Japanese Cars at the Ault Park Concours

The Annual Ault Park Concours d'Elegance always has a section where they feature some of the cars that come from Japan. Most of us see Japanese cars every day as Toyotas, Hondas, Nissans, Mitsubishis and others fill our streets. But just as Nissans were originally sold in this country under the name Datsun, these companies all have a long history.

The car at the top of this post is a 1969 Datsun 2000 Roadster. Basically Datsun means a very fast small car and this one filled the bill with a 2 liter engine. It was replace by the legendary 240Z. The next car is a 1981 Isuzu 117 Coupe which was one of the first Japanese cars to incorporate Italian design (in this case by Giorgetto Giugiaro). It was also the first sports car available with a diesel engine.

With a 3.2 liter dual overhead cam VTEC V-6 mid mounted, this 2003 Acura NSX-T is as fast as it looks. Built to compete with the supercars from Italy, the NSX, which stood for New Sportscar eXperimental, actually sported a design by Pininfarina.

This 1977 Datsun 280Z was a true sports car that set the USA on its ear. With it Nissan managed to solve all of the engineering problems encountered in the 260Z. And with a 2800 cubic centimeter fuel injected six cylinder churning out 136 horses, this light weight (under 3000 pounds) gem could really fly. Trust me, I've driven each of the 240, 260 and 280 models and even a 300ZX.

Here is a 1976 Toyota Celica GT. With a 2.2 liter 4 cylinder it offered a sports car style and feel at a very affordable price. That's why Celica and Toyota were soon on every street in America.