Favorite Japanese non-unicorn car.

racerdave600 wrote: A couple of things about this thread. First, old Japanese cars are cool. And 2nd, most all of them are now unicorns. 1st gen Celicas, FX16s, even FC RX7s and 1st gen MR2s are now difficult to find to a degree, especially nice ones. I've been looking for a pristine '85 MR2 for a while, and they are few and far between these days. Everyone I've come across is a rat, or an automatic. Even RX8s are getting rare around here, and I can't remember the last time I saw an Integra on the road.

Where do you live?

Ian F wrote: I would love to find another '82 GL 4WD wagon like I had in high school:

That's a dead ringer for the first car I ever bought with my own money. Mine was an '81 2WD, but looked identical and was the same color...well, it was when it as new, but the sun had faded it to orange-ish. Bought it in 1992 for the princely some of $300 from a shady mom and pop lot in a bad part of Philadelphia. Drove it for a year until the head gasket gave up...literally the day after I got its' replacement.

1st gen celicas are great, all bodystyles of mr2 are great, I've been haunted by toyota master ace skylight vans lately.

Obvious bias is obvious. Along with gratuitous shot of my car. Also love 2nd gen MR2s and any RWD Celica or Corolla.

I thought about this way too much and decided there are way too many cool Japanese cars to chouse any as my favorite(s). I could start listing cars and not stop for a while. But if forced to pick a favorite, it's the one-owner hand-me-down '81 280zx 2+2 I was given by my father-in-law. It may not be the car I'd have chosen, but there's none other I'd rather have now.

My 280zx

my 2 favorites are the z32 300zx and the 3000gt vr4. Both awesome looking cars with twin turbo goodness.

edizzle89 wrote: my 2 favorites are the z32 300zx and the 3000gt vr4. Both awesome looking cars with twin turbo goodness.

There are a lot of people that seem to still lust for the vr4, see prior post for fair warning...! In addition to it being a rolling POS, the "twin turbo goodness" in stock form was kind of lame, as it only made 300hp with almost 5k lbs to haul around. Any of the ones making any decent power usually replaced the twin turbos with a single, even then it was limited space as the engine compartment was packed with gee wiz crap just waiting to break.....the stock turbos were the tiniest ones I've ever seen too, they were smaller then my testicles, and I've seen bigger ones on various K-cars like the honda city. Because they were so small they ran out of steam and the engine compartment was so crowded that you couldn't readily upgrade to larger twin set ups. If I remember correctly this also had two tiny intercoolers that heatsoaked at the drop of a hat as well.

I've a soft spot for late 80s-early 90s Hondas. My aunt had an 80s Civic hatch when I was a little kid. I remember "helping her" replace a headlight and riding in it when she'd take us on fun trips to the movies and the Detroit zoo. One of my uncles raced an early CRX at Waterford Hills. I thought that was a pretty cool car too.

All those little cars from that era have pretty much disappeared here. The closest I've got to owning one is the neglected 99 hatch that I'm bringing back to life.

In reply to racerdave600:

In the Philly area, I see RX-8's fairly often. A guy in my neighborhood has two of them.

Integras are indeed getting thin, but I see them around.

Last gen RX-7's are definitely rare, but hell - they were rare when new.

In reply to Rumnhammer:

Oh, I almost forgot, when you wanted to upgrade the exhaust, (usually after the solenoid or actuator on the gee wiz exhaust went up) the only exhausts available that were affordable were Chinese knock offs of JDM right hand drive units that the fitment to a USDM car were a nightmare. If you wanted to replace the active suspension, (again after the gee wiz parts went up) the OEM replacements were usually more then you paid for the car, so most people opted for a non-adjustable replacement. when it comes to these things it is best to just remember your teen age lust and stick to playing the car on Gran Turismo. Trust me you will thank me.

yupididit wrote:

racerdave600 wrote: A couple of things about this thread. First, old Japanese cars are cool. And 2nd, most all of them are now unicorns. 1st gen Celicas, FX16s, even FC RX7s and 1st gen MR2s are now difficult to find to a degree, especially nice ones. I've been looking for a pristine '85 MR2 for a while, and they are few and far between these days. Everyone I've come across is a rat, or an automatic. Even RX8s are getting rare around here, and I can't remember the last time I saw an Integra on the road.

Where do you live?

Huntsville, AL, land of the truck and SUV.

Rumnhammer wrote: There are a lot of people that seem to still lust for the vr4, see prior post for fair warning...! In addition to it being a rolling POS, the "twin turbo goodness" in stock form was kind of lame, as it only made 300hp with almost 5k lbs to haul around. Any of the ones making any decent power usually replaced the twin turbos with a single, even then it was limited space as the engine compartment was packed with gee wiz crap just waiting to break.....the stock turbos were the tiniest ones I've ever seen too, they were smaller then my testicles, and I've seen bigger ones on various K-cars like the honda city. Because they were so small they ran out of steam and the engine compartment was so crowded that you couldn't readily upgrade to larger twin set ups. If I remember correctly this also had two tiny intercoolers that heatsoaked at the drop of a hat as well.

I lusted after one of these when I was in my early 20's. Ended up with an non-turbo SL model for a year or two which really didn't scratch the itch. After I got into DSMs, and later RX-7s, I never looked back.

The '95 and up models had 320hp, which was plenty fast back in those days, and was only a boost controller away from more. Now as I recall, they were nowhere near 5k lbs. My SL was 3300ish, a VR-4 was pushing 3800 which seemed heavy at the time but isn't really compared to cars in the segment these days. The only exception was the super limited VR-4 Spyder with its mechanical hard top that by all accounts weighed something like 400 lbs more than the normal VR-4.

At the time, the biggest weak link of the VR-4 was the transmission because rebuild parts weren't available. I believe this was solved by the aftermarket at some point after I had left the scene.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Subaru Brat. I saw one on Craigslist the other day, and was tempted.....

It still had the jumpseats in back!

S2000

Joe Gearin wrote: I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Subaru Brat. I saw one on Craigslist the other day, and was tempted..... It still had the jumpseats in back!

I aways thought these were cool!, I wonder if it is still legal to ride in the jump seats? Maybe they are grandfathered so you can ride at your own risk?

Rumnhammer wrote:

Joe Gearin wrote: I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Subaru Brat. I saw one on Craigslist the other day, and was tempted..... It still had the jumpseats in back!

I aways thought these were cool!, I wonder if it is still legal to ride in the jump seats? Maybe they are grandfathered so you can ride at your own risk?

Also a huge BRAT (and vintage Subaru fan) but wasn't sure if it counted, being a truck and all. I don't believe they are legal in NY because NY states that any seats in the bed (factory or added) must be covered over the top and have seatbelts. The BRAT's are neither.

If you're going to get a BRAT, it has to be in the Starsky & Hutch paint scheme and have the "cyclops" grille with the foglight behind the flip-up badge.

Joe Gearin wrote: I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Subaru Brat. I saw one on Craigslist the other day, and was tempted..... It still had the jumpseats in back!

Oh hell yes! I just forgot about that, glad you mentioned it. Make mine with T-tops please.

The old mirage with the twin stick setup in them. My mom had one and said it was a hoot to drive, even more so when you got used to switching in between power and economy like some halfassed 8 speed transmission.

Keith Tanner wrote:

Trackmouse wrote:

racerdave600 wrote: Easy! The correct answer is 240Z.

He said "non unicorn". Finding a true 240z is hard. Especially with the vertical defrost lines on the hatch glass. Most everything out there is 260,280z, and zx....

I'm thinking the unicorn status applies to when sold new. Yes, old cars can be hard to find in good shape. If we were including unicorns, I've got a thing for the Pulsar Sportback for being the most 80's production car...in the world. They must have been a sales disaster, I've never actually seen one.

Incase anyone is looking there was one on the dfw craiglist with the sportback (wagon thing) a couple days ago

My two are miata, and turbo early isuzu impulse (i have no idea id isuzu is japanese or nkt)

I have a deep irrational love of all 70's Datsuns, although not particularly the Z cars. I have to admit that they are pretty much all unicorns now.

I also have some unfinished business with Mazda 929s.

3rd gen RX-8, still the prettiest car out of Japan IMO. I also jones after old trucks - especially the REPU.

I own one of them: Honda S2000 (non-CR of course). FD RX-7 also needs a special mention here... but obviously the answer is always Miata.

Grizz wrote: The old mirage with the twin stick setup in them. My mom had one and said it was a hoot to drive, even more so when you got used to switching in between power and economy like some halfassed 8 speed transmission.

Ah the Plymouth colt gts turbo is what pictured. The GTS Turbo colt/mirage was a 1.6 4g32t 4 cyl fwd turbo with a 8 speed twin stick (km110). Super light and stupid quick and fun.

In 2011, I tried to buy that actual car in the picture. He's in western part of Virginia and wanted 4.5k for that car and a parts car.

Then, I tried to buy a mint pocket rocket special edition in northern Virginia. Black and gold. He sent it to puerto rico to a mitsubishi collector. That was in 2013.

I know a guy on Colorado with about 5. And a guy name Stefan in Virginia autocross them. There's YouTube vids of him 3 wheeling ite around cones.

There's a none turbo version but they aren't as cool.

They are indeed unicorns!

This one is for sale in my city. Already text the seller.

HappyAndy wrote: I have a deep irrational love of all 70's Datsuns, although not particularly the Z cars. I have to admit that they are pretty much all unicorns now. I also have some unfinished business with Mazda 929s.

In reply to yupididit:

I don't know what I want more, the colt/mirage turbo with the twin stick or the Galant based Challenger with the disgustingly awesome plaid interior.