Today’s Japanese car industry is a widely respected giant of the car world and one of the leaders in the future of the automotive sector. But it wasn’t always like that. Not so long ago, people considered Japanese cars obscure and diminutive. But despite that, brands like Toyota, Datsun and Honda survived, thrived and became bigger than traditional names like Pontiac or Oldsmobile.
In the 1970’s, if you told an automotive expert that Toyota would sell more cars than Chrysler in America by the end of the century, they would laugh and call you crazy. There are several major reasons why Japanese manufacturers managed to rise to the top. One top reason is they offered products buyers wanted that the domestic and European brands didn’t have. Among those products are the most interesting are sports cars. Japanese brands had sports cars in their line up from the beginning.
Those models were smaller, slower and less powerful than what the average American customer thought a sports car should be. However, the affordable prices made them a popular choice. One of the first Japanese bestsellers in the U.S. were sports models like the Datsun 240Z, for example. This lineup of legendary Japanese models will show the evolution from small, inexpensive machines to modern-day supercars. This list will cover the cars from 60’s to ’90s.
ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW
40. Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX
In most cases, the Eclipse was just an attempt from Mitsubishi to introduce a sports coupe. They built it on a regular car platform and it even shared an engine and front-wheel drivetrain with the rest of the Mitsubishi line up. However, there was one special model from the ’90s that was highly respected and worth looking for in the form of the Eclipse GSX.
ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW
The Eclipse GSX is an all-wheel-drive version with a highly tuned 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine producing 210 HP. Best of all, with its relatively light body and AWD advantage, the Eclipse GSX is a rapid coupe.