I’m not going to comment on that boy’s hat except to say that I’m glad I wasn’t growing up in Japan back then. But let’s move past the clothes and try to identify the little car they all presumably squeeze into.
imagesource:blenheimgang
Vintage Outtake #2: Changing Fashions In Cars And Clothes
– Posted on December 5, 2012
Suzuki Fronte
http://www.favcars.com/suzuki-fronte-coupe-lc10w-1971-76-wallpapers-6455
No way that kid fits! ;D
I was going to say the same thing, junior sumo in the photo is going to need a bigger car.
He seems to be hanging his head in shame….”why am I wearing this?”
My sentiment exactly. That car isn’t load-rated for el tubbo. This kid hasn’t been eating sushi. But his little sister ain’t getting any points either. Her fascination with a yoyo indicates a room-temperature IQ.
And Dad appears to have stolen Bobby Brady’s slacks!
A guy on a local forum has one, pretty cool old kei-car. Used to see a few of them around in NZ, but not so much any more.
http://oldschool.co.nz/2011/forum/index.php?/topic/20886-flanges-1976-suzuki-fronte-360-coupe/
Saw one of those little frontes in Napier recently not many left.
The north Pacific current should be tossing a few onto the shores of Oregon and Washington very soon.
Why is everyone in the picture smiling (at least a little) except for the chubby kid with a tulip eating his head. If he were from the west, the poor lad would still be in therapy. As it is, he probably just smokes a lot of cigarettes and drinks a lot of saki.
Dad seems real serious about wiping the hood with the family poodle.
This shot reminds me…why are the side-view mirrors placed so far forward on the fenders of (especially older) Japanese cars????
A search (thanks, Bing) sez that they allowed a narrower car than the door mounted ones. A few sources imply that the lessened blind spot helped, especially in cities with 1) odd traffic patterns, like Hiroshima with wide streets, but very narrow (pre-WWII vintage) bridges, and 2) drivers with a tendency to drive like the French park. See
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=449463 for one take on this.
I had mirrors like this on my MGB and hated them.
Our family’s 1964 Volvo 122S which we picked up in the UK on a European Delivery program had the mirrors mounted on the front of the fenders also. I think that was quite common in Britain then. I learned to drive in that car and they actually worked quite well, once adjusted, a laborious process requiring a wrench and either two people or a lot of iteration.
The ’67 Volvo I picked up at the factory in Sweden also had the fender-mounted mirrors.
This looks like a ready made family from Toho studio’s central casting complete with the 45 hp sporty car. Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972).
Back in the 1970’s, that nice Japanese family would have fit in anywhere in America. Of course, the car was too small for US standards. I never had a pair of pants as wild as the dad, but I recall seeing them. As far as the kid with the yoyo, it looks like a Duncan Imperial. I still have 2 red Imperials, and a red Butterfly(inverted Imperial), in addition to a Duncan top the same yellow as the son’s yoyo. (Haven’t played with them in decades. It’s a wonder they survived 50 years.)
In the 50-60’s, yoyos were the rage. Boys brought them to school and played with them at all opportunities. If you didn’t have a Duncan, you were out. I played almost constantly with a yoyo. There were always dings and other injuries to walls and woodwork from string that broke while the yoyo was in motion. Heaven forbid, that string broke on the cement playground and scuffed or dented the coveted Duncan. Very traumatic on the boy that owned that damaged yoyo.
The Japanese boy is obviously concerned that his yoyo might be damaged by the cement sidewalk. Understandable.
Kids nowadays are more concerned with guns and drugs.
My first car was the export model of that Suzuki, the SC100GX, known in the UK as a Whizz-Kid: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_Cervo
It was a 1980 model, in “fantasy black”. I owned it from 1988, and I still have it, although its… resting. Or rusting. Take a look: http://www.flickr.com/photos/anachrocomputer/sets/72157600040305362
resting like that parrot?