First came Viewt, then there was Cute

As is often the case when it's looking all quiet on the Japanese automotive front, those oddballs over at Mitsuoka have managed to conjure up a modicum of excitement by pulling yet another unorthodox new model out of their hat.

After 16 years in production, and the launch of two successive generations, we should by now all be familiar with the Nissan March/Micra based, Jaguar MkII emulating Viewt. However, with Mitsuoka recently announcing that production of the second generation Viewt is to end in December 2009, in preparation for a Viewt-less future, the company appears to be exploring other March-based avenues, this time in the form of the newly launched Cute. In perverse Mitsuoka fashion, the Cute isn't actually a new car at all. Instead, it is a new used car, with Mitsuoka carefully selecting a pre-loved example of the Nissan March, which is then put through a rigourous 67 point inspection before being sent down Mitsuoka's production line to commence its transfiguration into a Cute.

As is evident from the accompanying photographs, the March's mutation into the Cute sees the little Nissan titivated with the addition of the Viewt's visage, while the rear bumper and flanks are suitably embellished with chrome rubbing strips. The end product is thus essentially a Viewt, save for the absence of that vehicle's curvaceous derrière. Sadly, however, it is an absence which leaves the Cute looking a little unresolved. Indeed, would the Cute's inspiration, the Jaguar MkII, still be regarded as a design classic today if it too had been brought into this world as a hatchback?

Still, with prices starting at 1,080,000Yen, dependent on mileage, there are few cheaper ways of getting yourself into a hand-crafted Mitsuoka.

So Long Trusty Comrade?

Please say it isn't so? Odious financial crisis by all means take GM, but don't take the icon that is Lada. The world would surely be a less colourful place without the boxy cars that have mobilized most of the former Soviet block? If this BBC report is to be believed, Avtovaz, owners of Lada, may be out of business within weeks. Although this seemingly has very little to do with the Japanese car industry and everything to do with the impact on Russia of the global financial crisis, the rash of cheap second-hand Japanese market cars entering Russia through its Eastern ports such as Vladivostok has surely provided one of the nails to seal Lada's coffin?

07/03/09 - Budget Classic of the Day

Model: 1975 Isuzu 117 Coupe XC
Price: 970,000 Yen

Isuzu may well be the world's largest manufacturer of light and medium duty trucks, however the last decade has seen the company gradually extricate itself from car markets around the globe. Today, all that remains of Isuzu's once distinguished passenger car division is a motley collection comprising of the odd pickup truck and a smattering of awkwardly proportioned SUVs designed for Southeast Asian consumption. This somewhat cheerless state of affairs belies Isuzu's true heritage as a uniquely characterful manufacturer of cars which were innovative from both a technical and a stylistic perspective. One only needs to look as far as the 1993 VehiCross, or 1981 Piazza to see mould-breaking examples of the latter.

If I were to choose a single representative of Isuzu's oeuvre to take pride of place in my hypothetical multi-storey of Japanese exotica, it would however have to be the 117 Coupe. While the Piazza and VehiCross may be more idiosyncratic choices, the 117's beguiling blend of classic Italian carrosserie styling - highly reminiscent of the Fiat Dino Coupe - and Japanese technical innovation render any competition sadly impotent.

The Giorgetto Giugiaro (hence the striking similarity to the Dino) pencilled 117 was first unveiled at the 1966 Geneva Motor Show, with the first production vehicles completed in late 1968. In its transition to production the 117 laid claim to several firsts. Not only was the 117 one of the first Japanese cars to be styled by an Italian design house, it was also the first Japanese car to be equipped with an electronic fuel injection system. With diesel engines finding their way under the bonnet of the 117 on several occasions during its thirteen-year production run, it can also be argued that the 117 pioneered the use of diesel powerplants in luxury passenger vehicles, a trend which has finally come full circle some forty years later.

Early first generation 117s were largely handbuilt in very small numbers, and as befitting a coachbuilt Italian-styled exotic were trimmed in the finest leather and Taiwanese camphor wood. By 1972, when production of the first generation vehicles drew to a close, only 2,458 examples had been produced, and today as a result of their rarity these early vehicles duly command a premium on the rare occasion they find their way onto the open market.

For reasons of economy I have thus selected a second generation 117, which showcases some of the cost saving initiatives implemented by the pernicious hand of GM after it joined forces with Isuzu in 1971. Not only was mechanised mass-production introduced for second-generation models, but many of the tactile features which had imbued the early cars with such character were consigned to the annals of history: vinyl replaced leather on the seats, machine pressed steel replaced the hand-crafted camphor wood used for the fascia, and the intricate rear lights were replaced with chunkier standardized items from the parts bin. Despite these cost cutting measures, the second generation 117 nonetheless retains the integrity of the Giugiaro design and thus much of what made the original car so special. For the third generation of the 117, in 1977, the purity of the original was further bastardised with the addition of rectangular head lights and bulky plastic bumpers in an effort to make the already 10 year old design feel a little more contemporary. Remarkably however, notwithstanding these fussy additions and GM's best efforts to the contrary, the 117 remained an attractive vehicle for the entirety of its 13 year and 86,000 unit production run.

The 1975 second generation 117XC seen here (in blue) ironically lacks the electronic fuel injection of the XE model which made the 117 so innovative. Instead the XC was powered by a 1800cc SOHC engine with twin carburettors.

06/03/09 - Budget Classic of the Day

Model:1989 Nissan March Super Turbo
Price: 290,000 Yen

It now seems to be accepted wisdom that it was Volkswagen, with the advent of their 1.4TSI engine in 2005, who popularised the idea of bolting both a supercharger and a turbocharger to a small capacity petrol engine for added fuel economy and performance.

In actual fact though the Japanese, and in particular Nissan, have been practicing this little trick since the late '80s, and arguably to more dramatic effect.

In 1988, Nissan decided that its future lay in participation in rallying's 1600cc class, and through the workings of its own obscure logic decided that the vehicle most suitable to achieve these ends was the boxy, diminutive March (aka Micra). There was however a slight issue; at this stage in its life the March was only equipped with a scrawny 987cc engine which would have seen it duly humiliated by its better endowed 1600cc competition. Nissan's solution to this problem was to hit the March's powerplant with a little forced induction in the form of both a supercharger and a turbocharger. Confident that it had duly outwitted the competition, Nissan came up against another brick wall in the form of the rallying rule book. The rule book in the 1600cc class stipulated that any vehicle making use of forced induction was required to have its engine capacity multiplied by a factor of 1.7. Sadly for Nissan, 987 x 1.7 does not 1600cc make. Nissan was therefore forced back to the drawing board, reducing the March's displacement down to an even more trifling 930cc. The result was the birth of the 8-valve, 110bhp MA09ERT engine.

For homologation purposes this twin-charger equipped engine was bolted into a stripped out base-grade March, given the March R nomenclature, and put on sale for motorsport use. A year later in 1989 the R was dressed in a complementary body kit and graphics, equipped with such creature comforts as electric mirrors and rear seats and launched to the Japanese public as the March Super Turbo. The additional equipment pushed the Super Turbo's weight up to 770kg from the R's 740kg, but the wall of torque provided at low revs by the supercharger and at high revs by the turbo ensured that a 0-62mph time of a staggering 7.7 seconds was achievable, the car powering on to a top speed of 112mph.

With only 10,000 Super Turbos produced, and with the car now becoming a cult classic both at home and abroad, it is becoming increasingly rare to find one of these pocket rockets in the classifieds. Although this example has covered a not insubstantial 156,000km, at this price it remains sorely tempting. If only the Yen wasn't quite so strong and I hadn't been hit quite so hard in the face by the recession.