With Japan and Australia still being Mazda’s primary markets, the States and Europe missed out on more focused and sporty models, which in turn opened the doors to a vast aftermarket movement, launching the FD into stardom. The striking design was just a bonus, instantly making the FD into a crowd favorite. The secret to RX-7 FD’s success was a 13B-REW, a sequential twin-turbocharged twin-rotor engine, an advanced setup producing up to 276 horsepower in stock form and revving up to 8,000 RPM. In production from 1992 to 2002, this RX-7 was by far the most advanced roadgoing sports car Mazda created and arguably the most beautiful too. Rotary-powered Mazdas have been around since the 1960s, but not all of them ended up etched in the collective unconscious like the FD generation Mazda RX-7. This sports car’s importance transcends just the Nissan brand, as it almost single handedly awakened hunger for Japanese sports cars in North America, which gradually became the biggest export market for performance cars coming from other manufacturers as well. In fact, the upcoming Nissan 400Z is a tribute to the primordial Z car rather than being a visual evolution of its predecessor, the 370Z. Little by little, it started captivating the press and the public, becoming one of the greatest sports cars of the decade and also giving birth to the Datsun Z Series. With a 2.4-liter inline-six placed in a graceful and compact body, the 240Z soon became a worthy alternative to both American and European sports cars. It was introduced to the North American market just before the oil crisis hit and it stayed there as the homegrown performance movement crumbled over financial, ecological and safety concerns. Initially known as a Fairlady Z, the Datsun 240Z was an instrumental car in shifting the global attitude towards Japanese sports cars. Today, Toyota 2000GT is the most valuable Japanese classic car and one of the most influential ones as well.
#Japanese sport classics movie#
Tailor-made into a convertible for Sean Connery’s lean frame, the first Japanese sports car famously starred in the 1967 Bond movie You Only Live Twice.Īdding to the legend, this car also had a stellar racing career in Japan, competing in SCCA, where three cars were prepared by none other than Carroll Shelby. It was the birth of the Japanese sports car.īeing produced in just 351 copies, it was a scarce car and hardly a sales success as it wasn’t offered outside of Japan, but thanks to some movie magic, the 2000GT gave Toyota much needed global exposure. In its basic proportions, this alluring fastback echoed European styling, yet it was still unlike any other car on the planet. In the 1960s, the prospect of a high-performance Japanese automobile seemed distant, at least until Toyota made a pioneering move in the segment in 1967, creating the 2000GT.
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