Today, February 2, is Number Two Day in Japan. It’s an occasion to celebrate the penultimates, such as Mt Kitadake, the second highest mountain after Mt Fuji, or the Shinkoro Clock Tower, the second-oldest clock tower in Japan after the one in Sapporo. In the automotive world there are forms of conventional wisdom that are taken for granted. The FD is the best RX-7. The Land Cruiser is better than the Pajero. The GT-R slots above the Z. These assumptions have been baked in for so long that most don’t question them. But in the spirit of the holiday, what are some Number Two cars that should actually be Number One?
What car unfairly lives in the shadow of another?
The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What are your rules for parking your car in public?“.
It’s good to know our readers are neurotic about parking as we are. We even picked up a few tips from the comments, like nlpnt‘s rule about parking by the employees at retail locations to avoid the constant shuffle of customers’ cars. Some, like Sakamoto, insist on parking at the back of lot and even got his spouse to do it (kudos!), while others like Jonathan P. and Negishi no Keibajo are obsessive about centering the car between the white lines.
On the other side of the spectrum, TheJWT throws caution to the wind and parks for utmost visibility. And amateur_hour_auto goes a step further and just accepts the potential for dings.
The most pathological parkers gave us an entire dissertation of parking rules, and it was a tough choice between @ye and aaad6598-d50a-4e34-bf8e-100ef7f10315. In the end, this week’s winner was aaad6598-d50a-4e34-bf8e-100ef7f10315 for being just a tad bit more fanatical:
Do you circle the lot for a wider spot at the end of a row, or just go for the closest?
* I tend to park far away. Close to the door has more traffic/pedestrians so more chances of mishaps or delays. Far away is easier when leaving and I can often pull through. More healthy to walk the extra steps too.
Do you avoid trees?
* I live in a very sunny place so I seek out trees/shade. Bird poop can be washed off, and sun damage is cumulative and cannot be washed off.
Are you allergic to paying for a spot?
* Very. I actively avoid dense urban areas where this is common and will even walk a few blocks if necessary.
If not, do you ever let a valet touch your car?
* Not usually going places so fancy as would have a valet, but if I did I wouldn’t be thrilled about it. Family can drive it sometimes but even then I feel a little off afterward.
Other items
* At home I usually back in since I have a lot of practice aligning with the landmarks in that spot but out in the wild I rarely do.
* Always put up the sunshade even in winter
* Always use the parking brake
* I dabbled in car covers at one point and decided I didn’t like to use them.
* Need more garage space but have to make do with what I’ve got.
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
I would say the last I6 Z, the 200ZR, which had an RB20 under the hood. This is understandable, as the Z31’s pretty commonly associated with the VG series of engines, but there is something about an inline six which just feels right. There is barely any information available online about this particular one.
In a bit of a curveball way, if I interpret “second-best” as applying within car families, it might be interesting to say that the Civic Si often gets overshadowed by the Type R.
I would say that the Lexus sport models live in the shadow of Supra’s, the ISF and GSF models for sure are a better vehicle.
That limited production ’60s Toyota coupe with a Yamaha-built engine and race car components…
…You know, the 1600GT
“Once a mighty specimen of the sporty coupe family, the elderly S12 is usually seen sitting covered in rustholes in a trailer park that is now its natural habitat. The 200SX can be seen eating fuel and oil once or twice a year but it now rarely eats any tires. It is hoped that what is left of the S12 population get the same kind of protection as other members of the JDM bubble-era genus.
This has been Franxou, reporting from a random field filled with old forgotten cars for the Save The Cool Old JDM Classic Foundation.”
You know, when at a quick glance, you see a weirdly long low and wide AE86, it just might be the elusive Nissan S12-chassis!
A nice talking car offered in 4-, turbo 4- and 6-cylinder flavour. I do not know if it has any racing pedigree, but I believe that after the S13 homerun of a car and once the AE86 got popular, most people tought the S12 as “the AE86 we have at home”.
Nissan put the nose from an S12 on the S110 Super Silhouette car to pretend like it was a new car, if that counts as racing pedigree…