Hi all,

I just wanted to clarify something. Although JNC's primary focus is on Japanese cars 25 years or older, there's no reason that we can't discuss, post pictures of, or otherwise enjoy fine autos of any age. Surely there are many future classics out there that we can all appreciate and I'm sure many of you guys have newer cars to run errands or haul kiddies in. We love all types of cars, and old or new, there is no exception.

So I'll start off with my own personal share of rolling stock, a 1986 AE86 or Corolla GT-S in the US market. It's bone stock except for tinted glass (previous owner) and Tokico blues with Eibach springs and it's going to stay that way. It has 160,000 miles but runs like a top.



Ben

Nice AE86! I was thinking of getting one as my first car but prices went out of control when drifting took off here, cars which would have been £500 are now £3000-6000!! I would just be happy to use it as a lively road car with nice handling. Nice to see you're keeping a tidy stock example, stock ones must be getting rare nowadays!

This was briefly mentioned in my Charmant thread, but this is my modern daily driver, a 1998 Daihatsu Mira Classic Turbo 4WD.






The story: Daihatsu UK showed one at a motor show and received positive comments so decided to import a limited batch. It is one of 50 (I believe) brought here as a special import by Daihatsu, I'm told you had to initially had to buy them through a special website or something but it is very difficult trying to get any information about the car. I got mine in June 2005 from the brother of an old lady (unusual choice for an old lady!!) who had not used it for about 2 years due to illness. Despite being unused all that time, all it needed was a new battery and has run faultlessly ever since.

From what I can guess, the Classic was a way for Daihatsu Japan to get rid of 5 door bodyshells quickly as the Kei-car regulations changed to allow slightly bigger car sizes, meaning it was time for a new generation of Mira to come out. The bulk of Classics in Japan are non-Turbo 2WD models. The Turbo got leather seats with red stitching, a wood Momo wheel, big vent on the front for the top mount intercooler, etc. Mine is standard inside and out with just some mild engine modifications.

The engine is a 659cc 3-cylinder DOHC 12V unit with an IHI RHB3 turbocharger and a top mount intercooler as standard. I have changed the restrictive stock filter for a HKS one made for the Daihatsu Move SR-XX (some used the same engine as my car). I also added a HKS Super SSQV (again for Move) for comedy PISH! noises which scare dogs a lot. There's a D-Sport (Daihatsu equivalent of Ralliart/Nismo etc.) oil and radiator cap more for decoration than anything else. I intend on getting a Fujitsubo Legalis-K exhaust from Japan at some point. There's a lot more stuff available (all Move SR-XX stuff) but I'll have to import everything so progress is slow. Oh yeah and I replaced the feeble standard horn (quietest I've ever heard, useless!) with a louder PIAA one.

For me it is the perfect daily driver, the fuel economy is incredible if you drive it gently, once I got 59.9 miles per gallon on a long run! Thanks to very short gearing the acceleration is very quick too, meaning a lot of surprises for other cars, a bit of a sleeper. I can't see me selling it for years if ever, I'm always going to keep one turbo Kei-car around. Despite their strange looks, they just make so much sense.

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http://www.oldjapanesecar.com

Hirst, your description of the Mira makes me want to drive it now.

I'm going to try people's patience by posting a picture of my sensible car:





1995 Camry 2.2 wagon, US-built. I believe they were a big seller in the USA, but they are fairly rare here - they sold then with 2.2 16v with manual (mine) or auto, or V6 with auto only and leather. They all came with the 7-seat facility, which I have used. Mine's done 189k miles and just went straight through our annual MoT safety check with no work whatsoever. Loads of room inside, good on fuel (30mpg) and I love how it drives, so relaxing yet fairly quick if need be.

Can't believe you didn't mention the twin rear wipers, that's the coolest part! Wonder if it is fairly common to have cars with twin rear wipers in the US (considering the width of them)? Certainly isn't here.

Everyone's got to drive a car like the Mira at some point, it is a bit of an overused saying with regards to small quick cars but it really does drive like a go-kart. Good luck getting 7 people in it though.

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http://www.oldjapanesecar.com

here's mine...

That's a nice Corolla! My friend has an 87 GT-S coupe that he managed to pick up for a decent price. Luckily for him, the woman who was selling it was unaware of how much the prices had skyrocketed.

Good for the seller, bad for the buyer.

Ben,
Beautiful GT-S! I once had a chance to drive the '89 FWD Corolla GT-S with a 5 speed and I expected to dislike it but was pleasantly surprised. Seeing yours reminds me of my first job which was at a Domino's Pizza as a driver and my '86 200SX XE coupe would regularly do battle with your car's twin whose driver used to work for a competitor. I was always amazed at how zippy the Corlla GT-S was given the samll displacement. The S12 lost a few battles to the GT-S but also won a few. Thanks for the photos.

I would add that a stock Corolla GT-S, MR2, or CRX Si is becoming a rare thing these days.

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3 280Z's
2 86 300ZX hardtops
86.5 Supra
87 RX-7
90 240SX
03 350Z

here's my corolla and my brothers corolla that we just sold months ago, yes they were kind of rare or hard to find nowadays.

Spottedlaurel - love the Camry in that light blue color. And no, twin wipers aren't a common feature on US cars, not even our big honkin' SUVs. Interestingly, the new FJ Cruiser comes with triple wipers on the front!

OIRC-Toronto - love those EKs, man. I remember watching Barrett-Jackson a couple of years ago and hearing one of the commentators say something to the effect of "you'll never see a slammed Honda Civic on this stage" when talking about future classics... well, seeing has how the EK was a hugely popular tuner platform and the Civic practically kicked off the whole import tuner scene single handedly, I would beg to differ!

daddsun - Yes, stock AE86s are so rare. That's exactly why I wanted to buy one. Considering its impact in the racing/drifting world, my prediction is that its classic status is all but guaranteed, not that I ever plan to sell it... I just felt the world needs at least one unmolested example. Plus, it's a blast to drive! I bought and sold 3 AE86s, each better than the one before it, to finally get this one, and it's the keeper.

beem - not that I'm knocking modded AE86s. I can surely appreciate those, and you have/had some mighty fine examples! I love the red coupe with the Levin conversion and gold rims! I'm sorry you sold them!

I love when people say that. That's when I kindly remind them that 10-15 years ago, the only muscle cars that was bringing in big money had the words Hemi or COPO associated with them.

Besides, everybody knows Barrett-Jackson auctions are meant to stroke the egos of the rich. There's no good reason a Nova should draw anywhere near $100K, I don't care how rare or how low mileage it is.

This is sooo true. There was a time when my dad could not GIVE away his cougar xr-7 or his 70 dart! Now both cars sit between 10-20g's.

Just wait. There will be RA25's sitting up on the auction block within the next 10 years. And hopefully I'll be there stroking my ego.

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-Jeff
Daruma > Everything Else
How's your Engrish? I drive a cicely mosquito end lug of the latter variety... lol Daruma Serika Riftobaku Project

will the mazda miata's be a nostalgic car?

DEFINITELY!

I personally think so... it has one of the largest followings of any car in existence. It practically kickstarted the whole 90s roadster revolution. Audi TT, Mercedes SLK, BMW Z3, Honda S2000, and Porsche Boxster all came on its heels. The The Alfa Romeo Spider and Mercury Capri were selling horribly. If anything, it's popularity may make it take a few years before they become rare.

I doubt they'll become rare, Mazda made so many of them. I think it'll have that same nostalgia factor that a car like the '64 Mustang has.

Only time will tell!

Let's come back here in 25 years & talk about it!

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Michael - Collector of Toyotamobilia ~ www.toyotageek.com
Tomica Fan Club ~ www.tomicafanclub.com

my buddies' datsun 280z, 89 240sx, and my 93 MR2


my cousin's eight six coupe

and i cant find the better pictures of my ST165 right now.

I think thats a given. Definitly a car to remember, no matter how ppl tease it about being a "chick" car, they forget that between the RX7 and the Miata, Mazda is the no.1 most raced cars in North America. Not even mustangs can touch them for that! There are more mazda's at the track than anything, so ppl should leave them alone!
-Jeff

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-Jeff
Daruma > Everything Else
How's your Engrish? I drive a cicely mosquito end lug of the latter variety... lol Daruma Serika Riftobaku Project

QuasiMondo - you've got a good point there... they might not be rare. Still, with so many limited edition ones I think some will fetch a higher price than others. I read about a guy a while back that owned one of each limited edition Miata ever made. This was in the late 90s, and he was up to about 11 cars.

gtfourdreams - I love that pic of the 3 cars together! there's just something cool about a picture when all the cars are related in some way... in this case, being Japanese classics (or future classics) and their color. I really like the silver hood on that Z. That was such a classic paint scheme. Someone should revive it on a 350Z

Tosco_Power - yeah, it's so frustrating to hear Miatas described as a chick car. Not everyone needs an H2 to prove something. Even if '64 Mustangs aren't exactly rare, it still kills me to see them wrecked... just off the top of my head, Me Myself and Irene, some stupid satellite TV commercial a while back... there was also a yellow Miata abused in the movie Go.

That picture of the three Japanese sports cars is really awesome. I also liked that silver and burgandy paint scheme on the S130. The 240SX coupe is also very sharp looking and is my favorite body style of the S13/S14 series. Did your friend swap a '91-'94 front nose cap on his '89? The MR2 is also very nice. I drove a turbo when they first came out and I remember it was absurdly quick for its time.

This is a bit of trivia but on the T.V. show Magnum P.I. the character "Rick" was driving that same color scheme S130 in the early seasons before he was in the Mercedes Benz. Wonder whatever happened to that S130?

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3 280Z's
2 86 300ZX hardtops
86.5 Supra
87 RX-7
90 240SX
03 350Z