Although there has been a lot of hopes that Toyota would return to it’s roots with small rear-wheel-drive coupes perhaps under the Scion badge, the brand came without any real performance models worthy of the car enthusiasts’ fanfare. That is until last Tuesday when Toyota officially revealed that there was truth in the rumors about a revival of the iconic sports coupe.

The FT-86 Concept, a joint development project with Subaru, will debut at the Tokyo Auto Salon next month with plans that the production model will be within dealer showrooms by late 2011. Toyota hasn’t said much about the FT-86 yet, but it has been long rumored that Toyota’s RWD chassis will be powered by a Subaru-derived 2-Liter boxer four in naturally aspirated form.

Drawing inspiration directly from the AE86 sports coupe, the FT-86 concept was designed by Toyota’s European Design Development (ED2) studio in Nice, France and features many of the design cues from Toyota’s FT-HS hybrid concept unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show 2007.

Subaru has not commented yet whether or not they will add their all-wheel-drive system but has confirmed that the styling will be distinct. Other confirmations of the concept to production is a six-speed manual transmission and 2+2 seating arrangement.

A few days earlier, Mr. Toyoda made criticism on the lack of excitement in the industry saying that, “Surely it is us — the automakers — who have abandoned our passion for cars”. Already the industry is buzzing with delight that Toyota has made a move back in the right direction.

If you just can’t wait until 2011 to drive the production model, you can take a virtual test-drive of it in Gran Turismo 5. Plus, you get to skip the Toyota and Subaru salespeople too. (Not that we don’t like sales people, they just don’t like us, especially when we take every gear to redline.)

More pictures:

Video (added 10/19):

After that it was pretty much a blur of ecstasy. There were Honda N600’s that were so clean, if it was put next to your mother’s fine silverware, she would surely be ashamed. A couple of the custom-chopped CRX’s were also on display. These were some of the original few hundred standard CRX’s which were chopped by R. Straman Co. of Costa Mesa, California in the early 80’s.

On the Nissan/Datsun block, the SR-swapped Sports Roadsters definitely stole the show. In one of our favorites, a red-top S15 SR20DET was shoe-horned into the sub-2000lb roadster chassis. Considering the factory 2-liter naturally aspirated and carburated motor could already take it over 100mph, we could only imagine how quickly we would bury the needle with the updated Silvia motor.

Across the aisle from the Sports Roadsters were a impressive line dance of the Z-series Fairlady’s. Many of them with more curves and dressed in wheels with fatter lips than Angelina Jolie.

Although there weren’t as many spectators going far back into the field, most likely because Sevenstock was just the weekend before, Mazda really brought out the big toys. Many people don’t realize the heritage of Mazda’s racing programs both over seas and here in the States.

Down further from the Mazda’s were a “Ken and Mary” Skyline and it’s older brother the Box Skyline. Both very rare to find in pristine condition let alone any condition in the United States.

In the rest of the Toyota camp there were also some very well equipped Toyota Corolla’s ranging from the TE series to the later AE series. In addition some spectacular Celica’s and Supra’s, one of which was stuffed with a Cobra V8. Close by three generations of the Cressida came in sedans and wagons.

We know most of you are here for the pictures and quite frankly we’re surprised you even made it this far. We definitely saved the best for last though. At JCCS this year, Toyota brought out their trailer and spare no expense bringing along not one or two, but THREE 2000GT’s.

That ends our tour of the 5th Annual Japanese Classic Car Show. For those who weren’t there, you all definitely missed one hell of a show. We’ll keep you posted as soon as the official list of awards gets released.

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List of Awards and Winners:
5th Annual Japanese Classic Car Show – Irvine, CA – Oct. 3rd 2009

BEST OF JCCS
1st Place Kyle Ranauro
DATSUN/NISSAN 1959 1000 988cc
2nd Place Glenn Roberts
MAZDA 1967 COSMO SPORT 4M 2.6L
3rd Place Arnel ilog
MAZDA 1972 Rx-3 13brew Turbo

BEST JDM
1st Place Paul Bischoff
DATSUN/NISSAN 1971 Skyline rb25de
2nd Place Mikey Castillo
DATSUN/NISSAN 1971 Skyline L28
3rd Place Oliver Dienzo
TOYOTA 1972 Corolla 2tg

THE OLDEST JCCS
Frenchy Dehoux
TOYOTA 1958 CROWN 3RC

THE FARTHEST DRIVEN
Robert Gallagher
HONDA 1979 Accord B18C5A

BEST ORIGINAL CLASS
1st Place Kyle Ranauro
DATSUN/NISSAN 1959 1000 988cc
2nd Place Glenn Roberts
MAZDA 1964 R360 L24
3rd Place Richard Scharf
DATSUN/NISSAN 1970 240Z 2.4 Litre

BEST MODIFIED CLASS
1st Place James Standridge
DATSUN/NISSAN 1967 Fairlady Roadster SR20DET
2nd Place Eric Straw
DATSUN/NISSAN 1969 Fairlady Roadster SR20DET
3rd Place Jojo Rumbaoa
TOYOTA 1969 Corolla sprinter 2tg

BEST RACE CAR
1st Place Mario Castaneda
MAZDA 1971 R100 13B turbo

BEST WAGON
1st Place Run Calisch
TOYOTA 1978 Cressida I6, 2.6L
2nd Place Audrey Reese
DATSUN/NISSAN 1972 510 L20B-4cyl
3rd Place Martin Valle
DATSUN/NISSAN 1972 510 wagon SR20DET

BEST DATSUN- 240Z –
1st Place William Parks
DATSUN/NISSAN 1972 240z l28et
2nd Place Paul Ajari
DATSUN/NISSAN 1970 240Z L24
3rd Place Scott & Aggie Mount
DATSUN/NISSAN 1971 240Z Small Block Chevy

BEST DATSUN OTHER Z – 260Z-280Z, 280ZX, 300ZX
1st Place Brian Avery
DATSUN/NISSAN 1978 280z L28et
2nd Place Ron Sino-Cruz
DATSUN/NISSAN 1985 200zr rb20det
3rd Place Robert Heckendorf
DATSUN/NISSAN 1975 260Z Stock 2600cc

BEST DATSUN – 510 –
1st Place mark ritchie
DATSUN/NISSAN 1972 510 SR20DET Black Top
2nd Place Matt Gardella
DATSUN/NISSAN 1971 510 KA24DE-T
3rd Place Aole Espy
DATSUN/NISSAN 1969 510 KA24DE-T

BEST DATSUN – PICKUP-
1st Place Robert Laag
DATSUN/NISSAN 1974 620 L18
2nd Place Lawrence Keller
DATSUN/NISSAN 1972 620 LZ22
3rd Place David Krouse
DATSUN/NISSAN 1977 620 L-18

BEST DATSUN – ROADSTER- MODIFIED
1st Place James Standridge
DATSUN/NISSAN 1967 Fairlady Roadster SR20DET
2nd Place Eddie Wu
DATSUN/NISSAN 1966 Fairlady Roadster Nissan S15 SR20DE 2.0L I4
3rd Place Eric Straw
DATSUN/NISSAN 1969 Fairlady Roadster SR20DET

BEST DATSUN – ROADSTER- ORIGINAL sponsored by Deal’s Cosmetics
1st Place Chris Breyer
DATSUN/NISSAN 1966 Fairlady Roadster R16
2nd Place Ralph Rodheim
DATSUN/NISSAN 1967 Fairlady Roadster 1600
3rd Place Christine Rincon
DATSUN/NISSAN 1967 Fairlady Roadster 4 cylinder

BEST DATSUN – 1200-
1st Place Mark Duncan
DATSUN/NISSAN 1971 1200 Sunny A12
2nd Place David Gonzales
DATSUN/NISSAN 1974 1200 Sunny A14 1397cc
3rd Place Jose Serna
DATSUN/NISSAN 1973 1200 stock

BEST DATSUN – OTHER –
1st Place Kyle Ranauro
DATSUN/NISSAN 1959 1000 988cc
2nd Place David Chick
DATSUN/NISSAN 1970 1000 A10

BEST TOYOTA – CELICA/ SUPRA-
1st Place Steven Sego
TOYOTA 1977 Celica 2.2
2nd Place nestor rodriguez
TOYOTA 1985 Supra 6mge
3rd Place Irwin Aquino
TOYOTA 1972 Celica 18RG

BEST TOYOTA – COROLLA- PRE84
1st Place Oliver Dienzo
TOYOTA 1972 Corolla 2tg
2nd Place Erwin Lu
TOYOTA 1971 Corolla 3K Stock
3rd Place P.J Bonifacio
TOYOTA 1980 Corolla PJ

BEST TOYOTA -COROLLA AE86-
1st Place Oliver Sanchez
TOYOTA 1985 Corolla GTS 4AGE
2nd Place Dennis David
TOYOTA 1985 Corolla 4AG
3rd Place Dave Palacios
TOYOTA 1985 Corolla 4AGE

BEST TOYOTA – CRESSIDA –
1st Place Marvin David
TOYOTA 1979 Cressida stock
2nd Place Art Macabuhay
TOYOTA 1984 Cressida 5M-GE
3rd Place Edward Feliciano
TOYOTA 1978 Cressida .

BEST TOYOTA – OTHER –
1st Place Victor Rivilla
TOYOTA 1982 Starlet 4AGE 20V
2nd Place Oscar Ramos
TOYOTA 1967 LAND CRUISER stock
3rd Place Kirk Hubbard
TOYOTA 1974 Century 4VU HEMI V8

BEST MAZDA – RX2-
1st Place Carlos Radriguez
MAZDA 1973 RX-2 13B
2nd Place Edgar Sanchez
MAZDA 1973 RX-2 13B
3rd Place RENE GARAY
MAZDA 1972 RX-2 12A

BEST MAZDA – RX3-
1st Place Arnel ilog MAZDA
1972 Rx-3 13brew Turbo
2nd Place shingo konuma
MAZDA 1973 RX-3 13B
3rd Place Catherine Harrison-Smith
MAZDA 1974 RX-3 12A

BEST MAZDA – RX-7-
1st Place Juan Galindo
MAZDA 1985 RX-7 13B
2nd Place Jim Balderrama
MAZDA 1985 RX-7 13B
3rd Place Sergio Lopez
MAZDA 1979 RX-7 13B

BEST MAZDA – OTHER-
1st Place Glenn Roberts
MAZDA 1967 COSMO SPORT 4M 2.6L
2nd Place Esteban Rodoriguez
MAZDA 1972 R100 13B

BEST HONDA – PRE 1973 –
1st Place Dick Kartozian
HONDA 1970 N600 600cc air cooled
2nd Place Maurice Kleiman
HONDA 1970 N600 600 cc
3rd Place William Yee
HONDA 1970 N600 600cc

BEST HONDA – ‘74-’85 –
1st Place Ken Uk
HONDA 1975 Civic ED1 1500
2nd Place Scott King
HONDA 1979 Prelude original 1600
3rd Place Scott Ngov
HONDA 1979 Civic Wagon CVCC

BEST MITSUBISHI
1st Place James Dean Recto
MITSUBISHI 1978 Dodge Colt 4g32

Does anybody know what the meaning behind this song is?

Nothing symbolizes the coming of summer like a convertible cruising in the warm breeze with the radio playing a good oldies tune. With that in mind, let’s take a look back on some of the greatest classic convertibles to come from Japan as we count down our top 5 Japanese classic convertibles.

In the 1970’s, there was a period of time when rollover safety standards robbed Americans of opportunities for true fun-in-the-sun. The fact that Datsun did not manufacture convertibles did little to sway our rebellious nature and convertibles were not out of hands reach for long. Being one of the most popular Japanese sports cars of all time, there were many Z-coupes that undertook the surgery to become Z-roadsters.

A decade later in the 1980’s although convertibles were on the rise again, the market was still not strong enough for Toyota to produce convertibles from the factory so they authorized Griffith to modify production coupes. However, the Toyota Celica Sunchaser was not just a standard Celica coupe with the top chopped. The Sunchaser was a unique convertible in the sense that it was a targa top (removable hard top) and it had the more recognizable rag top. The targa style roof spanned from the top of the windshield to the B-pillar and the cloth style convertible top was collapsible from the b-pillar back. When the targa was off and the top was down, it resembled that of a dune buggy with it’s B-pillar roll bar.

The Sunchaser was originally given the 2.2 liter 20R engine producing only about 90 horsepower, but in ’81 was upgraded to the 22R which was essentially the 20R bored out to 2.4 liters. There were only approximately 2000 produced, each one individually numbered in the glovebox, so these cars are a rare find especially in pristine condition.

Refurbishing a Sunchaser can be a daunting task, but the good news is that they share mechanical parts with standard Celica coupes and convertible, hardware may be found from a few specialty shops. In the end of things, a restored Sunchaser is still a real head turner especially since most of them came with a bright red paint job.

(Note that full convertibles without the Sunchaser’s B-pillar may also come to the marketplace from time to time, but they were not factory authorized conversions from Griffith.)

The Nissan Fairlady (marketed as the Datsun Sports here in the states), the predecessor to the Z series of cars, was specifically intended for the US market and marketed in competition to the MG and Triumph sport convertibles. Historically, it started in 1959 with the S211 which used a 988cc 36hp model, of which only about 20 were actually built. The SPL212 Fairlady 1200 was introduced a year later as the first Datsun sports car in the US. It was powered by a 1.2 liter engine with 47hp and a 4-speed manual transmission.

Honda’s entry into the automotive production world was marked in 1963 by the S500, Honda’s first production car. (In that same year, Honda also entered Formula 1 racing with a 1.5 liter V12 engine and chassis which went on to win its first race in 1965.) It featured an evolved half-liter engine from Honda’s motorcycle heritage which had four Keihin side-draft carburetors and a 9,500rpm redline, outputting 44hp. The driveline utilized a 4-speed standard transmission which drove the rear wheels through a set of chains. The S-series had four-wheel independent suspension with torsion bars and coilover shocks which were ground-breaking at the time. At $1,275 it was available with an optional fiberglass hardtop, but only in Japanese market.

A year later at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1965, the S800 replaced the former. Equipped with a 791cc engine, it topped out at around 70 hp which doesn’t seem like much these days, but it let the little roadster up to triple-digit speeds. It was plenty of power to do the job for cruising on a hot Sunday with the top down.

First seen as a prototype at the 1965 Tokyo Motor Show, the Toyota 2000GT was put into production in 1967. The cars came off of the production line as a hard top coupe and were unavailable to the general public as anything else. Altogether, there were about 350 of these built and two were special convertibles made exclusively for the James Bond film “You Only Live Twice.”

Powered by a 2.0 liter straight six that was designed together by Yamaha and Toyota, the 2000GT sported three Mikuni-Solex side-draft carburetors to breathe easily while it smoothly churned out 150 hp at 6,600rpm with another 400 left before redline. With a curb weight of 2,400 lbs, the 2000GT had a admirable 49/51 weight distribution and superb handling abilities.

Considered one of the highest collectible Japanese cars, most people will never have the privilege to be able to ride in it with the top down. One of the convertibles is in the Toyota Museum in Japan and the other is rumored to have been long misplaced, most likely in some private collector’s underground sanctuary. (A third replica which was originally a coupe is on display at “The Cars of the Stars Museum” in the James Bond section.) For the rest of us, we’ll have to wait in line for the Miata or 240Z replicas. The 2000GT ranks at number one on our list of convertibles due to it’s status as the most desired, most rare and most untouchable Japanese classic.

It is obvious that there are many more Japanese convertibles that are not covered here. We also decided not to include any targa and t-top models for the sake of simplicity.