Remembering Japanese cars from the past

Category: Commerical time (Page 3 of 15)

Commercial Time: Sharknose Toyota Chaser JZX100

The car in the photo below isn’t a Toyota Chaser JZX100, but a Toyota Mark II JZX100. Almost the same thing you might think…
Toyota Mark II JZX100 kaido racer
Well it is not but it was the only photo I could find of a JZX100 kaido racer and I actually might have tricked you to come here and read this by doing so. The whole thing is, everyone nowadays associates the sharknose term with kaido racers and their modified bodywork and I’m also debit on making that term popular with the bosozoku style blog.

Anyway, the ad I found on Youtube is a whole different sharknose Toyota Chaser JZX100 than a modified front end. Watch for your selves: Continue reading

Commercial Time: German Honda City ad

We all know the Honda City is a great car and even the British band Madness agreed with that. Even in Germany they agreed, however they all got it wrong in Germany!
Commercial Time: Honda Jazz
First of all the Honda City is called the Honda Jazz in Europe because some German car company (Opel) complained that people would confuse the City name with their car with a totally different name (Kadett) because it featured a trim model (City) that sounded like it. Did you get that, mkay?

Well, that’s only the start of what’s wrong with this German Honda City ad: Continue reading

Commercial Time: Space Age Nissan concept car

In 1983 the Nissan Motor Company celebrated its 50th anniversary and they showed in Japan a commercial that revealed a space age looking concept car that got updated to the 80s taste:
Space Age Nissan concept car
Sleek looking aerodynamic (not soap bar yet) delta wing idea that must have convinced people in the 80s that Nissan was seriously going to make flying or rocket cars in the (near) future. This Nissan concept car certainly does that!

If you squint your eyes you can make out the 1971 Nissan 216X concept car:
1971 Nissan 216X concept car

Interestingly enough there is also another concept car called the NX-21 that introduced the EXA concept:
1983 Nissan NX21 concept car
Yes, this Nissan concept car is somewhere between the 216X and the EXA but nowhere near the one shown in the commercial. ;)

For completeness here is the 80s Nissan commercial:

Continue reading

Commercial Time: pushing the Daihatsu Leeza ChaCha

I would say this Daihatsu Leeza ChaCha commercial is the weirdest ever: what car company would like to sell their car by claiming you are able to push it?
Commercial Time: pushing the Daihatsu Leeza ChaCha
Was it a selling point that any typical Japanese young women in the late 80s and early 90s could push their own car? Did she run out of gas? Did the ChaCha run out of ChaCha-juice? Did the engine cut out? Did the battery die? Did she loose her key? I really don’t get the selling point right here…

Watch and see the commercial yourselves: Continue reading

Commercial Time: SSR Star Shark rim ad

Speed Star Racing (SSR) started off producing a solid alloy wheel called the Mk 1. By the 80s they were famous already and they already had a track record for the number of wheel designs in between. Then they introduced the SSR Star Shark (also known as the Colin Star Shark) in the 80s and it got the name because of the double star that cross each other like a shark, right?
Commercial Time: SSR Star Shark rim ad
Well this 80s ad really explains it all: We are Shark and We love Colin!

There were the two piece SSR Star Shark rim (eight spoke four point star), the two piece SSR Star Shark II (ten spoke) and (finally) the one piece SSR Star Shark Mini (eight spoke four point star) for sale. The mini is aimed at, you never guessed, the Mini and equally small Japanese kei cars. ;)

I love the design of the SSR Star Shark and yesterday I was seriously on the verge of buying myself a (dirt cheap!) set of 14 inch rims (for sale here!), but didn’t do that in the end because they are 14 inch rims and I really want 15 inch rims. Nevertheless they look awesome on an AE86 (or on the Celica XX above) or any old Datsun! So I started googling on the SSR Star Shark to find out what it looks like on a Carina and bumped into this ad.

Ad found at: JDMEuro (hence the JDMEuro branding)

Commercial Time: Nissan Sunny and Stanza ad goof up

This 1983 Nissan Sunny B11 ad is a real gem: 30-ish female person is tied up on a half sunken boat and almost gets eaten by an inflatable rubber alligator while two bad guys in white suits and white hats (both a Panama) watch it happen and cheer on the inflatable rubber alligator:
Commercial Time: Nissan Sunny B11
Then she shouts for help from Sunny and a Nissan Sunny B11 Turbo sedan rushes in and the guy saves the day.

This obviously would make a fine commercial in Japan in the early 80s and would make a horrible vintage cult classic nowadays. However keep in mind that in the very same year Nissan promoted the Nissan Stanza T11 in Japan with the following family in a Stanza:
Commercial Time: Nissan Stanza T11
Yes, both father and son are wearing the very same white suits and very same white hats (also both a Panama).

You can watch both videos below: Continue reading

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