Well, it’s here, the final day of the year. Now before we all get hammered and pretend we know the words to “Auld Lang Syne,” let’s take a look back at all the nostalgic car happenings that took place during our planet’s latest orbit ’round the sun.
We think 2007 can be safely called a banner year for nostalgics. First of all, it marked 100 years since Komanosuke Uchiyama finished construction on the 1907 Takuri (pictured). It was powered by a 2-cylinder 1.9L boxer engine, but had the added effect of being the first ever Japanese-made car. Sayonara, walking!
But what about companies that still exist, you say? Well, in 1907 Daihatsu was also founded, and immediately began cranking out (ha!) engines. Their first car wouldn’t come along until 1930, and even then it only had three wheels, but the company had been firmly established. In honor of its centennial, this past May the Daihatsu museum opened in Osaka.
2007 also saw the 50 years of one of the most revered names in motoring, the Nissan Skyline. All 12 generations were put on special display at the just-completed $3 billion Tokyo Midtown, and the newest iteration embarked on a country-wide tour that culminated at the Ken & Mary tree in Hokkaido. Nissan’s Ginza showroom housed another exhibit, and in October, the reincarnated GT-R made its debut at the Tokyo Motor Show.
In May 1967, Mazda’s iconic rotary engine spun freely into the world in the form of the Cosmo 110S. Of all the Japanese automakers, Hiroshima-based Mazda has made the most aggressive and much-needed push towards making its history known, with a killer website and special edition RX-8s for Japan and the US. As a result, Mazda wins the completely unprestigious Japanese Nostalgic Car’s Manufacturer of the Year Most In Touch With Its Roots Award.
Yes, 2007 was a big year, but biggest most of all for the Big T. Not only was it Toyota’s 70th birthday, but also its 50th year in motorsport. Not that it noticed any of this, however - Toyota was too busy surpassing GM to become the biggest automaker in the world. At the end of October, Toyota USA celebrated its 50th anniversary, marking exactly half a century of Japanese cars in America. The very next day marked 25 years of Japanese cars built in America, with the anniversary of Honda’s Marysville, Ohio plant opening.
But enough about the manufacturers. What about the enthusiasts? You guys are the pioneers, baby! The nostalgic car universe is still in its infancy, but growing in leaps, bounds and jetpack-assisted flights thanks to you, dear reader. The Japanese Classic Car Show was bigger than ever this year. The mainstream media began to take a closer and much-deserved look at vintage J-cars. The Times, both LA and New York, published pieces on the emergence of Japanese classics. Shows like Motoring J Style stepped onto the scene, and even more events are planned for next year. Commercials and TV coverage too.
Oh yeah, and we started! Okay, technically we started in 2006, but the website you’re reading right now launched in January. It wasn’t just us, either - there were also our partners in crime at grandJDM and Old Japanese Car in what Hemmings called a “mini-explosion” of English language sites about old school JDM. We’ll be sure to mention this honor next time we’re going through airport security.
Explosion or not, we’re truly honored to have been a tiny part of the fast-growing world of nostalgics. As you may have heard, we’re coming out with a magazine for 2008, with unique content and full color photography. As with all our endeavors, we hope this will help support the scene, the shops, the enthusiasts and, of course, the cars. Look for a subscription announcement in the first week of January.
Wow, this is post is beginning to rival War and Peace in length, but we’d like to leave you with this. It’s a new year’s card originally sent out on January 1, 1936, and comes courtesy of our friend Dan Banks and The Dan Banks Collection. According to Dan, the 1935 Datsun Model 14 on the postcard was drawn by Ryuichi Tomiya, who did many of Datsun’s early catalogs and advertising materials. Hanging from the hood ornament is a shimenawa, a straw rope with paper strips warding off evil spirits and welcoming Toshigami, the Shinto god of the New Year. The card was sent by a Datsun franchise to a customer in Kamakura and says “Wishing you continued happy motoring in the Datsun this year!”
Happy motoring, indeed, with much more to come in 2008!
Many apologies for the shortage of new posts in the past week or so, if you knew what we’ve been working on then you’d forgive us! Anyway, back to regular programming. A couple of weeks ago we did a piece on the short lived joint alliance between Nissan and Alfa Romeo. Certainly one of the most bizarre automotive joint ventures, but it is not the only weird JDM corporate marriage.
For a time in the 80s, Daihatsu had an arrangement with DeTomaso, to create an odd mix of JDM econo-hatch manufacturer with hardcore Italian supercar maker.
Move over, Governator, there’s a new force out of Austria to be reckoned with, and that force is Japan-Oldies.at. Like the name says, it’s a German-language forum for lovers of old Japanese cars, and it’s run by Rainer, aka Mr_Daihatsu on our forum. Check out his moving quest for a painstakingly restored 1981 G10 Daihatsu Charade that, if the Gumball Rally sticker in the original ebay photo is any indication, has led a very difficult life.
Look out world, vintage Japanese car fans are coming together like Go-Bots! And in case you haven’t already, check out grandJDM from Australia (note to pageant queens: there’s an L and some extra vowels in there) and Old Japanese Car from the UK.
On Monday, Japan’s small car specialist unveiled three limited edtions of its lineup. As regular readers know, 2007 marks a whole century of Daihatsu, and to celebrate their 100th Anniversary the company is rolling out a fleet of Memorial Edition cars. The coolest of the bunch also has the longest name: Daihatsu Copen Ultimate Edition II Memorial. The hardtop convertible kei-roadster comes with goodies like Recaro seats, Momo steering wheel, BBS rims and Bilstein dampers. The Esse and Terios Kid Memorial Editions accompany the Copen, and two weeks prior, three other button-cute kei cars were released, the Move, Move Custom, and Mira.
Europe’s acceptance of minicars has allowed Daihatsu, Japan’s specialist of small, to thrive. Whereas they packed up their subcompacts (possibly in suitcases) and left the US and Australian markets in 1992 and 2006, the Old World still gets the new stuff.
2007 marks Daihatsu’s 100th year in business, and the company is offering Centenary editions of many of its cars. In the UK, you can get a Sirion (Daihatsu Boon/Toyota Passo in Japan) Centenary Edition that comes in silver and has alloy wheels, power mirrors and Y-axis driver’s seat adjustability. The Terios (Daihatsu Be-Go/Toyota Rush) micro 4×4 comes also in silver and alloy wheels, but receives a leather steering wheel, fog lamps and roof rails. Just 100 of each will go on sale in September.
In Germany, you can get also get a 100th Anniversary Copen (pictured), the kei-sized hardtop roadster, which comes in either silver or gray with a red interior or dark green with a beige one. Extras include an upgraded head unit, aluminum trim and a Momo steering wheel. The Deutsch special edition Sirion comes in black.
Check out Daihatsu’s 100th Anniversary sites in the UK and Germany. Earlier this year, Daihatsu opened a museum in Osaka.
Although Daihatsu had only a five-year stint on American shores, the company has been around for a whole Benjamin in Japan. The dapper gent in the bowler you see on the right is Iyokuma Kurokawa, the first president of Hatsudoki Seizo Co., Ltd., the name that was used until the change to Daihatsu in 1951.
By December of 1907, the company had produced its first internal combustion engine, but its first car, if a three-wheeled motortrike with a pickup bed could be called that, wasn’t produced until 1930. In 1937 the FA, its first proper four-wheeler, debuted.
Many more followed, including the 4-seat convertible Compagno Spider, the iconic if politically incorrect Midget II, the Charmant, Charade and Rocky just to name a few. Daihatsu even had some early racing success with the class-winning P5 at the Japanese Grand Prix.
In 1967 it partnered with Toyota, a relationship that grew ever closer until its full buyout in 1999. Still, the brand maintains its own kei-centric identity with cars small enough you could carry them home in your wheel-shaped Hot Wheels case. The only non-keis in the lineup are rebadged Toyotas like the Altis/Camry.
To celebrate the century mark, which actually occurred on March 1, 2007 and before this blog began, Daihatsu gave away 100 new cars modified to help the disabled in Japan.
A special page documenting the Daihatsu timeline can be found here. And although that page doesn’t seem to have updated to reflect this, earlier last month Daihatsu opened a museum to mark the centennial.
To commemorate it’s 100th anniversary, Daihatsu has opened a museum (it’s the reverse-D-looking thing on the left)at its headquarters in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture. Called Humobility World, the four-story hall contains two floors devoted to milestone models such as the 1963 Daihatsu Sport (pictured), 1968 Japan Grand Prix class-winning P5 race car and 1977 Charade, as well as oddball three-wheeled contraptions with names like Bee and Midget.
The rest of the logo-shaped building houses exhibits of concepts, cars for the handicapped, modern Daihatsus and the technology involved in their production.
Well, it’s here, the final day of the year. Now before we all get hammered and pretend we know the words to “Auld Lang Syne,” let’s take a look back at all the nostalgic car happenings that took place during our planet’s latest orbit ’round the sun.
company had been firmly established. In honor of its centennial, this past May the Daihatsu museum opened in Osaka.
In May 1967, Mazda’s iconic rotary engine spun freely into the world in the form of the Cosmo 110S. Of all the Japanese automakers, Hiroshima-based Mazda has made the most aggressive and much-needed push towards making its history known, with a killer website and special edition RX-8s for Japan and the US. As a result, Mazda wins the completely unprestigious Japanese Nostalgic Car’s Manufacturer of the Year Most In Touch With Its Roots Award.
Yes, 2007 was a big year, but biggest most of all for the Big T. Not only was it Toyota’s 70th birthday, but also its 50th year in motorsport. Not that it noticed any of this, however - Toyota was too busy surpassing GM to become the biggest automaker in the world. At the end of October, Toyota USA celebrated its 50th anniversary, marking exactly half a century of Japanese cars in America. The very next day marked 25 years of Japanese cars built in America, with the anniversary of Honda’s Marysville, Ohio plant opening.
But enough about the manufacturers. What about the enthusiasts? You guys are the pioneers, baby! The nostalgic car universe is still in its infancy, but growing in leaps, bounds and jetpack-assisted flights thanks to you, dear reader. The Japanese Classic Car Show was bigger than ever this year. The mainstream media began to take a closer and much-deserved look at vintage J-cars. The Times, both LA and New York, published pieces on the emergence of Japanese classics. Shows like Motoring J Style stepped onto the scene, and even more events are planned for next year. Commercials and TV coverage too.
either - there were also our partners in crime at grandJDM and Old Japanese Car in what Hemmings called a “mini-explosion” of English language sites about old school JDM. We’ll be sure to mention this honor next time we’re going through airport security.
On Monday, Japan’s small car specialist unveiled three limited edtions of its lineup. As regular readers know, 2007 marks a whole century of Daihatsu, and to celebrate their 
Europe’s acceptance of minicars has allowed Daihatsu, Japan’s specialist of small, to thrive. Whereas they packed up their subcompacts (possibly in suitcases) and left the US and Australian markets in 1992 and 2006, the Old World still gets the new stuff.
