From one small, car-mad island to another, cars built in Japan have a particular appeal here in the UK for all the significant differences in our respective cultures and geographical distance between us. While its car industry is still relatively young all things considered, the Japanese evolved quickly from making cars that mimicked American and European tastes into confident expressions of local engineering skill and – now – design too. Even Toyota, the world’s second biggest carmaker and often regarded as the definition of ‘white goods’ car manufacturing, has discovered the self-confidence to cut loose and have some fun these days. And not just with a certain little four-wheel drive hot-hatch that seems to be driving everyone potty with excitement these days (the GR Yaris, if you hadn’t guessed). Not including that one here are our favourites.
The nine best Japanese cars for 2021
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Nissan GT-R
It’s amazing to think a car many (wrongly) dismiss as a PlayStation ride made real is now over a decade old and stands for the kind of gritty, mechanical driving manners some might even call retro. Indeed, the Porsche 911 has evolved through three entire generations (plus facelifts) in the time the GT-R has been on sale. And, with the possible exception of the latest Turbo S, probably still can’t see which way it went. Those who dismiss the GT-R as a straight-line hero that ‘does it all for you’ simply haven’t driven it fast enough, the big Nissan’s one concession to video games culture being that it requires you to apply yourself to unlocking the true end of level boss.
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Mazda MX-5
In eccentric combination of quirky engineering and cute design, Mazda is arguably the most Japanese of all the Japanese carmakers. It’s also on a bit of a roll at the moment, the Golf-sized Mazda 3 perhaps one of the most elegant hatchbacks of recent years while the MX-30 brings it into the electric age with real style and some neat design flourishes, like trim harking back to Mazda’s origins as a manufacturer of cork products. In a list of best Japanese cars it’s still impossible to overlook the MX-5, though. The concept is over 30 years old now, the current car cleverly replicating the size, weight and footprint of the original but with all the mod cons and sharp contemporary design. For the undiluted Jinba Ittai vibe the high-revving 1.5 base model is the one to go for.
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Suzuki Ignis
So, the much beloved Jimny left almost as soon as it arrived for reasons beyond Suzuki’s control but thankfully lovers of small, quirky Japanese four-wheel-drives can still find a reason to be cheerful in the (slightly curious) shape of the Ignis. True, there aren’t many rational reasons to recommend this little car. It looks a bit odd. It’s not actually that cheap. And it’s not especially fast. But there’s still something appealingly eccentric in the classic Japanese buzz-box mould and if you live somewhere where the lanes are narrow, the going is sometimes a bit greasy and you don’t mind thrashing the living daylights out of a revvy little engine the miniature SUV posturing is actually rather endearing.
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Toyota Supra
On the basis that damned Yaris has had more than its fair share of column inches of late it’s a nice opportunity to celebrate the return of the Supra and its clever reboot of its Japanese muscle car roots. Ignore the BMW bores pointing out the shared switchgear and engine and instead enjoy the styling and its combination of classic coupe proportions, Zagato style double bubble roof and unexpected slashes and kinks. The chunkiness of the looks is matched in the macho driving manners, which combine measured weight in the controls with the rush of heavily boosted acceleration and performance that is accessibly enjoyable at vaguely sensible speeds. Appropriately to Supra tradition it’s also very easily tuned for the full Fast & Furious experience, the likes of Litchfield treating the stock 340PS (250kW) as little more than a starting point.
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Subaru Impreza WRX
OK, even the most ardent Subaru fan has to concede the modern line-up of cars it sells here in the UK isn’t much to get excited about. Generously you could accept this is a slow return to the kind of gentle obscurity the brand enjoyed before the days of gold wheels, chugga-chugga exhausts and a certain Scottish rally driver. But what’s this? Yes, head on over to Subaru’s American website and you’ll find you can still buy an Impreza with a turbocharged boxer four, a big wing and a bonnet scoop, a discovery akin to finding out that Ford still sells the Model T in its home market in terms of how old-fashioned this combination now seems. Even in Japan they’ve bid farewell to the old formula with the EJ20 Final Edition with but, for now, America remains the last holdout for an enduring petrolhead favourite. And still more appealing than anything Subaru sells here.
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Honda Civic Type R
Time was Honda’s UK image was about as funky as the grey slip-ons and beige slacks sported by its stereotypical owners but back home in Japan there was another side to the brand where the ‘H’ of the logo sat in a blood-red background and the cars had an altogether different persona. Eventually the Type R legend migrated from PlayStations and into Honda dealerships over here, the valedictory version of this generation Civic going full hardcore to create one of the maddest looking stock hot hatches ever. Suffice to say, the Civic Type R is a far cry from the silver Accord your grandad used to drive, the switch from high-revving VTEC goodness to modern turbocharging doing nothing to dull the manic driving style while Golf GTI-baiting Nürburgring lappery adds credibility.
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Lexus LC500
Where most cars are styled by the designer’s pen or the click of a mouse on a CAD terminal the Lexus LC looks like they let katana-wielding warrior set about the clay styling buck and carve elegant chunks out of it with broad sweeps of his sword. And after decades of deference to European and American tastes the LC is a confident assertion of distinctively Japanese design, and all the better for it. In a premium sector still dominated by European ideas of luxury the LC stands as an individual and discerning choice, the hybrid version following parent brand Toyota’s associations with the technology. But we’d have to have the free-revving LC500 V8 version, its choice of engine as anachronistically eccentric in this day and age as the styling is exotic.
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Isuzu D-Max
Where once there was only Defender there is now only D-Max. Yes, in the rolling hills and dales of rural Britain the farmers have long-since ditched the old Land Rovers that were once a fixture of country living and moved pretty much wholesale into Japanese pick-ups as the utility vehicle of choice. And, frankly, who can blame them. Cheap to buy, steadfastly unglamorous, tough as old boots and likely to spend its entire working life without ever troubling a jet wash, a mud-caked D-Max with a white box cover over the flatbed and a couple of bales of hay in the back is the modern farmer’s friend. A consistent award winner in various commercial, trade and 4x4 mags, a new version is on the way and looks to pick up where the old one left off.
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Mitsuoka Roadster
Possibly the last bastion of Japanese automotive weirdness, Mitsuoka is best known for its oddly proportioned and miniaturised homages to classic European luxury cars like the Mk2 Jaguar and weird evocations of old Rolls-Royces and Bentleys. In another curious cultural mash-up its Japanese homepage advertises an MX-5 based roadster loosely inspired by a classic Corvette Stingray. Called the Rock Star. Here in the UK Bookham-based TW White still advertises the Mitsuoka Roadster, also based on an MX-5 (admittedly of a generation back) and – let’s put this generously – evoking classic British roadsters like the Jaguar XK120. You’d have a Morgan, any day of the week. But the world is still a slightly cheerier place for Mitsuoka’s presence.
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