On October 22, 1969, the Datsun 240Z was introduced to the Americas. For a mere $3,626 base price (approximately $21,500 today) the average Joe could come home with a state-of-the-art Japanese sports car.

For many people in Irvine, California, October 3rd 2009 was just another sunny day in SoCal but for a few thousand fanatics it was a stroll through Japanese classic car heaven. Although St. Peter wasn’t there to greet the crowd, we did come face-to-face with Joji Luz’s smiley yellow #5 Celica at the front gates.

Give this David Hasselhoff look-a-like a turbo 200sx, and he’ll come alive! Literally!

A resurrection of childhood fantasies. Faster, more powerful, and just as sexy as the original.

A video showcasing various Japanese Classics cars from the 1980s. Including a Mitsubishi Starion, Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86, Nissan Skyline RS-X, and Maxda Savanna RX7.

For those who weren’t there, there’s only really three things to remember about the early 1980’s in America: Pac-Man, cassette tapes, and the rise of the Japanese performance sports car.