1970s Japanese cars | Japanese imports | 1970s Cars | Drive in | 1973

Tony Bastable and Richard Hudson Evans take a look at the latest offerings from Japanese car producers that are being shown at the 1973 motor show at London's Earls Court.
First shown: 15/10/1973
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Quote: VT8217

[@colin172]

Reliable, well built, good equipment levels, started in the damp. That is why they were successful. Assembled by people who took pride in their work. Constant updating also helped.

[@Thecrazyvaclav]

colin172 rusted away as quick as everything else around at the time

[@numberstation]

Keith Warner Quicker.

[@6ettinold]

We were fortunate to have lived on a hill in the 1970's. My old man would park his Austin 1800 on the road of a winter's night. He'd let the handbrake off at 5am, rolling it down the hill to bump start it after he'd made numerous attempts to start it. He'd turn around at the bottom of the road, heading back up to drive to work. He then chopped it in fir a Datsun 1200, the first car he owned that would start in the snow and ice and get him to work without any aggro. It rusted like nothing else, but it served its purpose without any hassle 'til it rotted away.

[@lewis72]

I think one of BL's problems was that they were trying to offer tech. when people didn't really care so much for it and even less wanted to pay a premium for it. Ford, like this Japanese lot (save the rotary engine) offered bread & butter cars. The Escort, Cortina & Granada were were very old in their engineering design; all RWD, 4 speed, iron block & head engines that were styled well. BL were offering fuel injection (Triumph 2500 PI & XJ-S/XJ12), 4 valves/cylinder (Dolly Sprint), Hydragas suspension (many Austins), overdrive (Triumphs).. and a lot of it went wrong too soon.

[@stevepearce6689]

@@lewis72 We had all of the above in our family fleet in Australia in the seventies and eighties and everything you said is spot on ! We drive Toyota' now but my retirement car will be a Triumph .... go figure

[@jefferysmith3930]

What turned out to be the most influential Japanese product, the Honda Civic, is in the background and not even mentioned by the expert. I think the car is saying “Don’t mind me. I’ll just hang out in the background AND TAKE OVER THE WORLD!!!! Ha Ha Ha”

[@AaronSmart.online]

The Civic was never a massive seller in the UK, Nissan and Toyota were always more popular

[@saxongreen78]

Civic was so good in this era - CVCC heads reduced emissions so effectively that no carbon canister / EGR or other crap was needed - you could _feel_ and _see_ the quality all over - went great - stopped great - looked a bit like an Alfasud.

[@andyc3856]

Such a shame the Japanese cars rusted so much. They really were a turning point in the motor industry. A reliable car,that would start first turn of the key,and run for many thousands of miles,with minimal maintenance. Really a revelation to what was being churned out by BL at the time.

[@needleontherecord]

“Why have they been successful?” = reliable

[@Tealcol]

In the late 70s my dad bought 2 Mazda 929 Estates. The first was a 1976 phase 1 model, in a metallic mink (brown). The second was a brand new 1979 phase 2 car in metallic mid blue. Dad had it rustproofed by Ziebart and it was one of 6 cars/vans I learned to drive in. He only owned it for 18 months, and had to change for a Volkswagen LT28 van. Approximately 8 months later, I saw the car locally, and the rust on it was simply unbelievable. All doors had gone top and bottom, the bottom edge of the tailgate was badly eaten away and the tops and fronts of the two front wings were really bad too. My grandmother's same age Fiat 127, in which I passed my test, was much better bodily, but mechanically and electrically was notably inferior.

[@spankysmp]

I like the RX3. I know I probably say it every time but gawd, I'd love any of those now.

[@fidelcatsro6948]

its probably worth several times more today than it was back then!

[@-DC-]

Lol the experts advice hasn't aged well!

[@405pugMi]

Much like his hairstyle 😄

[@serinadelmar6012]

405pugMi it is astonishing!

[@mrfahrenheit3867]

A world expert no less, I bet he'd even traveled as far as his aunty's village.

[@spinswasher]

@@405pugMi think now have 75 years old

[@herrgolf]

When has the experts’ advice aged well!!! The experts told us all kids need amphetamine for ADD and that Iraq somehow had WMD. Fuck experts-they’ve bankrupted themselves!

[@pit_stop77]

My first car in the early eighties was a 1974 datsun 100a high backed seats cigarette lighter, hazard warning lights and two speed wipers. Luxury compared to BL offerings from same era. Except it did rust away......... 😂😂😂

[@fidelcatsro6948]

you should have added another coat of paint to it and kept it till today!

[@philmarriner5300]

The Officer ... most sensible people in the 70's got their cars waxoyled, ziebarted etc. upon delivery or not long after. The popularity of this wained once cars were galvanised as a matter of course.

[@alanmunro888]

My first car was also a Datsun 100A 'Cherry' in a mustard yellow colour. It had a push button radio and a heater - luxury! I bought it new for £998 on 36 months Hp, which was as long as I kept it. It was economical and never let me down. Then I bought a four door 'Sunny' in orange. That was terrible!

[@volvo480]

My dad had a Datsun 140J from 1974, I remember we were glueing polyester mats onto the front wings to keep them together, until we brought it to the scrapyard in 1984. There was no MOT back then. ;) The rust aside, it was a pretty reliable car, but also unsafe as it only had lap belts.

[@jasongomez5344]

My dad's first brand new car was a 1972 L-reg Toyota Corolla. He said a lot of people used to look at it, because of its novelty, including the bright red paint.

[@user-uw6zr6tr9t]

Corolla KE30. 1979 special edition. Black bumpers, beige interior, brown dashboard, vinyl brown seats. 4 speed manual gearbox with fantastic feel. Rear wheel drive. 3K engine with great sound. "My Toyota is fantastic" sticker in rear windshield.

[@starguard4122]

I would LOVE to get my hands on a 1977 Toyota Celica Hatchback 🥰

[@adorabasilwinterpock6035]

People want reliable cars. Yes they rusted, BL cars didn’t last long enough to rust!

[@joeennis2571]

the oil leaks prevented rust on bl cars plus when they are parked they have to deal with salt corrosion in the winter

[@alunhoskins4513]

And lots of standard kit too. The interview speaks volumes too, particularly in the UK. Essentially saying they would not be a threat....oh dear😆

[@Pitmirk_]

My dad had high stress from badly built british cars that he needed for work, They were so variable, he never knew what each would be like. The joke back then was that the ones built just before tea break or on Fri were the worst ones to avoid. A workmate persuaded him to try a japanese car. I remember he was so delighted with the little pot of complementary touch up paint he found in the glove box. But the main thing is that he (with help from 70s uk car problems) started a tradition, ever since then whole family drive toyotas... not just all of us, in laws, in laws parents, nephews, the lot

[@TheKievKen]

"The joke back then was that the ones built just before tea break or on Fri were the worst ones to avoid." Add the Monday hangover day to the list, too. Joke is being too kind. More like fact.

[@Horizon344]

Death knell of England's car manufacturing industry.

[@dougodyssey50]

Well that, and Pressed Steel and BL screwing up every car they had.

[@chaimshamza5850]

Did you not see him say the Japanese banks bankroll them more than the English?

[@benzinapaul7416]

I think that was Red Robbo and his pals!

[@dougodyssey50]

Case in point would have to be the Rover SD1. Rover had a reputation on par with Bentley for quality and engineering. As soon as BL took over, they were forced to develop what should really have been an Austin. Pressed steel and the other shops payed no attention to Rover's strict quality standards. The end result was a car no Rover buyer would want.

[@richardnixon4345]

Did my neighbours wife up the shitter in a Datsun violet Happy days

[@PillSharks]

Richard Nixon I had to read that 3 times, best comment ever mate...

[@Detroit8V92tta]

Nice👍

[@adstix]

All the shiny cars in this clip are probably disintegrated in some scrap graveyard now while the stately house in the background continues to appreciate in value every year! Moral of the story: store your treasures where rust cannot destroy! 😜

[@leighonigar]

It's Polesden Lacey. I'm sure it would be worth a fortune but it's a national trust property.

[@spanishlanguageeducational3737]

Some of those countryside manors in the UK are now in ruins...

[@Le_Rennais]

lol @ the look of that correspondant of the financial times, James ENSOR

[@TheHorsebox2]

Don't get your point, friend.

[@fidelcatsro6948]

he clearly needed a proper hair trim!

[@alecbrown66]

No wonder mazda sold buckets. The bssic red rx4 saloon looks like a classy marina, and the white one in profile looked llike the mk3 cortina in profile. Thr FT expert was a bloody blind fool! Cars that looked sort of typical against ford, vauxhall, and the bl lot, but started on the key first time in all weathers, didnt break down, rattle or squeak. Stopped and went ok, and were properly nailed together. In the mid 70's ( post fuel crisis and explosion of union ferervoured chaos), with a lack of leg scorching pvc uncomfy seats really, really mattered. Plus they threw in a few toys, like standard fm radios and electric windows and remote petrol or boot release. Then sold them cheaper than the rest, especially BL. Choose a nissan sunny or toyota corolla against allegro, marina, viva, aging cortina, or exotic oddball french cars that could be tricky to maintain. Simply no competotion.and thats why people bought them by the hundreds of thousands! Sadly really, only ford and later vauxhall paid attention and followed with the fuesta, nova, sierra and cavalier. The FT guys arrogant snobbery and barely hidden bigotry said it all about british manufacturers conplete ignorance about their customers. They finally got what they wanted rather than what they were given.

[@chesswizard31]

That red RX4 saloon is beautiful.

[@lanehogger1532]

Not sure I’m down with the haircuts of 1973😂

[@mrfahrenheit3867]

Too right, the Mohican didn't come back till the eighties!

[@kevinpatrickmacnutt]

Yeah, James Ensor's haircut says business suit for business during the day, leisure suit for snorting lots of coke by night.

[@silenthunteruk]

@@kevinpatrickmacnutt What was in the coke?

[@kamrankhan-lj1ng]

@@silenthunteruk coke

[@idiocracy7075]

70s are retarded

[@manos3790]

So the alleged expert claimed japanese cars wouldn't do as well as their bikes.......... Therefore not quite the expert he's was patronised as😂

[@johnstairs]

What’s going on with the barnet James!

[@user-qe7tr3ml3h]

That Violet reminds me of my childhood. I was so excited when the brand new Violet came to my house.

[@Kiinell]

I always wanted a 120 after driving one, but I was too young and most were gone by the time I could afford a car. Lovely little car the 120.

[@jamesfrench7299]

Fee I was really born in a year good taste in hairstyles and fashion forgot lol!! The Datsun Sunny was known as the 120Y in Australia. I never knew they came out that early but should've known they'd arrived by then. I grew up in the 80s seeing them everywhere.

[@DiscoFang]

Lasted a hell of a lot longer in Aussie. Hot, dry climate and no salt on the roads meant the rust was not the same issue.

[@jamesfrench7299]

I remember a spinster drove her's so slowly it was doing damage to the engine. It was constantly coughing and sputtering as it putted along the road. When I told this Italian fellow we knew, he said you can actually do damage to a motor if you drive it slow all the time.

[@darrensmith6999]

You can hear the death Nell of BL here!

[@TheKievKen]

Using the term "facelift' over 50 years ago. I always thought it was a much more recent term, in relation to cars, obviously.

[@DashDrones]

Back when Japanese cars were good looking!

[@mattw8332]

Very nice 'coke bottle' profiles.

[@runoflife87]

Are you nuts?

[@moran68]

@@mattw8332 Didn't you say that on the last video with the British cars?

[@DashDrones]

@@runoflife87 now they're made of plastic and stop liking your own comments

[@DashDrones]

@Bengt Handlebars :) If only you could buy one brand new now..

[@_B.M_]

Those Mazda's look great!! Same still applies now!

[@andrewsmactips]

So how correct is your assumption? I’d bet my haircut on it.

[@fidelcatsro6948]

the Nippon brands that came to bury the British motor industry...

[@Timico1000]

The British car industry burried itself.

[@lindaoffenbach]

Perhaps this chap from te FT sums it up rather sharply. Industry in Japan had access to all the capital they needed. Britain at that time hadn't been able to manage this financially, both at Industry and government level.

[@kevinclark2856]

car i learned to drive in was a 1971 mazda 1800 deluxe

[@payamyazdi7672]

I love my 1977 DATSUN B210 coupe.

[@craigdavidson2278]

"Keep'em peeled"

[@kevinclark2856]

oh i miss my toyota corona rx12 had 5 them same time

[@CB1000FP1]

Had my driving lessons in a datsun a 100 cherry I think it was, back in the early 70s, nice little car, I had a hour a week driving lesson in it payed for by the company and spent the rest of the week driving there Bedford CF van good days

[@salipander6570]

Mazda has always been the best looking of the Japanese cars. Honda is a good 2nd.

[@arqueologomusical6676]

The White station wagon is the most beautiful to me. I relembre that I saw many japanese cars oh TV serie - Spectreman.

[@vineshnaidoo9402]

The best vehicles ever made.....

[@sauluribe7082]

A fitting market for the Japanese auto considering both Japan and the UK have their wheel on the right.

[@chachachaudhary391]

I wish there were more rx3s on the roads man

[@Detroit8V92tta]

I'd have any of those Japanese cars over anything British then and now.

[@sir_ashley_richards_o.b.e]

I love my rx3 mines red with a white stripe on the side and white spoiler

[@clarksonoceallachain8536]

I wonder if Japanese cars were more popular in Ireland than england

[@MLKusername]

No comments on the Orthodox Jewish Swede with the British accent?

[@therealbettyswollocks]

I’ve never heard Mazda pronounced like that 1:32

[@sutherlandA1]

It's how it's pronounced in australia, the USA pronounce it 'marzduh'

[@popindosin228]

Cars being reviewed over pretentious nowadays. We miss such simple and straightforward descriptions.

[@adamknopp6631]

I want the crown estate please.

[@DavidSmith-yt7im]

Tell Scotty Kolmer that

[@1968leg]

We eventually got the Skyline. God bless Japan

[@kiritanJ]

my q to the funny hairstyle yet clever looking bloke there.. Do you think the fixed yen rate has anything to with this at all?

[@sujayraomandavilli4732]

Indians have not been able to do what the Japanese did.. But the latest Tatas and Mahindras can run 100,000 km without repairs.

[@bobgodwin9927]

How wrong their forecast

[@simonthomas5367]

Why did people buy them? Because they were reliable, well made, didn't piss oil everywhere and had a reliable customer services network.

[@Sam-cz2bz]

1973-worst year for haircuts.

[@IrishPartizan]

One dislike from a Morris Marina owner

[@ctrlaltdelboy]

What happened to the Datsun brand? When did it because nissan? Could you buy Datsun and Nissan cars at the same time . For example Could you buy a Datsun sunny and Nissan sunny.

[@mikemartin2957]

1983/84 when the Datsun name dissapeard in UK though many of the components had dual branding from around 1975. Early 100a & the 1200had Nissan pressed into the rocker cover from 1971.

[@fidelcatsro6948]

Datsun cats were renamed Nissan in 1983....the name was resurrected again from the grave in 2013 in 3rd world country auto industries en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datsun

[@HowardLeVert]

My 1981 Datsun Sunny - the last of the RWD ones - was branded as a Datsun. I think the FWD Sunny that replaced it (c. 1983?) was a Nissan and as Mike Martin says, they all had Nissan stamped into the rocker cover (the A15 engine in my Sunny definitely did).

[@phillipmarnik]

If only the internet had a search feature

[@fidelcatsro6948]

@@phillipmarnikwakwakawaka

[@ranjitb68]

That car "expert" actually wasn't

[@LabRat6619]

They didn't forecast tidy haircuts in 2019

[@ronmccullock1407]

Where are the keys for the time machine I want to go back to the Earls Court Motor Show collect all the car brochures return to 2019 and sell them on EBay for lots of money and buy a???

[@johnstairs]

Ron McCullock I’ve got tons of car brochures from the 70’s Rolls Royce,Jaguar,Maserati,De Tomaso and Porsche and unbelievably there not worth diddly squat😞

[@ronmccullock1407]

@@johnstairs so I need to carry on doing the lottery then, I would buy the Rolls-Royce brochure off you

[@johnstairs]

Thanks for the offer but going to keep especially the Camargue one👍

[@ronmccullock1407]

@@johnstairs don't blame you mate I have Camargue brochure myself and road test

[@michaelisaacson9735]

James Ensor in the second half confidently predicts the lack of success that Japanese carmakers will have. How'd that work out for you, then?

[@kwato]

Japanese car hahaha I’ll stick to my superior BL product

[@sg8539]

Way more reliable..

[@fasthracing]

Rotary its the future

[@volvos60bloke]

After Brexit we can bring back the Maestro. Yay to Brexit!

[@stringer-ik1pc]

They all look the same.!!!!

[@lund905360]

Only Japanese can make a good car .

[@anthonyperkins7556]

These were much better cars. No wonder people bought them over unreliable BL rubbish.

[@enhancesoutheast5964]

The guy with the page boy hair cut was talking through his ass.. The Japanese motor industry rapidly booted down the tatty door of the British motor industry.. And most European ones too.. I worked as as Fiat mechanic in the '80's in Ireland.. The cars were rubbish arriving from the factory with faults, rusty within a year and worse incredibly expensive for Irish workers..