The Most Iconic Street Racing Cars – Which Japanese sports car would you have in your lottery winning garage? Honda NSX or Nissan Skyline GT-R? Mazda RX-7 or Toyota Supra? Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution or Subaru Impreza WRX? We debated this matter for hours before boiling down to the following list. They include the fast and the furious, but also the affordable and unusual.
You’ll notice that we’ve excluded hot hatches – that’s a whole different discussion – and, for the most part, we’ve limited ourselves to one example of each type. Start your engines…
The Most Iconic Street Racing Cars
This stunning example of the first R model was recently sold at Collector Cars for £160,000. That seems pretty impressive for a 26-year-old Honda, until you realize that only 483 were made – all for the Japanese market. The NSX-R weighs 120kg less than the standard car, with carbon-kevlar seats, Enkei forged wheels and no sound dampening. Don’t forget the 3.0-liter V6 engine, naturally aspirated and manual gearbox either. A raw road runner of the highest order.
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It is labeled as ‘Japanese E-Type’, but this is unfair. Say it quietly, but we reckon the Toyota 2000GT is prettier than the Jag. Launched in 1967, the 2000GT was powered by a 2.0-litre six-cylinder engine developing 150hp, enough to hit a top speed of 136mph. When the last car left the factory in 1970, the 2000GT set multiple speed records, appeared in a Bond film and put Japan firmly on the world sports car map. Only 337 were built.
If the Toyota 2000GT is the most beautiful sports car to come out of Japan, the Autozam AZ-1 is arguably the most beautiful. Sold by Mazda under the Autozam brand, the AZ-1 was built by Suzuki and featured two doors. Power comes from a Suzuki 657cc turbocharged engine that produces 63hp at 6,500rpm. Weighing only 720kg, the AZ-1 can reach a top speed of 87mph. Only 4,392 were produced before the AZ-1 fell victim to the Japanese recession.
The Lexus LFA has been a long time coming: development work began in 2000, with the final production version not appearing until October 2009. It was worth the wait. “If someone offered me the choice of any car ever made, ever, I’d choose a dark blue Lexus LFA,” said Jeremy Clarkson. Powered by a 4.8-litre naturally aspirated V10 engine, the LFA can hit 200mph, and only 200 were built.
With the Toyota 2000GT, Japan built a sports car for the rich and glamorous, but with the 240Z, Datsun brought something a little blue. The difference between a Datsun 240Z and a three-thousand dollar sports car is that about twice as much thought went into Datsun. It shows. For the money, the 240Z is a beautiful car.’ This quote from Car and Driver 1970 tells you all you need to know about the 240Z. It was built to disrupt the sports car establishment and went on to outsell all European competitors in the USA.
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Most of the cars in this gallery are last year’s brands, but here’s one you can buy new today. That’s assuming you have the £86,095 required to buy a Nissan GT-R. It is a sports car for the digital generation, powered by a 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged engine that develops 570hp and 470lb ft of torque. However, it is also attractively old-school, requiring a driver’s focus and dedication to the cause. The GT-R Nismo’s monstrous flagship is on par with anything from Stuttgart or Maranello.
Designed by Pininfarina, the Honda Beat was built to comply with Japanese automotive regulations. Like the Suzuki Cappuccino, the Beat paid homage to the likes of the MG Midget and Austin-Healey ‘Frogeye’ Sprite, and offered mid-range fun and rear-wheel drive in a smaller package. Although not officially sold in the UK, it is not difficult to obtain from Japanese imports. In fact, you can bring one in your hand luggage.
Introduced at the 1963 Tokyo Motor Show, before being officially announced a year later, the Cosmo featured futuristic styling, a name inspired by space travel and a 982cc twin-rotor engine. Sold domestically as the Cosmo Sport, or the 110S abroad, this was the world’s first volume production sports car. It is the father of RX-7 and RX-8.
Make no mistake, when the Nissan Skyline GT-R R32 arrived in 1989, it was the most advanced road car you could buy. It didn’t upset the establishment much, as it sends its rivals back to the drawing board. Nissan engineers cited the Porsche 959 as the benchmark, so it’s no surprise that it’s higher than any other car in the world. A valid symbol
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The Corolla GT – factory name AE86 – arrived in 1983, and was Toyota’s all-wheel-drive answer to the front-wheel-drive hot hatches of the day. It was powered by the same 125hp 1.6-litre twin-cam engine found in the original MR2, and could do 0-62mph in 8.3 seconds, and hit a top speed of 122mph. The AE86 was a successful rally car and great fun on the road.
We’ve already featured the NSX-R, now meet the regular NSX – it also deserves a spot here. The original everyday supercar, this was Honda’s attempt to build a reliable, practical and fast version of the Ferrari 328 (and later, the 348). Initially powered by a 3.0-liter four-cam 24-valve VTEC V6, later models saw displacement increase to 3.2 liters. In this form, the NSX will hit 62mph in 5.7 seconds and 168mph. Obviously, it was fast, but speed was only half the story. Excellent handling, and the sound as it races towards the 8,000rpm redline, were other highlights.
The British car industry thought the era of two-seater sports cars was over when production of the TR7 ceased in 1981. But the MR2 – Toyota’s first mid-size car – proved that not everyone wants hot front wheels. . burst their cheap enthusiasm. It offered a design that was well above its £10k price tag, a superb twin camera engine and capable handling. If you can’t find a good first generation MR2, the following models are worth a look.
The Subaru BRZ and Toyota GT86 may be current models (although they will soon be replaced), but they have a retro feel. The 2.0-litre, four-cylinder boxer engine is mounted low in the chassis, giving it a low center of gravity, while developing 200hp at 7,000rpm, meaning you’ll rev to you get the best out of it. Sure, it could use more power, but that can upset the balance of a well-balanced sports car. The best Japanese sports car of all time? No. But one of our favorite cars for sale? Actually.
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What started out as the glorious original Lotus Elan went on to become the world’s best-selling sports car. Four generations later, the evergreen MX-5 is better than ever, still delivering roofless, all-wheel-drive fun. The Mk1 model seen here is now a sought-after model – and the price is rising. Check carefully for rust before you buy.
If only Honda built something like this today. Although it was based on the Civic, the CRX was five inches shorter than the three-door version and sat two inches lower to the ground. Honda put it as 2 + 2, but it was actually very hot with a big boot, which makes it perfect for those who like a little more to go with their sports car. In his day, it was bright.
Choosing the best Mitsubishi Evo will be a challenge – and it puts us at the mercy of the car’s legion of fans. If push comes to shove – and the Evo has plenty – we’d opt for the Tommi Makinen edition, which arrived in 1999 and is named after the Finnish rally driver who won four WRC drivers’ championships in a row. It featured Recaro seats, white Enkei alloys and an optional dash.
Toyota launched the original Celica GT-Four in 1986, with power coming from a new 3S-GTE engine and liquid-cooled engine. With 185hp on tap, it was, at the time, Japan’s most powerful 2.0-litre engine. A fifth generation model followed in 1991, including a limited edition Carlos Sainz UK model, before the sixth generation GT-Four arrived in 1994. Now, power output rose to 255hp – enough for a top speed of 153mph and a 0-60mph and of 6.1 seconds.
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Is this the best performance ever? We reckon so. By today’s standards, the Integra Type R certainly isn’t fast – although a 0-62mph time of 6.7 seconds isn’t too shabby – but few cars can keep up with this Honda on a twisty road. It’s almost perfect, with a low driving position, a hungry engine and an excellent gearbox.
If the Integra Type R is the best early performance car, the third generation ‘FD’ Mazda RX-7 is in the running as one of the most beautiful sports cars ever. The car pictured is a limited edition Bathurst limited edition, named after the famous Australian race track