The Japanese sport coupe wasn’t invented in the 1990s. After all, the Toyota Celica, Datsun/Nissan SX and Z-Cars, and Honda Prelude all launched in the 1970s. But by the beginning of the 1990s, the segment had well and truly reached its zenith with a broad range of offerings from Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Mazda, Mitsubishi and even some bearing domestic manufacturers’ logos. The “Golden Age”, then, of the Japanese sport coupe could perhaps be considered to encompass the entire decade of the 1990s, before the segment dramatically thinned out in the wake of changing consumer tastes. Which was your favourite offering from this time?
The sheer variety was staggering. Did you want a turbocharged, all-wheel-drive coupe? Mitsubishi had you covered with the Eclipse, or there were the related Eagle Talon and Plymouth Laser.
Rear-wheel-drive? Nissan offered you the 240SX and 300ZX, while Toyota had the acclaimed Supra.
Rotary engine? Who else but Mazda, with the stunning RX-7.
Maybe you placed less of an emphasis on outright thrills and instead preferred high levels of smoothness and refinement. If so, Mazda’s MX-3 and MX-6 may have appealed to you.
Of course, if you didn’t mind the racket and wanted something fleet of foot but low on price, there were the Isuzu Impulse and Geo Storm coupes.
If you wanted a traditional, domestic nameplate, Ford would sell you a version of the Mazda MX-6 with a Probe badge. There was also the aforementioned Plymouth Laser, as well as the later Mitsubishi-based Dodge Avenger and Chrysler Sebring Coupe.
These were just a few of Japan, Inc.’s offerings. There were also the *deep breath*: Honda Prelude, CRX and Civic del Sol; Acura Legend; Subaru SVX; Mitsubishi 3000GT and Dodge Stealth; Toyota Celica and MR2; Nissan NX; Lexus SC; and Acura Legend Coupe. Then there were two-door variants of the Japanese automakers’ mainstream offerings like the Honda Civic and Accord and Toyota Corolla and Camry, as well as countless JDM beauties like the Eunos Cosmo and Nissan Skyline.
What were your favorite Japanese coupes of the 1990s?
I’m not a huge import car fan, but If I had the choice to own one, it would be a Z series or an Acura NSX. There’s one or two NSX’s that come to the car shows here, and I always enjoy looking at them, as they’re just an overall tremendous car. Supras are cool, too.
Celica Alltrac. Second gen models were tanks and twice the car an Eclipse/Talon was.
Still have the one I bought in 2000. My kids going to drive it.
Integra. I had a ’90 GS.
I LOVED my 94 Milano Red Prelude Si just like the one in the picture. Sadly, it was totaled 7 years and 70K miles later when an Expedition turned left on red as I was going thru an intersection with a green light. Both air bags deployed which is why it was totaled. I still miss that car.
I was the second owner of this one – bought from friends who purchased it new in 85. More of a boulevard car than the original Z or the later iterations but with the turbo and 5-speed, it was a great performer for its time. The tech was fun back in the day – digital dash, “audible warning system,” even power lumbar control. They sold well and were all over SoCal. A rare sight today.
The FD Mazda RX7 is the Japanese E-Type Jaguar. High strung and finicky, but there will never be another car like it. Mazda won Le Mans just as this car was being introduced, and that moment in time turned out to be the high point for the company, the rotary engine, and the Japanese auto industry all around. That there were so many other great Japanese cars at the time just puts an exclamation point on that moment and Mazda’s achievement. One could also argue that the Japanese auto industry has been living off of that moment in time ever since, as good cars have been built since then, but the sheer excitement of NSX! ZX! Supra! RX! and all the great other, lesser Nissans and Hondas of the day is no more, and may never be again. Enjoy your Priii, people.
My favorite Jap coupe ? My first ’69 Corolla 2 doors and my last and present Toyota coupe , a TC ( Zelaz , socal scion no more ) . Also a Toyota ”La Canadienne edition ” in 1979 .