10 real JDMs that make the R34 and Supra at Retro Havoc as common as a Myvi
CY Foong · Jun 3, 2023 12:00 PM
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Think of JDM and you might think of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, Mazda RX-7, Nissan GT-R or Toyota Supra. Those examples only touch the surface of the world of JDMs and are factually incorrect for the three letters that define cars of Japanese origin.
Calling the Supra their favourite JDM is like saying the Spicy Chicken McDeluxe is the best burger ever. They didn't try hard enough.
The term JDM stands for Japanese Domestic Model and it refers to cars exclusive to the Japanese market. So, cars like the RX-7, R35 GT-R, and the extremely overrated Supra don’t count as JDM for the most part as they were also sold overseas.
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Early generations of the Civic Type R, Lancer Evolution, and the Skyline GT-R count as true JDMs but Japan has a strong automotive history that dates back all the way to the turn of the 20th century. It would be a bit of a disservice especially if one considers themselves a "JDM car enthusiast" to only limit their knowledge to what is literally a handful of cars.
Whether you consider yourself an expert or are newly exposed to the culture after last weekend’s Retro Havoc, it is my duty then as the purveyor of Cult of Cars to educate and introduce the exciting world of proper JDMs beyond just the famous performance cars.
We will focus on 10 other great JDMs that you might have never heard of before. Coincidentally, Japan has 10 major carmakers so we’ll list out one from each brand along with a couple of other noteworthy models. Apologies for deceiving you with the title as there are actually 30 cars on this list and if you made it here, read on!
Toyota Soarer Aerocabin
Toyota has made plenty of legendary models aside from the Supra and the Sprinter Trueno AE86. Names like the Celica, MR2, Mark II/Chaser/Cresta, and the GT86 are well-known so let’s start off by introducing the Toyota Soarer Aerocabin.
The Soarer is more known for the third generation which came with Toyota’s iconic 2JZ engine but since it was also offered overseas as the Lexus SC, we’ll put its Japan-only predecessor in the spotlight. The Z20 Soarer shared the same platform as the A70 Supra (my personal favourite Supra) but it more of a flagship personal luxury coupe than a drifting sports car.
The Z20 Soarer was laden with state-of-the-art features including a digital infotainment display and the world’s first electronically-controlled semi-active full-air suspension, TEMS.
However, it’s the Aerocabin that makes this coupe extra special. Limited to only 500 units, it only came with 2 seats with the rear seats removed to install an electric folding roof. For a car from the eighties, nothing can truly match its coolness in a decade filled with so many outrageous ideas.
Other noteworthy Toyota JDMs
Toyota Sera – Cool gullwing doors that inspired the McLaren F1 and it is still the flyest-looking Toyota ever.
Toyota Century – The only Toyota to ever receive a V12 engine and heavily favoured by Japanese bosses, both corporate and underworld.
You’re no true JDM car nut if you don’t appreciate kei cars and nothing beats the coolness of the trio of little Japanese sports cars that were launched around the same time in the early 1990s. Of the three, the Honda Beat is the best and its development is also an important one as it was the last model to be approved by Soichiro Honda before his death.
Not to be confused with the scooter that bears the same name, the Honda Beat sports car lacks in performance as kei car regulations meant its power is restricted to only 64 PS. Yet, it makes up for that with raw handling and simple thrills.
The naturally-aspirated 660-cc engine is mounted transversely in the middle so it feels very balanced around the corners. It’s a little Caterham Seven or a Lotus sports car and unlike its rivals, the Beat is only offered with a 5-speed manual transmission.
It’s a car made for fun rather than a serious sports car from its small size to the zebra-patterned interior to the stickers on the side that says “Midship Amusement”. Though it’s the best-selling among the kei sports cars with 33,600 units sold, prices are also skyrocketing especially after it qualifies to be brought into the United States following the 25-year import rule.
Other noteworthy Honda JDMs
Honda S660 – The modern successor to the Honda Beat with the same thrills and tiny 660-cc engine albeit turbocharged.
Honda N-One RS – The N-Box’s hatchback sibling looks cute on the outside but this sporty lil’ kei car comes with a 6-speed manual transmission.
While there’s no denying that the Group B rally competition saw some of the wildest and most powerful cars tear up gravel, tarmac, and any road conditions in between, the less-powerful Group A rally cars also produced some icons for the road.
Mitsubishi, Subaru, and Toyota saw Group A as a potential and sure enough, all 3 dominated the world rally stage in the 1990s. Unlike the aforementioned 3, Nissan’s rally adventure went largely forgotten but what it produced became an all-time legend.
The standard N14 Pulsar was a generic transport appliance but Nissan chose the hatchback as its entry for the Group A rally championship. It shoved a turbocharged 2.0-litre SR20DET (227 PS/280 Nm) engine in front, gave it an ATTESA all-wheel drive (AWD) system, and placed a large bonnet scoop.
The result is the Pulsar GTi-R which was also sold in Europe as the Sunny GTi-R and it became one of the fastest hot hatches in the 1990s. 0-100 km/h took 5.4 seconds while its top speed is claimed to be 232 km/h. It was called the Baby Godzilla as the little brother to the R32 Skyline GT-R and it rightly deserves that title.
Nissan March Super Turbo – When turbo was all the rage in the 1980s, Nissan shoved both a supercharger and a turbocharger into its hatchback and gave it an epic name.
Nissan Skyline Turbo RS-X – Two-tone red and black paintjob with gold lettering decals, enough said.
Mitsubishi Minica Dangan ZZ-4
Just like Toyota, Mitsubishi is another icon that produced numerous legendary favourites but the one that I want to pay attention to is one of the smallest cars to bear the Three Diamonds logo. The standard Minica literally matches its name as Mitsubishi’s kei car entry.
Things seemed normal for the Minica until the sixth generation was introduced in 1989. First, the asymmetrical Minica Lettuce was introduced with a pair of doors on the passenger side and a single door on the driver’s side and this was later followed by the tall-roofed Minica Toppo.
But the ultimate version of the sixth-gen Minica also bore the longest name of all the cars in this list. The Mitsubishi Minica Dangan ZZ-4 is a kei hot hatch which in the late 1980s was seeing competition from Daihatsu, Suzuki, and Subaru so it really had to stand out aside from having a crazy name.
The tiny Minica Dangan ZZ-4 is the first mass-produced car in the world with 5 valves per cylinder. The turbocharged 15-valve engine only produced 64 PS to comply with kei car regulations but this was also another case of charm over performance.
Other noteworthy Mitsubishi JDMs
Mitsubishi Galant AMG – Cooler and rarer than any Lancer Evolution with tuning by a name more familiar with Mercedes-Benz.
Mitsubishi FTO – The GTO’s more attainable and underrated little brother.
Mazda’s association with rotary engines started with the Mazda Cosmo in 1967 and the Hiroshima-based carmaker would continue to offer the engine across different vehicles including a bus! However, Mazda found the perfect rotary-powered machine in the form of the RX-7 which lasted for 3 generations and 22 years.
Yet, Mazda continued to offer the rotary engine in the Cosmo which went through four generations and the last generation is one of the coolest. Sold only in Japan under the Eunos brand which was Mazda’s luxury sub-brand similar to Toyota’s Lexus, the Eunos Cosmo is an exquisite Japanese grand tourer.
Two rotary engines were offered, a familiar twin-turbo 1.3-litre twin-rotor 13B unit that makes 235 PS and a twin-turbo 2.0-litre triple-rotor 20B-REW unit that makes 300 PS. Being a luxury car, the final-generation Cosmo was only available with a 4-speed automatic.
But just like many Japanese luxury cars of the late 80s, the Eunos Cosmo is packed with features considered very state-of-the-art then including the world’s first in-built GPS navigation. Unfortunately, Japan’s bubble economy burst around the time the Cosmo was introduced and it along with the Eunos brand would be discontinued.
Mazda Familia GT-R – The homologated version of the Mazda’s rally hatchback with aggressive bodykits and a turbocharged 1.8-litre engine that makes 210 PS.
Autozam AZ-1 – The coolest-looking of the ABC kei sports cars and the only fixed roof coupe thanks to the gullwing doors.
The second kei hot hatch on this list, the Suzuki Alto Works is the most legendary of them all. While its competitors were only offered for just one or two generations, 5 generations of the Alto Works were produced.
The Alto Turbo was the first kei hot hatch when it was launched in 1985 but when the Alto Works name was introduced in 1987, a legend among kei car fans was born. The first Alto Works would spearhead the kei hot hatch movement when the regulations bumped up the maximum power output to 64 PS.
The second-generation Alto Works wasn’t just a worthy successor to the first generation, its engine is also highly sought after among the tuner kei car community. The 3-cylinder Suzuki F6A engine may only produce 64 PS as per regulation but it is reported that some have tuned the iron block engine to make upwards of 122 PS!
Subsequent generations of the Alto Works kept the kei hot hatch fire burning but poor sales hampered most of the successors. After a 15-year hiatus, the Alto Works name was revived on Christmas Eve 2015 with a turbocharged 660-cc unit that makes 64 PS and 100 Nm.
Other noteworthy Suzuki JDMs
Suzuki Twin – A kei car that looks like a Kinder Joy toy and was one of the first hybrid models in its class.
Suzuki Cappuccino – The C of the ABC kei sports cars and the only one to be sold overseas officially.
Daihatsu’s greatest hits among Malaysians involve either the Mira which became the basis for many of Perodua’s entry-level models or the Charade De Tomaso which was a conversion favourite among owners. The Charade was also very popular among first-time buyers before the existence of Perodua.
But it was the third-generation G100 that lifted the Charade’s image from a simple little hatchback to a legendary boyhood warm hatch. This generation of the Charade brought victory for Daihatsu when it won best-in-class and fifth overall in the gruelling Safari Rally in 1993.
It also introduced one of the craziest and often overlooked turbocharged Japanese superminis of the late 80s. The Daihatsu Charade GTti surprised reviewers with its sharp, go-kart-like handling and supplanted chassis.
Tipping the scales at a lightweight 790 kg, it is powered by a turbocharged 1.0-litre DOHC 12-valve 3-pot that makes 105 PS and 130 Nm so it’s a pocket rocket. Eventually, it was updated to be renamed the Charade GT-XX but remained a forgotten hot hatch compared to the Nissan March Super Turbo and Toyota Starlet Turbo.
Other noteworthy Daihatsu JDMs
Daihatsu Mira RV4 – There are so many interesting variants of the Mira throughout the years but the 4WD version is the one that stands out the most.
Daihatsu Copen – Whether it’s the cute first generation or the more modern-looking second generation, both are worthy little sports cars.
While other kei cars are powered by a 3-cylinder engine, the Subaru Vivio is powered by a 4-cylinder unit. The Vivio’s name is interesting on its own as it spelt out the 660-cc displacement in Roman numerals (VI, VI, O).
Equally fascinating is the fact that the Vivio came in various shapes, from a regular kei car to one with a retro grille (Vivio Bistro) to even a convertible option (Vivio T-Top). There is even a hot hatch version but while its competitors go the turbocharged route to lift the 660-cc engine’s performance, Subaru went in a completely different direction.
The Vivio RX-R is the only kei hot hatch to be equipped with a supercharger underneath. This was fitted to a 660-cc 4-cylinder DOHC engine that paired with a 5-speed manual transmission sending power to all 4 wheels.
It even has the iconic blue and yellow 555 livery as the Impreza!
Just like the Charade, the Vivio also took part in rallying too and competed in the same Safari Rally in 1993 where it was driven by the late, great Colin McRae. Unfortunately, the little Vivio had to retire due to suspension issues.
Other noteworthy Subaru JDMs
Subaru Alcyone SVX – Subaru’s entry to the personal luxury coupe market of the late 1980s and early 1990s with a 6-cylinder boxer engine and AWD set-up.
Subaru 360 – It might look like a shrunken Volkswagen Beetle, but without the success of the “ladybug”, Subaru might never continue making cars today.
Isuzu Piazza
Compared to the other models here, the Isuzu Piazza isn’t exclusively JDM, having been sold overseas as the Isuzu Impulse or rebadged with another brand. However, I’m giving this an exception as Isuzu was more than just a brand known for diesel engines and trucks.
It once dabbled in the passenger car market and produced some interesting models like the 117 Coupe, Gemini, and the Bellett GT-R. Isuzu would later start rebadging various Honda and Subaru models and would eventually exit the passenger car market by the mid-2000s.
The Piazza was one of the last Isuzu-developed cars and it was a futuristic-looking sports car. Designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, the Piazza’s production was greenlit as soon as the concept car was revealed at the 1979 Geneva Auto Show.
A year later, the Isuzu Piazza was introduced and came with two naturally-aspirated 2.0-litre engines – an SOHC unit (120 PS/163 Nm) or a DOHC powerplant (135 PS/167 Nm). Later models eventually came with suspension tuning by Irmscher and Lotus as well as a turbocharged 2.0-litre unit (150 PS/225 Nm).
Other noteworthy Isuzu JDMs
Isuzu Bellett GT-R – The other priceless Japanese GT-R that was launched in 1969 and equally rare with only 1,400 units made.
Isuzu Gemini Turbo Irmscher – Isuzu collaborated with a German tuning company to make a hotter version of an otherwise forgettable cheap car.
Mitsuoka Classic Type F
Leaving the most interesting Japanese carmaker for last is Japan’s tenth carmaker. Mitsuoka’s line-up consists of interesting cars inspired by the past built on platforms of existing models but unlike most aftermarket companies, it has its own dealer network and factory.
If you attended the most recent Retro Havoc, you might have noticed this unusual sports car
Granted, Mitsuoka is more of a niche carmaker as it takes months to produce a car so it doesn’t have the volume to match with the other 9 brands. It was even officially sold in Malaysia and even if sales never quite took off, it’s impressive that the distributor stayed for so long.
Mitsuoka's first production car, the MX-5-based Zero1
While the Le Seyde, Galue, and Viewt spark some charming glances, it’s the Classic Type F that gets my attention for this list. As one-half of the name suggests, the open-top sports car was a classic restyled version of the Zero1 which in turn was inspired by the Lotus Seven by design.
Both 2-seater sports cars were built on a Mazda MX-5 platform with the same powertrain from its donor – a 1.8-litre BP engine (130 PS/130 Nm). The Type F also won Japan’s Good Design Award in 1997 and when production ended for both models in 2001, a total of only 350 units were made, making it the rarest of all the JDMs listed here.
Other noteworthy Mitsuoka JDMs
The entire Mitsuoka lineup – From the Silvia-based Le Seyde to the strange-looking Orochi, Mitsuoka’s whole lineup deserves to be recognised.
Those are 10 (mostly) true JDM cars that every petrolhead should know and appreciate. Not all of them pop and bang or appear as the hero in an anime or movie but desirable is what they all share in common so make sure to keep an eye out for them and of course, respect their rides.
Traded advertising for a career that fits his passion for cars. Enjoys spotting cars during his free time and has a soft spot for Japanese Kei cars but drives a thirsty manual sedan.
