Since there are a few threads on classic American tanks going on, I thought it was about time to look at a few of the fun cars from the land of the Rising Sun that got a lot of us involved in sport compacts back in the '70s and '80s.
Mind you, I grew up on American hot rods and customs and European sports cars, but in the '70s, I started adding some fun little cars from the East to my list of favorites. My best friend in high school wnet from a built up Dodge Coronet to a litle Mazda RX3 sedan. After having a big block Torino GT and a '70 Mustang fastback race car, I followed suit with a '73 Mazda RX3 coupe, and caught on to the joys of the 12A rotary engine: smooth power delivery, insane rpms, and ease of modding/rebuilding:
That little car was so much fun, and surprised so many musclecar owners (back then, the average musclecar on the streets was a jacked up Camaro or Nova, or a relatively tame Chevelle or Mustang).
But there were a number of other ones running around the NW that friends were having fun with, and now are sought after.
Mazdas:
R100:
One of the first rotary powered mazdas, they nromally came witha 10a 1 liter rotary, but so many go swapped to 12As and 13Bs. They tended to only weigh about 1500 lbs so they could really fly.
RX2:
A number of ffrinds had the RX2s, some for autocross, some for rally. Stock with the 12A, but again, easily upgraded. One friend had a peripheral port 13B in his RX2. Very fast, but it was good he worked at a gas station, as it got like 4 mpg.
RX3:
The Savanah RX3 was, and still is, very popular in Australia and Puerto Rico. My personal favorite of the early Mazdas, and I've had a couple of them. So easy to make fast, these cars became the RX7 (in Japan, they had the same name, Savanah). My buddy's car, that got me into them, was a white version of the green sedan pictured...
Just before the RX7 was released, Mazda released a limited editon RX3, the SP, that is sought after by collectors today:
RX4:
Bigger and heavier than the RX2 or RX3, the RX4 was the last of the Mazda rotary cars to be available in coupe, sedan and station wagon form (all the others mentioned so far were available in all three body styles), at least in the US. After this, all we got was the Cosmo and RX7 (and now RX8). the earlier RX4s pictured were very much in the style of American musclecars, while the later ones got rather, bland...
[img]http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/mazdarx4_06.jpg/img]
Honda S500/S600/S800:
http://www.gassmanautomotive.com/getimage.php?type=2&name=i-758.JPG (broken link)
Honda's first street car, and the first car brought to the US, was this traditional RWD sports car, following up their Formula one program. Motorsports was Sochiro Honda's hobby, though he wasn't very good as a race driver, as he found out racing a 1932 Ford back in Japan in his youth). But his passion for efficiency in motorsports drove so many of the cars while he was in charge of his company.
N600/600Z:
Following in the footsteps of the original Austin Mini, the N600/Z600 was what put Honda on the automotive map in the US (the S500/S600/S800 sports car was too niche market). I'd still love the Z600 coupe, breathed on with a modern Honda 4 cyl.
Civic 1200 S:
No, not the CVCC version, the EB1-EB3 powered 1200cc ones were actually better suited to racing. I had one, my sister has two right now (including her old race car). Well under 200 lbs, nimble and fun. Sure shows how much the Civic has grown, that the new Fit, which is smaller than the new Civic, is stil much larger than the original Civic. This is another one I'd like to find, but they are only really on the west coast anymore.
Toyota 2000 GT:
The car that really served notice that the Japanese were going tobe serious about building cars in the '60s. The bottom one was one of a pair campaigned by Shelby. Absolutely stunnig cars, though rare. And yes, james Bond drove a custom convertible one.
S800:
The 2000 GT's little brother, it was also pretty rare in the US. A firend of mine used to autocross one in the late '70s. Such a tiny little car.
Corolla SR5:
The first real sporting Corolla in the '70s. A lot of SCCA guys I knew raced these. Competed with the RX3, but not as fast. Back when economy cars were still RWD and you could easily make a truly sporting version. The later AE86 RWD GTS would go on to much fame in the '80s, before RWD Corollas were gone for good.
Along the lines of the SR5 was the early Celica:
[img]
Probably my favorite '70s Toyota, though I never had the opporunity to own one. Highly sought after today.
Datsun 1600/2000 Fairlady:
[img]http://www.automotiveforums.com/jacob/cow/cow4/Datsun1.jpg/img]
The Japanese MGB. A lot of friends had these growing up. Fun little cars without many of the worries of a real British roadster.
Datsun 240Z:
\
Even though the Toyota 2000 GT showed the Japanese were capable of building a world class GT, the 240Z showed they could do it at a price everyone could afford. I've had two of these (well, one was a 260Z). Great cars to drive when in good condition. Again, easy to find on teh west coast, but most have all rusted away out here on the east coast (though I saw a really nice white one a couple nights ago)
Datsun 510:
http://www.geforce3d.net/Gallery/d/1907-1/datsun510.jpg (broken link)
The Dime is another of my favorites, and one of the few smaller cars where the wagon was as much in demand for modding as the coupes and sedans. These were all over where I was growing up, and a lot of fun to drive with very little work. Also one of the few early small sedans/coupes with true IRS, sort of a Japanese BMW 1602/2002.
A lot of early Japanese cars that weren't available in the US have now made their way across the ocean, since they are now old enough to be legally imported. They've got a lot more popular as of late and are starting to command fairly high prices. Sometimes I wish I still had a few of the older Japanese sport coupes I owned.... Go ahead and post up ones you remember from the '60s and '70s...
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