08/03/09 - Budget Classic of the Day

Model: 1988 Nissan EXA Canopy
Price: 395,000
So here is where I lose all credibility. I'll come straight out and admit that I have been infatuated with this piece of 80's kitsch for quite some time. Ever the superficial aesthete, this unhealthy fixation has nothing to do with the EXA's handling prowess, or the potency of whatever may lie under its rakish wedge of a 1980's bonnet (a 1600cc 16-valve DOHC unit putting out 120ps, for those interested), although I am sure both are more than adequate. With the EXA Canopy it is purely visual, a design thing - lust at first sight if you like.

To my mind any car that combines those two hallmarks of '80s sports car design, pop-up headlights and a T-bar roof, is worthy of inclusion on any self-respecting petrolhead's automotive wish list, but the EXA brings a host of other peculiar design novelties to the 80s themed party. Take for example those rear lights, which look as though they evolved within the fertile mind of an 80s Casio watch designer during an acid fueled all-nighter. The result is something which wouldn't look out of place on a lunar module. Then we come to the car's eponymous Canopy. While Honda, with its Accord Aerodeck, may have beaten Nissan to it in bringing the first Japanese 3-door shooting brake to market, the Canopy has a further ace up its sleeve. The EXA's modular structure allowed the car's shooting brake rear to be removed completely for true wind in the hair motoring, or alternatively, replaced with the standard EXA's rear hatch for a more conventional coupe look. I would however be in favour of keeping the rear canopy firmly in place, as it is only in this configuration that the space-age aesthetic of the EXA is truly complete, almost rendering it suitable transport for a cosmonaut during a lunar landing.
Fortunately, I am not alone in my appreciation of the EXA's look. Back in its day, not only did the EXA receive a Good Design Award from the Japanese Ministry of Trade and Industry, but it also received international recognition in the form of a design award from the American Society of Industrial Designers. Perhaps this goes some way towards restoring my credibility, or perhaps there was just something in the water back in the 80s when all those awards were being doled out.

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.

Okuriguruma

In these troubled times for the automotive industry, what can car manufacturers do to increase market share and diversify in the world's most rapidly ageing society?

While Nissan's design team has been hard at work restyling its vehicles to suit the ergonomic needs of the elderly, Mitsuoka, that most idiosyncratic of manufacturers, has taken a rather more macabre approach to answering the question very few thought to ask. It has used its singular design language to create a hearse - the Mitsuoka Limousine type2-04, to give it its full grandiose title.

We shouldn't really be surprised by Mitsuoka's move into a new niche market; it is after all a prolific purveyor of the frivolous automotive niche. Take for example the recent Himiko, whose obtuse blend of old and new sees Panther Kallista mixed with Mazda MX5 to create every automotive purist's wet dream.

Rather than bore you with a list of Mitsuoka's past experiments in aesthetics, I am sure you are all eager to learn the specs of this new funereal wagon.

The type2-04 not only belongs to the dark side, but it's also a little bit sexist. Based as it is on a Toyota Corolla Axio, the 2-04 is smaller and more manoeuvrable than your average hearse, allegedly making it an easier more wieldy drive for the female employees of funeral parlours who are increasingly likely to be found behind the wheel of such vehicles. As such Mitsuoka are marketing this car as the first hearse designed to meet the needs of female undertakers - yet another new niche. The 2-04 is still a large car though at a fraction over 5 metres in length, and powered by a choice of 1.5 or 1.8 litre petrol engines its pace is likely to be suitably funereal. The price for all this morbid manoeuvrability - 5,229,000 Yen. But with nearly 20,000 Japanese citizens making it to the ripe old age of 100 in 2008 alone, it shouldn't be too long before it's paying for itself.

In carving out this new niche, Mitsuoka hopes to sell a hundred 2-04s every year, increasing its share of the Japanese hearse market from 10 to 20% in the process. As for the other vehicles which make up Mitsuoka's eclectic line-up of hearses, I shall save these for another rainy day.

Decisions, decisions

My preferred automotive read while in Japan has long been the pricey but nonetheless top-drawer monthly periodical that is Car Magazine. While it may lack the effrontery of fortnightly rags such as Best Car which dazzle with fanciful photoshoppery and pipe-dream promises of future new metal, its combination of left-field esoteric classics with a smattering of choice contemporary machinery never fails to part me from my 1150 Yen. And that's before we even broach the subject of the beautifully hand illustrated cover art, sparse but zany use of Engrish, and a classifieds section crammed with 1960s Lotuses interspersed by the occasional Subaru 360 (Tentoumushi) and Alfa Giulia.

This month's issue however, sees something of a departure for Car. Make no mistake, the quality is still there, as is the coverage of gaisha (foreign cars) in all their variegated forms. The conspicuous difference comes in the form of a renewed focus on the motherland; a rediscovery of the joy of homegrown talent. This is evident in a six-page eulogy to the Nissan Fairlady Z-432, but more interestingly manifests itself in the lead cover piece which pits three generations of Nissan GT-R against an equivalent vintage of Porsche 911.

This three way multi-generational road test poses some compelling questions, not least of which is whether the GT-R now matches, or even eclipses, the 911 in the living legend stakes. Putting complex questions of a philosophical bent aside however, and we come to the more straightforward but far more interesting issue of which of the two thoroughbreds is best. A question illustrated quite nicely by the following photograph.

The first row is easy. I'm with the aesthetic purity of the late '60's 911 all the way, and those perfectly positioned fog lights only add further interest to the perfect lines. From the second row back however things become decidedly more complicated. While the 911 gains performance and handling prowess with every successive iteration, it somehow never manages to recapture the unassuming elegance and downright desirability of the original. The GT-R however, more radical in its evolution, manages to build on its legendary pedigree as it develops, reestablishing itself anew as a cult hero with the debut of each generation. With the GT-R there thus exists a halo effect whereby older versions can bathe in the reflected glory of their newer brethren. Newer versions of the Porsche however must trade on the former glories of their ageing stablemates. For this reason I would find myself veering toward the GT-R side of this impressive line-up - once I had returned the keys to that 1969 911S that is.

1 Million Yen Golden Oldie of the Day 20/08/08 - Kei Edition

Vital Statistics

Make & Model: Honda Vamos
Price: 650,000円
Year:1971年 (produced from 1971-1973)
On the odometer: 85,000km
Transmission: Manual
Extras: You must be joking. This is stripped to the bone utilitarian chic.

With an aesthetic that's somewhere between Fisher Price toddler's beach buggy and Lilliputian Army-issue missile launcher, this 1971 Honda Vamos is perhaps an unorthodox choice for anyone's dream JDM garage. Granted, as a proponent and former regular driver of kei cars, I'm aware that there are many more desirable specimens out there in the historical kei car parc, but surely none with as much visual impact and sheer eccentricity for your Yen.

The Vamos, not to be confused with the far more pedestrian 2nd generation Vamos van of the'90s and '00s, was introduced in November 1970 during something of a quirky car boom in Japan, with leisure oriented vehicles such as the Daihatsu Fellow Buggy, Isuzu Unicab, and Suzuki Jimny doing a roaring trade. Seemingly too much the funky oddball even for the outlandish Japan of the '70s, the Vamos, unlike its competitors, failed to make hay while the sun was shining and was unequivocally a sales flop. Downtrodden and outcast, the diminutive Honda bowed out at the end of its production run in 1973 with only 2,500 examples having been brought into existence, while the Jimny was to go on racking up the sales seemingly indefinitely.


While the car's lack of four-wheel-drive and stunted 10-inch wheels may have prevented the Vamos from attaining popularity in its youth, it makes a far more interesting proposition today. Indeed, the plucky little Honda has the perfect racing car inspired powertrain configuration, being mid-engined with drive channeled through the rear wheels. Forget for a moment that the aforementioned mid-mounted engine is in fact a 30ps air-cooled unit displacing a mere 360cc(the last air-cooled engine to feature in one of Honda's cars). The car's svelte 520kg curb weight should ensure a respectable power-to-weight ratio, while a distinct lack of doors should at least provide the impression of speed, even if not quantifiably present.

Any talk of performance is perhaps irrelevant however, for the Vamos' merits lie in its idiosyncrasies, and it is duly its singular nature that finds it with a place in the Automobilia Japonica fantasy garage.

See link below for a video of the diminutive Honda's hood in action.

1 Million Yen Golden Oldie of the Day 19/08/08

With the new car market stagnating, and a self-enforced paucity of notable new JDM metal hitting the shelves, Automobilia Japonica is forced to resort to newfangled tactics to bring you all that is good, wholesome and authentically automotive from the land of the rising sun. 'Newfangled' may in fact be something of a misnomer, as this new feature is so far removed from the contemporary as to be positively old. But that's old as a highly rated bottle of red wine is old - mellow, mature, full-bodied, mellifluous with a hint of toasted cinnamon and undercurrents of juniper berries. Classic in fact. Anyway, without further ado may I introduce the new daily feature - 1 Million Yen Golden Oldie of the Day. The premise is simple: a budget of 1 Million Yen per day in the hypothetical wallet, access to used car classifieds courtesy of Yahoo Japan, an abundance of good taste, and an eye for gently decaying Japanese steel. It has all the hallmarks of becoming the JDM fantasy bargain garage of choice.



Vital Statistics

Make & Model: Subaru Alcyone 1.8 VS Turbo
Price: 920,000円
Year:1986年 (produced from 1985-1991)
On the odometer: 104,000km
Transmission: Manual
Extras: A/C, Satnav, TV, CD Player and Minidisc



The Alcyone (or XT to use the Subaru's North American moniker), with its form harking back to the halcyon days of the 80s and the predilection of the era's automotive design fraternity for the 'wedge' aesthetic, made its world debut as Subaru's halo product at the Detroit Motor Show in January 1985. Subaru had high expectations for its fledgling protégé, as reflected in the vehicle's naming policy; Alcyone being the the brightest star in the Pleiades cluster from which Subaru takes its name. Quite where this naming policy leaves the rest of the vehicles in the Subaru range is another matter - surely by deduction they must all pale in comparison? Indeed, Subaru envisaged the Alcyone as the flagship spearheading the company's growth in overseas markets and ensuring that the brand appealed to a wider more contemporary audience as opposed to its vehicles being the sole preserve of frugal agricultural types who valued their rugged steeds for their ability to cart vast quantities of hay, manure and animal feed steadfastly over any rural idyll thrown their way.

The Alcyone was however far from agrarian, nor was it merely a rustic in a sharp City suit. In fact, the rakish Subaru had oodles of substance to back up its exterior style, even to the extent that the car's style itself bristled with substance. Not only did the Alcyone boast a seriously slippery drag coefficient of just 0.29, but the manner in which the car flouts the ill-effects of wind resistance is in itself a masterclass in applied aerodynamics. From a flat undertray and rear under spoiler to enable smooth airflow under the vehicle, through to a concealed single blade wiper, body flush door handles and side air flaps to prevent turbulence in the vicinity of the wheel arches, the Alcyone employed every trick in the aerodynamicist's rule book, short of morphing into a teardrop, to triumph in its dispute with the air.



The angular little Subaru was also replete with many of the technical advances normally found on significantly pricier supercars of the day, with the 2.7VX and VR Turbo models furnished with electro-pneumatic auto self-levelling suspension, with users able to select from either a high or a low suspension setting. Furthermore, when reaching speeds in excess of 80km/h in the high suspension setting, the car would automatically adjust itself to the lower of the two settings. The top of the range 2.7VX also featured a state of the art ABS system and the ACT-4 all-wheel drive system, complete with a torque distributor control system capable of apportioning the drive between the front and rear wheels. The Alcyone, particularly in 2.7VX form, was clearly the spiritual forerunner to the current generation of rally-bred, technology-laden Subarus.



Today's 1 Million Yen machine is regrettably not the range topping, high-tech AWD 2.7VX but is instead an early FWD VS Turbo powered by a 1.8 Litre 4-cylinder boxer engine producing 120ps. On the plus side however today's car has the advantage of a manual transmission which was never available on the 2.7VX. The 6-cylinder, 150ps VX was only made available with a four-speed auto on its introduction in 1987. Also, although white might not show the Alcyone's styling off to best effect, I have to admit to preferring the styling of this early car to that of the facelifted post-87 cars. Beggars cannot however be choosers, and with only an estimated 8000 of a complete production run of 98,918 cars finding homes in their native Japan, it would be foolish to quibble excessively over the colour and specification. A 2.7VX may however make the perfect addition to the fleet in the coming weeks, should Yahoo Japan's classifieds deliver.