What Are The Coolest Japanese Cars?

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Japanese car manufacturers nowadays enjoy a reputation for building really high-quality vehicles that require low maintenance. These cars are also renowned for the very high resale value and good fuel economy offered. What few people know about though is that Japanese automakers also created some of the coolest cars we can now buy.

In case you are not aware, here are some of the coolest Japanese cars you can own right now.

1. Toyota 2000GT

This car was not too powerful or too fast but it is among the original sports cars in Japan. Many consider the car really sexy for when it was built with its curvy body and long hood. The design is similar to the Jaguar and driving the 2000GT is definitely a blast.

Some of the Toyota 2000GT models in good condition were sold for even $1 million. This is quite a lot when taking into account that just 351 units were created for 3 years until 1970.

2. Honda Civic Type R

In Europe and Japan, you get the Honda Civic Type R. In the US, you only get access to the Si model. The difference between the two is quite big, even if this is not the case when looking at the power, until this happened recently.

The more modern Civic Type 4 offers 306 horsepower and a turbocharged four-cylinder 2.0 liters engine. This means you might even consider getting a special extender car warranty from gogetolive.com. It is definitely worth it.

3. Toyota Supra

Toyota Supra followed the 2000GT and it stood as the best sports car of the brand for a really long time, starting from 1978 under the name Celica Supra. It was in 1987 that Toyota launched the beautiful turbocharged Supra. It offered 230 hp, leading to large popularity. The final generation ended up reaching 320 hp, which made the vehicle very popular among enthusiasts.

4. Mazda RX-7

This very popular Japanese icon has to be considered on the list of the coolest cars you could buy. It appeared in 1978 and it was launched as a sports car that was lightweight and featured a rather unique engine based on a rotary system as opposed to the regular piston engine. The engine is actually known for being powerful given the small size. At the same time, because of the engine, engineers managed to easily balance front-to-wear distribution of weight.

During the later part of the car’s evolution, the RX-7 received a turbocharger engine. This made it one of the best sports cars you could have bought at the time.

5. Nissan GT-R

When Nissan Skyline GT-R is recognized as a great vehicle but it is the GT-R, its successor that is considered to be one of the coolest Japanese cars you could buy. It appeared in the US in 2009 and featured a V6 twin-turbo engine capable of producing 480 hp. Every single year, the Nissan GT-R was improved, ending up producing 600 hp, which is quite impressive.

6. Mazda MX-5 Miata

Mazda took a huge gamble with Miata because it followed a formula that should not have worked, low power, precision steering, a smaller displacement engine, and low weight. This paid off and led to one of the icons of Japanese automakers. Obviously, Miata is not at all powerful when compared with other vehicles. The strongest models had under 200 hp. However, this does not mean the car is not cool. It looks great and drives great, which is very important for sports cars.

7. Nissan/Datsun Z

It is impossible to talk about the coolest sports cars from Japan without thinking about these cars. Z-Cars practically appeared in 1969 with Datsun 240Z. It combined nimbleness and power because of a very low curb weight, a good-enough engine that offered 151 hp, and a strong suspension.

During the eighties, the Z introduced a turbocharger and the 280ZX generation. This offered 180 hp, which was a lot for the time. Then, power kept getting higher and higher. By the 1990s, these Japanese cars were able to produce 300 hp.

The Z-Cars were officially discontinued in the year 1996. However, they were revived with the 350Z, which was launched in 2003 and featured 287 hp.

8. Lexus LFA

When it comes to exciting sports cars, Lexus is definitely not the first name that comes to mind. However, the LFA should be taken into account. This supercar featured a V10 engine and appeared in 2012. It managed to offer 552 hp and it does look stunning.

V10 was combined with a 6 speeds gearbox and power was delivered to rear wheels. The Lexus LFA was capable of reaching 60 miles per hour in only 3.6 seconds. The top speed was 202 miles per hour. These stats are very impressive even according to modern standards.

9. Toyota MR2

Mister 2 is nowadays known as being among the coolest of all the Japanese cars ever made. Its footprint was quite small and the engine was mid-mounted. Also, the sports car does have character, which is what all enthusiasts want. MR2 had some problems in 1988 as the 145 hp was launched in the US. However, in 1991, we saw the introduction of the second generation of Toyota MR2s. This vehicle can be described as aggressive-looking and exotic, with a body that is similar to a Ferrari.

10. Acura NSX

Last but certainly not least, Acura NSX was a niched sports car. It did have a much longer lifespan than other Japanese sports cars ranging between 1991 and 2005. During this time, the NSX stood out as a great option for those that wanted a beautiful, exotic car.

According to carjunkyardsnearme.com, the problem with the Acura NSX is that it was definitely not a supercar when it was launched. It only offered 270 hp. Even so, the vehicle does handle and looks like a great supercar. We are talking about a landmark Japanese sports car that should be listed on this list.

All of these sports cars are popular among sports vehicle enthusiasts. However, there are many others that could be mentioned. So, if you have another Japanese car that you think should be mentioned, let us know.