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newVideoPlayer("/JDM_Supra_476.flv", 506, 423,""); The empty eyes… the evil smile… what does that satanic kid have to do with the Supra? And why is Toyota apparently so proud that the new Supra is about 15 times the size of the 2000GT?
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newVideoPlayer("/Tercel_4WD_JDM_494.flv", 506, 423,""); In mid-80s Japan, when you wanted a macho off-road machine that could take on the bears of the Canadian Rockies, you headed straight to the Toyota Sprinter Carib, which we Norteamericanos knew as the Tercel 4WD wagon. I've had a few of these things, and they're great for your hoonage-on-the-fire-road sort of activities (though I'm not so sure how one would fare in a flee-the-zombies-in-the-woods adventure). Thanks to SwapMeat for the tip!
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newVideoPlayer("/80_Toyota_Cresta_494.flv", 506, 423,""); In 1980 Japan, it was possible to get synthesizer keyboards with far more futuristic "whistling echo laser" effects than those used anywhere else in the Free World. Naturally, the Cresta was the machine most deserving of those keyboards. Somewhat similar in appearance to its American cousin, the Cressida, the Cresta was basically a luxury-enhanced Corona Mark II. Nice car, but we'd rather have a Crown Super Saloon .
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newVideoPlayer("/1990_Hino_JDM_DianeLane_494.flv", 506, 423,""); Paul Newman really did race Nissans and had a longstanding relationship with the company. But how about Diane Lane , star of Ladies And Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains ? In a real test of the whole concept of suspension-of-disbelief, we see Ms. Lane driving a Mondrian-style Hino Ranger delivery truck through a Japanese neighborhood populated by refugees from the suburbs of Des Moines. Was there a rush on Hinos after this ad came out?
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newVideoPlayer("/84_Skyline_PaulNewman_476.flv", 506, 423,""); Paul Newman did a lot of ads for Nissan in addition to racing their cars, and the association went far beyond the usual "big in Japan" deal in which foreigners make major yen for appearing in car ads, then flee back home. Nissan even came out with a Paul Newman Version R30 Skyline, which is featured in one of the trio of '84 ads here.
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newVideoPlayer("/90_Subaru_Legacy_JDM_476.flv", 506, 423,""); Here's a pair of Japanese-market ads for the same car, the first-gen Subaru Legacy . First we have an ad packed with screaming engines and spraying champagne, with Subaru doing some heavy boasting about three Legacies driving a collective 100,000 kilometers in 19 days at the FIA track in Arizona and competing in the '90 WRC. But what about car buyers who shudder in horror at the idea of driving fast? For them, we have an ad featuring a tear-drenched singer sobbing out a Rod Stewart song, as a Legacy cruises placidly past what appear to be settling ponds at a uranium mine.
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newVideoPlayer("/63_Toyopet_Crown_JDM_476.flv", 506, 423,""); We've always loved Toyota's name for their Powerglide-based automatic transmission , but "Toyopet" just doesn't sound like the kind of name you'd use when you're planning to dominate the automotive world a few decades hence. The Crown got a lot more luxurious later on, but even in '63 it had a certain boxy presence... and look, no clutch pedal!
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newVideoPlayer("/87_CRX_JDM_476.flv", 506, 423,""); While the American version of the Honda CRX could circle the globe in five seconds flat , late-80s robots were tearing up their prefectures in the Cyber Sports CR-X. Featuring a "1500 Hyper 16 Valve" engine and "Extra Window," the Cyber-Sports CR-X presented a terrifyingly accurate vision of the future. Looks like Jeff Beck cashed in with Honda, since there's at least one other CRX ad using his song.
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newVideoPlayer("/72_NissanSkyline_JDM_476.flv", 506, 423,""); This is apparently one of the famous "Ken and Mary" Skyline ads, which were so popular in Japan that the car was actually known as the Kenmari. And hey, you can see why! Check out Mary's kinda-now-kinda-wow headband, which shows that she's tuned in . And Ken's hair... well, we can see where James May got the inspiration for his own look. We lust for that beautiful blue Nissan in a big way, though the sight of the automatic shifter comes as something of a disappointment.
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newVideoPlayer("/Honda_1300_JDM_476.flv", 506, 423,""); The Coupe 9 version of the Honda 1300 now resides in the Jalopnik Fantasy Garage (as well as in Junkman's garage ), but the standard 1300 sedan was a pretty interesting car as well. You got an air-cooled engine with four carbs and dry-sump oil system sending 100 horses to the front wheels and styling that must have made Soichiro proud (though maybe he wasn't so proud of this headache-inducing TV ad).
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newVideoPlayer("87_CitroenBX_JDM_476.flv", 506, 423,""); We've got a shipping container with a vaguely familiar actress at the wheel of a Citroën BX in Japan. The container opens, the car smashes through a gate, and then it plows through a sand dune. We'd expect it to emerge with all the paint sanded off, but instead it emerges unscathed, heading directly for the ocean. Citroëns in Japan- what could go wrong?
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newVideoPlayer("71_Toyota_Crown_JDM_476.flv", 506, 423,""); The old Toyota Crown was all about the luxury , and it's pretty clear from this classic ad who the Crown's target market was back in 1971 Japan: stoic businessmen who wished to take their giggly young mistresses to the beach. We're disappointed that the Crown in this ad lacks the Super Saloon's curtains and trunk-mounted Cool Box, but you can see that it wafts along in utter silence. Well, except for the caterwauling of the schmaltzy singer.
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newVideoPlayer("84_Corolla_Japan_476.flv", 463, 387,""); Here's another in a long line of jittery Japanese-market car ads, this one showing how a pack of tie-wearing Toyota shoprats can whomp together an '84 Corolla for fashion-deranged monogloved chopsocky experts and fedora-wearing, flask-in-bottom-drawer newsies alike, all thanks to the mighty powers of the Munificent Plutonium Wrench.
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newVideoPlayer("89_Taurus_In_Japan_476.flv", 463, 387,""); This ad makes us wonder: is having a Taurus in Japan today something like having a Citröen in the United States? Perhaps Japanese fans of the film "Robocop" were so taken with the then-futuristic Taurus that Ford felt compelled to import them in large numbers in the following years.
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newVideoPlayer("84_Suzuki_Cerbo_476.flv", 475, 376,""); We love us some weird Japanese-market car ads, and this one for the Cerbo Cervo is downright puzzling . The Cerbo Cervo makes with the rakish side-mirror moves, and the ladies are just on it like ants on candy.
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