Idly mulling this over the other day in my head and I couldn’t think of one. The closest I came was the old Datsun 280zx but that’s just a Capri copy so it doesn’t count.
I’m not talking expensive supercars here, but real classics that people can buy and use
Think VW Beete, Golf GTi, Citroen DS, original Fiat 500, Morris Minor, Mini, Ford RS2000, Volvo P180(?) Lancia Delta Integrale, Alfa Spider…
Even when you get to supercars there’s nothing Japanese I can think of that’s truly desirable.

Which is odd, because if you think motorbikes there’s loads of proper classic and desirable Jap bikes – RC30, CB400/4, original Fireblade and GSXRs etc.

So. Are there any? Hmmmm

MX5

I thought of the MX5 too, and that’s my favourite Jap car, I love them, but classic? Nope.
Still in production for a start and its just a modern copy of an old Brit sportscar like an MGB or Spitfire.

Again, as much as I love them, the new Fiat 500 will never be a classic because its just a modern copy

Type R – quite a following…

DrP

Which is odd, because if you think motorbikes there’s loads of proper classic and desirable Jap bikes – RC30, CB400/4, original Fireblade and GSXRs etc.

Why are these bikes acceptable and the Toyota GT2000 not?

Honda Civic 😉

Suburua [ spelling – not my bag mind

Honda 800 or whatever it’s called?

240z?

Nissan Figaro?

(One of these is a joke)

Nissan Skyline, got to be an eighties classic no?

Toyota Supra and MR2 are classics aren’t they?

Not much before the eighties that’s true… …isn’t classic a bit of a subjective thing anyway?

Nissan Micra
Driven by relics from every corner of the UK

Honda S800 probably fits the bill as what we traditionally consider to be a classic car. But early Celicas and Skylines are well regarded too. The Z cars also.

Toyota GT2000

I’m not saying its not, but I’ve never even heard of one or seen one.

sorry double post 😳

Mark 1 MX5 – reinvented the affordable soft top which was good to drive, and designed while we were still churning out those dreadful MG’s.

Idly mulling this over the other day in my head and I couldn’t think of one. The closest I came was the old Datsun 280zx but that’s just a Capri copy so it doesn’t count.

240Z surely, the 260/280’s were just bloated versions aimed at the US.

What about that little Honda roadster, forget its name/number?

WTF is that blue thing?

The Flying Pug?

A very American looking Japanese classic

PT Cruiser meets Suziki Jimny…..

DrP

Well DC5 maybe? Nissan ZX? I think they make useable cars more than classics and in the old days looks were a secondary consideration. Original Swift?

240Z surely, the 260/280’s were just bloated versions aimed at the US.

I Might have got the number wrong. They wee quite popular in the early 80s anyway.
🙂
Nice cars I’m sure.

See, rarity and expense do not necessarily make a classic: See Beetle and Mini

The closest Jap car to those is the Toyota Corolla, yes?

PeterPoddy – Member
WTF is that blue thing?

The Nissan Skyline? Awesome looking car, I do loves me a Skyline/GTR

Honda Civic CRX VTEC:

Essentially, F1 engine technology in a hatchback. Max power output at 7600rpm!

Still in production for a start

I don’t see why that matters.

A very American looking Japanese classic

Which automatically disqualifies it as its just a copy.

And a Sunny ZX coupe???? On of the top 5 ugliest crappest cars ever made? Are you MAD? 🙂

Skyline, nuff said…

I read the post title and immediately thought “240Z”.

Original MR2 was a possibility.

Honda NSX by Fredrik Saetre, on Flickr

I don’t see why that matters.

I do.

In the 70’s, My Auntie had one of those Datsun

Yep Honda NSX.

I’m not saying its not, but I’ve never even heard of one or seen one.

Not a Bond fan then.

You Only Live Twice.

NSX. Supercar. Not much to look at. Never sold well. Never developed or improved that much. Simply not desirable.
Fast, powerful, good even? Oh yes. Classic? Nahh.

I’m not saying its not, but I’ve never even heard of one or seen one.

The Japanese, as a habit/culture, don’t keep old stuff. I remember watching a classic car rally on telly years ago and a Japanese team were racing an S800 made entirely of new spare parts – every panel nut and bolt – as there were no old S800s there to use.

Almost every car they make is to a greater or lesser extent derivative of other designs, they ape European models or the ape American ones, but thats simply because they are a small country hosting mass market car manufacturers- they export most of the cars they make to other markets. So they design to those foreign markets and foreign tastes. There are the odd small run exceptions to that that are domestic market only like the Nissan Cube mentioned on another thread, which is uniquely Japanese, or the Mitsubishi offroad people carrier thing I forget the name of. The latter is very specific to the japanese market – it evokes driving off road, whilst stuck in a constant traffic jam. They’ve never been officially exported to europe as they’re not really safe enough to drive in a country where you might go round a bend in third gear or above. But those cars are typically japanese in appeal – travelling as a group, not actually moving very quickly, fantasising about being somewhere else.

The 240 might have been copying something a bit higher up the image scale than a Capri

Ferrari 275

Datsun

+ another for NSX

PT Cruiser meets Suziki Jimny…..

actually…. the Jimny – predates the Landrover doesn’t it?

+1 for Toyota 2000GT, beautiful thing.

What about the NSX?