We’ve featured many classic car chases from Japanese film and cinema, but there has never been one with a car so fitting. In 1989’s Lonesome Hitman, the pursuing car is, in fact, a Toyota Chaser. With a name like that, it’s surprising they haven’t been in more movies. In this case, it’s running down a W116 Mercedes sedan as bullets fly.
Lonesome Hitman is based on the book by Yukio Yamanouchi, who was known to be a legal advisor to the notorious Yamaguchi-gumi yakuza clan. Penned from the perspective of a hitman within the organiztion and with supposed insider knowledge of the group’s workings, the book became a sensation.
A film version soon followed, and it is said that the events depicted in the movie are about the Yamaichi Conflict. The five-year-long gang war between the Yamaguchi-gumi and the Iwa-kai is considered among the worst in Japan’s history.
Though it’s hard to describe any individuals involved in this war as a hero, Lonesome Hitman‘s star is none other than Tomokazu Miura. We last saw him performing his own stunts leaping from a moving truck onto a moving bus in Seibu Keisatsu. Here, Miura is in the Chaser sends the Benz into a violent skidding flip.
The X60 series was known for having a tough suspension that could absorb all sorts of bumps. That’s put to the test in this chase, but the Chaser takes all the abuse with ease. We’d even be willing to bet that backup cars weren’t needed. Think about that next time you need to eliminate a rival gang member in the 1980s.
