The Honda Orthia is basically a JDM compact wagon built from Civic/Integra-era Honda bones, sold in Japan from the mid-1990s into the early 2000s. It’s name might sound like an orthopedic shoe brand, but the blue paint, grey interior, roof rails, and wagon body make it peak “practical Japanese domestic market oddball” without being cartoonish. […]
The Mitsubishi FTO was a JDM-only little brother to the GTO, which we could buy here in the USA badged as a 3000GT or Dodge Stealth. The closest thing we got to the FTO was the US market Eclipse, which was not anywhere near as fun to drive. Today’s FTO is the GR trim which […]
Detroit gave us names like Limited and Brougham, but Toyota looked at a diesel van and said: this deserves a title with full ceremonial authority; HiAce Super Custom Limited. The fourth generation H100 HiAce was built from 1989 through 2004, an extra long production life for an extra long van with a label on the […]
Before the HR-V became a normal crossover for normal people doing normal crossover things, it was this: a tall, weird, Honda fun box from Japan with a D16 4-banger, five doors, and just enough ride height to feel adventurous without pretending it wants to climb a mountain. It was never offered for sale in the […]
This next car is a right-hand-drive import from Japan that was never sold new in the USA and is therefore unregisterable in the Golden State of California. Lemme explain. In CA, you can’t register this car because it was not sold new here and therefore does not have a smog test to test it against. […]
If you’ve ever wished your beige Camry wagon had a little more weird Japan energy, meet the 1997 Toyota Camry Gracia Wagon, the JDM-market sibling of the XV20 Camry that Toyota never bothered to offer American buyers. While the US got the predictable front-drive sedans and coupes, Japan got this long-roof oddball with a sleeker […]
The Suzuki Alto Works RS-X is the kind of pint-sized JDM rocket that makes you grin before you even start it. Built for Japan’s kei car class, this right-hand-drive hatch packs a turbocharged 660cc three-cylinder, a 5-speed manual, and weighs just enough to make a Miata feel bloated. The RS-X trim added all the good […]
If you’ve ever wished that the Galant VR4 came with a wagon body and a roof box, meet the Mitsubishi Legnum VR-4—a twin-turbo, AWD sleeper disguised as a family hauler. Powered by the 6A13TT 2.5L V6 making around 280hp, this right-hand-drive JDM import has all the rally-bred hardware to embarrass crossovers while still hauling Ikea […]
The Mazda MX-3 was Mazda’s attempt at a small 2+2 coupé for the early ’90s, using the company’s EC platform and a swoopy kammback body. Mazda offered the car with a variety of engines, but the GS trim was notable for its 1.8-liter K8 V6 — one of the smallest displacement six-cylinder engines ever fitted […]
The Nissan S-Cargo is one of those cars that looks like it drove straight out of a comic strip and never stopped to explain why it was in the real world. Built by Nissan’s Pike Factory in the late 1980s (the same eccentric group that gave us the Figaro, Pao, and Be-1), the S-Cargo was […]