It’s that time of the bi-month again! I decided to keep to a two-month schedule for these posts, as they are a bit more work to do than a regular CC (tons of photos to review and process), and hopefully the quality of finds will be improved too. So let’s kick it off with a sexy Nissan Fairlady 280Z – a pre-1983 model, judging by the mirrors.
Found this C10 Skyline GT-R while wandering through Ginza, a very chic area of the city. Not one of the best finds from that area, but there were many more, especially in tomorrow’s post…
Sometimes, you have to chase them – this mid-‘60s Bluebird 410 two-door saloon caught my eye, but it took a certain amount of legwork (on a bike) to catch up with it.
Totally worth it!
This S15 Silvia, with its clear lenses and a rather understated body kit, was deemed photo-worthy. Oooh, look! “Autech Version”… Which means it’s a non-turbo car, strangely enough, though it still has 200hp and a 6-speed manual, so plenty to play with.
These early-model Cimas are not all that common. I just wish I could find one in a colour other than silver or gray. Pretty distinctive, and they’re real hardtops, too.
A very nice Y32 Cedric, wild caught in Okinawa. Awesome wheels.
To complete the trifecta of big Nissans, the inevitable pinnacle that is the President, here in short wheelbase JS form. Still used as a chauffeured car, as many of these are despite their advancing years.
Final generation Presidents (2003-10) were famously slow sellers and are much less commonly seen than their predecessors. Fugly, baleen-toothed and bug-eyed wasn’t much of a draw. That’s it for the Nissan side of things.
I’m not finding many collectible Mazdas in general, which is a damn shame. This sad-looking Luce saloon was the lone representative of the species.
Well, there was also this early ‘90s Autozam Carol Turbo, so though it’s not technically a Mazda, it is Mazda-adjacent. It’s actually a Suzuki Alto, underneath that (dusty) body.
Not many Subarus either, this spring. The lone exception was this nicely-preserved late model (1990-92) Rex VX Supercharger. Most kei cars nowadays look like aquariums on skates, but these look like pocket-sized GTIs.
We shall now turn to the Mitsuoka chapter of our symposium, because sightings were plentiful – and, as always, slightly unsettling. I found and wrote up this Orochi back in February, but ran into it again a few weeks ago. I think it was being detailed.
It gave me a chance to have a look under the gills… I was half-expecting to see an alien within, but this spaceship was vacant.
Recently, I committed a post about the Galue Classic wagon, which is based on the Toyota Corolla. As luck would have it, I ran into the saloon version a few days ago and thought it needed sharing. Because I care.
It’s also a good way of showing the difference between this “small” Galue and its more luxuriously-appointed Nissan-based brother. As luck would have it, I sighted one of those too.
Yes, this Galue III (2005-2010), complete with faux Spirit of Ecstasy ornament, is an actual taxi. Mind officially blown. There aren’t many older taxis that do not follow the Crown Comfort / Y31 Cedric dichotomy. And those few that are something else are usually regular Crowns, Camrys, Priuses, Fugas or some kind of minivan.
And there it is again, a couple weeks later. This is just a heavily modified Fuga, but it’s still quite an outlier in the taxi world.
Himikos really look fun, as opposed to being funny-looking. Would you rather have the same plain vanilla Mazda MX-5 everyone else can get, or parade about in one of these?
I haven’t had cause to photograph something from my balcony in quite a while, but this was a rare sight! This is the elusive 2019-20 Mitsuoka Rock Star, a Miata that went through an expansive Corvettification process. Just 50 of these were made, as far as I know. Not sure if they’re going to make more – they really should though, as this is perhaps the best-looking designs this marque has ever made.
Speaking of cool drop-tops, I should try and find a Honda Beat and do a post on it. The PF logo on that one made me realize that I didn’t even know that this was designed by them, not Honda.
I’m not unearthing many older Honda hardtops like this first-generation Inspire, certainly not as compared to their Nissan or Toyota rivals. Pity this one was occupied, too – could only snap a quick photo.
In the less expensive parts of the city, there are quite a lot of older houses lowly falling into disrepair (despite the value of the land underneath). Occasionally, there are old cars in there too, as was the case here. This was a Honda house – this white CRX was in front…
And the remains of this black one were in the back, accessible by public road (I like to keep my trespassing to an absolute minimum).
Let’s close the Honda chapter on this splendid first-gen (1976-81) Accord hatchback, in the regulation beige, of course. What a time-warp.
We’ve seen this Isuzu Bellett GT already, but it’s the first time I’ve caught it out and about. And it’s such a cool car, I just couldn’t let it pass without a snap or two.
Someone’s pride and joy, hidden in an anonymous-looking garage, is this Irmscher-modified 1987 Isuzu Gemini. An anonymous-looking car? Initially, sure, but with that colour, those extra headlights and those wheelcovers…
Let’s finish on the Toyotas – a lot of nice ones crossed my path, perhaps more so than most times. I’ve caught this mid-‘70s Corona hardtop coupe before, but here I managed a nice profile shot. Beautiful thing, and quite the topical name.
I snapped these three photos in the span of about five minutes, in between heavy rain showers. I was in an unfamiliar part of the city and figured I might have some luck, seeing as it was a weekend. Two S130 Crown wagons and a second-gen Soarer later, I felt vindicated.
These Will Cyphas (2002-05) are not exactly rare, but they always give me a bit of a shock. Especially in that colour. I’m not criticizing – I mean, variety is a good thing, right? – but they really dialed up the weird to 11 on this one.
Let’s return to something more orthodox. And there is nothing more worthy of that epithet than the S130 Crown. I just wrote up one of these 3-litre hardtops, and finding yet another one in the wild is more proof that these sold extremely well.
As usual, there were a bunch of AE86s around, because those sold very well too. I whittled it down to two – this relatively unmolested red Trueno…
…And this heavily raceified / resto-modded white one. Neither of these would necessarily be my cup of matcha, but I’m sure some of you will be drooling on your keyboard (at least, one hopes that is saliva) for one or both of them.
Mark II wagons are more up my creek, so to speak. This was a good couple months on that front, too. This lower trim silver one with fender mirrors was as clean and straight as a 25-plus year old working wagon could be.
Looking for something a bit more drift-friendly? Try that white one. Or if you want to wallow in luxury, this green “Grande Edition” might appeal. One wagon, so many uses…
It’s crazy to think that the 1984-97 Mark II wagon and the 1990-95 Sera shared the same showroom. They seem to be (and are) complete opposite automotive concepts. Such was the wealth of variety that was the Toyota range at the turn of the millennium.
Or should that be “turn of the Century”? I’m not sure when white was offered on the VG40, but it’s not a common sight. Looks pretty cool all the same.
Nice and atypical leather interior, too. Japanese pimps must have been all over these, back in the late ‘70s. He he he…
And nowadays, said ‘70s pimps are probably getting ready for their last limo ride, so why not aim for the top, i.e. the new G60 Century? This is the longest and swankiest hearse I’ve ever seen, in this country or any other. Fit for an Emperor.
Finally, another crazy-looking dekotora truck. I’m not 100% sure, but it looks like a Hino.
See you tomorrow for the foreign stuff – it was a good vintage for those too.
Awesome writeup. Thank you for the great pictures and descriptions.
More wagons !!!
Have you run across any Subaru SVXes during your walkabouts?
I have, but they’re not really on my radar. I’ll keep an eye out for them in future…
I’m on my 20th year of ownership. It needs more respect.
At first glance I thought the Accord was a second generation Civic because the rear side window looked shorter than usual, or perhaps it’s faulty memory. The gloss paint and fender mount mirrors look odd to me because all US market first generation Accords had metallic paint. My family bought a gold Accord in 77 and kept it until 87 when we replaced it with an 84 Accord hatchback. I learned to drive a manual transmission in the 77 and liked driving it although my 78 Scirocco ws sharper handling and slightly quicker, in keeping with the period R&T comparison test.
I never particularly liked the second generation Z cars sold as the 280ZX in the US. The felt rather heavy and more like personal luxury cars than sports cars.
As for Mitsuoka, whatever they are smoking, we should bottle it and sell it
The ZX in the top picture appears to be a 2+2 version – its proportion is a bit out of whack compared with the 2-seater.
The Datsun 410 2-door caught my eye, as they were never sold in the US, and I’ve rarely ever even seen a picture of one.
They sold them here not in big numbers but survivors are constantly turning up on classic car pages very much still an Austin under the skin but they lasted ok
This is the longest and swankiest hearse I’ve ever seen, in this country or any other. Fit for an Emperor.
Except that from the rear, it looks like a paddy wagon.
I think that one subliminal reason buyers moved to CUVs was to get larger windows. Look how airy some of those older greenhouses are compared to recent sedans and coupes.
That Autozam Carol Turbo looks like a mad little beast. The CRX among the planters next to a house must be the local equivalent of a Malibu on blocks behind a house in Indiana or Kentucky. 🙂
Nice finds, one and all!
Surely that Century will remain ultra-low mileage, I mean, how often do they have to bury someone who is 8’3″ and wearing a top hat?
As for the Sera, there was a slight infestation of these dubiously-styled greenhouses here some years back. Presumably they are now all up on blocks in yards, but unlike the pictured CRX, in these the plants are inside.
I am most struck by the President in this collection. It looks like a considerably better Jaguar XJ40 than the one Jaguar made, and also, unlike the ones they did, it has probably worked since new.
Just dont try catching the XJ40 on a twisty road in it, nice cars tho one was parked on my mates lawn for storage a while ago since been swapped for a Holden Cruz diesel.
I’m feeling those hot hatches today. The Subaru Rex looks like a lot of fun, as does that over the top Gemini.
The CRX’s make me sad, and not just because of their condition. The first car I ever bought was a 85 CRX Si for $900. With 92 hp pulling very little car, it would run right up the steep roads outside Fort Collins (which most CC readers would be familiar with as they are frequent backdrops of Jim Klein’s reviews). I had it for only 2 months because the timing belt broke, thus necessitating a new engine (damn interference engines). Sadly, I had neither the skills, the time, or the space to do anything about it and the car had to be junked.
I absolutely love that Dekotora truck. It’s like a rolling pachinko machine. That’s probably the one vehicle in this post guaranteed to stop traffic even in Beverly Hills.
My favourites are probably the Rex and Carol, Corona Coupe, WiLL Cypha (I wanted an orange one), Beat, Gemini, and of course the elusive Rock Star! Agree that it’s easily the best looking thing Mitsuoka has ever produced, so of course it’s the least plentiful. I reckon if they swapped out the standard 1.5 Skyactiv unit for the 2.0 from the Roadster RF, they could have the performance to go some way to matching the looks.
I do like that Corona hardtop. I’ve seen that one somewhere before (not on CC) which goes to show this is a very rare car in Japan now, even by the standards of many of its contemporaries.
Naturally I like the C10 and the Bellett GT. When I was in Japan about 6 years ago I saw a few C10’s and Bellet GTs, but no Corona hardtops of any type.
Nice write-up. I love seeing the scenes of Japan and the odd cars. People must wonder why this gaijin is taking photos of my old car.
That Hino would be hard to keep clean, I like the Corona coupe I had a six cylinder version as a parts car Will Cyphers are a bit gobsmacking plenty of them here.