Revenge of the Econobox: Early Japanese Imports Find Admirers
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WHEN Japanese cars and trucks began arriving in the United States in earnest during the 1970s, they were widely seen as disposable.
Reliable, maybe. Future classics? Not likely.
But in the past decade, those bargain-price models from the '70s and '80s have been revisited by a generation of enthusiasts who grew up riding in the back seats.
"For many like myself, it's nostalgic," said Jun Imai, a 36-year-old designer at the Hot Wheels division of Mattel, where he directed the styling for die-cast models of two 1970s-vintage Nissans released last year.
"It's a very special feeling I have for cars like these -- the designs, the sound of the engines, the way they drive," Mr. Imai said. "They are so distinctive, yet most are approachable in terms of costs and availability."
Mr. Imai, who lives in Southern California, owns a 1971 Datsun 510 wagon and a 1972 Datsun pickup. The vehicles' peculiar silhouettes, diminutive scale and heavy use of chrome trim are typical of Japanese styling of the period.
Yorgo Tloupas, a co-founder and creative director of Intersection magazine, which is based in Paris, is the owner of a 1981 Honda Prelude. "I love that they don't look like anything else," Mr. Tloupas said.
"The first time I saw the Honda 600, I had to have the car," he said, referring to the tiny 2-cylinder sedan that was among the company's first models shipped to the United States.
The trend has grown rapidly. In 2005, Terry Yamaguchi, 39, and her husband, Koji, 41, who own a 1972 Toyota Celica coupe and a 1977 Celica liftback, started a casual meet-up in Long Beach, Calif., for like-minded enthusiasts. More than 200 cars showed up; the next year they created an official event, the Japanese Classic Car Show, now in its seventh year and attracting some 350 entries.
"We were not going to continue," Ms. Yamaguchi said. "It cost a lot and we didn't have any sponsors. We only did it for ourselves. But people were excited."
First Published February 5, 2012 12:01 am
