Today is Sports Day in Japan, a holiday that commemorates the opening of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. The event was a watershed moment for Japan with the debut of technologies like the country’s first expressway, the bullet train, and a satellite broadcasting system to televise the games around the world. It was an era of optimism and economic growth, ushering in the age of Japanese cars that we cherish today. No other decade saw as much change. At the beginning of the 1960s new cars on the market included the Daihatsu Midget and stacked-headlight Nissan Cedric. By decade’s end Japan would have created icons like the Toyota 2000GT, Mazda Cosmo Sport, Honda S800, and Nissan Fairlady Z.
What JNC is most emblematic of the 1960s?
The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “If James Bond was Japanese, what would he drive?“.
We think the most entertaining way to go through the answers is from earliest car to the latest, but some commenters listed a car for every decade so we’ll break those up. We start off with daniel putting Japanese Bond in a Datsun Fairlady Roadster to coincide with the 1962 debut of Dr. No, or Jeff Koch‘s choice of a Prince Skyline Sport, a fitting and stylish car that may have more room for gadgets. Moving into the late 60s, we get a clear winner in BlitzPig and Sammy B‘s pick of a Toyota 2000GT, or Jeff Koch‘s Mazda Cosmo Sport.
By the time we arrive at 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me era, whose most famous car was the Lotus Esprit submarine, the logical choice to replace that car is the Dome Zero, as nominated by ra21benj and Jeff Koch. The 80s offers a wealth of choices, but Sammy B and Jeff Koch narrow it down to a Mazda RX-7 and R31 Skyline GTS-R, respectively.
The 1990s has even more options for a Japanese super spy, with two nods for the triple-rotor Mazda Eunos Cosmo from Hachibrokeyou and Jeff Koch. Sammy B offers up a Toyota MR2 Turbo while Nigel gives him a Toyota Aristo and David goes all out with the Nissan R390.
Moving into the 21st century, Sammy B picks an NA2 Honda NSX, but Jeff Koch‘s R35 Nissan GT-R is a solid machine as well. Once we get into the 2010s, there’s only one real answer, and that’s the Lexus LFA as chosen by Tom Westmacott and Jeff Koch. In present day, there’s another clear winner in @ye and Speedie‘s pick of the Lexus LC500. And in the near future, BlitzPig opts for the Toyota GR GT.
However, if we wanted Sir Jin Bandoh to stay with the same model throughout his decades-spanning career, streetspirit says it must be with the Nissan Z. Unfortunately, there can be only one victor and this week’s winner is dankan, who came up with this brilliant answer that even includes a branch called 九 (pronounced “kyu” in Japanese):
The movie Bond drove Aston Martins, but the book Bond drove a series of custom Bentleys. Fleming loved Ford Thunderbirds.
I think that the Soarer is the right direction, but maybe the wrong brand. The Skyline seems like the right idea, but you need to remember Bond doesn’t want a sports car. He very much wants a high-speed luxury cruiser. ‘Grace, space, and pace’ without much space. A Japanese Bond would be driving a Gloria coupe until 九-Branch gives him a very trick Leopard coupe to replace it. That Leopard would be a two-tone Battleship grey over silver, with a blue leather interior.
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
