T87’s Singles Collection, Spring 2025 Edition – Part 2: American, French & German Cars

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– Posted on July 2, 2025

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The usual ratio of about two imports for every JDM classic has remained steady, so I’ve had to split the foreign cars into two posts. The American metal was out in force, this season, so pride of place will be granted to the Jeep Wagoneer, because what is more American than a station wagon with plastiwood on the sides (and the back) and a big old V8 under the hood?

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Almost identical twin, minus that strange rear roof spoiler thing the first Wagoneer had.

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The fanbase for these here is pretty extensive, obviously.

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Same for the first gen Mustang – they’re everywhere.

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This 1966 fastback could have had its own dedicated post, but what would I have written about it that I hadn’t written in this one?

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I already have several nice (well, nicer than this) candidates in my files anyway. We’re spoiled for ‘Stangs, I tells ya!

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So I keep on photographing them. That’s what’s out there. Well, not only Mustangs, thankfully. Actually, the Ford contingent was quite varied, this spring.

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Essentially a Mustang without the styling, right?

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A near-pristine second-generation Taurus wagon? Surely that’s a real rarity, even in its country of origin.

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A few of these early-to-mid-‘80s Broncos do prowl about. Not a common sight, but usually in surprisingly fine nick when encountered.

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This late ‘90s Econoline 250 is starting to look its age, and I’m not just talking about its external appearance. That wall-mounted land line phone set on the B-pillar, for instance. To the Alpha generation (like my 11-year-old), it’s almost like what a prewar candlestick telephone is for us Gen-Xers.

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It’s rare to encounter a Mercury over here. I could only manage this one shot of this sweet Grand Marquis Colony Park, but it was worth the effort.

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Town Cars just look right at home in any big city.

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The lone Pontiac of the past three months was caught at the same venue as the aforementioned Mercury…

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…as was the lone Buick. I’ve caught a few of these in wagon form, but I believe this is the first sedan I’ve seen here.

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The Heartbeat of America is regular and strong in Japan. Especially the sporty ones.

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Get this black beauty a set of dignified wheels, please.

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See? This is slightly better. But I kinda liked the RS hidden headlights on the previous one…

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Must we have the fuzzy dice, though? What is this, the Camaro Super Special Cliché Edition?

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Ooh look, they carried that special edition through to the 3rd generation.

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Props for selecting a ‘67 Nova instead of yet another Camaro for this one, I suppose.

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I figured many of the folks who own these modded Chevies have their little get-togethers, but I had never seen one. Then I went to Shibuya one evening and found this.

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Fun fun fun with the hydraulic suspension, posing for photos and such. The problem is that they always meet up at night, when taking photos is a PITA. That and I don’t really care for kustomized stuff…

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No one is safe from this condition, not even Cadillacs.

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Most Tokyo Caddies are kept in stock form, like this one. But not all mods involve silly stances, aftermarket wheels and neon lights.

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I’ll never understand why the local police prefer using Cadillacs rather than something domestic for their parade cars. But I’m glad they did, because this is the strangest ‘90s GM car I’ve ever seen.

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I wish this red Coupe de Ville were allowed to come out for a quick photo session – great colour, superb condition and a rare body variant, that ticks a lot of CC boxes.

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We’ve seen the ’59 in the back a number of times – it lives there. But this ’63 coupe is new to me. Warning: jarring transition ahead.

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Ooof! If you want to literally crush whatever kei car is blocking your way, this is the vehicle to have.

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The true WTF moment of the past trimester was finding this abandoned Grumman-Olsen Kurbmaster out in the boonies (a.k.a Saitama Province).

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Spied in the same garage that yielded the Buick, the Grand Marquis and a number of other Detroiters was this drop-dead gorgeous Kaiser Manhattan. Sadly, it disappeared soon after. At least I know there’s one out in the wilds of Tokyo’s concrete jungle someplace. Very high on my CC wish list and in my fantasy garage catalogue.

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Are there enough lights on that A110’s front end? And are we sure folks will be able to tell the make of the car? Snarky enquiring minds want to know.

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I wrote this one up a couple years back, but somehow the post was not noticed much. C’mon, CC: it’s an early model Alpine A310. What’s not to like?

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Just managed to squeeze a little lion cub in here last minute in the adorable shape of this circa 2000-03 Peugeot 106 S16. With 120hp to work with and not too much weight to lug about, it’s a worthy successor to the legendary 205 GTI.

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The Citroën selection will not be extensive, but we can expect a nice little spread. How about a CX for starters?

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It would be a challenge to find a series 1 Xantia in this nick in France.

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This XM, on the other hand, looks a little worse for wear. When hydropneumatics require an actual tyre to keep the car up…

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I think the local food truckers have finally bled Europe dry of its remaining Type H vans. Seems they’ve started vacuuming up the C25s, now…

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And across the Rhine we go! Not too many BMWs to see here, but what there is will be most pleasing, like this 2002.

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We have a US market 3.0CS, too. Challenging lighting situation, that day.

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Even those atrocious Botox bumpers can’t manage to completely ruin this magnificent machine.

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Whaddaya know? I caught this very E28 back in 2019 and here it is on the gingko-tree-lined miracle mile.

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Ever seen a Z3 clown shoe with a colour-keyed roof box? Me neither.

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Possibly for the first time in this series, not a single VW Beetle was deemed worthy of inclusion. But a Type 3 notchback? That’s going in, no matter what.

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No Beetles, but a few Transporters. I hadn’t seen one of these T1s in a single solid colour in quite a while.

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Quite a few mods on this early T2. I’m not sure I’d ever seen slatted windows like this one has. Pretty cool.

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Fortunately, there were a few Porsches to keep the air-cooled flat engine count up. Love the colour on this Targa.

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Plenty of get up and go-go on this one, according to the license plate (5 is pronounced “go” in Japanese…)

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If orange isn’t your thing, there was a silver one getting a service at the nearby fuel station.

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The overwhelming majority of 928s I’ve seen here are S4s like this one. Nothing wrong with that, but I do hope one of the early ones with the crazy chequered upholstery will cross my path someday.

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No Audis, as per usual, but we do have a couple Opels to include here. If I had gone past this Astra in Europe, I don’t know if I’d have bothered taking a photo. But here, it’s a find.

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I’ve been outside of Europe for such a long time that I had no idea what this was.

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We’ll serve this Maybach 62 as an amuse-Benz – there were quite a few of Mercedes sighted, as per usual. This silver and black combo is probably my favourite two-tone scheme on these big barges.

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We’re in S-Class territory, then. A mere 280 SE, i.e. the base model, but in a striking shade of green. Sehr schön.

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Horrid wheels on this W116, but check out that interior.

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The W124 Cabriolet, the aristocracy of the E-Class, wafting along past its lesser kin.

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I stumbled on the very same car six weeks later in another part of the city.

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There are so many W124 saloons and wagons in Tokyo that a few can be seen quietly going to seed in the rougher parts of the metropolis.

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If the license plate is to be believed, this is a final year W123. Perfect in nearly every way.

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This superb W111 coupé did not stop on the tree-lined Jingu Gaien avenue, so I figured I’d only have the one pic. Then I found it in another part of the park, obviously with some kind of engine upset. Well, even Mercedes-Benzes get old…

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On the SL side, this 1957 190 was caught parading in Ginza.

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An early model Pagoda (1963-67) cannot be passed over. I’m still not 100% convinced by the external styling, but that cabin is flawless.

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And speaking of flawless, this was the best-looking C107 I’ve ever come across. The slightly odd setting (Yanaka Cemetery) only amplified the sense of occasion. And mortality. Speaking of which, it’s time to end this post.

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Last, but certainly not least, we have a surprise: this locomotive was made in 1921 by Orenstein & Koppell as part of a batch of 25 delivered to the Japanese Army, who wanted something dead-reliable and able to climb steep grades. This diminutive narrow-gauge machine was extensively used in Manchuria until 1945, then puttered about Saitama until 1972.

See you tomorrow for the third and final instalment!

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