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Apr 29, 2023 18:57:38 GMT
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As I may have mentioned I was recently in Japan (last week at time of writing) I had a very nice time and recommend it to anyone considering it. My trip covered Tokyo, the 'burbs, Yokohama and Yama. I did see some interesting cars and so on while I was out there. I have a ton of photos from the trip so I will post up here as I sort them out. I'll start with the European stuff. There is a lot of this out there, plenty of G Wagons for sure, and Aston Martins and MINIs and Minis and so on. Bonus shot with added Defender And a Jag And a MINI Mini on its own... VW with a neat small J car More Minis And a Countryman / Traveller... Lots of trouble, Usually serious And a nice 5 series, seen with a more modern BMW for contrast... I did also see a few Americans out there, sadly the '64 Falcon convertible and the '59 Impala escaped my camera but here are a couple of others which I did manage to spot for y'all There has to be a H van selling stuff everywhere now, by law... So thats that now, I'll start with the actual J-tin/JDM stuff next time...
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1937 Austin Street Rod - 1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1976 Rover V8 - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Apr 29, 2023 18:59:50 GMT
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1937 Austin Street Rod - 1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1976 Rover V8 - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Apr 30, 2023 16:12:48 GMT
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Last Edit: Apr 30, 2023 16:13:41 GMT by akku
1937 Austin Street Rod - 1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1976 Rover V8 - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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tofufi
South West
Posts: 1,454
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Apr 30, 2023 20:02:22 GMT
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Goodness I miss Japan. Hope I can make it back there again soon.
Thanks for the photos 🙂
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brachunky
Scotland
Posts: 1,320
Club RR Member Number: 72
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So, Japan...brachunky
@brachunky
Club Retro Rides Member 72
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Apr 30, 2023 21:33:57 GMT
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Some fantastic photo's Akku! What's their obsession with the little Mini? Does it qualify for some local laws like Kei trucks maybe?
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,714
Club RR Member Number: 34
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So, Japan...Dez
@dez
Club Retro Rides Member 34
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Apr 30, 2023 23:01:44 GMT
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There was a published article somewhere I read about the (original) mini scene in Japan. Iirc all minis in Japan are grey imports so the healthy scene there seemed a bit odd to the English press. It comprised Little featurettes on a few cars and interviews with the owners.
The key question was ‘why do you own an English mini, when Japan is renowned for kei cars and other small hatchbacks?’ The standout answer from one young-ish Japanese guy was- “Why do I want a boring Japanese car that I know will always get me where I’m going? I have an English car for the excitement of not knowing if I’ll make my journey without breaking down.”
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Minis are cute, are fun, are - well - Minis. I get why anyone anywhere would want one. Also I observe that the Japanese stereotypes are more nuanced than what they are given credit for. There is a part of being Japanese which means you will have your thing, and when you have your thing you will do it no matter what, and you will do it enthusiastically and wholeheartedly. Its a pride/self respect thing. I can see how "Oh I like the old Mini" then turns into importing and running one "against the odds and logic" because its the Japanese way.
My ex had Minis and I didn't find them especially unreliable. I had one which suffered the rain-ignition issue but thats easily resolved, one had a fuel pump die which was the devils job to fix. Rust was the big one on those rather than reliability.
And again, I can imagine Japanese Mini Enthusiast being very proud of his exacting maintenance and rust proofing schedules.
A flip is why do British people drive huge American cars which are unsuited to our roads, are LHD, have no spares supply here... because its not logical to choose what you drive, its emotional.
I did also see a fair number of American cars in Japan. Old ones and new ones. Explain that logic? Again, no logic is required.
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1937 Austin Street Rod - 1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1976 Rover V8 - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Last Edit: May 1, 2023 10:16:19 GMT by akku
1937 Austin Street Rod - 1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1976 Rover V8 - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Very clever the Japanese eh? My mate has just returned (in fact was probably there while you were) he sent me some vids of the crazy screens they have high up off the street. Mental 3D type graphics. Its a place I’d like to visit tbh
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Last Edit: May 1, 2023 12:29:07 GMT by rattlecan
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craig1010cc
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,993
Club RR Member Number: 35
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So, Japan...craig1010cc
@craig1010cc
Club Retro Rides Member 35
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There was a published article somewhere I read about the (original) mini scene in Japan. Iirc all minis in Japan are grey imports so the healthy scene there seemed a bit odd to the English press. It comprised Little featurettes on a few cars and interviews with the owners. The key question was ‘why do you own an English mini, when Japan is renowned for kei cars and other small hatchbacks?’ The standout answer from one young-ish Japanese guy was- “Why do I want a boring Japanese car that I know will always get me where I’m going? I have an English car for the excitement of not knowing if I’ll make my journey without breaking down.” They were sold new there from rover dealers and the continued demand their was one of the tipping factors that kept production going in the later years. In the last few years of production the Japanese spec ones came with aircon and a hybrid of the MPI engine and coil pack but the SPI injection system. There are quite a few grey imported minis in Japan too to meet demand. There are several specialists over there that support the local minis as well as stocking many tasty upgrades that occasionally filter over here. They also stock some odd things (had the opportunity to have a couple of holidays in Japan and being a mini nerd, visiting a few of them was a must) including tesco tote bags and a couple of Freds.
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There are a few, or probably more than a few, Japan spec Minis here in New Zealand, all imported from there second hand of course.
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You want to see some more pics of that black Cedric, right? That was photographed at Yama, litterally next to 2 Nissan factories at that crossroads... I have all the love for that. More vintage Datsun content coming soon, because what else is at Yama is awesome. I think I mentioned elsewhere, a bunch of the workers were coming out of one of the factories and saw me snapping away like a paparazi on that old Cedric and they were keen to show thier appreciation of me doing so.
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1937 Austin Street Rod - 1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1976 Rover V8 - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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mrbig
Part of things
Semi-professional Procrastinator
Posts: 462
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Great pictures, thank you for sharing. Really want to get to Japan one day.
IIRC Kei cars have yellow licence plates with black text and Kei commercials vice versa, so it's fairly easy to tell a genuine kei versus a 'regular' small car.
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Last Edit: May 2, 2023 12:41:26 GMT by mrbig
1969 German Look Beetle - in progress
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braaap
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,599
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I think I mentioned elsewhere, a bunch of the workers were coming out of one of the factories and saw me snapping away like a paparazi on that old Cedric and they were keen to show thier appreciation of me doing so. Hmmm, this leaves some questions open. I spend some time finding an older gif, unfortunately without success. It showed some japanese car fan at a racetrack kind of celebrating a certain car passing by. He did so while being barenaked hitting his most private parts. Thank god he was only filmed from behind. Did they show their appreciation similarly?
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Did they show their appreciation similarly? Luckily not!
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1937 Austin Street Rod - 1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1976 Rover V8 - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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There was a published article somewhere I read about the (original) mini scene in Japan. Iirc all minis in Japan are grey imports so the healthy scene there seemed a bit odd to the English press. It comprised Little featurettes on a few cars and interviews with the owners. The key question was ‘why do you own an English mini, when Japan is renowned for kei cars and other small hatchbacks?’ The standout answer from one young-ish Japanese guy was- “Why do I want a boring Japanese car that I know will always get me where I’m going? I have an English car for the excitement of not knowing if I’ll make my journey without breaking down.” Rover did export minis to Japan, they usually have air conditioning and have a multipoint injection engine with single point injection.
A few of them have come back and are quite interesting to look at the differences (if like me you are that way inclined ).
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1937 Austin Street Rod - 1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1976 Rover V8 - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Now we mention Kei cars... Shame we don't get Kei-spec micro vans over here. This would probably solve all my motoring quandaries.
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1937 Austin Street Rod - 1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1976 Rover V8 - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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1937 Austin Street Rod - 1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1976 Rover V8 - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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