Wait is there any chance he wrote these originally in Japanese? The Japanese versions are all pretty good and more of them stick to 5-7-5

This was going to be my answer. I convinced my dad to get one, almost convinced him to get a manual, and he drove it and loved it and then lamented trading it in for a succession of GM cars that were never as good to drive or to look at.

But that’s not how the jingle goes!

unfortunately kei is pronounced “kay” not “key”

I still want more details on what the heck Toyota is thinking by not putting its cars (digitally) in front of as many people as possible.

aaah love the Swift, me and some friends rented a pair of them in Okinawa one time and they helped get into some good shenanigans 

I have a computer that can play this now, and I want to play it. But I also want to hold out for a future Forza Horizon Tokyo, because I know I will be playing this game and all I will be able to think about is how much more I would love it if I could drive in a Toyota Mark II Tourer V over the Yokohama Bay Bridge…

What’s the import car tax? Not familiar with that one. But it sounds like a tariff. 

Factory pink Toyota Crown.

Yes it’s possible and according to Wikipedia Smart made a kei version of their car for a few years. Since the tax benefits of making a kei car are available to any manufacturer that cares to make a kei car, I definitely think it’s fairer than a tariff. But it’s still an artificial restriction on the market placed…

I do wonder though, if the Japanese government stopped making its tax/insurance/registration fees benefit smaller cars, and had a flat tax regardless of size, if Japanese consumers really want cars as small and underpowered as kei cars. I’m sure some demand would still exist, because the roads and parking spaces are…

I think the biggest reason American cars don’t sell in Japan is that they’re too big for the market. I do think that the Japanese government has reinforced that perspective by making laws that impact trade. Japan doesn’t put a tariff on American cars, but it does have a tax structure that benefits unique JDM models…

They copied them, and they made them smaller. Because smaller cars work better over there.

What the fuck are you talking about there’s no fucking ban on Korean cars how on earth did you ever come up with this story about Japanese consumers being fascinated with the fucking Elantra

Yeah that really needs an update, but also it doesn’t seem like it was ever actually relevant. Or maybe delayed. The Toyota quote you link was apparently in 2009, and since that time Toyota had big showings in two Gran Turismo games among others, and it’s only now recently that they are abandoning the video game space.

Yea, it’s all guesses, which is why I really want a journalist or blogger with connections to find out what’s really going on. Even for Gran Turismo Sport, the Toyota car list is wayyyyyyy limited.

I studied and lived in Japan for a while. Hands down one of the strangest experiences, and I had many strange experiences, was chilling out on a train platform looking at the internet on my Japanese flip phone when I saw some young person wearing sweatpants from my high school. Right across the butt in capital…

Can someone please get a straight answer as to why Toyota is abandoning video games? Akio Toyoda talks a lot about moving Toyota’s image away from beige by bringing out new sports cars, but then why on earth wouldn’t you want to put those cars AND your motorsports heritage in front of as many people as possible?

You say that, but have you noticed that Andrew Collins hasn’t posted on Jalopnik in quite a while?

What does the G29 come from? Is that the BMW chassis code?