Live in NZ, majority of cars on our roads are used japanese imports. Can confirm every model pictured I see at least weekly around Auckland. Though they generally start off as rich ppl minivans and expensive shuttles and then gradually work their way down to rental campers and backpacker vans when they hit the 15-20…

This ain’t so much a Hong Kong thing as it is a Japan thing. HK gets heaps of used imports and parallel imports from Japan and a lot of those vans are JDM only. I know this because all models pictured above are imported en masse to NZ where I live. So we get weird JDM vans too like the Nissan Bassara, Nissan Homy,…

Nah, the Explorer is RHD. We get the ex Japan imports in large numbers here in NZ and all the Explorers that come over are RHD

Just for the record, Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar, VW and Audi all do very well in Japan.

Japanese buyers had a choice. Either get a Levin/Trueno that had an amazingly rev happy 4AGE black top and a fantastic manual gearbox or a slushmatic Cavalier with a lazy, thirsty, underpowered 2.4 engine that commands more in tax from the govt. I know what I’d get.....

The reason why no one bought Chevys is because 90% of the Chevys we got were rebadged Daewoos

American cars fail in Japan for the same reasons Japanese cars are so successful in the states. They’re more economical than US cars, they’re smaller than US cars, they’re more reliable and they’re better made. Plus, in a country with strict taxes on engine sizes and dimensions, US cars just don’t cut it. I’m sure if…

My parents (and many other Europeans) laughed at Nissan, Mazda, Toyota, etc... when they brought out cars like the Pulsar GTI and the 323 GT Turbo. There was an attitude of ‘nawwwwww the companies that makes boring cars for boring people now thinks they can make a sports car now like the Europeans’. This article…

Oh but thats just mostly the American stuff. The Japanese have shat out a few automotive turds over the years. I live in NZ where most of our cars are used jap imports so we do get a lot of good JDM stuff............and a lot of bad

Honda Mobilio Spike - The odyssey absolute is RIGHT THERE! No reason to buy this thing…

M8 I lost it in the back of one of these. After that, No car is too small

Agree with you on the Tempo but 80's cars were awesome! Mercedes 450SEL, Mazda RX-7, Mazda MX-5, Toyota Supra, Mitsubishi Starion, BMW 635csi, The original M3 and M5. The list goes on!

We got the Toyota Cavalier used imported to NZ. Driven one and its awful. The interior doesn’t fit together properly, the car is waaaayyyyyyy too big for a sports coupe and the 2.4 engine is offensively underpowered. BMW are pushing almost 200 with their 2.5 units. Why are American engines so underpowered. And, for me…

oooooohhhh thats a good one. Yeah, this or the 400i. Ferrari made some shitty cars in the early 80's (except the boxer and the 308)

Honda Mobilio Spike. Awful, hateful Honda minivan that comes with the 1.5 from the 1st gen Jazz/Fit coupled to an awful CVT automatic gearbox. Top heavy, rubbish interior, looks like it could topple over in a violent manouvre and something I could only drive with a paper bag on my head. Was only ever sold in Japan…

I can think of a few JDM mitsi heroes we got imported to NZ worth a mention

Mitsubishi Libero GT
Mitsubishi Legnum VR-4
Mitsubishi Mirage Cyborg hatch