QotW: What should be inducted into the Japan Automotive Hall of Fame next?

There are actually surprisingly few cars in the Japan Automotive Hall of Fame. The Mazda Roadster/Miata was just inducted, and the Toyota Corolla was welcomed last year, but the list is still pretty short. There can be many reasons for a car to deserve a spot. A pure and consistent sports car like the Mazda is appealing to enthusiasts, but the Corolla has put more people on the road than any other model in history. The JAHoF takes motorcycles, commercial vehicles and notable individuals too. What would you nominate, and why?

What should be inducted into the Japan Automotive Hall of Fame next?

The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s the last car you will ever own?

There were lots of heartfelt answers last week, with reasons as diverse as the cars chosen. Tim can’t stop thinking about the S30 Zs he has owned, Jeff Koch has been through a lot with his WRX wagon, Ant arrived at the Mazda Miata after a Sherlock Holmes-like round of deductive reasoning, Angelo has accrued too many fond memories with his B12 Sentra, Jayrdee scrounged and saved to get his dream AE86, and thefiscoproject wants to make sure there is at least one S30 Z left in the world after the autonomous armageddon.

Many of you selected newer cars. Steve wants something that will last the rest of his life and went with the logical choice of Lexus LS, dankan makes a case for the Honda E, and Streetpunk64 has an unshakable love for the Scion xB. Ultimately, it was ZN‘s youthful desire to keep his SW20 MR2 forever, even though he’s only in his 20s, that won our hearts.

It might be a bit early for me to answer this question seeing as I’m only in my twenties, but I want to try to hold onto my second gen MR2 as long as I can. I don’t have any good reason other than I just really like the car, maybe its a side effect of me not having been able to drive very many other cars yet, and the MR2 being the first “fun” I’ved owned. But unless something drastic comes up I plan to have this car for a long while.

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10 Responses to QotW: What should be inducted into the Japan Automotive Hall of Fame next?

  1. art derix says:

    When a car get the vote for 1 of the 10 best cars in the world repeatedly ( was it 6 times?) by a leading car magazine on a continent like the USA..

    It should be in the Japan Automotive Hall of Fame!

    Ofcourse i’m talking about the BEAUTIFUL Nissan 300ZXTT. made from 1989-2000!

  2. Teddy says:

    Idk if it’s in it already, but I’d have to say Toyota HiLux. These things have been used for literally everything. African Civil War? You got it. Being set on fire and left for the incoming tide by the guys at top gear? You got it. Taking a 5000 kilometer trip across the artic? You got it. Towing the camper on a nice family vacation? You got it.

    Basically, this truck does it all, it’s been around since the Stone Age, and still is to this day.

  3. Ant says:

    First that comes to mind is the Bluebird 510. Hugely significant car for the company, and one of the first Japanese cars to truly challenge western models – several years before the Civic did likewise. Great motorsport heritage too, and increasingly valuable these days.

  4. エーイダン says:

    Honda Civic MKI- Why? Think of what that little hatchback spawned, everything from the tuner trend of the ’90s to the migration from American Detroit scrap-iron land yachts to small economy runabouts. The idea of a cheap car that can be customised with so much offerings and probably the most quintessential Asian city car this world has ever known…..all because of a little 3-door hatch in the 1970s…..

  5. ahja says:

    If the Japan automotive hall of fame wants to be like the Rock and Roll HoF, then they should induct the Karmann Ghia and Chevy Vega ASAP. Also maybe a Dodge Neon as a blatant pandering to the younger gens. The RRHoF sucks so hard.

    Seriously: RA272 or CB750

  6. Angelo says:

    How about the Toyota Crown Comfort? I think it as a chance, Morizo even approves

    Imagine how many of those still run the streets of Japan.

    I figure its one of the cars one can associate with the Japanese. Whether in private, taxi, driving school, not to mention as a drift car, it’s a car everyone probably have driven or ridden on.

    Not to mention, how many faces have been smacked by that rear door?

  7. dankan says:

    A lot of the big ones are already inducted. But there are a couple of shocking exceptions. The first is an easy one. The Prince/Nissan Skyline. The original Japanese sports sedan. It’s not in there, and that is a pretty shocking omission. If I have to explain why, you’re on the wrong website.

    The second is more of a type, than a model. But the original deserves induction to represent the entire genre. That vehicle is the Kurogane Baby, and the genre is the kei truck. Yes, it was a commercial failure because the Suzuki Carry and Subaru Sambar wiped it off the map. But it was there first, and no Japanese Automotive Hall of Fame is complete without inclusion of this key market segment.

  8. My_Fairlady_ZFG says:

    The Datsun S30 Chassis should be inducted into the JAHFA. I don’t know the impact the 240Z, 260Z, and 280Z had on the Japanese domestic market, but I do know the S30 was monumental in America. A fuel efficient, fun sports car that anyone could afford was something that was totally new here. It opened up the opportunity of motoring adventure to the Everyman and changed thousands of lives as a result. Now, I don’t know these things for a fact because I was not alive at the time, but I am beginning to see it for myself as I restore my own 240Z. The joy I get when 50 year old technologies and parts still work as well as they did, or near as well as they did, the day they rolled off the assembly line, is a unique thing. The S30 chassis is dynamically influential, in that it continues to be revolutionary, even today. My generation can tear one apart and see how cars used to be made. They can learn about points and condensers and all the other analog technology that isn’t used in newer cars, and see the brilliance in it. I know points and such are not unique by any means to the S30, but it is a valuable lesson that needs to be learned My young car enthusiasts, that stage III chips and computers and self driving cars And even power steering are not needed for fun. The S30 serves just fine.

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