Seeing a rusty AE86 is always sad, but seeing five makes me wonder whether this place in Japan is AE86 heaven or hell. Welcome to another Japanese Rustoseum post!
Wrecked zenki panda three-door Sprinter Trueno GT Apex AE86
Let’s start with the first one. This is a presumably late-1984 or early-1985 white panda zenki Trueno GT Apex 3-door that has suffered from some accident damage. The front has been caved in, which means it’s probably a write-off. I think it’s a GT Apex as it does feature the bucket sports seats, and panda paint and doesn’t seem to have an areal on the right fender.
I rarely post about non-Japanese cars, but this slowly decaying DeLorean DMC12 in Japan is an exception to that rule! The DeLorean DMC12 is a very special car and it is strange to see one neglected like this. I would even say this is the US counterpart of the Fujiwara Tofu-ten special!
Neglected DeLorean DMC12 in a Japanese parking lot
There is only some cosmetic damage on this Mazda Cosmo Sport. Nothing bad to write about. All it needs is just a little refresher on the paint. Maybe a little TLC on the suspension. And perhaps it needs a patch or two on the bodywork. But definitely not more than that!
Just some cosmetic damage on this Mazda Cosmo Sport Series II
Mazda Cosmo Series I and Series II
For those unaware what a Mazda Cosmo Sport is: when Mazda was able to create their own reliable engine from the NSU licensed engine, they needed a car to showcase it. This became the Mazda Cosmo Sport, also better known as the Mazda Cosmo 110S outside Japan, and was presented in 1964. 80 cars were extensively tested between 1965 and 1966. Only 1967 the Cosmo became available for the general public and already received a facelift in July 1968. This was then called the Series II and it only received minor changes, where the room between the door and the rear fender was extended by 1.5 inches.
This Mazda Cosmo Sport is a Series II car. In the photo above you can see the space between the door and the rear fender is longer than on the Series I car. According to the blog posts (here and here) I found this posted on, this car is located in Okinawa. We can also deduce this from the license plate 沖55 め6.62: the first character is for the Okinawa prefecture.
Last week I already posted an abandoned kouki two-door Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 that started to be consumed by the foliage of the fields surrounding it. This week, I have another Toyota AE86 that is slowly being consumed by the woods.
Toyota AE86 slowly consumed by the woods
This AE86 is so far gone, I can’t even tell whether it’s a Levin or a Trueno! What I can tell, is that this is a two-door facelift model. The small holes next to the tail lights are made to fit the inner reverse lights of the facelifted two-door tail lights. In the picture below you can see the difference between the two:
zenki vs kouki two-door AE86 tail lights compared
As you can see, there is a small reverse light mounted right under where the bootlid slopes down to its lowest point. So having these small holes in the rear at least give us the indication it is a kouki model.
The roof has caved in with various tree branches around it, so probably the roof was hit by those branches. The AE86 once was yellow and painted over in white. The white paint is slowly disappearing, showing the car’s true colours. As the boot is also yellow, I would assume it was yellow from factory
It is always sad to see a forgotten or neglected car. It’s bad if the car in question is parked up for a long time and is showing signs of rust and decay. It’s even worse if the car is slowly being consumed by the foliage around it. This two-door Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 is one such car!
Abandoned rusty two-door Sprinter Trueno AE86
Eaten by the foliage
The Minkara user mitanimomo investigated this neglected Trueno left behind in the fields. The owner could not be traced and, just like the car, the house next to it was abandoned.
The Trueno appears to be original panda, which would indicate it’s a GT Apex model. The doily lace covers are still on the seats. And it seems to be sitting on Work Equip Casting 4 spoke rims.
The Honda Life Step is a van based on the Honda Life Kei car. The Honda Life was a successor to the popular Honda N360 and N600 (only abroad). Unfortunately, Honda stopped exporting their Kei offerings as soon as the Life replaced the N360/N600. This means we never got to enjoy these cars outside Japan. That makes me extra sad to find these magnificent Kei cars rusting away in their natural habitat.
Honda Life Step rusting away slowly
This example seems to be parked in someone’s yard. Photos like these make me wonder where people then actually sit in their gardens. I mean, you can’t sit down next to a big pile of rust, right?
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