner.
One would hope that the car parked above your car doesn’t have an oil leak, but then that’s become very rare. But yes, without any sort of foundation, that structure would be a lot cheaper. Wouldn’t be allowed here though.
Cute Porter. The VW is a late model “Standard”, a stripper with the 1200.
A red Volvo 240 wagon seems to be a ubiquitous sighting in any city in the world these days. It may be more prevalent than an ivory Mercedes W123 sedan…
That Mazda Porter is following you around, this is the third published sighting of it if I’m not mistaken, it’s still as lovely as always.
And the racing Mira looks intriguing, although the track would need to be small, a long straight in a kei would be a frustrating experience after the third lap or so! I’ve been watching the Australian YouTube channel of MightyCarMods for a while now and they’ve featured a number of Miras including racing one in an endurance race in Malaysia last year, so somehow I’m more familiar with them than I would have imagined.
I’ve found that walking around random neighborhoods is always a good way to see how the real cars (and people) live (or survive) and a fascinating insight into people, places, and societies.