QotW: Which JNC had really low production numbers?

1978 Mitsubishi Sigma Dodge Colt Wagon

Sometimes market forces create strange anomalies. We all know the story about how Nissan built only 197 kenmeri Skyline GT-Rs before the racing program got canceled, but there are other instances that resulted in cars just as rare.

For example, while Dodge offered the Colt Wagon (aka Mitsubishi Sigma) in 1978-1980, according to owner Josh Mead, they all came on a single shipment across the Pacific and were spread throughout three model years. That makes the RWD wagon incredibly rare today, especially in faux wood Estate trim.

Which JNC had really low production numbers?

What say you, dear reader? As always, the most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What vehicle do you cheat on your JNC with?” 

11-4097_ToyotaSienna-VanKulture

Whether it’s Steve and his eligible-in-2041 Scion FR-S, Johnny and his Kawasaki Ninja, Dave with his Holden SS Sandman, or Stuart and his ’64 Mini, it appears JNCers have a diverse range of sidepieces. The one that made us laugh the most, however, was jivecom‘s:

I cheat on my JNC with a van. Specifically, two vans. On my feet.

Damn, Daniel.

Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!

JNC Decal smash

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23 Responses to QotW: Which JNC had really low production numbers?

  1. Banpei says:

    During the 70s Nissan imported the Skyline lineup to a limited number of LHD European countries (Finland, Sweden, Portugal, the Netherlands. Belgium, Austria and Germany followed later as well) and this lead to a very low number of LHD Skylines being sold:
    Nissan 2000GT and 2400GT (C10) sedan in Finland, Sweden, Portugal, the Netherlands
    Datsun 240K GT (C110) sedan and hardtop in Finland, Sweden, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany
    Datsun 240K GT (C210) sedan and hardtop in Finland, Sweden, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Austria

    Naturally they sell for mad money nowadays where almost all remaining (we got about 50 of them) from the Netherlands have been snapped up over the past 10 years. Most of them tend to go to the middle-east where they are very popular cars.
    I’ve recently seen a decent C10 from Portugal for sale for 35000 dollar and that is way more than the price would be in Japan for a decent 2000GT C10.

    I can’t believe Nissan ever made money out of these halo cars and due to their unpopularity they stopped selling the LHD Skyline in 1981.

  2. mister k says:

    better question would be what jnc submodel homologated for racing had really low production #s

  3. Jim Simspson says:

    Let us not forget the first Silvia of which less than 600 were made… they were also made under license by Yamaha and the steel bodies were quite heavy.

    • M1abrams says:

      I’m inclined to concur. Exclusive and expensive when new; basically hand-built cars. Body panels differ slightly from one car to the next; frustration for anyone swapping parts from a donor car.

  4. Nathan says:

    Cars with hundreds of examples built aren’t rare compared to the Nissan R390 GT1 and Toyota TS020 GT-One, which tie for my vote. Only two road-going versions of each were built. That’s two, not one, so these weren’t one-offs, meaning they had production runs.

  5. JovaTecH says:

    Simple… DR31 Skyline GTS-R

  6. Gerka says:

    The Toyota corona 1600 gts probably had pretty low production numbers

  7. MainstreaM says:

    Starion GX, carb’d, slow, boring. They got no love. Hell, Mitsu didn’t even care enough to keep record of production numbers.

  8. Blur says:

    For a market as big as North America, the Mazda Repu whilst not a extremely low production run compared to some exotics, was a low run vehicle with approximately 13000 built between 1974 to 1977. A sales success it was not!

  9. Scott says:

    Celica gt-tr 1983/1984

    Not even Toyota can tell me how many

  10. Mike Moore says:

    Mazda Roadpacer! rare then,75-77 and very rare now, 800 built which is probably only 799 more than Mazda would have built in hindsight.
    Its said that the last one wasn’t sold out of the dealers until 1979.
    Most were sold to Japanese Government departments and later crushed.
    Very cool in the flesh especially the paisley interior, the car that was/is all kinds of wrong but that interior is just mesmerising!

    Would I own one…..no!

  11. Gary says:

    Are we asking ourselves about low build numbers; or moreover which models, perhaps even despite large production numbers (or committed production), became rare due to market forces?

    There are many stories of Australian manufacturers killing off production due to market backlash or pressures. Some because the cars were ‘too dangerous’ others because it was selling like a dog.

    But I didn’t realise the Japanese manufacturers has suffered similar ills…

  12. One super-rare, and probably inexistent now, car is the JDM Nissan Fairlady 260Z. It was produced in 1975 but due to Problems with the JDM-spec L26 Engine all of the ones which have been delivered to the customers got recalled or some say even bought back by Nissan and reworked in the factory to “Standard” Fairlady spec with L20 Engine.
    If there ever is still a JDM RS30 around i guess it is the only one. but most probably all of them got reworked since Nissan didn’t want to loose it’s Reputation with the bad engine..

    • John Moran says:

      I have been interested in this, but the story has always had kind of a Loch Ness Monster feel for me. Saw a pic of a modified vin once, but nothing else. Asked the staff at Zama and they said they had never heard of it. Vaguely recall hearing issues of vapor lock, but would be interested in more evidence.

  13. slownrusty says:

    1988 Mazda 323 GT, sales were between 700 to 800 for that one year only.

  14. Ant says:

    Low production numbers? Depends whether you include low volume models of otherwise fairly popular cars – I’m thinking the Nissan Z432 (around 420 built).

    Or one of the M2 Eunos Roadsters – only 300 units each of the 1001, 1002 and 1028, as per your own rather wonderful articles on the subject from a few years back. Strictly speaking the 1002 and 1028 aren’t 25 years old yet though, so I continue my fine tradition of not really picking cars that answer the main question…

  15. BrianZai says:

    FWD 4 door twin cam 16v ae80 GT. from the most unloved range of corollas. my 2 cents lol

  16. Alexander says:

    Todays Honda Civic type R FK2?

    I own one brand new and will keep it that way!

  17. Ali says:

    Any cars datsun skyline c110 c210 c211 240k
    For sale
    Contact me
    Vipcc@hotmail.com

  18. Gay Car Nut says:

    Lovely looking Dodge Colt Wagon. I remember seeing these when I was a boy. I consider it a damn shame that it wasn’t on the USA market for very long before being discontinued. I find it more attractive than the smaller Colt that replaced it.

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