There’s been no shortage of amazing one-off machines from Japan’s prolific tuning houses. The demo cars were built to showcase what the mad scientists were capable of. The most famous of them stood out as separate from the cars they were based on, and weren’t even referred to with the original make in the name: NISMO 400R, JUN Hyper Lemon, or the Top Secret V12 Supra. These were the cars that were plastered into the imaginations of the Gran Turismo generation.
What’s your favorite tuning house demo car?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “Who deserves to be in the JNC Hall of Fame?“.
We never get a lot of answers when asking about actual human beings. Admittedly it’s more fun to think about cars than people but sometimes the cars are so good one can’t help but wonder how the dream teams behind them came to be. Imagine being the minds that toiled over every detail no matter how big or how small, from world-beating sports car to ordinary door lock switch. That’s why dankan nailed it by reminding us of the golden age of Hondas:
I would like to nominate the engineering and styling teams at Honda in the 1980s. From the City/Motocompo combo, through all of the classic Civics of the period, to the 4-wheel steering Prelude, and the NSX. That was a run of consistent styling and engineering character that mainly focused on fun for the regular person, but executed with a level of creativity that in many ways no other brand has ever matched. A full decade of hits across a whole model range, and no one’s been able to match it since.
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
Air Breath Research Hasoki Z – the red, wide-body’ed S130 that was proabobly the archtype for Wangan MidNight’s Akuma no Zetto.
Oh wow, thanks!
In response to this week’s question, I’d like to nominate a ghost. The HKS RX-7 RS. There are only a few pictures left, but this thing was bonkers back in 1993. Shorter rear glass, 450hp, and rumours of a limited production run if the HKS Zero-R worked out (it didn’t). And then it disappeared, never to be heard from or seen ever again. All that’s left are a few pictures and vague memories:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Kyusha/comments/jdauye/hks_rx7_fd3s_rs_presented_in_1993_tokyo_auto_salon/
That could be (should be) produced today and would SELL!
The front end kinda looks like a combination of the first gen Viper and an NB Miata
The BN Sports drift car, the red Soarer. Use to see it all the time in the D1 drift videos from
Option.
So many good ones it’s hard to pick… The ABR Z, any of Smokey’s cars, Mine’s R34, HKS Zero-R, Amemiya FD3S…
I think my favorite though isn’t just a demo for what a person/shop can make, but it was also extremely successful- Daigo Saito/ Fat Five Racing’s JZX100 D1 car. It had less in common with its road-going counterpart than a modern Nascar does. Well over 1000 hp, under 1000kg, rear-mid engine, and running on methanol with no intercooler.
I love the Osaka JDM 3rd gen Civic. Particularly because of the dent in the front fascia caused by an RX7 that was a bit too slow in the corners.
Mine’s white Evo VI
The JUN Auto Mechanics 1996 Honda Civic, I don’t know why but i just find the green and yellow color combo charming as heck.