It is no surprise to find Japanese production cars at Classic Collector car auctions these days and no one flinches anymore when 6-figure prices are achieved by great examples. In the past Japanese cars were not the showstoppers that were going to break the bank at collector car auctions, especially compared to the Ferraris and Aston Martins selling for over $20 million, but that does not mean Japanese Domestic Market or vehicles produced by traditional Japanese-based manufacturers do not make a statement from time-to-time.

Here is our pick of some notable examples we have found in our research on Japanese cars at Collector Auctions:

1989 Mazda 767B | $1.75 million

In 2017 at Amelia Island, this 1989 Mazda 767B rolled across the Gooding & Company auction stage and sold for $1.75 million. One of just three 767B endurance racers built, this orange and green race car won overall at Le Mans in 1990 – the only Japanese manufacturer to claim victory at Le Mans.

Following its retirement by Mazda after the 1990 Fuji 1000-kilometre race, the car fell into the hands of a German collector and underwent a restoration. During the process, the car’s 1989 Le Mans bodywork was acquired and were included in the sale, as were several spare gearboxes and 13J four-rotor engines.

1967 Toyota 2000GT | $1.15 million

*1967 Toyota 2000GT that sold for $1.15 million.*

The Toyota 2000GT is one of the most sought-after Japanese sports cars, with only 351 produced.

This example, which was an original U.S.-spec car, had transverse between the U.S. and Japan, where it was in a private collection. When it was acquired by Don Davis, it underwent an extensive restoration, which included such painstaking details as painting the inside of the headlamp buckets black and restoring the wheels to the correct colour. The car was stripped down to its bare Sheetmetal and repainted its original Bendix Yellow. The motor is a 2,000 CC Yamaha DOHC hemi-head inline six-cylinder engine factory rated at 150 horsepower and a top speed over 135 mph.

This 2000GT was sold from the Don Davis Collection by Rm Sotheby’s in 2013 for $1,15 million.

1970 Nissan Fairlady Z432R | $805,000

This second-generation 1973 Skyline broke a sales record for Skylines when it sold for $805000-00 at the Tokyo Terrada BH Auction in January 2020.

The car in question, a 1970 Nissan Fairlady Z432R, is quite possibly the rarest and most desirable example of the car still in existence. In fact, only 30 to 50 versions of the competition-prepped car were ever produced.

Only 420 examples of the regular Z432 were built and a fraction of those were R versions.

Each of the race-ready variants weighed 350kg less than the standard version and featured a list of racing upgrades, including a vertically stacked dual exhaust, fiberglass bonnet, thinner body panels and bigger fuel tank. Finished in orange, this version, no. PS30-00289 had been extremely well maintained which also helped drive the price.

1971 Datsun 240z Series | $310,000

The car’s factory green colour puts it in rarefied air, as only three percent of all Datsun 240Zs were painted in this shade. The Datsun’s original owner, James Munson, was a car dealer and was given the car as a reward for winning a sales incentive promotion. The colour was only available as part of the promotion and was not open for orders from the public.

The other key item is the Datsun’s lineage. Not only is it a first-series car with only 21,000 original miles on the clocks, but it has also only ever had one owner until it was sold in 2019. In addition, only one mechanic had ever worked on the car, meaning that every bit of its maintenance history is documented. Lastly, the 240’s condition makes it a real unicorn.

When Nissan were looking for vehicles for their museum with solid examples of their cars few and far between, the company had to track down and restore decent examples, as there were very few museum qualities examples in existence.

This Datsun is as close to its new condition as we are likely to ever see, and even has its original window sticker and sales documents.

1996 Subaru Impreza WRC97 | $300,000

New rules for the 1997 World Rally Championship season allowed manufacturers to diverge radically from production-based vehicles, which meant teams no longer needed to build homologation specials that brought the competition vehicle to the road. Subaru’s partners at Prodrive decided to throw out the previous Impreza rally car and built a whole new machine under the latest regulations.

Colin McRae spent hours behind the wheel of this Impreza during the model’s testing in preparation for the 1997 FIA World Rally Championship and for the model’s debut at Rally Monte Carlo in January 1997. McRae called it “QÜICK” straight out the box and generally a bit better in every way as well as faster" than its predecessor.

McRae racked up five wins that year and finished the drivers’ championship in second place just a point behind Tommi Mäkinen’s Mitsubishi.

Chassis 001 never competed in the WRC at the hands of the factory squad. After Prodrive sold the car to, Procar of Italy, drivers there included an eight-place finish at the Rally di Monza by motorcycle racing champ Valentino Rossi.

The last owner had Prodrive restore Chassis 001 back to its original look with the Subaru WRC team’s famous blue and yellow livery.

1999 Acura NSX Zanardi Edition No. 51 | $277,017

This rare 1999 Acura NSX is No. 51 out of 51 built special-edition models produced to honour Alex Zandari’s two CART championships with Honda race cars.

Zanardi Edition models are distinguished by the Formula Red colour. Zanardi Editions' specs resemble those of the NSX Type S, which were 240kg lighter than Targa-topped models due to BBS alloy wheels, a fixed roof, thinner glass, and other trimmings. All were painted Formula Red and had black seats upholstered in a combination of leather and suede, stitched together with red thread. Numbered, autographed plaques denoted Zanardi Editions.

This example NSX was gifted by Honda to motorcycle racer Miguel Duhamel, who won the two season-opening races at the 1999 AMA Daytona 200 despite an incompletely healed broken leg on a Honda 600cc motorcycle.

It was sold with the owner's manual, full-service history, and a set of Duhamel's racing leathers.

The rise of Japanese collector cars was inevitable and should be welcomed.

After long time disregard, they have gained acceptance by older fans as well as young timers.

The Most Expensive Japanese Classics Sold at Auctions.

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