Something is alluring about Japanese imports. The country has given us some of the best automobiles of all time, ranging from family cars like the Honda Accord to sports cars like the Nissan Skyline GT-Rs.
Some Japanese cars are also scarce and hard to find. Some have yet to come to the United States, but all are incredible.
Our list contains some of the rarest Japanese imports that are the stuff of dreams. We will include cars not sold in the USA and some of the rarest that have made their way to American soil.
Nissan Pulsar GTI-R
Nissan offered the little Pulsar various configurations, including a coupe, a five-door hatchback, and a sedan. The ultimate, however, is the GTI-R, a three-door hatchback that Nissan produced as a homologation special.
The GTI-R sat at the top of the fourth-generation Pulsar N14’s tree. Under the hood, it packed a 2.0-liter turbocharged SR20DET engine that produced 227 hp and 210 lb-ft of torque. The ATTESA all-wheel drive system aided in acceleration, with the baby GT-R able to go from 0 to 60 mph in just 5.4 seconds.
Toyota Chaser JZX100
Toyota introduced the Chaser in 1977 as another typical mid-size car, entering its sixth and final generation in 1996. While the base model isn’t that exciting, the Chaser JZX100 certainly is, and it is the most desired version of the sixth-generation Chaser.
Under the hood is a 1JZ-GTE engine, the same one found in the Supra at the time. The Chaser JZX100 quickly became a drifter’s favorite thanks to its front-engine, rear-wheel-drive configuration. Some would also have the 2JG-GE engine, which was perfect for tuning, and the JZX100 only became eligible for import into the USA in 2021.
Nissan R390
You will never see the Nissan R390 imported into the United States. Nissan produced this rare one-off supercar to homologate its R390 GT1 race car to FIA GT1 regulations. Nissan took the R390 GT1 to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1997 and 1998, although sadly, it achieved little success in the great endurance race.
However, that doesn’t diminish how special the road-going R390 is. Under the hood is a massive 3.5-liter CRH35L V8 engine producing 550 hp and 470 lb-ft of torque. The exact performance figures we see in the R390 GT1 racer. Today, this remarkable one-off supercar resides in the Nissan Heritage Collection in Zama, Japan.
Subaru SVX
Subaru is most famous for its incredible Impreza, but its first foray into the performance market came from the eye-catching SVX of the late 1980s. Subaru even enlisted the help of Giorgetto Giugiaro to create the coupe’s sensational fighter jet-style design.
Under the hood was a 3.3-liter DOHC flat-six producing 231 hp and 228 lb-ft of torque. At the time, it was the biggest engine Subaru had placed in a passenger car, but sadly, gearheads overlooked the SVX as it had no manual transmission. Yet, as a first foray into the performance car world, the SVX was a winner.
Nissan Cefiro A31
Nissan produced the Cefiro from 1988 to 2003; as time passed, it became a reasonably average front-wheel-drive sedan. However, the early Cefiros were some of the best JDM cars ever produced. The A31 was the best, with a mighty RB20DET inline-six under the hood producing 125 hp and 127 lb-ft of torque.
The Cefiro A31 also came packed with Nissan-typical technology. Some features were electronically adjustable seats, HICAS four-wheel steering, and automatic headlights. The Cefiro A31 also had the ATTESA four-wheel drive system and electronically adjustable suspension. The RB20DET was perfect for tuners, and the Cefiro A31 also looked great with bodywork modifications.
Honda S2000
No list of Japanese vehicles is complete without a look at the iconic Honda S2000. Honda produced its incredible sports car from 1999 to 2009, with two generations, the AP1 and the AP2. Under the hood was the Honda F20C and F22C1 inline-four engines producing up to 239 hp.
The F20C and F22C1 engines have become some of the most highly regarded in sports car history. The addition of VTEC allowed them to rev up to a dizzying 9,000 rpm, and the six-speed manual transmission on the S2000 is still one of the greatest ever to grace a sports car. The only downside to the S2000 is that Honda no longer makes it.
First-Generation Honda NSX
The first-generation Honda NSX might be the greatest of all the Japanese cars produced. Honda made the NSX from 1990 to 2005, and what they came up with was a fighter-jet-inspired design, with bundles of power from its Honda V6 engines and some of the best handling of any supercar in history.
The NSX was the world’s first production car to feature an all-aluminum semi-monocoque. This incorporated a revolutionary extruded aluminum alloy frame and suspension components, and aluminum helped reduce the body’s weight by 441 lbs. The NSX was as fast as a Ferrari around the Nurburgring, and Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna helped develop the car’s handling.
Nissan 300ZX (Z32)
Nissan’s legendary Z/Fairlady sports car origins go back to the 1971 240Z. Yet one of the most sought-after is the 1983 300ZX, or Z32, one of the best-looking and best-performing versions of the Nissan sports car.
The most potent version of the 300ZX has the twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter VG30 DETT V6 engine under the hood, producing 300 hp and 283 lb-ft of torque. This allows the Z32 to sprint from 0-60 mph in just under six seconds, and prices of the turbocharged 300ZX have started to skyrocket. You are lucky if you can find one for sale under $30,000.
Nissan GT-R R33 Nismo 400R
Nissan produced some unique limited editions of its Skyline GT-Rs, but the holy grail is the R33 Nismo 400R. Nissan built the 400R to celebrate its Le Mans race cars of the late 1990s and planned to build 100 units.
However, in the end, Nissan produced just 44 of them, making them one of the rarest Skyline GT-Rs in the vehicle’s history. They are rare in Japan and even rarer in the United States. Under the hood, they had a twin-turbocharged RB-X GT straight-six engine, specifically designed and developed for the 400R by REINIK. The RB-X GT2 produced 400 hp and 346 lb-ft of torque.
Mazda RX-7 Bathurst R
Mazda produced the RX-7 Bathurst R solely for the Japanese market, celebrating its 1992 to 1994 successes at the legendary Bathurst 12 Hours at the Mount Panorama circuit in Australia.
Mazda introduced the special RX-7 in 2002 and would only produce 650 examples of the Bathurst R. It would become the RX-7 with the lightest power-to-weight ratio and had custom height-adjustable dampers to enhance the driving experience even further. Mazda produced 500 units, and only a handful of them have left Japan.
Mitsubishi GTO
Mitsubishi produced the GTO from 1990 to 2000, marketed globally as the 3000GT. In North America, it was sold as the Dodge Stealth, a collaborative effort between Mitsubishi and Chrysler. The latter was largely responsible for the sports car’s exterior design.
The base model packed a 3.0-liter V6 engine producing 166 hp. But the pinnacle of the range was the turbocharged GTO, with a twin-turbocharged engine producing 300 hp in the VR-4 and Stealth R/T models. These turbo GTOs also came with four-wheel drive and four-wheel steering, enhancing the Mitsubishi’s overall handling.
2005 Honda NSX-R GT
In 2005, Honda bid farewell to the first generation of the NSX. Yet it would never let its game-changing supercar go out without a grand finale. Enter the 2005 Honda NSX-R GT, the ultimate farewell for one of the greatest supercars of all time.
Honda produced the NSX-R GT purely to homologize the NSX to race in Japan’s JGTC and Super GT series. It did the bare minimum, producing just a single NSX-R GT, which made it the rarest NSX in the world. Changes to the NSX included a more prominent rear diffuser, extra weight-saving measures, and a wider, longer body. The 3.2-liter NA V6 under the hood produces 290 hp.
Toyota Soarer GT-T
Despite its sporty credentials, the Toyota Soarer is one of the forgotten Japanese sports cars, but in JZZ30 form, it was one hell of a machine. Toyota enhanced the JZZ30 over the standard Soarer Z30 models despite sharing some key components with the Lexus SC.
Under the hood, the Soarer GT-T had the 2.5-liter 1JZ-GTE engine, and with turbocharging, it produced 276 hp and 268 lb-ft of torque. However, that was a conservative estimate due to the JDM gentleman agreement. It’s common for these engines to produce well over 300 hp.
