I took my usual stroll on the first Sunday in April this year – always keeping an eye out for the odd automotive encounter, which happen fairly regularly in Tokyo on weekends. I was making my way back to my northern digs from Ginza when I happened upon a most unusual sight: the bridge at Nihonbashi was blocked and filled with classic cars!
Nihonbashi (literally “Japan Bridge,” seen above in 1946) is a historic and geographical landmark in Central Tokyo, located just north of the old business district and the Imperial Palace. Spanning the Nihonbashi River (actually a canal), the current bridge was built in 1911 – one of only two bridges from the Meiji Era still present in present-day Tokyo. All distances in Japan are calculated from the “kilometer zero” marker located on the middle of Nihonbashi, so it plays an important role, even besides its function as a bridge.
Ever since the early ‘60s, a large elevated expressway looms over the Nihonbashi bridge and river – a rather shocking piece of civil engineering to a European such as yours truly, but these were the bold choices that Tokyo city planners made to accommodate cross-city traffic. It kind of dwarfs the old bridge into looking like an irrelevant relic, but it’s still a wide and very busy piece of local infrastructure. And on the first Sunday in April, they do a little celebration around it, including a modest (but very popular) classic car show.
Let’s have a wander around, shall we?
A small group of prewar cars were located on the northern side of the bridge; we’ll start with those first. One of the oldest was this 1924 Lagonda 12/24, the first Lagonda to feature brakes on all four wheels. Its 1.4 litre OHV 4-cyl. looked almost lost in that tall engine bay. Most 12/24s received a factory body, as this one did. Only a literal handful are still in running order.
Only one French car made it to the show, but this 1928 Bugatti 37A was definitely one if the event’s highlights. These were very successful on the track back in the late ‘20s despite being only equipped with a 1.5 litre 4-cyl. engine. But that little four was really half of a Type 28’s straight-8, with its overhead cam and three valves per cylinder. The “A” version added a Roots supercharger to that little engine to bring power up to 90hp, enabling the lightweight Bug to reach about 120mph – serious speed in those days.
I confess that I was unaware that Ford had an assembly line in Yokohama. It was established in 1925 and produced cars and trucks until 1939, including this superb 1931 Model A. When this car was made, 95% of automobiles in Japan was either a Ford or a GM product (their factory was in Osaka). Good to see one is still with us at least. That’s it for the antiques, we can now move to the ‘50s era and beyond.
This is hands down my favourite iteration of the XK – the 120 “fixed-head” coupé. Not a single line on that car is out of place, it’s a true work of art and design excellence. Plus, there’s a great big 6-cyl. to get that thing going well above the speed limit, which is not always the case for cars celebrating their 70th birthday.
1957 300 SL. Need one say more? Well, yes, inasmuch as this one has been modified to look like the SLS roadster that were made for Mercedes’ US racing team. Because owning a stock 300 SL roadster would be just too common for some…
I think these Zagato-bodied Abarth 750s have all migrated to Tokyo: this is the fourth one I’ve seen. Not that it’s getting old, but leave some for the rest of the world!
Four Bristols were at Nihonbashi. When has that ever happened on any bridge? Two were a 403 and a 406 that we’ve already seen. A third will have its own CC someday. That just leaves this other 406, the final iteration of the 6-cyl. Bristols. All were owned by the same guy, predictably…
Next to the Bristol 406 sat this very nice Austin-Healey 3000, sold here new back in 1962.
Can’t have a classic car meet without an E-Type Jag, that just wouldn’t be proper. Especially when it’s a properly gorgeous series 1 roadster.
Just one true Detroiter on the bridge – but what presence! Not a fan of the colour though; beautiful though they are, C2 Corvettes really look a lot better in something a little darker.
On the other hand, I have to admit that Lotus Elans look pretty good in white. I’ve seen those checkered floormats inside a lot of classics around here – just like the Watanabe wheels, it’s one of those things that seems to fit (or be made to fit) on virtually everything.
Behold, the mighty Ferves Ranger! Basically a bunch of Fiat bits, including the 500’s rear-mounted 18hp 2-cyl. and the 600’s suspension and brakes, wrapped in a bizarrely high open-top body. Around 650 of these odd little beasts, some of which were 4WD, were made between 1965 and 1970.
I cannot recall what the placard said about this 3500’s model year (I think 1970?), but then those placards were not always 100% accurate, for some reason. No matter, I was drooling all over this lovely V8 Rover.
I’m not sure why I took the time (there wasn’t much, as the event was scheduled to end very soon after I came across it) to immortalize this W114 saloon, sweet though it was, but completely spaced out on the much rarer two-door W114 that sat next to it. Ah well…
A very strange (but very ‘70s) shade of green for that Jensen-Healey. Due to not having seen all that many in the metal, I remember thinking “What kind of Triumph is this?” when I first saw that rear end. There is an esthetic kinship with the TRs and Spitfires, isn’t there? The front is, to me, far more recognizable as a J-H, but also less pretty.
I bet there’s a rule somewhere in the Japanese legal code that mandates the presence of an Alfa 105 Bertone coupé anytime there are more than five classic cars on any stretch of road. No, I’m not becoming jaded.
And finally, to end on a strange note, a rather brightly and widely modded Fiat X1/9. All in all, a very nice little show, there. I did skip a few newer cars and some that we’ve seen before, such as the two Bristols, but on the whole, this was all there was to see.
Well, to be entirely truthful, there were a few additional ones that I really took a little more time on (and that you may have noticed in the background of certain pics), but those deserve their own post, which will happen in due course. Which one would you have gone with? I’m torn between the Xk120 and the Rover, though the more I look at that Bugatti…
I believe the “checkered floormats” in the Lotus Elan are CocoMats. I have them in my Porsche.
Wow, quite a nice group of cars there, it’s always great to just stumble across something like this and then be able to add it in the calendar for the next few years to come…
I’m with you on the Rover and the Jaguar XK, both look absolutely splendid with the bonus that the Rover looks everyday usable, i.e. easy enough to get in and out of.
I think I’m the one fan here of the early ’90s Elan that’s poking a corner into a pic or two…but really every car here looks appealing enough to want to give them a go.
Stylistically, the ‘fixed-head’ coupes usually come up far short of the cabriolets.
But, man, is that 120 a work of art.
WOOF! Lucky for us that you were passing by. Thanks for the tour and the commentary.
What a great selection! Today my favorite is the Austin Healey.
I once was passed by a line of classic Japanese cars driving off Odaiba. Don’t know if there was a show there or not. Extraordinary to see vintage cars like that in Japan in public. I am always amazed at what you are able to find. I find the occasional abandoned classic Japanese vehicle but that’s about it. Did you ever do a column on deka trucks?
Yes I did, though I only shot a few in the streets…
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-outtakes/cc-outtakes-dekotora-trucks-in-tokyo-traffic/
I need to see a dekotora show, that’s where the real whacky stuff can be seen.
I’ve been to Japan a few times and I can confirm that big Bristols are a rarity there.
A great variety! I had forgotten all about the Ferves Ranger, which actually may have sold in quite large numbers globally … as 1/43rd scale diecast model (toy) by Mercury of Italy. I can’t remember if I had one, but my friend definitely did and the name and shape have been stuck somewhere in a corner of my brain for the last 55 years.
That XK-120 is beyond words, if only it was painted in a nice COLOR, but it’s still flawless surfacing! Timeless automotive beauty. 🙂
One of my best instructor’s (Strother Mac Minn) at the original Art Center College of Design had a XK-120 roadster that he had purchased new. Mac cherished that car until shortly before he passed.
“His” car is shown here at the new ACCD in 2018.
DFO
Hhmm…I’ll try posting the pic of Mac’s Jag again…..?? DFO
Was McMinn one of the “Cyclops” guys?
I suspect the Mercedes-Benz 300sl roadster may be one of a couple of “Similar” cars made by a guy named Sarkisyan about 15 years ago. As the dashboard appears to be non-stock [even has A/C vents] it’s my opinion it’s not an original. While it’s possible to do so, who customizes a 7-figure car anyway, when it’s far cheaper to build a replica!
What a chance encounter that was actually well worth it. Hard pushed not to say “one of each please”.
The SL has been too much tinkered with for my taste, the Jaguar is not a Coupe and the Corvette is the wrong colour (personal choice I know), as is the Jensen-Healey. The Ford was a surprise, as was the Austin Healey (how many did they sell there in 1952?)
Perhaps the Alfa, and the Bugatti for the weekend? But the Lotus could be could for the crowded streets.
Wow; what an outstanding collection.
I also never realized that Ford produced cars in Japan until recently, when I came across a mention of the Ford factory being taken over by the Japanese government immediately after the Pearl Harbor attack. It was turned into a truck factory, and the foreign employees were all arrested and held in Japan for several years. I wonder what the plant’s output was during the Model A years – I imagine only very wealthy Japanese were able to afford cars in the 1920s & ’30s.
And four Bristols at one event! That’s more Bristols than I’ve seen in my lifetime.
Oh, and I think the Rover 3500 has one of the best dash designs of its era.
My daughter loves dragon-like creatures and was very taken by the kirin statues (background of XK120 and Merc 300 pics) on our trips to the Pokémon shop nearby. So we did some research and it seems they’re a mash-up of deer, bull, dragon, horse and bull (or maybe mostly bull…). But I was surprised to learn of the historical significance of the bridge because it feels so emasculated by the motorway above. So it’s great to see such a great selection of important cars gathered there. I couldn’t turn any one away from my theoretical collection, although the Merc 230 triggered some dodgy Cairo taxi memories!
They really screwed up the city back in the ’60s / ’70s with those massive elevated highways. The pendulum is swinging back now and, at least for the overpass that towers over Nihonbashi: tunneling work has already started to remedy the situation, but the whole project will only be finished by 2040.