Start Your Engines: Strange Japanese Cars
Whips of the Rising Sun
Toyota
Sera:
Move
over, Marty McFly; you’re not the only car owner with suicide doors
straight out of a sci-fi movie. Meet the Toyota
Sera,
produced for six years, exclusively for the Japanese market. The two door coupe is a a pretty standard offering from auto giant Toyota – save for those butterfly doors (and a roof that is
made mostly of glass panels). Roads…where we’re going we’re probably going to
need roads.
Autozam
AZ-1:
Japan
apparently really likes Back
to the Future, as
the AZ-1 is the second “butterflied” automobile that we’d NEVER
get in the West. While “Autozam” may sound more like a superhero
sound effect than a comfy car, the AZ-1 delivered style and ease,
while looking like a character straight out of Pixar’s Cars.
Mitsuoka
Viewt: A
viewable newt? No, the Viewt, first put on the market
in 1993, looks like a scaled down Rolls Royce…in
the body of a tiny hatchback.
Travel the roads in luxury as long as you’re not very tall.
Honda
Coupe-9:
There is something different about an air-cooled
sedan. Yes, the engine was kept at a workable temperature with the
cunning use of a fan attached to the cars “flywheel”. On chilly days, the engine even wafted back heat to the
driver and passenger. On hot days…you’re out of luck.