CC Outtakes: T87’s Singles Collection (January 2021) – Part 2: Foreign Cars

Let’s kick off with the French stuff, for once. Saw this lovely little Peugeot 205 last Sunday (what a day that was) near the Meguro area. I’m going to try and go back there, because the amount of finds was incredible. Of course, I couldn’t catch everything. One that slipped by me was a late ‘60s / early ‘70s Alpine A110 (blue, of course). So there are a few French finds left to unearth in this city.

Love me a 406 Coupé, but the 407 that followed it? Not a fan. No PininFarina magic with this one. There aren’t many of these about, so looks like fans are few and far between.

However, after that styling trough of the ‘00s, Peugeot got their mogeot going again and did this RCZ thing, which kind of replaced the aforementioned 407 Coupé in 2009. These were put together by Magna Steyr in Graz, Austria – probably very well, too, which is why I’ve been seeing a few of these in Tokyo.

I couldn’t believe it when I saw this gliding down the street, not too far from Ueno. I approached it and took photos even as the owner was parking it. He informed me that this was a 1984 model, so it’s identical to the Prestige I wrote up just over a year ago – except for the colour.

Even in this almost anonymous silver hue, the long silhouette of the CX, designed half a century ago, still looks futuristic. Only minor detail like the chrome bumpers really give away the car’s age.

January was a surprisingly meager vintage for Italian cars. Only one noteworthy sighting: an early ‘70s Autobianchi A112 Abarth in a lovely period shade of orange.

On the same street (my crazy CC-Sunday outing last weekend), this sweet Series III Jaguar XJ6 passed me as I was photographing a Volvo (see further down). Fortunately, I found the Jag getting parked just a block away, so I was able to catch it. That steering wheel is nicer than the stock item.

Still on the same street, this Bentley Mulsanne Turbo was my final catch of that day (and of the month).

Back in my part of town, there are a few expensive British cars about as well – Bentleys, Astons and the like. But this was the first LWB Rolls Phantom I’ve seen since I caught one in Bangkok a couple years back. The longer wheelbase actually helps balance out the blocky design quite a bit.

Snapped this in a less swanky part of town. I couldn’t resist peeling off a corner of the cover just to see if I could ID this old-fashioned three-box shape. Cor blimey, it’s a Mk1 Ford Cortina! What’s left of it, anyway. The engine was gone, along with almost all the brightwork. A restoration project, no doubt – perhaps a Lotus-Cortina?

Volvos, Volvos and more Volvos. All of them of the 240 breed. It’s incredible how popular these are here! All of these were photographed on the same day. You know the one.

That’s the Volvo I was busy over when a white XJ6 sped past me. I was ticked off, as the Jag was a far more interesting target than this (still pretty sumptuous) Ikea hauler.

Another fine catch from last Sunday was this very clean early model Mercedes 280 Stroke-8 (W114).

Actually, that was the second one I had seen this month, as there was also this facelift one caught in my neighbourhood. I thought it looked familiar, and then I noticed that license plate: yes, that’s the one I posted on CC last March, but asleep in its lair.

Time for the usual flat-4 contingent, starting with this old T2, unfortunately restomodded to heck…

As was this Type 1, probably from the early-to-mid-‘60s. Still made for a pretty photo or two, if you ignore the stupid wheels. The devil truly is in the details.

On the other hand, this ‘65 Karmann-Ghia was as stock as they come. The red turn signal means this is likely a later import from the US. So this VW was made in Deutschland, sold in America and is now living its retirement years in Tokyo. Quite a traveler, this one. And still sprightly, too.

As we saw yesterday, I came across a Mk1 Golf parked next to a Isuzu Bellett coupé. So here’s a little more on the latter. This is the second time I caught this one – the first was back in February 2020.

Here’s something I had no idea existed: a Brabus-tuned 2003-05 Smart Roadster/Coupé. Those sporty Smarts are not commonly seen in these parts, but the Brabus version? Pretty rare. And pretty weird.

Let’s go for a big finish and focus on the American metal. American in the broader continental sense, in this case. Is this a Canadian Dodge Ram 2500? Well, why not.

The only thing more pointless than a Chevy Suburban in Tokyo is a lowered Chevy Suburban is Tokyo…

Even a Hawaiian Lincoln Navigator makes more sense. Now that takes some doing. Congrats, Suburban.

But it wasn’t all a loss for the Chevrolet camp. The sun glare was almost impossible to deal with, but I hope we can all sort of see this Corvette. It’s not the first time I’ve caught a late-model C3 with a toupee roof, but this one also had a sheepskin merkin underneath. Yikes!

I also went back to a specialist garage in my general area, just to see if they had anything interesting. It hadn’t changed too much since last time: lots of ‘60s Chevies, but apart from that black Camaro, nothing new.

Last month was a good month for GM in general – even for orphans like Pontiac. I have been seeing this Trans Am GTA around my area, but I stumbled upon its crib before I could snap it in motion on the street. I also found a slightly later model, but it was more accessible than this one so it will get its own post.

This is an old friend. My first post from my present digs in Tokyo, a year ago almost to the day, featured this very “Regal” wagon, and I’ve been seeing it around on occasion. This time, it was parked in a very “come-hither” pose, so I just couldn’t resist but get a few pics.

I had photographed the dash a year ago, but not the rear seat. The rear end in general was not easy to document at the time, whereas it was on full display here, complete with the JDM-mandated amber turn signals.

To polish off this post, not one but two classic Cadillacs, both in black if you please. I found these nesting at the same place where I photographed a ’58 Caddy last November – and right where I caught a Caprice and Benz duo, which I wrote up recently.

Looks like this is a place I’ll have to continue checking on a regular basis! There aren’t many photographical opportunities afforded by this location except a dead-on shot, but hey, I’ll take a ’59 paired with a ’76 anything.

Here’s hoping that February will deliver its fair share of goodies. After the year we’ve had, things can only get better. Yes, I’m a glass-half-open kind of guy. Tokyo, over and out.