Japanese Nostalgic Car

Japanese automakers have been using celebrities to pitch their cars for decades, forcing them to declare nonsensical phrases, speak Japanese, kiss the product, or barely say anything at all. None of it was ever meant to be seen by western eyes. With the advent of the internet, these ads are just a mouse-click away and a source of non-stop entertainment. Therefore we ask:

Which car had the most entertaining celebrity spokesperson?

Sonny Chiba became an international martial arts star with 1974’s The Street Fighter, but before that he had already achieved quite a bit of fame in Japan. In 1970 Toyota hired him to hawk their latest ride, the A10 Carina. Younger American audiences probably remember Chiba as Hattori Hanzo in Kill Bill or, more likely with the car crowd, the yakuza kingpin who settled beefs with drift battles in Tokyo Drift. Of course, having a Japanese star peddle a Japanese car somehow doesn’t seem as hilarious, so maybe it’s not actually the most entertaining.

What say you, dear reader? As always, the most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a toy. Click through to see the winner of the last QotW, “What’s the most blasphemous engine swap?” Continue reading →