This may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you’re interested in what was new on the international car show circuit in 1965, here’s your ticket to relive them.
I’d totally forgotten about the Honda N-800, but then it was only a concept and never built. I certainly haven’t forgotten the Toyota 2000 GT though. Unforgettable.
Thanks for this. It is not well known but Hino’s Contessa (as well as other Hino models) was assembled in Israel by Kaiser Ilyn in Haifa and was a part of the country’s motoring scene in the 60s and the 70s and I remember them well growing up. Hino was the first Japanese car maker to have a presence in Israel; the cars sold well and had a good reputation but then Toyota took over and put an end to it all due to political reasons (Subaru picked up the mantle later but that is another story which was covered elsewhere, see here: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics/curbside-classic-1983-subaru-dl-wagon-apply-memories-of-grandad-here/).
Mazda 1500s (4-door sedans and wagons) were very common in Edmonton where I lived from age 13 to 17.
This style remains one of my favourites of all time. The Canadian versions (c. 1969 – ’70 or ’71) had four horizontally-arranged round headlights, rather than the units shown. (Perhaps that’s just a glass or plexiglass plate over the lights.) In any case, beautiful cars!
Hino Contessa Coupe was styled by General Motors in 1959.
What if Toyota had decided to build and sell the 2000 GT in volume like Datsun did the 240Z just a few years later? Datsun proved the market for a slick GT existed. Toyota would have had to make a less exotic version but I find it strange that they let Datsun have the market segment.
Good question!
Toyota-Datsun (Nissan) agreement?
Datsun gets the sports car (240Z and successors), Toyota gets the SUV (Land Cruiser)
A few more Tokyo/1964 photos seen at Getty Images:
These are very interesting scans, but they are about the 1965 shows. The 12th Tokyo Motor Show was held from October 29 to November 11, 1965 and the 47th Turin Motor Show from November 3 to November 14, 1965. New cars at the 1966 Tokyo Motor Show in October/November 1966 were the Toyota Corolla, Honda 360, (Nissan) Prince Royal, Mazda Luce and the Isuzu 117 prototype. The 48th Turin Motor Show was held in November 1966 and showed the Fiat 124 Spider, Fiat Dino Spider, Ferrari Dino 206GT Berlinetta, Maserati Ghibli and De Tomaso Mangusta.
Doh! I blew that one. I was in a hurry to get something up after my trip, and jumped to conclusions given that it was a 1966 magazine.
Thanks; fixed now.
Never knew of that OSI Mustang — so tortured. The OSI Alfa 2600, on the other hand, is one I’ve had my eye on for a while, but they only made like 50 units. And that Vignale Maserati (a prototype Mexico?) is gorgeous.
In Tokyo, I’d have the Prince Skyline… or the Honda roadster… or the Cosmo… or the 2000GT… Damn, the mid-60s was the best automotive era (tied with the ’30s.)
Man, that Fiat-Abarth 1300! Does anyone know if it was made in numbers? It’s beautiful.