The dead of winter is a great time for CC spotting in Tokyo. After close to a decade living in places like Bangkok, the cold (but usually above freezing) and dry climate makes for a very appealing proposition and makes one eager for a stroll. Kicking things off with Nissans – two of them together, in fact. This late ‘70s-‘80s Sunny B120 pickup shacked up with a circa 2000 Skyline GT-R R34, just to show that the term “two-door RWD Nissan” can be illustrated in very varied ways.
This later model Sunny is a gas station’s commercial conveyance. It is used to transport inflammable goods, as signified by the grille-mounted “Danger” sign. Those vehicles are almost invariably tired old pickups.
Not quite as old (or tired) as this Datsun 1500, though. We’ve seen it before, but it’s too nice to pass up.
Lots of Skylines, as per usual. We’ve also had the pleasure, but I kinda like this shot. You should have heard the ruckus that thing made peeling off.
Same with these 1985-89 R31s. Yes, that’s R31s plural…
It looks nearly identical, but I like this one better – those BBSs are more tasteful.
And here’s a late model R30 saloon. It can be tricky to tell the R30 and R31 apart, sometimes. They’re like volume 1 and volume 2 of the same album.
This R32, on the other hand, was a sad sight. Quite a few of this generation are rotting away like this – older cars are usually in better nick.
And finally (for the Skyline part of the tour), what seems to be a 1971-72 C10 GT-R Coupé – if genuine, a truly legendary car.
Not a Skyline, but a 1986-90 Langley. These reskinned N13 Pulsars were sold through the Prince network, so they received Skyline-esque styling.
I did a double take when I found this one, as it looked very similar to the C130 Laurel GTX I wrote up a few months ago, albeit in a different location.
But no, this is not the same car. Just the same model, body variant, trim, colour and lowered suspension, but different wheels. And this one has its original license plate, which the other one did not. Pity I found this one second, as it was a lot easier to photograph.
Keeping it classic with a Fairlady Z – a 1975 car, according to the license plate. This one was a bit too quick for me, but I also found a stationary one recently. To be posted sometime…
There were also a number of nice 1989-91 Paos sighted, one of which should be decent enough to eventually be made into a stand-alone post. Love these.
Paos are almost always pastel blue or light green. So seeing a beige one was actually surprising. I need to look into Pao colour schemes – or perhaps someone can enlighten us in the comments section?
Here we go again: obligatory Y30 Cedric / Gloria wagon moment. This one was a perfectly preserved specimen, photographed in front of the historic Tokyo Station.
This one seems to be a base model Cedric.
Even has a column shifter, which strangely enough is not super common on these. Door mirrors do make them far less cool, I must say.
This is the PU11 Maxima they had in Japan in the mid-‘80s – in its genuine hardtop glory. This one has the turbocharged 2-litre V6 good for 170hp. Nowadays, this nameplate is only used in foreign markets; it only lasted about a decade on the JDM.
These late-model (1989-92) F31 Leopards are quite chunky, but rather nice. I also found a pre-facelift car that will have to be written up sometime soon.
I was passing by a Nissan showroom on Ginza (Tokyo’s equivalent of 5th Avenue, Knightsbridge or the Champs-Élysées, great place for CC-spotting) and saw this. It’s the new Fairlady Z, out later this year as a 2023 model.
Very cool design, modern with a few well-executed retro accents. Heads will turn.
Onward to the Mitsubishis. This 1998 Lancer Evo V was a strange sight. Those tiny wheels look lost in that bloated body…
Not sure that anyone actually wants an E31 Eterna (1988-92), but if you had to, this ZR-4 would be the one to get: 240hp under the hood. Love the stick-figure-pissing-on-a-Mitsubishi-emblem sticker next to the rear wiper.
The third Proudia I’ve ever seen! Only 1300 of these were made, and they’re now over 20 years old, so well into banger territory for JDM luxobarges. But get this: lightening struck twice in February 2022…
I found this much more cooperative Proudia a few days later.
Now, this one is the real find of finds, as it’s an ultra-rare V8-powered model.
Just one wafer-thin kei, Monsieur. The only Daihatsu of the post: the very tiny 1992-98 Opti. Once probably common as dirt, now quite unusual, it’s yet another of those Unremarkable-but-rare ‘90s JDM contraptions.
Hondas were relatively plentiful, but in the case of this 1993-97 5th-gen Accord wagon, also somewhat in need of a wash. Happens to the best of us.
A yellow Beat is like a kei-sized ray of sunshine. Not exactly light-speed fast, but definitely leaves one beaming.
No idea why this violently pink City cabriolet, which was being serviced at a neighbourhood auto shop, sports a Dutch oval sticker.
It’s hard to let a red NSX burble by without a glance and a couple of quick snaps.
Not too many Mazdas, but at least this one was a novelty: a 1988-91 Persona. This is a reskinned and high-trimmed Capella / 626 hardtop saloon. Pity as no way to access the rest of the car to document it more thoroughly.
We’ve seen this trike in the previous edition of the T87 Singles Outtakes, but I could only get a front shot that time. Here it is in its full glorious profile.
And here it is with its little companion, a Subaru 360 that has seen better days.
Speaking of which, here’s one of those caught on the go. The loud buzz and the smell of the two-stroke were just as arresting as the visuals, I can tell you.
Compared to the Daihatsu Opti discussed above, the Subaru Vivio is still a fairly habitual sight. This is the rarer T-Top targa variant though, made by Takada between 1994 and 1998.
I really like the look of this Vivio. It’s like they channeled the business coupes of the ‘30s / ‘40s.
Can’t delay it much longer: we must address the Mitsuoka situation. The Viewt of the month, as per usual, in the present case a newer K13.
This Ryugi wagon prowling the side streets of Ginza is a bit more interesting, surely. If they made a Japanese version of the Addams Family, I’d like to think they would be driving something like this…
Well, actually, a good old Toyota Mark II wagon would also do the job perfectly well.
So we’ve reached Toyota territory. And speaking of working vehicles, here are a couple of present-day S220 Crown commercial cars (the 15th generation – quite an achievement in itself!) for two different kinds of clients: taxicab for working stiffs and hearse for no-longer-working ones.
Let’s ease back into the 20th Century (and the land of the living) with this AE92 Levin GT-Z, circa 1990-92.
Back in the early ‘90s, the global Camry and the JDM Camry/Vista started to diverge quite starkly. This is a 1994-98 Camry V40 “Lumière” (WTF?). Not too many of these left prowling the streets, compared to contemporary Windoms, Mark IIs or Coronas.
By way of illustration, here’s a Mark II (X100) saloon of that era (1996-2000), sporting a traditional Japanese new year decoration. Yes, some folks still do that. Quaint.
Someone is restomodding their X40 Mark II Coupé. Metallic mauve or matte black? The suspense is untenable.
Still plenty of these X80 Mark IIs around. Probably the best-proportioned Japanese saloon of the late ’80s.
The Z20 Soarer was the direct rival of the Nissan Leopard seen near the top of this post. Those Soarers sold like hotcakes, while the Leopard was a dud. Life is unfair.
Had I not found and posted a silver one last year, this red Sera would have made for a very suitable CC feature.
As it is though, it’ll just have to be tucked in this omnibus of outtakes, because Seras are ice-cool and red ones with matching hubcaps look bloody great. Or just bloody.
Shades of the early ‘90s again with this chauffeured VG40 Century. The plates are as old as the car, and the chauffeur didn’t look too recent, either.
Final Toyo of the post: another S800 caught on the road – this one with its original ‘60s license plates. These make a terrific noise, reminding the Frog in me of the Panhard flat-twin. And they’re downright gorgeous, to boot.
Final car of the post: an Autozam AZ-1. These are kei legends in their own right as well, being radically styled, mid-engined and gullwing-doored, if that’s a term. Too many eyes on this one, so only managed a few pics. Like the S800, I’m hoping to find one someday that’s more cooperative and write it up properly.
This time, we’ll end things on two wheels. This thing is a complete mystery to me. Looks ancient, at least bits of it do. I really know next to nothing about classic bikes, so perhaps someone out there will be able to tell us what we’re looking at here.
And finally final, this lowered and customized Honda Fusion was quite a sight. Was about two feet tall – for those who value looks and a massive sound system over safety and comfort.
See you tomorrow for the imports!
That Subaru Vivio reminds me of a Suzuki X-90 that’s been shrunk in the laundry. Which should in no way be construed as a compliment.
Excellent update as always, these collections are always great.
Is that second Skyline a R31 a genuine GTS-R? They’re pretty rare, supposedly 823 units if it’s real.
That Langley looks remarkably clean.
I think the Pao’s factory colour lineup (at least at launch) was Ivory, Aqua Grey (the light blue), Olive Grey (the greenish one) and Terracotta (orangey). The 2 in this post are Aqua Grey and Ivory.
That second Proudia is gorgeous! That Eterna is really visually similar to one (badged as Galant) that my neighbour had in the mid-90s.
Shame the Opti wasn’t in better shape.
I’m pretty sure that ‘Joyful Pink’ was a factory colour for the Honda City at the time.
The Persona is rare, though I think the Eunos version was even rarer. The wraparound interior is quite the aesthetic, though surely not so practical or comfortable in some ways.
Love the Vivio T-Top, but have always thought it had weird proportions. Maybe it’s something visual to do with the abrupt end to the windowline caused by using the regular door but discarding everything behind it, has always looked a bit unresolved.
I’ll have to disagree, I think the red wheels ruin that Sera. Give me one in a nice space-age but also aggressively 90s colour like metallic teal.
Again, thank you so much for these collections! Always a great way to start the month.
What a great selection.
That red bike looks like something powered by a Chinese replica bike engine. Something used to re-power a Honda CT90 or similar.
Honda Fusion scooter is pure bonkers. Wow.
I love the Subaru 360. Such a cheerful and odd design.
The “vintage” bike is some kind of modern replica/retro thing. The modern engine “CDI” is an all-too obvious give-away, as are other details.
Terrific collection of finds!
After seeing the interior shot of the Pao, I want my next dashboard to have ivory toggleswitches!
I saw my first Nissan Pao just a few weeks ago – only got one quick picture of it, since the owners were there, and I wasn’t feeling terribly social at the time. The picture of the Ivory-colored Pao is certainly unusual – something seems to be lost in the translation from Pastel.
I like that red-and-black Skyline saloon too.
Absolutely great spotting! Fancy finding a 2023 Z-car in the showrooms already.
For anyone who likes the sound of the various different Nissan sixes, I recommend Daniel O’Grady’s Wasabi Cars video where he films the cars leaving the Yamaguchi Old School Car Show. So many Nissans, and hardly any Toyotas! He’ll often say which engine they’re running, whether it’s a L an RB, a VG. Even one with the S20 Prince competition engine. Gives you a good insight into what the young Japanese guys think is cool.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhpKbmqKHpU
CC-in-scale has built about half of the cars you showed us (and wishes there were kits of the other half!), but that F31 Leopard needs some love. Here’s what they can look like.
Another great selection, those Leopards (our Infiniti M30) have aged quite well, or perhaps are back for a little bit of a style appreciation renaissance after being slagged for two decades or so…
It always boggles the mind remembering back when the common response to why can’t Detroit or Europs build a different variant of something was “the exorbitant tooling costs, blah blah blah” and all the while Nissan was making stuff like Maximas in sedan, wagon, as well as apparently very low volume hardtop sedan form. Same with Toyota, the sheer variety of body permutations on the same basic mechanicals is amazing throughout the lineups.
Thank you Tatra87 for the excellent post.
Love your pictures and the information that goes with them.
So much JDM goodness!
My love for wagons keeps growing, especially after seeing the Mark II.
Did every notice the dual rear wipers?
Great finds. I think I’ve only seen one beige Pao in thirty-five years also – all mostly pale green with a few light blue.
That Y-30 Cedric Wagon in front of Tokyo Station is a beauty – Nissan really got those right – the sedans too.
Probably your best selection yet, with models from nearly every manufacturer. A couple of favorites here, but that changes with every one of T87’s write-up.
The last time I was in Japan I bought a model kit of the Toyota S800, (I haven’t opened the box in 35 years)the car on the box is silver, too.
Ironically, this is the first time since 1989 that I haven’t owned a Japanese car.
Great picture with magnificent contrast. That retro 1910’s track racer looks like it would be a blast to zip around town on. The traditional wood “minka” (I believe that’s the term) home with its deep patina, raised woodgrain and Buddha-like ornament keeping an eye on things. You’re likely acclimated to seeing such sights daily and don’t give them a second thought. It’s very much appreciated when you share them with all of us.
V40 Camrys were common here not that long ago but now a rarity same powertrain as Coronas which was handy for parts for my diesel Corona wagon I had yeah 12 years ago, nice selection as usual.
Well, I’ll be blowed!*
A brand new car that looks damn good, that Nissan. I’d make that my Fair Lady. Well, if I was in the market for a low-set car that required me to become human origami for entry, I would, which, at my age, I’m not. (Last attempt at that had me accidentally mis-fold into a crane instead of a passenger, and it took a lot of painful reworking to extract me, but I digress).
Many of your pics, Dr T, seem to show awful keeness in the Japanese for aftermarket wheels with bad cases of the fuglies, even on old wagons. Not to my taste, but then, they haven’t asked me and give no indication they’re about to.
*an older-Oz expression that is not salacious, but merely expresses surprise. In fact, it’s the more polite version of “Well, I’ll be buggered!”, or “Bugger me!”, which is also in neither case to be considered an invitation literally to be taken. A younger person might be heard to use the even less decent “F*ck me drunk!”, but they too are not seeking alcohol or congress.
* This expression used to be common in Blighty too, though I haven’t heard it in 40 years or more…
Hah! Of course it was, I’d forgotten. My 87 yo dad still uses it. In fact, he did his apprenticeship in the ’50’s with men from the WW1 era, and picked up their expressions for use vastly past their currency – and his kids got them from him!
I think it comes actually from nothing rude but more from some derivation of “knocked down with a feather”, ie; even a puff of wind could’ve knocked me down, such was the surprise.
“Bugger” is – was? – a great Australian noun, of infinite adapability and no meaning other than “person” at all: suffixing silly, funny, clever, fat, skinny, horrible, ad infinitum.
Dōmo arigatō T87-san. Thank you so much for these snapshots of Japan. That Y30 in front of the Tokyo station is perfect! I actually recognised the station before I even looked at the car. And so many other great photos and cars.
Now to go look at the “foreign” ones!
The story I remember about my first business trip to Japan in 1989 was a comment from one of my co-workers (kind-of, he was actually from a different location than I but we were part of a team assembled to bring a common product to development). I was aware of all the vehicles we never saw in the US, for some reason they didn’t import them, and the comment was directed at a small crew-cab pickup truck, which has since all but replaced the former single cab pickups here in the US, but in 1989, only existed as full-sized (not smaller mid or compact sized) crew cabs. Basically his comment was that he’d buy one of them should they ever import them to the US.
The funny part of the story happened a decade later…I was sent to a different city in Japan not for development of a new product, but to help with a problem on an older one, which an automaker had bought quite a few of, but found a difficult to reproduce for us problem we had to figure out. Even though the Lexus brand was in the US I guess in 1986 (before my first trip to Japan) guess I wasn’t too familiar with them till this 2nd trip, and noted that many of the cars in the US sold as Lexus still carried the Toyota brand in Japan…I’d seen brand names change (used to own a Datsun) but I think it was the first time I ever saw the same model vehicle branded with a different company (other than Plymouth, Dodge Neon, though that just had 2 different brands in the same country). Marketing sometimes seems like a mystery to me, sure there’s a reason guess I’m to practical to understand nuance of why (probably has something to do with perception of people between the 2 countries involved).
Thank you again T87, I agree with H Kerr, perhaps your best yet
does the headlight glass on that Persona really taper into the central trim piece? Incredible.
and just to be clear – four door hardtops have no b-pillar above the waistline?