This video of driving through the Tokyo Sendagi area in 1989 synchronized with a drive in 2023 is another amazing video by Kamepo! Last week I posted another one where he drives over the Shuto Expressway C1. In that video there were a few interesting cars, but today I found an enormous amount of interesting cars! So let’s start to identify them!

Identifying the cars in Sendagi Tokyo in 1989

I have created the exact same route in Google Maps and placed markers on the map with each and every car that I identified. So you should be able to follow the route whilst watching the video!

List of cars

  • 1989: Nissan Cedric Y31 (following almost the entire video)
  • 1989: 3x Toyota Lite-Ace M30 (@0:27)
  • 1989: Nissan President 250 (@0:35)
  • 1989: Nissan Langley N13 (@0:46)
  • 1989: Honda Prelude 3rd gen (@0:53)
  • 1989: Nissan Exa (@0:54)
  • 1989: Toyota Mark II X30/X40 (@0:58)
  • 1989: Honda Prelude 3rd gen (@1:03)
  • 2023: Nissan GT-R R35 (@1:12)
  • 1989: Nissan Skyline R31 & Laurel C33 (@1:16)
  • 1989: Toyota Soarer Z20 & BMW 6-series (@1:18)
  • 1989: Nissan Silvia S13 (@1:25)
  • 1989: Nissan 521 pickup truck (@1:34)
  • 1989: Toyota Supra A70 (@1:35)
  • 1989: Nissan Skyline hardtop coupé R30 (@1:54)
  • 1989: Honda City cabriolet & Toyota Starlet KP61 (@2:21)
  • 1989: Nissan Skyline R31 (@2:33)
  • 1989: Honda Prelude 2nd gen (@2:35)
  • 1989: Toyota Corolla liftback E70 (@2:53)
  • 1989: Mazda RX-7 Savanna FC (@3:09)
  • 1989: Toyota Crown hardtop coupé S110 (@3:20)
  • 1989: Toyota Celica Camry A40 (@3:41)
  • 1989: Nissan Skyline wagon R31 (@3:44)
  • 1989: Honda Legend KA (@3:59)
  • 1989: Nissan Silvia S13 (@4:02)
  • 1989: Honda City Turbo II (@4:03)
  • 1989: Renault 4 (@4:14)
  • 1989: Cadillac Fleetwood (@4:36)

Not many interesting cars in 2023

There were a few more foreign cars (BMW 5-series, VW Golf II, Audi 100) but I thought they weren’t interesting enough to mention them separately. I found it astounding I could only find one single car interesting enough in the 2023 footage! That was a Nissan GT-R R35 that flashed by in a mere second! Well, the streets in Tokyo are a lot less crowded by cars in 2023 and that could explain it as well.

Most interesting cars in 1989

The most interesting car was the Renault 4. How did this European budget car end up in Japan? Then the Mazda RX-7 Savanna FC was also very interesting. Unfortunately the sound of the video is taken from the 2023 footage, so no rotary engine sounds in this video. In included the original video as a bonus video below, so you can actually hear it rev loudly for 10 seconds from 4:41 onwards! Another one, or actually three, that stood out were the triple Lite-Ace M30s all three with Skylite roofs at the beginning of the video! Probably belonging to the same company, hauling tourists or other passengers.

Finally, the Toyota Celica Camry is very interesting as it appears to us non-Japanese as an ordinary Carina. The Celica Camry was basically a second generation Carina with independent rear suspension and different headlights and tail lights. Outside of Japan we received the Celica Camry single headlamp units after the facelift, but in Japan the Carina retained double headlights. This means the car at 3:41 actually is a rare Celica Camry.

Bonus video: 1989 Sendagi area

This clip by Kamepo is mostly the same footage, but it starts earlier and stops earlier as well. The most interesting in this video are the sounds, as this contains sounds from 1989 and not the 2023 sounds as above. The RX-7 must have sounded amazing back in those days!