Today, September 21, is officially Lightweight Day in Japan, established by Kawakami Sangyo Co., Ltd., a Nagoya bubble wrap manufacturer. Kawakami literally means “river’s source” and thus chose the water nymph Naiad from Greek mythology as their symbol. Naiad also happens to be the third moon of Neptune, the ninth planet according to Kawakami, this making Lightweight Day the third Monday of the ninth month (nevermind that Neptune’s really the eighth planet).
Dilettantes obsess over horsepower, but connoisseurs care about weight. And Japan is known for its many lightweight, nimble, and well-balanced cars, from Datsun 510s to Toyota AE86s to Mazda Miatas to Acura Integras.
What’s your ultimate lightweight JNC?
The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s your best story about moving a dead car?“.
Call it educational, call it commiseration, but all of last week’s answers were highly entertaining. But, as Paul Markie describe wonderfully with his twin stories about a ’76 Monte and a Datsun Z, distressing situations can turn into great life lessons and bonding opportunities. That was certainly the case for Taylor C. and his trailering of a CB Accord in the pouring rain, or Alan‘s Thanksgiving adventure bumper-pushing an EG Civic with a pristine Lexus LS. And sometimes, as in ra21benj‘s case, the problem sometimes fixes itself.
Not all of the stories had a happy ending. Negishi no Keibajo shared dual tales of woe involving a tow company destroying a drivetrain and a shady shipping broker. streetspirit‘s story of ripping it from dead stop during a flat tow ended in tragedy but was still somehow funny.
Incredibly, two of them involved a Nissan Sentra SE-R: TheJWT incurring permanent bodily injury and Kyuusha Corner dealing with the worse possible triple threat of dead car, busybody neighbor, and skeptical parents.
The winner this week is @ye, who shared a dread-inducing story about a Mazda MPV and the fear of parental wrath:
Moving a dead car is like moving a dead body. Circumstances around it are never good. Don’t believe those barn find mutli-million dollar Ferrari videos. Just content fillers for the ‘gram.
With that said, back in the day a friend reached out in a panic and said he needed to move his dad’s mint Hunter Green Mica 1994 Mazda MPV out from the garage. Odd, since its his dad’s daily and was pretty sure the car isn’t dead.
Turns out his dad was out on errands and he took the car out for a spin without permission. When my friend returned home, he couldn’t park it straight inside the garage and he kept adjusting. In days before 360-degree cameras, a buddy and hand signals was the next best thing.
However upon arrival, the MPV was already brushed up against a concrete wall and rendered the car unmovable, pretty much dead. Luckily we found a jack and a moving dolly. Picked a solid point around the rear axle and shimmied the quasi-minivan with enough room to call it a decent parking job. Take a breather now? Nope, big scratch on passenger side quarter panel. Scrambled to find a touch up marker in black for his dad’s DA Integra. Slapped some on and called it a day.
You’d think his dad would notice that, but he never said a word even up to the day the MPV got traded in.
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
This is a tough one, as in reality, by today’s standards, almost any JNC built before 1990 is lightweight. For me, I will have to say the Honda CRX in all it’s model permutations, but especially the Si.Why you may ask? Well unlike most of the really cool JNCs we actually got this one here in the US. What a wonderment is was back when it first was introduced. I had a first year carbureted model and I never since have had more attention paid to a car I’ve owned.
Imagine being here in the Midwest on roads that were awash in full size sedans and pickups, and here you were in this tiny, red, two seater that is unlike anything most people had ever seen. I even had one young lad who was so mesmerized by it that he drove into the back of a semi in front of him at a traffic light because he couldn’t take his eyes off my little red rocket. Then Honda saw fit to bring the injected, more enthusiast biased Si version here. I jumped to a first year second gen Si in 1988, Wow. What a car. Faster, better handling, Still economical to operate… There has been nothing like it from Honda on these shores since. The second gen Si became a terror at autocrosses and race tracks across the country. Mine became my track day weapon, beating up on much “faster” cars at DE events at Mid Ohio, all the while giving me reliable and fun service as a daily driver.
For me, it has to be the CRX.
Mazda 323 Seattle Wa. Daily driver.
Well if I had the money to get one.
Honda City Turbo, an early eighties one.
It’s gotta be a built KP61 Starlet. Something about a tiny, RWD hot hatch rubs my brain in just the right way. The natural engine choice would be a 4AGE with flatslide carbs, but after seeing this old Hot Version video of one with an original 4K revving to the outer reaches of the universe, I may be tempted to go that route.
https://youtu.be/wy1GKdyu7QE?t=163
My other choice would be a Yamaha SDR200. There’s a reason why it was nicknamed the Whippet
ok the B310 pictured is sweet as can be and most likely the lightweight JNC i’d choose to live with.
the true favorite though for me is the Mitsubishi galant FTO, what a ride and the olive drab color is just superb! small light and unusual enough even the casual JDM fanatic will draw a blank.
Suzuki Swift in all of its’ many badge-engineered variants. My first non-beater car, the first car I owned in the decade it was made, was a Geo Metro and I looked to no avail for a Swift GT; even though my hometown had a Suzuki Auto dealer since 1989 the 3-banger ones from a Chevy store were by far the most common and by the turn of the millennium anyone with a GT wasn’t selling.
Stripped and caged EF or EG hatch, depending on the day’s mood.
Full touring JTCC-style dash, with quick-access fuses, chunky, Dymo-labeled industrial switchgear, analog gauges strewn like birdshot. Two fixed buckets, a central fire suppression system, internal and external battery cut-offs, a body-colored gusseted cage. Lexan windows, the rear right plastered with a select dozen or so of the coolest stickers I’ve collected over a lifetime of car ’tism.
Under a flimsy composite hood (painted), a built B16 with ridiculously aggressive cams, honking ITBs, and a straight-through exhaust – something in the neighborhood of 250 hp and 11,000 rpm. Sequential super-close ratio 6-speed, an assertive LSD. All the suspension, all the brakes, Mugen NR-10s. Standard bodywork in privateer white over which I’d occasionally drape a classic JTCC livery.
Phew… I’m all hot and the clutch calf is twitching.