On the 4th of September the Japan Classic Day was held at Classic Park, Boxtel, the Netherlands. Despite the name of the event there were also plenty of recent and brand new Japanese cars. All brands from the Land of the Rising Sun were present, starring rotary engined Mazdas as special guests. Enjoy the tour.
We start with a 1965 Toyota Crown Deluxe, powered by Toyota’s 1.9 liter 4-cylinder 3R engine.
1983 Mazda RX-7 with the 1,146 cc rotary engine.
2003 Toyota MR2. Mid-engine (1.8 liter 4-cylinder), rear wheel drive.
1970 Datsun 1000 de Luxe.
2004 Mazda RX-8. Power from Mazda’s 1,308 cc rotary engine.
1986 Toyota Starlet 1.3 DX. Great stance !
1978 Mazda 323.
1968 Mazda 1500 Deluxe.
1979 Mazda RX-7, wearing a sporty outfit.
Now this is fun, a 1994 Daihatsu Charade GTti. Under its hood a turbocharged 993 cc 3-cylinder DOHC 12v engine, good for 101 hp in factory trim. Keep in mind that the registered weight of this go-kart is only 844 kg (1,861 lbs).
Splendid, this two-tone 1985 Daihatsu Charade TX Turbo. Also powered by Daihatsu’s famous 993 cc 3-cylinder. SOHC 6v in this case, no fuel injection though. With the help of the turbocharger its maximum power output is 68 hp. Nothing to worry about, given the little hatchback’s weight of 725 kg (1,598 lbs). Carry on, put the pedal to the metal.
Reality check. 1987 Daihatsu Charmant 1300 LC.
1995 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo.
1982 Suzuki SC100 GX with a 970 cc 4-cylinder rear engine.
1973 Datsun 240Z.
1986 Mazda RX-7 with a 1,308 cc rotary engine.
1995 Subaru Legacy 1.8 DL. Far, far away from its spiritual hometown Eugene.
1991 Toyota MR2 2.0 Turbo.
1983 Honda Civic Hondamatic.
1975 Mazda 818 wagon, powered by a 1,272 cc 4-cylinder.
1982 Toyota Crown Super Saloon 2.8, its 6-cylinder engine is running on LPG.
1978 Toyota Cressida.
Spoiler Alert ! 1998 Subaru Impreza 2.0 GT Turbo AWD, ready to rumble.
More of these in part two.
I’ve always liked 70’s-80’s Toyota premium sedans like the Cressida and Crown
All these cars are so juicy and fresh. I’ll take the 82 Crown and the little Suzuki for squirting around the inner suburbs.
I don’t like the red color on the 82 Crown. White, black, or navy blue for me.
My last Crown was avocado green, so fire engine red is a step in the right direction.
Those little “fins” on the quarter panels of the ’65 Toyota Crown Deluxe make me think the designer was a fan of the ’61 Dodge Polara.
The cars are all very well preserved. I can not imagine seeing such an array of seemingly stock, non-restored but pristine vintage Japanese cars anywhere in the USA. Nice photo shoot; I would like to attend that event too (in addition to the French car show).
I like the resolution of the fins on the front fenders of the Crown too. Somehow it never really stood out to me when the cars were new and common.
Mint condition!
I wonder why so many trailer hitches?
A trailer hitch is almost standard equipment on Dutch cars, no matter the car’s size. Plenty of B- and C-segment cars (sub-compacts and compacts) drive around with a hitch. But Mercedes-Benz diesels (W115, W123, W124, W210 and further) have always been the undisputed Trailer Tow Kings. Mostly driven professionally, like by contractors and such.
In short:
1. We love travel trailers very much.
2. We love trailers in general.
Here’s the normal procedure when there’s some cargo to haul: You go to the local gas station and rent a single- or tandem axle trailer, like the one below. You pay the guy a few Euros, do your hauling job, and at the end of the day you bring the thing back to its owner. And that’s that.
Even a VW Golf with a trailer hitch has a big cargo bed, if you know what I mean. More trailer hitches in part two.
Illustrative of the differences in trailering philosophy between Europe and the USA. Here, the places that rent trailers generally won’t let you rent one unless you’re driving a truck or non car-based SUV. Show up in a car, even a large one with ample power and brakes, and you’ll leave empty-handed. (Empty-hitched?)
If you need to haul something here you have to rent a van or pickup. It’s not too pricey though—needing to move a dresser we purchased, I recently rented a Ford Transit cargo van from U-Haul. $20 USD plus some nominal cost per mile (my trip was less than 10 miles so I don’t recall).
Unsurprisingly, the Toyota Crown Super Saloon has the highest registered towing capacity of this article’s collection: 1,500 kg / 3,307 lbs.
Renting a panel van or a light box truck is also quite common if you have to transport something / some things. Up to 3,500 kg GVM, otherwise you need a commercial driver’s license. But in that case you can always rent a 3,500 kg panel van plus a trailer, then a BE-driver’s license will do. B for vehicle’s up to 3,500 kg GVM, E for trailers towed by such vehicles. It’s getting a bit complicated….
Trailer rentals are a hassle in the U.S. As Chris M said, they get picky about the vehicle. As far as I know, U-Haul still won’t rent to any vehicle with the Ford Explorer name, based on the Firestone tire / Explorer fiasco from two generations back.
Also, the paperwork, waivers, deposits, etc., reflect our litigious ways.
NL seems similar to Australia – when I lived in WA I felt like most cars had towbars, especially the RWD Aussie sedans, and I saw trailer rental places for the first time in my life.
In the UK we rent vans – although the rental price would be at least treble what Chris M quotes. (unless you count little Focus-sized vans, which would still be close to double)
The only rented trailers I ever see here are big rigs.
There is no more joy in an European summer then being behind a Dutch family pulling his camping trailer slowly, slowly on the road. Up a hill, on a two lane road…kill, kill, kill. Do the bastards ever pull over to the right?
NL… not likely.
I was unaware of the existence of the Daihatsu Charmant. Homegrown, or based on somebody else’s design?
That ’82 Crown has more than a touch of Brougham to it. Also looks like they were going for a “Japanese Silver Spirit” vibe.
It was certainly brougham-ish in idiom, although Toyota used the “Super Saloon” and “Royal Saloon” names, as the rival Nissan Cedric actually had a Brougham trim series.
The Charmant disguises its size very well. At first I thought someone had slipped an eighties Cressida into the lineup.
Luxo version of the Corona rather than the slightly larger Cresta Cressida size body.
The Daihatsu Charmant was based on a Corrolla I think.
I’ve wanted a Suzuki SC100 for years, LJK Setright loved his and he was a very tough critic.
I think I’d much rather have that ’65 Crown, than the Rolls parked in the background!
Happy Motoring, Mark
Enjoy the tour I did. Love those rotary wheels on the 83 RX-7, don’t think we got them here in the US. Never knew Suzuki made any rear engined cars, I like it. The owner of the boat shop I worked at (the guy with the R5 Turbo2 and Testarossa) bought himself a new Daihatsu Charade to play with. It was funny watching him drive it, as he was about 6′ 5″ and about 260 lbs.
Nice photo collection of Japanese Classic Cars I would have to say and I sure can’t wait for the Part Two of this story. I am very much surprised to find out as shown on your posted photos that the 1982 Suzuki SC100 GX had a rear engine location where at first thought could be mistaken for a front engine location much like the Mitsubishi Minica shown here on my attached photo. I would say I like the Orange Mazda GLC since that’s the last GLC with a RWD especially they converted to FWD beginning in 1981.
These cars do look mint! Perhaps the dutch roads and the hospitable conditions of the country in terms of geography and climate make cars last long and well?
No mountains, excellent roads, a mild climate, good vehicle maintenance, legally required vehicle inspection (general condition and safety).
Dutch used cars are “desirable” and are exported to other countries in large numbers. Mostly to Central and Eastern Europe. And ship loads (literally) of used Japanese cars ended up in Africa.
Wonderful collection, including some real gems not often seen, like the little Suzuki.
The 1982 Toyota Super Crown reminds me of this ZIL:
Toyota Crown Super Duper Saloon. As an aside, I was surprised to see and read how many classic Japanese cars -regardless the segment- had a “de luxe” of some form in their model designation. Deluxe, De Luxe, de Luxe, DeLuxe…
They copied the British who used De luxe and Super on anything remotely upscale.
I can’t wait to see a Datsun 1000 Van den Plas / Vandenplas / VanDenPlas etc.
That was equally customary in the U.S.: Deluxe (or De Luxe, if you prefer), Super, Custom. A fair number of Japanese automakers used Deluxe and Hi-Deluxe as well.
For the Crown, as mentioned, the upper series were Super Saloon and Royal Saloon, although there were a bunch of lesser trim levels below that.
The Super Crown is boxy, but at least it looks right.
These ZILs come across cartoonish and amateurishly styled. Sort of a Mercedes crossed with some American ’80s boxy styling. It’s just not appealing.
Nah, I feel like the Toyota just looks awkward, whereas the ZIL is delberately upright, striking…terrifying?
Menacing is what it is, menacing.
Seeing that RX-8 brings me back to Amsterdam—there was a yellow RX-8 I’d see parked in the Museumkwartier that was a nice pop of color on cloudy spring, winter and autumn days:
Oops, picture didn’t link:
Great stuff, Johannes!
Ignoring the obvious desirables, I’ll take either of the Daihatsus or the Suzuki. They all look like the right kind of fun.
A site for old classic Japanese iron is Japanese Nostalgic Car
japanesenostalgiccar.com
The ’65 Crown is very appealing. It’s like a high quality four cylinder American Rambler.
Imagine if AMC had brought a car like that to market in ’65, and had a solid second gen car ready in 1970. They’d have been the darling of the entire malaise era.
Nice ’65 Crown Deluxe, the rear reminds me of a certain Ford though! I like the Datsun 1000 de Luxe, but I don’t think we got those in the States. That ’78 Cressida is pretty sweet too. Always love your show coverage and variety Johannes!
We didn’t get the early Sunny, I don’t think, but we got its successor, the LB110 (1200).
Thanks for this, Johannes! I’d really like to get behind the wheel of that Charade GTti to see what it’s like. Has to have relatively good pace, and being so light it must handle like it’s on rails. I am partial to it’s unique style, as well. I’m guessing it’s a very stealthy sleeper.
My favorite is the Suzuki SC100 GX. It is like the Hillman Imp made it into the eighties, right down to the rear window.
Least favorite is the 82 Crown. The bright red does not suit it and it is just too boxy and over decorated.
Nice display the girl who ran the caravan park I used to stay at Mooroopna had one of those early Toyota Crowns it had overdrive and a 186 Holden motor went really well, an ex GFs father had a 68hp turbo Charade in Sydney he traded it on a TX3 Laser featured recently, most of these cars are still a reasonably common sight here hundreds of thousands of cars arrived ex JDM and stayed NZ has the second highest car ownership per head on the planet and cheap Japanese cars are part of the reason, By the way that Subaru DL ended its sales life here in 93/94, I had one of the last NZ assembled Legacy wagons that shape, that one must have been a leftover.
I keep seeing upscale Studebaker in that ’65 Crown.
Very nice examples – kudos to the owners for keeping them in such great condition.
Veeeery cool cars, Johannes.
If I had to pick one, it’d probably be the old Crown… Mazda estate would be a close second though. But I’ll wait for part 2 to make that call.
Datsun, when Nissan were Datsun.
My really best car ever, bought for FIFTY ROCK HARD DUTCH GUILDERS back then, a dented DATSUN 120Y Station Wagon; we called him Dirk, Dirk the Datsun
Dirk always started and needed to jumpstart Dad’s Princess and the neighbour’s in wintertine.
Dirk akways started, never let me down hauled Mini gearboxes Jaguar engines, everybody drove Dirk the Datsun to haul stuff.
For years I am on the lookout for a Dirk replacement, the 1200cc humming, the gearbox smooth as silk, the Japs really showed the world how to make a decent car!
I cannot think of ANY better car then a seventies Japanese car with a traditional RWD lay out, a live axle and rear drumbrakes.
Simple, copied but improved, really improved !
Dunnow, the engine hum of that 1200cc engine always made me happy …….
Fantastic assortment Johannes – most used to be common here, but are all rare or gone now. The Datsun 1000 de luxe is interesting though, I don’t remember that body shape variation. The Crown is my favourite – very unusual in that colour, looks fab!