Ok, our introduction to Roadtrip Motorcars’ current fleet of Japanese import vehicles tended to fall on the strange and unique side of the house. But for every cute little kei car or funky off-road van, they have an answer in the form of a genuinely fast and interesting machine. Contrary to some popular movies, most of these cars aren’t loaded with wild graphics, boost blow-off valves that can be heard two counties away, or anything like that. Turbocharged inline-sixes, however, are common, and there was plenty to choose from in that regard, plus one of the funkiest station wagons I’ve personally seen in just about ever. The bonus is that with exception of the Crown wagon, I was allowed wheel time in all of these cars, which made my month…prior to this, I hadn’t driven anything right-hand-drive, hadn’t driven a manual transmission-equipped anything in years, and outside of moving a Subaru around a parking lot, hadn’t driven a Japanese car in about a decade. With that in mind, let’s check out the worthy vehicles:
1. 1992 Toyota Aristo
One of the few cars on the property with a U.S. market connection (first-generation Lexus GS), the Aristo wasn’t supposed to have arrived for another day or so, but shortly before I was ready to pack up the gear Corrine got the call saying the car was due within an hour, and I’m glad I stayed for this one. Looks sedate, doesn’t it? It has less that 50,000 miles on the clock, just a couple of minor paint blemishes, and is dirty from it’s transport and storage time, but pay no mind to that. This is Angry Grandpa in Japanese form…and it was an elderly gentleman’s vehicle. Besides being so well-kept that it smelled brand-new inside, the hangar for the “Kōreisha mark” sticker that denotes an elderly (70 years old or older) was found in the trunk.
So it looks like a 1990s Lexus, and other than being obscenely clean and barely driven…and right-hand drive, of course…why should we go nuts over this car? The proper answer: 2JZ. This four-door Italdesign Giugairo shaped midsizer is packing the same twin-turbocharged 3.0L inline-six as those monster Toyota Supras all the kids go nuts for. After we got the Aristo off of the trailer and let the battery charge up for a few minutes, we took this one out on a country road to see what it’ll do. Dead-stock, this thing spun the speedometer around quicker than any four-door from the 1990s ever should have. It’s not blisteringly quick about it…more of a stately push than anything, and the automatic is tuned to be a bit softer and more compliant for touring instead of manic acceleration, but one boost controller can change this thing’s attitude. I suggested a return trip to Beech Bend with a controller attached, but Bird’s insurance company has some very strong feelings against that sort of dangerous behavior, so the answer was no. Darn.
2. 1988 Toyota Crown Royal Saloon…hearse?!
This is the strangest little wagon I’ve ever come across for any reason whatsoever. Toyota’s Crown nameplate is one of their longest lasting, and stands as the top-level offering in Japanese markets, but the Crown model hasn’t been sold in the United States since 1973. And I’ll be honest…upon first glance, besides the usual JDM-RHD desire, I couldn’t understand why anyone would bother bringing in a black station wagon that looked like your typical mid-1980s Japanese car.
This Crown has two items of note that stand out. One is under the hood, in the form of the 1G-GZE 2.0L inline six packing a 24-valve head and a supercharger, good for 168 horsepower and 167 lb-ft of torque. The other standout feature…well, here it is:
3. 1991 Toyota Chaser
If the Aristo was subtle, the Chaser was anything but. From the moment I saw the intercooler hiding behind the bumper, I knew this one would be fun. Lowered on coilovers, sporting decidedly non-stock rolling equipment and sporting plenty of car-show attitude, the looks would no doubt attract a crowd, but we aren’t focused on the looks…we focus on how it runs, and there, folks…wow. Yeah, it runs, all right. A 2.5L 1JZ six with a healthy turbocharger provides the power. How much? Well…according to the “Gentleman’s Agreement”, an even 276 horsepower…(cough). Yeah, that number has no bearing whatsoever on any Japanese car. It’s like when Ford said that the Boss 302 Mustang made only 290 horsepower out of the door…everybody knew the number smelled like fresh fertilizer and nobody was bothered to do anything about it.
The Chaser was the only car to openly greet me when I fired it off. No, seriously: key in, twist it and the digital dash sprung to life, and a tiny little electronic woman’s voice started chatting at me in Japanese. This is a toll card reader…the voice was reminding me to insert my toll card. Instead of tollbooths or stickers, these electronic readers take care of those pesky road use taxes. Once toll card lady figured out that no card would be inserted, she quieted down and the sound system kicked on and started playing Japanese pop music, which sounded mellow and focused on a lady with a beautiful voice with piano in the background. Then I hit the throttle, and any mellowing and contentment that the singer brought to the equation disappeared like that. The 1JZ wakes right up with a snotty grown and hustles, and the automatic doesn’t interfere…if anything, it’s the most sporting four-gear auto we’ve dealt with…but that trans will be retired, as the car will receive a five-speed manual swap. It was happy holding gears on it’s own and would upshift without breaking your neck. I should’ve asked Bird if he built the Chaser, or if he bought it this way. Hopefully the Chaser’s new owner will enjoy the car as much as I did…it was sold since I shot the pictures!
4. 1989 Toyota Soarer Aerocabin
When you surf a car lot, do you focus on the one car above all others that you’d go for? Yeah…that’s what I did with this Aerocabin. One of five hundred ever made, one of maybe eight in the country, and probably the only one with three pedals and a shifter, this thing was the highlight of my day. While the MZ20 Soarer didn’t make it to America, the next generation Soarer did: the 1990s Lexus SC coupes. Additionally, this Soarer is mechanically related to the A70 Supra (1986.5-1993) and has the turbocharged 3.0L 7M-GTE, the hot motor prior to the JZ-series engines.
The styling seems to be hit or miss, and I suspect that has something to do with the Aerocabin, so let’s touch on that for a second. Look at the two pictures above. The top one is a 1989 Soarer GT Twin Turbo, the standard shape for a Soarer. It’s got a nice long hood/short deck shape to it. By comparison, the Aerocabin’s deck seems so big that some people thought it looked like an El Camino. So why is that?
Here’s the Aerocabin’s party trick: a retractible semi-convertible roof. I can’t explain why they just didn’t do a convertible, but for the gadget geek, it’s something to behold and it does offer up some open-air cruising. Interesting, but the more interesting story to this car is how it is to drive.
This was the first car I drove, so to put it mildly, I was nervous. Only five hundred made, you say? Crap. It’s a good thing Brownsville is a sleepy little town with little traffic to speak of. Sitting in the right seat, shifting with my left hand…strange, but that awkward feeling lasted about a city block before everything clicked. The turbo-six comes on strong and feels very torquey off of boost as well. The five-speed shifts nicely, and the noise…no Japanese six will sound like an Italian six, but that isn’t a bad sound at all. I didn’t romp on the Soarer, since the speed limit was 35 MPH heading down to the riverfront from the shop, but you could hear little sonic booms as heads spun. I could’ve been driving a Superbird or a DeLorean for the amount of neck-breakage I was getting, and that’s just on a main drag. I’d love, just once, to drive this into a car show just to watch the crowds form. And with the way the suspension feels, I’d love to rip around NCM Motorsports Park just once…it’s stout without being stiff. It doesn’t bounce like a slammed minitruck, and didn’t even need to be tip-toed over speed bumps. I did that anyways, but it didn’t need it. I can see why Bird and Corinne don’t want this Soarer to disappear…they’ve road-tripped this car all over the country. I can’t afford it, but I won’t lie: out of all the cars, I want this one, and I want it badly.
That’s the end of what was available at the shop, folks, but…and this is a big BUT…there might be one more vehicle to check out. I should know more in a couple of days…and it’s good enough that it will get it’s own feature if it’s a go. Here’s hoping…
You can check out Bird and Corinne’s blog and see the current inventory of Roadtrip Motorcars by CLICKING HERE. We thank them for opening up their shop and cars to us and for sharing their story with us! If you want more information on the Aerocabin, SpeedHunters wrote it up a couple of years ago, which you can read HERE.
I used to own a 20 series Soarer. But the key exception was I had a 1JZ and a 5 speed swapped with a host of goodies. That car was fun and made some power. We have had these JDM cars available for over a decade and they are now practically worthless. An Aristo is a $3500 car, Soarer is the same. The downside is the the RHD. It gets old fast. Passing on the highway, nope. Turning left, nope. Its an absolute pain in the ass.