Do you own a classic japanese car ?

Silvera

Do you own a classic japanese car ?

I'm wondering how many members here own a classic japanese car.
When I say "classic" I mean any japanese car from c.1982 back, e.g. Toyota Corolla DX, KE30, KE20, Carina, Cresida, Datsun 120Y, 180B, Sunny, Cherry, etc. etc

......... basically all the old japanese cars I remember from my youth !;)

BrianD3

Add Toyota Crowns to the list. Rare beasts even when new There is a black 1975 Crown in Granard, Co. Longford, it looks in excellent condition. Unfortunately it has been "blinged" with lowered suspension, bigger wheels, tinted windows, extra chroming. It would be a great car if someone decided to return it to original condition

PaulK_CCI

Silvera wrote:

Do you own a classic japanese car ?

Topping my list was the Datsun 240Z that I had for a little while. Absolute cracker of a car that was. 150bhp under the bonnet, but then coupled with the reliability of a Japanese car!! Great out on the road.
If I ever come accross another clean one, I won't hesitate...



The other Japanese car I owned was 1982 Datsun Bluebird with a Diesel conversion. It has a 2.0 litre Vanette diesel engine and it was much quicker than the normal Bluebird Diesel... It looked like the dogs dinner, but I did like it strangely enough. These older Japanese cars have this strange unphasedness about them, no fuss, everything just does exactly what is expected of it...

shagman

PaulK_CCI wrote:

It has a 2.0 litre Vanette diesel engine and it was much quicker than the normal Bluebird Diesel

Yeah I had one of them engines too........In an 83 VW campervan!!!!
Blew up the bluebird version that was in it when I got it and replaced it with the vanette version.

MercMad

Not to be a snob or anything but do you really feel the above cars qualify for "Classic" status ?

The term is hard to define but it seems to be applied with gay abandon to cars that simply havent been seen for a while !

Everyone has their own opinion but I find rarity, unique or groundbreaking design, age and maybe competition history are important traits.

I love the early Datsun "Z" Cars and of course the Toyota 2000 but for me a 70's Corolla doesn't cut the mustard. I dont want to offend anyone and I truely would love to see more of these cars saved and restored as they evoke lots of memories for me !

Are you guys using the term "Classic" to describe anything over 30 years old ??

PaulK_CCI

MercMad wrote:

Not to be a snob or anything but do you really feel the above cars qualify for "Classic" status ?

mmm, i'm afraid you have a very valid point, and this thread will need to be put back on track before it derails into 'any odd Japanese car'...

I guess I got carried away and forgot about the word "classic" in the original question. I would certainly not consider the old 82 bluebird I had as a classic... (not yet anyway)

BrianD3

MercMad wrote:

Not to be a snob or anything but do you really feel the above cars qualify for "Classic" status ?

The term is hard to define but it seems to be applied with gay abandon to cars that simply havent been seen for a while !

Everyone has their own opinion but I find rarity, unique or groundbreaking design, age and maybe competition history are important traits.

I love the early Datsun "Z" Cars and of course the Toyota 2000 but for me a 70's Corolla doesn't cut the mustard. I dont want to offend anyone and I truely would love to see more of these cars saved and restored as they evoke lots of memories for me !

Are you guys using the term "Classic" to describe anything over 30 years old ??

I am probably guilty of this As regard your criteria for a classic, 70s Japanese cars certainly qualify on the rarity front. They sold big numbers here but suffered badly with rust. However because they were mechanically good they soldiered on for years after their sell by date. Many were unroadworthy and full of filler but they still "went" They were still lots in daily use up to the early-mid nineties then there was a sudden mass culling thanks to the scrappage scheme and the NCT. Nowadays they are very rare. I don't think they are hiding in barns around the country, they're just gone.

As for the cars themselves I think they *were* significant and groundbreaking because they were reliable in an era where most cars weren't. An era when British Leyland were producing cars that wouldn't start on a wet morning and were liable to drop their gearbox onto the road at any time

My father owned a KE30 when it was around 5-7 years old. It was a far more reliable car than the Austins, Wolseleys, Fiats, Opels, Fords he had owned beforehand all of which had been a lot newer. It was also more reliable than a disasterous FWD Escort that came after it. Also IMO the Japanese cars did have a character of their own. Many were like 1/2 size yank tanks and they didn't look any more boring than a lot of other cars of the time.

Finally there's the nostalgia factor and it may be something that is peculiar to this country. Remember how crap and poor this country was in the 70s and 80s. Thinking back reminds us of how much the country has changed. People driving around in battered old japanese cars was a characteristic of this country 20 years ago. There was bad poverty, many didn't even have a car and for loads of others a battered 10 year old japanese yoke was all they could afford.

MercMad

Also IMO the Japanese cars did have a character of their own. Many were like 1/2 size yank tanks and they didn't look any more boring than a lot of other cars of the time.

...........your points are valid ones, especially the above. There were basic things which the Japs included, stuff we werent used to, fully vinyl door trims, radios, recirc buttons, chunky steering wheels, column stalk controls, cloth seats and colour coordinated interior trim !

This was in the days when the British cars and Ford etc. all steel had bare metal along thgeir doors, vinyl seats, bakelite steering wheels, no radio, no hazard lights and the interior of each model was the same basic black plastic !Metallic paint seemed to be more common on these Jap cars too !

The Jap reliability is what built their reputation, image was an uphill struggle as the drivers of other cars snubbed them as being cheap ! Cheap maybe .....good value definitely !

My father bought a brand new Datsun Laurel in 1978 ! We thought we were millionaires cruising around in that car. It was 2.0 straight six cylinder and at idle you literally could not hear the car from outside, let alone inside ! It was metallic gold with a lovely light tan cloth interior and as mentioned it looked like a mini pseudo yank tank. There were little hooded lenses on the corner of the bonnet and boot which told you if the lamps were working ( early type of fibre optics ? ) and a dash light to tell if the doors were open or the seat belts werent clicked. There was the 5 speed gearbox, 4 speaker tapedeck, variable intermittant wipers, 4 cup holders, front and rear armrests, remote boot/fuel filler release.

That was failry high spec for 1978 and something that even the current Granada Ghia/Volvo/Mercedes never had.

I recall coming back from a 2 week holiday in January 1979 to Dublin, 2 families went the others owner a Mk1 Granada. We approached the cars wich had been parked in the airport all the time ( those were the days ) and there was about 12" of snow on each car. The folks had a bet on which car they could get started the quickest. My Dad opened the boot and put all the luggage in as the Granada owner smiled knowingly. My Dad sat in and then the Granada owner smuggly said
"Ha.......you forgot to take out the jump leads before you put all your luggage in ! "..........he quickly plucked the leads out and hurredly went to open the bonnet, expecting my father to panic and try to empty the boot, and which point my father literally "flicked" the key ...............................I never even heard the starter motor..............and neither did they, they didn't even realise it had started until we drove off !!

We did however circle the car park and return to spend 10 minute trying to start the big lazy Ford Pinto, which cranked noisily before bursting into a most undignified chatter !!

Sorry for the rant !!

PaulK_CCI

[QUOTE=MercMad
Sorry for the rant !![/QUOTE]

that's not a rant, that was a great story.

It does show you made a perfect point there brianD3, and I have to aggree with MercMad that yes, those early Japanese cars were generally reviled and laughed at by anyone driving a european car, but fact of the matter is that they brought quality control and reliability back onto the scene, (because the european cars had to clean up their act in that respect, with British Leyland being the worst offender) and also the extra options in their cars were phenomal compared the bland and basic stuff that European cars were handed over with.

MercMad

BTW did anyone realise that the Datsun/Nissan straight six OHC engine as fitted to the above Laurel/240Z etc was actually a copy of the Mercedes Benz M127 engine !

The Japs simply turned it into a cross flow, and hence better breathing, cylinder head, but if you look int they look identical except the plugs are on opposite sides. The location of the water pump, distributor and the general shape and layout is practically the same.

These were very durable engines and idled a lot better then the MB unit, plus they were silky smooth due to a more modern design of valve gear, which was arguably less durable, though I never really heard first hand of any Datsun engine failures !


Its not the first time the Japs copied and improved an engine either. They copied the bristish engines too but while the Brits couldn't keep the oil inside their engine the Japs figured the front crank pulley oil seal was the problem. The Brits changed their design a few times to no avail but the Japs simply machined a helix into the pulley boss which effectively pumped any trapped oil back into the sump !

Result...........no leaks !!

Silvera

I put 'classic' in inverted commas when I was describing old jap cars.

However, if people just wish to call them "old jap cars", then thats fine with me !

I'm still wondering if anybody else here owns one, what type, etc ?

......or have they all rusted into oblivion ?!:D

Jason_G_KE30

I know of one Datsun in Cavan, a "WID" Cavan reg, brown in colour, and the spit of the KE30 in appearance (from the front anyway). It was probably 3-4 years now since I saw it, but something tells me it's still going.
I took a look at another Datsun in Cloone, Co. Leitrim on the way to Lough Rynn last Autumn, but it was in a poor way and was only left as scrap behind a Mechanic's garage. Might contain the vital bit though.
I also see a 1978 Datsun 180B for sale in this weeks Buy and Sell with 42K miles, anyone make any enquiries here? Looks to be a nice car from search photos I've seen...:)

BrianD3

Talking of Cavan, I saw a bronze coloured Datsun Laurel C31 (1980-83 model) there today. LI reg. Car looked like a daily driver and in good condition. Do you know this car Jason?

Jason_G_KE30

No, have to say it doesn't ring a bell BrianD3, whereabout did u see it?

BrianD3

Jason, I saw the Laurel parked on a street in Cavan town.

The KE30 lookalike that you saw, might that have been a Datsun 1200?

Looks like Cavan is the place to go if you're a fan of old Datsuns

G Luxel

The Corolla is 40 next year, I wouldnt be surprised if Toyota remake the MkI for anniversary purposes, probably about 250 . They have done this before. I enclose a picture of a 89 Toyota AA, yes its 89. For the record, the home market cars of Japan were very much in the mode of what Bmw, Mercedes and Jaguar are today, very well equipped, compared to what they exported to this country which was third world. The accessory catalogues for them are like encylopedias literally, awash with loads of items.

The present flagship of toyota is not a Lexus, but a Century. Built at roughly 200 a year since I967, it received a revamp in 98. Two of them recently appeared on ebay. One for sale in London, previously owned by the Japanese embassy and another in Canada. These cars featured the 4.0 V8 and 5.0 VI2. Usually they are ferrying businessmen to and fro in the centre of Tokyo, usually around the Imperial Palace where there is a very large financial district as well as the Japanese Parliament known as the Diet. Its not uncommon to see maybe 50 of these at a time parked on the street. You will also find a lot of mark one versions, now retired from its chauffeuring life, on many a street, with its owner who is usually in his early 20s. In a scoop last year in a leading japanese car magazine, its replacement is based on a Rolls Royce Phantom with wing mirrors.
Does anyone know if this Century car ever arrived in Ireland?

For those of you interested in the Crown, this is still offered in 3 versions as a Crown Majesta, Crown Athlete and a Crown Comfort which looks more like the 80s version. The previous Crown Comfort was built up to 98 and was basically a 70s Cressida updated to late 90s modernity.

The Nissan cedric and another car called the Nissan Crew are still available but only as a commercial saloon or a taxi/police car and they only run on a 2 litre LPG engine. These cars are the last of the conservative styles that dominated the market in the 70s and 80s.