PDA

View Full Version : fun classic japanese cars



jcp123
11-29-2004, 05:06 PM
Just outa curiosity, what are some fun classic Japanese cars (besides the obvious choice, the Z's)? So far I've found the Mazda RX3, the Mitsu GTO (ugh, bad name), and a couple Toyotas like the original Celica. Are there any others?

I like the ones that are RWD and styled like mini-muscle cars

TheOne
11-29-2004, 05:11 PM
the 240sx:).
the old S13, and the S12, which was V6 RWD

jcp123
11-29-2004, 05:13 PM
Well, besides my own curiosity, it's for my friend, he's dumping his BMW 325 and he wants something without injection, but still compact and fun (I have taught him well :D)...

johnnynumfiv
11-29-2004, 05:15 PM
the 510 is a nice little car too

Matt
11-29-2004, 05:21 PM
The Mazda Cosmos and the Toyota 2000GT are great.

jcp123
11-29-2004, 05:25 PM
Don't think he can afford a 2000 GT. Neat car though.

Oh, these should all be available in America and cost under 3 grand or so for a decent driveable car

Matt
11-29-2004, 05:28 PM
OK, well that really changes the thread... :)

TheOne
11-29-2004, 05:33 PM
a 240sx good body and runnin costs $1500-$3000:).
bro just bought a 95 with clean body/engine for $3000, with 125k miles.

jcp123
11-29-2004, 05:45 PM
Yeah, they're injected...he and I are hardcore carb fans though, plus they have the modern styling we're tryin to get away from...

jcp123
11-29-2004, 06:29 PM
We just are. That's besides the point right now.

Spastik_Roach
11-30-2004, 01:11 AM
Any old Rotary, an RX2 or Rx3 or RX4 is a definite fun car.

hotwheels
11-30-2004, 01:58 AM
how bout a datsun B210? i had one of those, little hatchback car..........was a blast to drive. hotwheels of turborides

McReis
11-30-2004, 05:57 AM
Mazda Miata! :)

yogi
11-30-2004, 07:13 AM
best is the rx1.
very very rare

got hemi?
11-30-2004, 04:18 PM
i agree with yogi

jcp123
11-30-2004, 04:45 PM
Hmm, good stuff to look up here. I'll run em by my friend too, although he's poor and has $3 grand to spend, so some will most likely be overbudget (like the RX Mazdas :( ). Might get something along these lines for myself someday though.

DodgeNitroBIRM
11-30-2004, 08:34 PM
Try finding a Datsun 510, very good car and you can still find them cheap, right now. They have started a price increase trend here lately.

Radoman
12-01-2004, 02:06 AM
Toyota MR2's, although they're fuel injected. A Datsun 510 might just be up your alley.

RS6
12-06-2004, 02:56 PM
The Honda S800 is a sweet little number.

Renesis
12-07-2004, 02:37 PM
are you looking at cars that are classics now? or would you consider a car that will become a classic in some 10 years? someone said the maita...

Matra et Alpine
12-07-2004, 02:54 PM
Not one I'd like to drive on American roads, but the little Honda Beat is a WHOEL bundle of fun. You got to drie it like a motorbike ( or liek you stole it :) ) but it handles SUPERBLY well and can keep up on twisties with cars costing LOTS more.

BUT -- it's tiny :)

Also the Suzuki Capuccino, I've seeen tuned ones inthe UK putting out 180+bhp in a body about 2/3 the size of an MG Midget !!!

johnnynumfiv
12-07-2004, 03:10 PM
Also the Suzuki Capuccino, I've seeen tuned ones inthe UK putting out 180+bhp in a body about 2/3 the size of an MG Midget !!!


Thats a really small car! That thing has to move quite well, 180hp :eek:

Renesis
12-07-2004, 03:12 PM
corillary to matra's input:

its not really a classic yet, though, its still got a few more years
but its rarer than it is small, and was never shipped to U.S. soil so that would be hard is not impossible to get.
wasnt it something like three cyllinder with 150hp stock, but if you took off the speed limiter you could easily hit 110 mph?

Matra et Alpine
12-07-2004, 03:48 PM
yep that was them.

Great fun. jsut dont' contemplate hitting any other large car at anything over 50mph :(

jcp123
12-07-2004, 04:17 PM
are you looking at cars that are classics now? or would you consider a car that will become a classic in some 10 years? someone said the maita...

By that I mean classic now, in the sense that they have carburetors, and sort of mini-muscle car styling. The Mazda RX/3 and the early Celicas are perhaps the best examples of this. I am of the opinion that modern cars will never become classics in the same sense as the cars that are classic today are.

Renesis
12-07-2004, 07:19 PM
By that I mean classic now, in the sense that they have carburetors, and sort of mini-muscle car styling. The Mazda RX/3 and the early Celicas are perhaps the best examples of this. I am of the opinion that modern cars will never become classics in the same sense as the cars that are classic today are.
you would have thought the same way in the 60s if you were 19 then. you can't be biased like that.

by the way the first generation celica was pretty much a replica of the mustang, so how does their complete lack of styling originality justify it being a classic?

jcp123
12-07-2004, 07:23 PM
It's a matter of semantics. I say classic because the word 'old' has negative connotations.

To go further into it, every car borrows from someone else's style; the Miata itself borrows heavily from the british roadsters of the 60's, as well. And though I'm not sure I see any Mustang in particular in the early Celicas, I do see a lot of general muscle car styling themes, so in that sense, you're right.

I actuall have a few reasons why I'm not sure cars today are going to be classics. I'm not sure people in the future are going to want to bother with maintenance of electronic/computerized systems, nor do I think the shadetree mechanics are going to be very happy with the very much more compact spaces that are given in today's cars to work on them. Add to that the fact that plastic typically doesn't age very well, and I am honestly just not sure today's cars will hold the same appeal to collectors.

EDIT: I'll make a deal. How about I try to find at least one nice thing to say about every car I comment on? It'll be hard because that's honestly just simply not the way I feel in my heart most of the time when dealing with new cars, but I'll find something. All I ask in return is, just let me be while I revel in the cars I like.

Matra et Alpine
12-08-2004, 01:45 AM
I'm not sure I see any Mustang in particular in the early Celicas, I do see a lot of general muscle car styling themes, so in that sense, you're right.
Funny, I see lots of '58 Aston Martin DB4s in Mustangs and 'muscle cars' :)

To distort a saying .... "similarity is in the eye of the beholder" !!!!




!!!! But you'd work for 10 years to afford an Aston :( !!!!

Agree on the status of "classic" in the years to come.
What frightens me is that there will be cars stored and not touched and treated with chemcicals to retain all that nast plastic. These cars will be wheeled out to concourse meetings and 30 years from now 'kids' won't get the chance to DRIVE any of these so-called classics.

Fiat Multipla ?????

McReis
12-08-2004, 09:36 AM
are you looking at cars that are classics now? or would you consider a car that will become a classic in some 10 years? someone said the maita...


For me the Miata as allready conquered the right to be named a classic. It's been around for years and as lots of fans. It's allready a legend in small budget fun cars, and seen lots magazines like Classic Cars naming it as a great modern classic with the same king of apeal of an MG B.

jcp123
12-08-2004, 09:44 PM
Funny, I see lots of '58 Aston Martin DB4s in Mustangs and 'muscle cars' :)

To distort a saying .... "similarity is in the eye of the beholder" !!!!


I was just talking about the Celica in that example, and how the Mustang did (or didn't) influence it. To then talk about a completely different car (the Aston) and say that it in turn influenced the Mustang...that's a completely different point altogether.

Although I do agree. The Mustang does have strong European influences, mostly because Lee Iacocca did want the Mustang to be pretty European in its flavor. And it's none the worse for that.