My favourite Showa-nostalgic Youtube channel Kamepo posted another video: the two-kilometer-long Tokyo Expressway KK-line. The Tokyo Expressway has a rich history and already dates back to 1951 when the first plans were drawn up. In 1959 the first section opened up and it was fully opened up in 1966.
Kamepo describes in the video that most of the expressway is built on top of commercial buildings or that the commercial buildings have been built underneath it. The 1960s were definitely strange times!
Highlights
As this section of road is only 2 kilometres in length, there aren’t that many cars to spot. Unlike my usual spotting, I have also included some cars from the opposite lane. I normally omit to spot these because they are very difficult and hard to distinguish as the frames get very blurry.
Yet still I managed to find a couple of highlights: a diesel powered Nissan Cedric or Gloria 430 wagon, a Nissan Cedric Y30 taxi, a duo of Toyota Carina A60s, a Honda N-WGN and a Nissan Skyline Ti C210/C211.
Diesel powered Cedric / Gloria 430 wagon
This is the second car we can spot in this video. The reason I find it a highlight is because it’s also taking the KK-line. While taking the off-ramp/on-ramp you can see the diesel engine struggling with the steep incline. This Cedric or Gloria was rolling coal before it was cool!
Nissan Cedric Y30 taxi
A slightly newer model Cedric and this time it’s a taxi. It still looks brand new and as this video was shot in 1986, this could very well be the case as the Y30 was manufactured until 1986. I have no source whether the taxi also succeeded to the Y31 series in 1987 though, but it could have chugged along a few more years for that purpose.
A duo of Toyota Carinas A60
I found it very interesting to spot a Toyota Carina A60 in the opposite lane twice. The first one I spotted was clearly a GT/GT-R/GT-T/GT-TR model as it featured the longer body colour bumpers with the small black panda stripe on top of it. This was only present on the GT models, so it has to be one of those.
The second one clearly has a shorter bumper and is painted black. This means it’s clearly at the bottom of the lineup as those featured on the STD, DX and SG. As this car features the black bump mouldings on the doors, it has to be an SG.
Honda N-WGN
I just loved the way this little Honda N-WGN conquered that corner! You can see it lean over in that corner and it makes you feel it’s tackling that corner at great speed. But then you realize there is a 40-kilometre-per-hour limit on the Expressway. That can only mean one thing: the centre of gravity of that N-WGN is terrible!
Nissan Skyline Ti C210/C211
Finally, I found this Nissan Skyline Ti 1800 C210 or C211 very interesting. I already saw it at the beginning driving off at the toll gate. However, as the Expressway is mostly a single lane, it’s difficult to pass. The tail lights are the non-afterburner tail lights. This means this car is of the Ti trim level. However, I was not able to determine whether it was a C210 or C211 as only the afterburner tail lights changed during the facelift.
Kamepo’s video
Car list
A complete list of all the cars I found interesting in this video can be found here:
- 1986 – 0:11 – Toyota Corolla sedan E70
- 1986 – 0:12 – Subaru Leone stationwagon
- 1986 – 0:14 – Nissan Gloria / Cedric wagon 430 (diesel)
- 2024 – 0:22 – Toyota Prius α (Prius V or Prius + abroad)
- 1986 – 0:33 – Mazda Familia
- 1986 – 1:00 – Nissan Cedric taxi Y30
- 1986 – 1:39 – Toyota Carina GT/GT-R/GT-T/GT-TR AA63 or TA63 (opposite lane)
- 2024 – 1:58 – Honda N-WGN JH1 (opposite lane)
- 1986 – 2:05 – Nissan Praerie (opposite lane)
- 1986 – 2:10 – Toyota Corona T20 / Publica P20? (opposite lane)
- 1986 – 2:17 – Mitsubishi Debonair (opposite lane)
- 1986 – 2:18 – Toyota Carina A60 (opposite lane)
- 2024 – 2:38 – Toyota Crown S210 (opposite lane)
- 1986 – 3:09 – Nissan Urvan (opposite lane)
- 2024 – 3:13 – Toyota Corolla wagon E210
- 2024 – 3:28 – Toyota Prius XW60
- 1986 – 3:36 – Nissan Skyline 1800TI sedan C210/C211
- 2024 – 4:17 – Toyota Alphard AH40
- 2024 – 4:20 – VW Golf Mk7
- 1986 – 4:34 – Mitsubishi Chariot D0
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