CC Outtakes: T87’s Singles Collection (July-September 2024) – Part 1: Japanese Cars

‘Tis the time of the season for yet another one of these little wrap-up posts. The summer heat was brutal this year, so yours truly did not prowl the pavement quite as often as usual. Still, a few automotive curios were uncovered, here and there – just enough for the usual three posts, starting with the domestics and a particularly fine-looking RX-7. Let’s rotarize this thing, shall we?

Fancy Lantis with TV aerials. I’m having more luck finding dead ones than in-motion ones.

I loves me a Porter Cab. They painted over the original sky blue with this beige – perhaps in the hope of making it blend better into its wooden surroundings?

I’m not sure if we’ve seen this particular Autozam AZ-1 before or not. There aren’t that many about. But you know what’s even more unusual? The Suzuki version. See below.

This is the Suzuki-badged clone of the AZ-1. Autozam sales were modest, but the Suzuki Cara’s career on the market was positively ghostly: only 531 units sold in 1993-95.

Aside from the rarity, it’s just a carbon copy of the Autozam. I’d be interested in knowing why Suzuki wanted to have this in their range when they had the (far more successful) Cappuccino already.

Not sure if this is a Suzuki underneath that International-esque kit, but it could well be. Looks like a toy, doesn’t it?

This edition’s “What The Ford?” entry is the 5^th generation (1998-2001) Laser, known in Japan as the Laser Lidea. I know these were sold in other markets in the region (Australia, Taiwan, etc.), but they were a flop here. The Fusion replaced this final Laser in 2002, both in Japan and elsewhere.

Since we’re on the colourful side of things, let’s have a look a couple Mitsuoka Buddys. They’re not exactly common (nor would they ever be), but since these have been in production for a couple of years now, there are a few about.

What’s your pick then, Ye Olde Yeller or the Striped Tomater? Mustard or ketchup?

From Mitsuoka, we move swiftly to Mitsubishi. This 4^th generation Minicab pickup has been hard at work since the late ‘80s. Durable little runt, isn’t it?

Normally, these Lancers kinda leave me cold. This one had a little je-ne-sais-quoi, but I couldn’t tell you what it was.

This kind of car (whether by Mitsubishi or not) from that era is not my cuppa tea either, but I have to admit I’m getting to appreciate the front end on these 3000GTs.

I found a couple of beautiful classic Subarus – a rare thing, even here. They will eventually have their own post. In the meantime, would you accept a tiny mid-‘90s T-Top Vivio?

Before the 660cc Vivio was the 550cc Max. This is the special edition Vicky (1987-89) – white and teal, how period-correct can you get?

Oh, there was this, too. Just an R1 posing as a Fiat 500 as a joke. “Subarth” indeed.

Best be careful what you photograph in this town, stranger. Or there’ll be Belletts flying.

The low light and zoom made this 1990-93 Gemini a little grainy. Kept it anyway, because it’s not like we see these every day.

It’s already Nissan o’clock, so let’s get on to the Datsuns. This Sunny Pickup’s stalked by a Mini?

Here’s another one in all its shining glory. Sunny indeed.

Hardbodies seem to have kept the Datsun name well past its circa-1983 sell-by date. Or maybe whoever restored this double cab pickup added an older badge to go with that lovely orange paintjob.

These old 720 Pickups are getting rare, but this one’s had a small fortune spent on it. Not entirely wisely in my opinion, but to each their own. Can anyone ID the bed? I’m assuming it’s not original, but that’s just my hunch…

Right next to that green 720 was the classic of classics, the Cedric/Gloria Y30 wagon. There were a lot of those around, as I will demonstrate forthwith.

Idling away in a parking lot, this Y30 was being used as a little chill-out room. Pretty common here, especially in the heart of summer.

Finally one with stock hubcaps. They’re a minority nowadays, I reckon.

Case in point. But I kinda like the look of those dog dishes. Pity about the fart can.

Not all Paos are pampered little garage queens. This one seems to be working as a light van, in fact. Which is what a Pao is, essentially, but very few are employed that way.

There are now many more Paos and Figaros than the K10 March they are based on. This one looks like a pre-facelift Turbo model. Awesome headlights and foglamps.

From “Cybertruck” to “Hyper Punk”, the name of the game these days is apparently to design vehicles with a triangular theme and come up with copycat names. Or are Nissan just mocking Tesla here?

This is much more interesting, isn’t it? I’d expect to see an old Nissan Patrol 60 (the triple wipers make it a 1975-80 model) once in a while, but looking like this?

The Caravan “Limousine” was Nissan’s luxury van throughout the ‘90s. Oddly enough, I found three of these that day. This black V6 was the best-looking of the bunch.

Based on the B13 Sunny/Sentra, the 1990-95 Presea was a sort of upmarket “pillared hardtop” featuring styling quite similar to the new Infiniti Q45. These were only sold in RHD markets in the Asia-Pacific region.

Maximas are very uncommon here. They only lasted two or three generations and were mostly seen as an upmarket Bluebird. This is the final JDM generation, from the early ‘90s.

There are a few A32 Cefiros (a.k.a Maxima / Infiniti I30 / Samsung SM5, depending where you bought one) still around, on the other hand. But this is the first time I think I’ve caught the wagon version, which was made from 1997 to 2000, whereas the saloons were sold here from 1994 to 1998.

Never a frown with the C33 Laurel. Not many of Nissan’s ‘80s designs were as dynamic-looking as this.

No President was available, sadly – the best Nissan luxobarge I could find was a Y33 Cima (1996-2001).

I’ve seen a number of C10 coupés with GT-R badging, but I’m never certain they’re the real thing. After all, there weren’t many GT-Rs made – and there are certainly far fewer genuine ones than there are genuine fans. But this one comes from Nissan’s own collection, so it’s probably the most genuine one I’ll ever be able to document.

We’ve entered the Skyline zone, folks. Beware of low-flying Kenmaris and rusty Iron Masks.

Well, this R31 Iron Mask is anything but rusty. Quite presentable, in fact.

Many R32s around, even though they’re well over 30 years old by now. Time doesn’t work the same way for Skylines; they should have called these Quantum.

The Skyline of the summer was, without question, this R30 van.

It seemed to have been literally warped the space-time continuum, coming straight out of 1982 through to 2024 without aging. Wish we could all claim as much.

On the flip side, this basket-case Primera looks older than it probably is. As does that white car behind it, which will enable up to seamlessly transition to…

…the Toyota portion of the tour! This is a gen 2 (1986-90) Vista hardtop in Etoile trim, which sounds nicer than it is (it’s actually just one rung above base). With well over 300k units made, this was the best-selling Vista of them all.

By the 4^th generation (1994-98), sales were down to the 100k mark. But the Vista muddled through, for a bit – if for no other reason than Toyota had created a whole network of stores after it.

Suppose you were out and about, one fine summer’s day, and encountered a Toyota Origin — the very same one you caught a while back, in actual fact. Quite naturally, an impromptu photo session would follow, right?

With just 1071 units made, with the utmost care, by Kanto Auto Works (where they craft the Century) and a 3-litre straight-6 sat behind that chromed grille, it has to be one of the most desirable Toyotas of the 2000s.

Here representing the Crown, the S130 Governor General hardtop (joke intended mostly for our antipodean CColleaugues).

I now have a rule about the AE86: I’ll only bother if they have something approaching stock wheels. This eliminates a majority of encounters, but then there are so many of these buzzing about…

I’m not a stock wheel extremist though. One must recognize the allure of the aftermarket kind, if mostly for comic effect.

Keeping on the subject, I just noticed this Celica has the very same five-spokes as the AE86. Who wore them better? I’m voting Celica.

A sight for Soarers! About 95% of these are white, it seems. But how awesome do they look in black?

Mid-‘90s Town Aces were pretty solid machines, but they’re now a protected species. Or at least they should be. I have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of the decent JDM ones have been exported to Asia and the Pacific.

You have a boring Toyota HiAce and fancy sticking out of the crowd? Some kit maker has you covered with this beauty. Just bolt that sucker on, and get the heck out into Dodge.

Let’s close the Toyota chapter on a high with a delightful Sports 800. With a Nissan Figaro looking on from behind, for good measure.

Methinks someone loves their little Honda Today a little too much. They’re cute and all, but pandas and cranes? Don’t mix your mascots.

Tons of Beats buzz about the place, but this one had the good fortune to park right opposite a Lotus Elan. Just made for a great pic.

From yellow to yell “LOW”, this circa 1998-2002 Legend was quite an eyeful. It’s sporting Acura badges, too.

A couple bikes caught my attention. That’s a 1978-82 CB400T Hawk II right there. Given the amount of ink on the rider, I had to be pretty discreet when taking the photo…

I really don’t know bikes, so I’m going to hazard a guess and say this is a 1973-78 Kawasaki Z750. A few trucks to see us out?

There is a pretty strange variety of armoured trucks like this police (prison?) van in this country. I usually hesitate taking pictures, as you never know the impression that will cause. So here’s one, but I might not try for another.