I recently came across this trio at a house near ours in suburban Tokyo. It’s certainly an eclectic bunch – two luxury models from two continents and a minicar that could fit in the trunk of the other two. Let’s take a look at what we have…
The Cadillac appears to be a 1997-99 Deville – a base version, and not the upmarket and more powerful Concours model as it lacks the Cadillac crest in the center of the grille.
These base versions came with the LD8 version of the Northstar V8, good for 275 hp and 300 ft lbs of torque. Fairly pricey to fill up here in Japan where a gallon of gas is around $4.24. At 209 inches in length, it’s 10 inches longer than its stablemate, the President.
The President is a real find – these were sold mostly to government or corporate fleets similar to the Toyota Century. This third generation shared its platform with another JDM model – the Nissan Cima. The Cima was also the basis for the 2002-06 US Infiniti Q45.
President
JDM Cima
They came with Nissan’s strong 4.5 L VK45DE V8, pushing out 276 hp (though unofficially closer to 300) and 333 ft lbs of twist. The US Q45 version had 340 hp.
This cute little Daihatsu Copen “kei jidosha” coupe is a first gen model and given the collection of leaves and water stains on top, looks like it hasn’t been on the road in a while.
It has the 659 cc JB-DET twin-scroll turbo four cylinder, with a government mandated max 64 hp.
The owner obviously is fairly well-to-do – having just one of the larger cars would be a pretty expensive proposition here in Japan, given gas prices, road taxes and other fees, etc., which all go up as the exterior dimensions and engine size increase.
Hope he or she soon gives that Copen a much needed wash…
Quite a collection Japanes gas is quite cheap its more than double that here in the land of ex JDM cars, and those big Nissans are here the engines are popular for speedway, light and tuneable, a light engine allows more reinforcing steel and you still remain under max weight,
Always up for a President, but that face…
Copen wins. Great shape – not too comically retro, but still very tight and simple.
Generic Nissan styling, theres a few of those Caddies getting around too, in various trim levels and sizes.
Not seeing these Caddies at all over here, not even in funeral or limos.
I see what looks like salt residue on the pavement and cinder block wall. Is road salt use common in Japan? I’m in the Detroit area, where if there is a rumor of a dusting, the trucks are out spreading the vile stuff a centimeter deep, so I’m always curious as to how other locales react to snowfall and street icing.
I spent 3 different deployments in Japan, climate ranges from tropical (Okinawa) to somewhat like upstate New York, not sure what the Japanese used for snow mitigation because I never saw a snow plow that spread salt. But being environmentally conscious, I would imagine it was something “special”.
BTW, I spent a year in Iceland and was told that they use cow urine to de-ice the airport runways.
The Japanese use salt, a local used tyre importer I know goes to those regions to get stock, lacking storage space a lot of Japanese drivers have perfectly useable summer tyres removed and replaced with winter tyres and those tyres are disposed of, And cheap used tyres are very popular here.
The Nissan President for me.
These shots remind me of those family photos that were trendy about 20 years or so ago, where everyone in the family wore matching outfits that were often white shirts with blue jeans. Having three cars the same color would be difficult for me to do.
I’m surprising myself by saying this but of this bunch I like the looks of the Cadillac the best. While I generally like the Q45 over here, this version has always looked a bit bloated to me and in comparison makes the Caddy look much more svelte than it is. As far as the Copen, I’ve always though it a complete TT ripoff and kind of even more weird-looking to boot so not for me. But certainly an eclectic grouping!
Very interesting trio, indeed!
The pictured Daihatsu Copen is a 1st generation model (l880k) with a 660 cc four cylinder turbo while second gen ones, codename la400k, come in 3 different styles (Robe, Cero and X-Play) but share the same 3 cylinder turbo. While every Japanese domestic market Copen sport 660cc engines to comply with keicar rules, the gray one in the last picture is a European market 1300cc Copen HGF sold from 2006 to 2010 with every option as standard. It’s the kind of slow cars made to be driven fast on winding roads, with a powered folding roof that opens in 20 seconds and very low inertia thanks to the low weight. I daily mine and I couldn’t think of a suitable replacement…
Thank you – yes, you’re correct, the Copen is a first gen model. Jim.
Find another driveway with this combination of cars. Don’t bother trying. You’d have better odds in the lottery.