By Ryan Benoit, DODOlogic
Their social media game was on point. It seemed as if I was getting constant updates and reminders about North Vancouver’s All Japanese Classic 2016 every other week for the last 5 months. Even after the event, the organizers followed up on Instagram with well-placed comments on attendees’ photos of the event. With such a strong social media presence, I half expected this to be like every other car show for imports with the weird mid 2000’s dance music and car models plastered all over the cars.
What I got instead was a trip back in time – not to the “glory days” of import car shows, but something even further back. Maybe you’re expecting me to paint you a picture of the 80’s in Japan, but unfortunately for you I don’t know what that picture looks like. Even if I did, I don’t think that would be an accurate depiction.
I was taken back to my childhood. Allow me to digress… my dad isn’t a huge car nerd, in fact, today he drives a Prius. But as far back as I can remember, my dad has always driven Toyotas. Probably the leading reason my brother and I got into imports was because our dad always raved about the value and reliability of driving a Japanese import. My brother turned that into a love of Hondas and I dabbled around with a few Japanese manufacturers before I inevitably landed back on Toyotas, just like my old man.
My dad may not have been a car nerd like his two sons, but that didn’t stop him from dragging us out to classic car shows when we were much too young to really care about cars. My uncle was part of a classic car club and every so often, my dad, my brother and myself would show up and show support. We’d look at cars we had no interest in owning because they weren’t Japanese.
Those shows were never flashy, just a bunch of adults parked on a grassy knoll enjoying classic cars. After a few minutes of walking around that grassy knoll in North Vancouver last weekend, I was quickly reminded of those old classic car shows from my past. However, there was one very strange, relevant twist – they were all imports.
The majority of the cars were classics and surprise, surprise, as the title of the event explains, they were all Japanese. I have an infinity for classic Japanese cars in that I love to look at them, but then quickly realize that I have neither the patience or ingenuity to own one. I’ve been to quite a few car meets in the Vancouver area and I was pretty surprised by the amount of classic Japanese cars that can be found in the city and surrounding areas.
This Nissan Cedric is not exactly the image I conjure in my mind when I think of Nissan Cedrics; my jumping off point for these cars really starts 20-some years ago. I can’t even imagine the struggle of tracking down parts for this car.
I think my favourite part of the show wasn’t all the cars, but just how much this reminded me of those shows I used to attend as a child. It was as if the classic domestic attitude had been transplanted into whatever the future version of myself is. Here’s a prime example: if you look in the background, you’ll spot a Hawaiian shirt. Usually when you come across a shirt like that at a car meet, it’s covered in hot rods – but not this guy’s shirt. The gentleman in this photo is wearing a Nissan-themed Hawaiian shirt, and I’m not entirely certain but I think there’s a Z32 on there.
As I walked around, I spotted people wearing old Datsun jackets and t-shirts, and even a few TRD crew shirts. It was as if Mopar had been swapped for Nismo.
That being said, they did allow some newer Japanese cars to enter the show in their own class.
One thing I did notice was a lot of the classic Japanese cars were running either OEM wheels or replica wheels. It sort of makes sense, as the process of finding period correct old school wheels can be both pricey and difficult. The cost of rebuilding old wheels isn’t on the cheap side either, so it makes sense that a lot these guys just go with the brand new option from XXR or Konig, etc. Besides, I can usually get my fill of cool wheels from the Serial Nine dudes, as seen above.
There was no loud music or over-the-top novelties at the meet, just genuine car enthusiasts enjoying a quiet afternoon in a park looking at classic Japanese cars. It sort of felt like looking into a crystal ball of what my future might entail in the next 20 to 30 years. Although I’m sure at that point, we’ll all be standing around a fully restored S13 talking about how it was back in my day. And honestly if that’s what’s in my future, I’m totally okay with it – as long my kid drives a Toyota.