More than 200 Japanese cars were on display last Sunday, in the largest car show ever assembled at Waterfront Park.
If you hadn’t heard about it, coming across the event must have been quite the eye-widener, as there was everything there from lowered JDM Nissan Skylines to an insanely rare Datsun Fairlady from the early 1960s.
Japanese cars are often considered to be a bit soulless. I mean, if I held out two pairs of keys and said, “Would you rather have the Ferrari for a day, or the Toyota?” you’d almost certainly go for the Italian machine. Always assuming, of course, that you didn’t mind catching just a little bit on fire: it’sa no big deal, capisce?
But you’d be wrong, because the Toyota in question could be one of the most beautiful cars ever made, and the Ferrari just a Mondial. Think mega-conglomerate Japanese companies are only about mass-producing Camrys and Civics? Turns out, they’re perfectly capable of raising an eyebrow or two.
I’m speaking about the Toyota 2000GT, which I have written about before. After returning from a tour of a hidden collection of these machines outside Tokyo, I had a chance to have a go in the single example that exists in Canada – a red, left-hand-drive example that belongs to Christian Chia, CEO of the Open Road group of dealerships. It’s an amazing machine, analogous to a Jaguar E-Type, but with a unique flair all its own.
After drooling all over his car (I mopped it up afterwards, everything was fine), Chia and I shot the breeze about some of the great forgotten Toyotas.
“‘Have you ever driven a Century?” I asked. Chia got his start working for Toyota in their Tokyo offices, and he was immediately intrigued.
The Century is one of the most unexpected cars you’ll see on the road in Japan. Happily, my friend Helen Poon has one, which I borrowed to take to the Waterfront car show. It’s essentially a Japanese Rolls-Royce, powered by a perfectly balanced V-12 engine that puts the best luxury cars in the world to shame.
Flagship of the Toyota range, the Century is the most traditional of Japanese machines. It costs a small fortune to hire one as your limousine transport, and was used as the embassy car for Japanese consulates around the world. Instead of leather, it comes with woollen upholstery because that’s quieter and doesn’t squeak. It’s approximately the size of an aircraft carrier and accelerates and turns with much the same alacrity.
I rolled this Imperial Palace on wheels onto the lawn at Waterfront Park, and got out to take a look around. There was the usual host of Datsun 510s and 240Zs that form the core of Japanese car enthusiasts – these are the machines that raced successfully at Westwood, dicing it up with BMW 2002s and Porsche 911s. Probably my favourite was one into which the owner had swapped a Ford SHO V-6: this high-revving six was actually engineered by Yamaha, so it was still an all-Japanese effort.
A wide display of trucks ranged from the expected Land Cruisers to the wacky Daihatsu Midget II. I love these things – a tiny microtruck with the spare tire mounted on the nose, you can only get these with two seats if you order the automatic. If you buy the manual transmission, the gearshift placement basically means you’d be rummaging around in your passenger’s groin. That sort of behaviour is frowned upon in polite Japanese society. Or any society.
Over at the Toyota display, my friend Geremy Testar brought along his 1971 Corolla TE27, a factory race car from the old days. These are highly collectible now, and proof that even the lowly Corolla can contain passion.
Hondas were also in attendance, including the amazing custom builds of first generation specialist Justin March. He managed a best in class win, and his wife took runner-up spot.
There were also a few rotary-engine fans here, with Mazda RX-3s and a newer RX-7 or two. The Germans could never get this strange engine design to work, but 47 Japanese engineers at Mazda managed to create a powerplant that’s utterly unique. People who love them, love them, and having watched the four-rotor Le Mans prototypes scream, you can count me among its most fervent fans.
Every possible type of enthusiasm for the car is here today, from the project car to the polished showroom stock machine. Even a brown 1980s Toyota Tercel tugs at the heartstrings, displayed with pictures of the owner’s mother at Spanish Banks – it was her first new car.
Best in show goes to Mitch Jensen’s stunning 1962 Datsun Fairlady SPL213. This cheery little red-and-white roadster looks toylike, the kind of car Noddy might drive. It’s in perfect shape, and one of just 217 such cars ever made.
From these humble beginnings, an industry sprang that now makes everything from go-anywhere turbodiesel offroaders to semi-trucks to supercars to luxury limousines. No wonder this gathering outdid the combined Italian and French show and the multi-brand German show. In the collector world, the land of the rising sun shines on many a car enthusiast.
