Welcome to part two of a bumper crop of brief CC sightings that took place in and around Tokyo over the last couple of months of 2021. We’ll kick things off with the US steel, which was not quite as riveting as some editions, but still, there are always plenty of American classics around. Old Wagoneers like the above, for instance, have a dedicated following here. Which is a good thing, I’m sure we can all agree.
Mustangs of nearly all generations are also pretty widespread. Although I don’t think I’ve seen a Fox one, the earlier generations and the more recent ones are very popular here. This circa 1969 drop-top seems to be packing a serious engine under that scooped hood.
Late ‘70s Firebirds are not as common, but this is not the first one I’ve caught. Weirdly shod, this one though…
Don’t know why I keep running into restomodded ‘63 Chevrolets. This Impala coupe wafted past me in Yokohama rather briskly, so all I could manage was this barely passable shot.
Sometimes, red Corvettes are just impossible to resist. Yes, even C5s.
If there is a theme in this edition of the T87 Singles, it’s multiple occurrences of the same model. This happened several times over the past couple of months; the first example we’ll see today is the Chevy G Van.
It helps that they made these for eons, of course. But still, running into several of these was a strange coincidence.
The most handsome (and most cooperative) one was probably this pristine blue Beauville.
The Chevy G was not the only noteworthy US-made van seen this past couple of months. I can’t date this Dodge Ram that accurately, but it seems like a late ‘80s example. And a very fine-looking one it is, too!
For balance, here’s something with a blue oval. This is the first F150-badged vehicle I’ve seen here, by the way. Funny how one country’s number one seller can be another country’s exotic oddity.
Moving on to a gray area, located somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic, with this “AC” Cobra.
I’ll leave it to the CCommunity to determine if this car has any genuine appeal to it – and whether that signature is real or not.
With that, we transition over to the British chapter of this Outtakes tome, starting with the more recent end of the spectrum. Aston roadster in baby blue? You might consider that, but then if you see one, you realize: no, it’s really not a good idea.
Someone obviously thought that bright green would also look good on a MacLaren. Makes it the most frog-like British car since the Austin-Healey Sprite.
Speaking of green Healeys, someone was busy wrenching on a mid-‘50s A-H 100. Hope to see that one out and about sometime…
Great attitude from the driver of this 1962-65 Triumph Spitfire Mk I. The car’s had a fair few mods, but still looks great. The single-digit number plate means this Triumph was likely sold new in Japan.
The Mini of the Month is a lovely Morris-badged example, driven by another happy customer.
It just wouldn’t be a post on foreign classics in Japan without a Lotus. A truly great car, that Elan. This one has a rollcage, too…
But for my money, the English rose of the whole bouquet was this Ford Cortina. Looks like a 1964-66 saloon with a few obvious mods to make it look like a rally car, although those were always two-door versions. Pity I had no way to check this one out in more detail.
Last British vehicle of this T87 Singles edition: the legendary AEC Routemaster! I used to ride on these pretty often back when I was a student in London. Seeing one trundling down the street two decades later and half a world away was a strangely pleasant experience.
Over to the German cars we go. Another black Beetle, but this time I’ll refrain from attempting at guessing the year. Just to say that those wheels are… er… interesting.
From black Beetles to Mk1 Golf cabriolets – black also, because they look so much nicer like that.
And I mean “they” because I happened to find two of them. See what I mean about multiple iterations of the same model?
A white Mk2 Golf to pace ourselves a bit… before we tackle the Bimmers…
Three grey E30s to be precise. How’s that for a troubling trio? Starting with this M3, because of course.
Then this mint condition 4-door 320i – not too shabby either.
Not sure if this is the most important one of the bunch, but it’s certainly outstanding: this one is left outside, slowly going to seed. I’ve seen a fair few BMW roundels that lost their face to the elements, but with this one, even the metal foil started to peel off. Yikes.
In front of the E28 was an equally imperiled Kawasaki Estrella. Just a brief Japanese two-wheeled intrusion in this post about non-Japanese cars…
This C107 was also looking pretty peaky. But not irredeemably so…
On the other hand, the solid following behind the W123 is evidenced once again with this very fine-looking wagon…
And this second one, almost inevitably, followed soon after. Lovely cars.
Last German car of this post (but certainly not least), to end things on a flat-4 note: a sublime red Porsche 356.
Only one Volvo to share this time. I did think that this 850 wagon looked mighty beefy when I went past it, so I quickly took a pick of the rear end as it went by. Pay dirt: it’s a 1995 T-SR, made in collaboration with Porsche. Only 7000 T-SRs were made, both saloons and wagons, in 1995 and 1996, and 749 went to Japan.
There were several interesting French cars sighted, for once. Strictly speaking, this is a van, but it counts. The split windshield means this Type H was built before 1964 – well beyond retirement age, yet it’s still hard at work.
Keeping with the Citroën vibe, this red Xantia is an obviously well cared-for later model (1997-2001). Not sure you could find a better-looking one in its home country.
Still finding the occasional C6 here and there. And they are still a joy to behold, even though few people ended up sharing this sentiment at the time.
Renault 4s are often found in this country. That is a well-known fact that I’m about to prove to you yet again.
Second Renault 4 sighting. OK, I know these are popular here, but damn, this is getting creepy.
Third and fourth R4s, together at a stop light: you are now entering the Twilight Zone.
The dark green car was a very rare early ‘70s Sinpar 4×4 model, too. Quite a sight.
The green one was a bit less special-looking, but still and always in perfect nick.
The most outstanding French find, by a kilometer and a half, was this Simca 1000 Rallye 2, made between late 1972 and late 1975, caught in the exact same place as the Cortina seen earlier (I will be checking this spot regularly from now on). This would be a rare sight even in France. The Rallye 2 is rear-engined like all Simca 1000s, but they moved the radiator to the front for that particular edition. The 1.3 litre twin carb mill out back pushes out 81hp (DIN), propelling this little box to about 100mph.
Let’s end things on a sweet Italian note, starting with this classic of classics. I caught another Fiat 500 in great detail recently – very similar to this one, but in a different colour. Watch this (tiny) space…
This pre-1982 Fiat 124 Sport Spider has seen better days. Here’s hoping it gets back on the road in due course, and with better wheels than the one that can be seen here.
Always had a thing for these. The front end of this particular one was uglified by an aftermarket grille and other changes, but that rear end is just perfect. Pininfarina at their best.
Another Lamborghini Countach caught in the wild! Sadly, it’s a later model, and I was only able to do one decent photo. Ugly, yet impressive.
This purple people-eater shows us that Lambos are now ugly, yet ridiculous. Progress, in other words. In case you’re wondering, this is an Aventador SVJ. Made since 2019, these pack a 759hp 6.5 litre V12 and can reach 200kph in 8.6 seconds from a standstill. Yours for the low, low price of US$517,000.
The craziest thing about this past couple of months was the sheer amount of Alfas, though. A golden FWD Spider, seen early in November, might have been a sign of things to come.
This black late-model RWD Spider is a rarer find. But I think we can do better.
Always keen on the Alfa 2000, though this one went by a bit fast by me. Still caught one usable pic – and ended up finding an old Giulia berlina later, which I will be able to feature in its own post sometime in 2022.
I saw this Bertone 1750 coupé twice (!) during this period. The above shots took place very close to where I live…
And here is the very same car a couple of weeks later, three train stops away. That Burgundy colour really works well on these.
The dazzling crown jewel of this edition is doubtlessly this Fiat-Abarth 750 Zagato berlinetta, made sometime between 1955 and 1959. Appropriately enough, it sat in a kind of glass case, aloof and otherworldly, defiantly pointing its oversized tailpipe at the rest of the world.
On that exhaust note, best wishes from me to all of the CCommunity for 2022!
Quite the cornucopia of findings here! These cover a delightfully wide and mighty wide swath of the automotive spectrum.
For what it’s worth, that Ford van is an E-150. And, I would love to fit a set of wheels like that one has onto a certain white E-150 in my garage.
The early Triumph Spitfire is British, in a right-hand-drive country, yet it is left hand drive…
Given that the great majority of popular European sports cars were imported to the US, it’s safe to assume that’s where this one came from, most likely rust-free California. Large numbers of European imports to the US have been repatriated in the past few decades, and some to other countries like Japan. There’s a reason there’s not that many left…
The single-digit number plate means this car has been in Japan since before 1970, so there is no reason to assume it’s from California. Plenty of classics were imported second hand from the 80s onward, but they don’t have these plates.
LHD is legal to import and drive here and is preferred by many for the cachet it brings. Many British cars were (and still can be) sold new with LHD.
Thank you; good to know.
That doesn’t negate the fact that there has been a very substantial outflow of cars, including European sports cars, to Europe and Japan.
This Spitfire4 dates from between 1962-1964. I imagine very few were imported back then to Japan, making this quite unusual. I assume that Japan had fairly stiff import duties back then, but I can’t readily put my finger on that.
I never really found the quattroporte much of a looker myself, it strongly reminds me of a 90s Chrysler New Yorker from the back
The M3 looks like it’s clamped as well as behind a moveable gate – very sensible in Europe at least considering how valuable/desirable they are. But is that a permanent wall in front of it too or are those blocks loose? If permanent that must take the biscuit for parking…
Another excellent harvest by your camera Tatra, That Cortina could be a GT as I see the small badge on the rear quarter and Lotus width wheels they are very difficult cars to exactly identify and quite easy to fake, similarly the AC Cobra Id bet its a tupperware kit but you never know metal replicas have been built here that are detail perfect,
Lawn ornament grade BMWs are very common here, but it appears they could be imported used in that condition should someone really want one at the price our petrol is you could save an awfull lot of coin.
Its interesting to me anyway how Japanese traffic mirrors what I drive around in here exotic european supercars mixing it with tiny kei cars and all manner of American tanks and sporty cars thrown in for good measure we dont have as many R4s though, that Alfa drop top is the same as my cousin has in the UK his has the V6 Busso and rare he tells me
Pick of the crop though is the Simca Rallye, souped up Simca 1000s were not uncommon here when Simca dealers still existed and you could buy all the go faster stuff from your local agent but genuine Rallyes were not imported.
Apart from the Falcodores and Korean brands, the national fleets of Japan and NZ must overlap more than most other countries
Great collection, as usual.
The photo with the Spitfire is terrific – it’s always good to see happy drivers.
With your posts, there’s often a few obscure cars I know next to nothing about, and the Renault Sinpar fits the bill here. Interesting car… never heard of it before.
The Chevy Beauville van fascinated me since it’s so… ordinary. And so well maintained. In looking at the interior photo, I noticed the air fresheners, which seem to be from a Tokyo company called Pork Chop Garage Supply. I looked up the website (https://pcgs.jp), and it seems to be a place that sells garage-type accessories themed to American hot rod culture. Interesting place to find in Tokyo… and goes well with the interesting van.
Pretty sweet bags! If you see a seventies Econoline Chateau in two tone blue over there
it is likely my old one. Sold it on Ebay a couple of years ago to the most efficient chaps
I have ever encountered for import. I guess old US vans are a (rather odd, given the size of
streets) collector item.
Also, the Mini especially with the Cooper version is shown a lot in the anime City Hunter driven by the main character Ryo Saeba. https://www.imcdb.org/v946798.html
Used to watch that as a kid on French TV.
Soooo good…
It’s like the Fiat 500, which all Japanese folks of a certain generation know from the 1979 Myazaki movie Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro.
The VW is most likely a ’65 or ’66, unless someone went to pretty significant lengths to disguise its MY.
The Simca Rallye 2 is a stellar find.
Looks like those R4s are out on a group outing.
The Fiat-Abarth is in a class of its own. They’ve become very expensive, as have any Italian cars with alloy (coach built) bodies. Rare and exceptional.
Of note, I learned recently from a young man (35) who has lived in Japan for eight years. He said that one cannot buy a car in metropolitan and suburban areas unless the buyer has proof of a place to park or garage the car. As always, love the photos.
Fantastic assortment as usual T87! And I for one love the Aston in baby blue; looks cool and refreshing to me.
The designers of that hideous purple Lambo must have binged on the movie “Transformers”
I have wanted a Fiat-Abarth Zagato since stumbling upon one – possibly literally, they’re minute – at some outdoor car show many moons since. I once thought them a pretty design that had been despoiled by an unfortunate attack of hives, with random lumps rising all over it, but now consider them quite beautiful.
I would thus not deny one the ornamental status that a glass encasement might justify, but I must ask what this place is? A cafe table, model buildings and black Christmas trees (which somehow immediately put me in mind of creepy red ones), are they selling cars, houses, coffee, or evil?
I’ll add my vote to that Spitfire being terrific! That’s how I’d build one.
Not too sure about the roll bar though. If you’re rear ended in that car it’s either whiplash or crack your skull on the unpadded bar.
And is that a Deadhead sticker on the Wagoneer in the lead photo?
A bit of trivia from my days living in SF. Check out the original Grateful Dead sticker on the Grand Waggy. A pre-skull sticker was once a badge of honor for local Deadheads. After the Steal Your Face album, these old stickers largely disappeared. Bet the owner is a proud Deadhead.