Forbes' Greatest Japanese Cars

datsun510forbes.jpgWay back when (and by when we mean 2001), it was the dawn of a fresh millennium, our new president Dubya had yet to make a mess of the country, and the nation was still riding high on the dotcom boom. So say your corporate overlords at ebubble.com had given you enough stock options to make you a paper gazillionaire, but you still had to wait till they vested to cash in. What reasonably priced Japanese car would hold you over until payday, or would ensure itself future classic status in case the economy turned south? You were probably too busy to find out, thanks to overtime at the office because you spent the day playing foosball in the lounge. Luckily, Forbes came to the rescue, listing their greatest Japanese cars of all time, circa 2001.

1917 Mitsubishi Model A
1951-80 Toyota Landcruiser
1958-66 Datsun 1200 Pickup
1967 Toyota 2000GT
1968-74 Toyota Corolla/Tercel
1968-73 Datsun 510
1969-73 Datsun 240Z
1974 Honda Civic
1976-79 Honda Accord
1977 Subaru Brat
1978 Mazda RX-7
1979 Toyota Celica Supra
1984 Toyota MR2
1986 Acura Legend
1989 Mazda Miata/MX-5
1990 Lexus LS400
1990 Mitsubishi 3000GT
1990 Acura NSX
1992 Infiniti J30

A few glaring omissions, uh, glare, though. What about great milestone cars like the Mazda Cosmo Sport, or the Nissan Skyline of any vintage? Still, for a list came before the whole nostalgic craze, it’s not bad, which means it’s way better than the Chicago Tribune‘s recent compilation. Click over to Forbes to see the slideshow.

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2 Responses to Forbes' Greatest Japanese Cars

  1. r100guy says:

    The nation is riding much higher today (stock market) than in 2001. The high for 2001 was 11,750 and today hovers around 14,000 so lets keep the story accurate. 75% of the cars listed are still not worth much to be investing in as restoration costs are far more than current values. Presently, restoration or even maintaining most of these vehicles are a labor of love. Stick with the stock market if investing is your interest.

  2. Jnostalgics says:

    We don’t advocate getting into the hobby as a means of making moolah at all, even if the prices make it a worthwhile investment. You should always do it for the love. Most of this post was just a tongue-in-cheek look back at 2001, when the Forbes list was compiled, and when we (and almost everyone we knew) were working at “the next big thing” hoping to cash in on stock options and strike it rich.

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