10 Japanese Coupes That Will Go Down As Automotive Icons

From the outrageously popular Toyota Corolla to the rally-winning Mitsubishi Montero, Japan is no stranger to automotive success. But in addition to building efficient hybrids and tough off-roaders, the country has also churned out some truly brilliant sportsters. Ranging from cheap, fun two-doors to exotic Ferrari fighters, these are 10 Japanese coupes that are all but guaranteed to achieve legendary status.

We selected these vehicles based on the effects they had on the automotive industry, as well as plain old personal preference. This list includes cars from many different eras, so although their performance and price numbers aren’t really comparable, their influence certainly is.

1

Toyota 2000GT

1967–1970

The 1967 Toyota 2000GT was a whole new kind of machine for the Japanese automaker. Prior to the long, lean two-seat coupe, Toyota had built compact cars like the aforementioned Corolla, plus the reasonably premium Crown sedan. But by and large, the company was known for sensibility and reliability above all else. The emotional, sensuous 2000GT brought an end to that. Featuring a Yamaha-designed aluminum cylinder head (and Yamaha-designed thick wood interior trim borrowed from its piano division), the 2000GT was gorgeous, comfortable, and athletic, living up to the “grand touring” part of its name with aplomb. It was also quite expensive, so Toyota only sold 351 examples.

Looking for more provenance? A one-off roadster version was built for the 007 flick You Only Live Twice, starring Sean Connery; his much more recent successor, Daniel Craig, called the Toyota his favorite Bond car in the whole franchise.

2

Mazda Cosmo L10A

1967–1972

Mazda and Toyota may as well have been collaborating on a Japanese reputation improvement plan for how closely the Cosmo and 2000GT followed each other, timing-wise. But apart from their 1967 introduction, the cars couldn’t be more different. The Mazda Cosmo was a bit smaller and a lot lighter, and instead of a conventional inline-six engine, the two-seat sports car was one of the first autos in history to feature a Wankel rotary engine. Displacing just under a liter, the 982-cubic-centimeter rotary punched well above its weight class, making a healthy 110 hp in early guise and 128 hp from 1968 on. Weighing just 2,000 pounds, the Cosmo is reasonably swift even by modern standards.

Better still for Mazda, the Cosmo was a lot cheaper than the 2000GT, and the company made nearly 1,200 production examples before the jet-styled rotary sports car was discontinued. Apart from its lovely design and sharp performance, the Cosmo also marked the introduction of the rotary engine to the Mazda lineup, forever changing the company’s sports car trajectory.

3

Datsun 240Z

1970–1973

The Datsun 240Z might have been the first Japanese car specifically targeted at American consumers. Known as the Nissan Fairlady Z in Japan, the 240Z was the brainchild of Yutaka Katayama, then-president of Nissan Motor Corporation USA. Mr. K was a fan of sports cars, and Nissan’s American headquarters in Southern California meant he had plenty of car culture to draw inspiration from in pitching the Z. Although it lacked a retractable roof, Mr. K wanted the Z-car to put British roadsters on notice, offering their brand of enjoyable handling and rorty performance, but with some Japanese reliability baked in.

Armed with a smooth-revving 2.4-liter inline-six, the first 240Z was a resounding success, bundling everyday comfort, impressive handling, and an affordable price. Later Z-cars had their sixes punched up to 2.6 and 2.8 liters, but the first 2.4-liter Fairlady is considered the purest. And despite its legendary status, a decent-condition 240Z is still pretty affordable today thanks to its relative ubiquity when new – the same could be said for its 2025 Nissan Z successor.

4

Toyota Corolla GT-S AE86

1984–1987

Whether you’re a car fanatic, a gamer, or a drift enthusiast, you know the AE86-generation Toyota Corolla. Also known as the Levin or Sprinter depending on body style, the top AE86 to come to the US was the Corolla GT-S liftback. And unlike its modern progeny, this generation of Corolla had rear-wheel drive, which is also why it’s known in pop art circles for its appearance in the Initial D manga and anime series – the main character’s car was a white-and-black Sprinter Trueno, used as a tofu delivery vehicle on the winding roads beneath the fictional Mt. Akina.

Today, the Toyota Corolla AE86 is a valuable piece of Japanese automotive culture, especially since so many of them ended up wrapped around poles or abandoned in ravines at the hands of amateur racers. But even when it was new, the AE86 was proof that Toyota could still build efficient compact cars with a sporty, snappy edge.

5

Honda Prelude

1988–1991

Although it may look like an unassuming compact coupe, the third-generation Honda Prelude was a technological tip of the spear when it was new. Part of the sporty car’s initial appeal lay in its styling, which was low, lean, and angular, but once the new wore off, its owner was greeted with great performance and sophisticated technology. For example, the third-generation Prelude featured impossibly thin roof pillars thanks to high-strength steel, giving it excellent visibility. Ditto the low hood, fashioned by tilting the inline-four engine rearward 18 degrees.

But its pièce de résistance was an available four-wheel steering (4WS) system. Unlike modern rear-axle steering, the Honda 4WS used front and rear steering racks with a physical steering column connecting them. At high speeds, the front and rear wheels would turn in phase with one another, providing greater stability in cornering and on the freeway. But once the steering wheel turned more than 140 degrees – less than half a rotation – the road wheels would turn in opposite directions for sharper handling and maneuverability. In fact, a contemporary road test found the Prelude 4WS to dispatch a slalom course faster than a C4 Corvette.

6

Honda/Acura NSX

1991–2005

Despite the truly righteous machines that came from Japan in the 1980s, none of its native sons had fielded a real supercar. That changed with the arrival of the Honda/Acura NSX for the 1991 model year. But the stunning NSX had more than racy styling and a mid-engined layout. Befitting its exotic look, the flagship Honda sports car was also the first series-production vehicle in the world to make use of an all-aluminum monocoque, giving it class-leading structural rigidity while still tipping the scales at 3,000 pounds or less.

The mid-mounted engine was Honda’s corporate C-series V6, initially displacing 3.0 liters and growing to 3.2 before the NSX was discontinued. A variety of models and trim levels were offered, ranging from the removable-top NSX-T and the Sunday-racer NSX Type S to the hardcore NSX-R. Performance at its 1991 debut was spry and competitive with the Ferraris and Porsches of the world, but more than a decade of only incremental improvements meant the NSX was thoroughly outclassed by the time it was facelifted for 2002, then discontinued in America in 2005. Still, its technologically advanced construction and consistent, reliable performance pushed the exotic-car envelope, and it deserves all the praise it gets.

7

Mazda RX-7 FD

1993–1995

Borne of Japan’s incredible economy in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the FD-generation Mazda RX-7 would unfortunately prove to be too brilliant for its own good. Money was cheap in the home market, and Mazda spent it lavishly, engineering a sequential turbocharger system for the 1.3-liter rotary engine that improved low-rpm response without sacrificing big power near the mill’s 8,000-rpm redline. The light, hardcore RX-7 was a brilliant handler, and what it lacked in grand touring space and comfort, it more than made up in speed, nimbleness, and driver involvement.

Unfortunately, the economy went bust soon after the RX-7’s arrival, and unfavorable exchange rates for the Japanese yen meant the RX-7 became much less profitable. Dwindling sales spelled the end of the RX-7 in the US after the 1995 model year. A four-seat, 2+2-door successor called the RX-8 came the following decade, but since then, Mazda’s been out of the rotary sports car game.

8

Toyota Supra A80

1993–1998

The Toyota Supra has had a bit of an odd lifecycle. It started life as an upscale, more powerful trim of the Celica, then transmogrified into a heavy, high-tech GT car. But for its final generation in the US (before a BMW-based revival), Toyota went ham on the Supra, giving it an incredibly sensuous design, coupled with unreal performance courtesy of an optional twin-charged 3.0-liter six. With 320 hp on tap (and a stout engine design capable of handling much, much more), the Supra became one of the world’s quickest sports cars overnight, with handling and long-haul comfort achieving similar superlatives. The Toyota sports car even offered removable T-tops for a bit of open-air fun.

But although it lasted a little longer on the market than its rivals from Mazda and Nissan, the Supra still suffered a similar fate. Amid dwindling sales and significant profitability problems, the Supra went bye-bye after the 1998 model year – a fate its successor will face in 2025.

9

Nissan Skyline GT-R R34

1999–2002

Few cars inspire as much reverence as the Nissan GT-R. Built across six generations – with all but the last based on the humble Skyline sedan and coupe – the Nissan GT-R has earned the nickname Godzilla for its prodigious performance, both on backroads and in Japanese touring car racing. The R34-generation Skyline, built from 1998 to 2002, spawned a hot-blooded GT-R variant in 1999. Its twin-turbocharged 2.6-liter inline-six advertised 276 hp thanks to an unspoken agreement in the Japanese auto industry to advertise no more power than that, but contemporary dyno tests suggested Godzilla put out at least 330 hp.

Although never officially offered in the United States, the R34 Skyline has achieved cult status here thanks to the Gran Turismo video game franchise and movie star status as Paul Walker’s ride of choice in 2 Fast 2 Furious, among other flicks. Today, a real R34 GT-R costs well over $100,000, though limited-production models can demand millions.

10

Lexus LFA

2010–2012

In the late-2000s and early-2010s, Lexus was keen to show the world it could produce the most technologically advanced cars on the planet. But while the expensive, hybridized LS 600h L and snorting IS F showed some signs of dominance, it wasn’t until the automaker put out the LFA supercar that performance enthusiasts really took notice. The even-firing 4.8-liter V10 under the hood took abundant inspiration from Formula 1, and it reportedly revved to its 9,000-rpm redline so fast that a mechanical tachometer couldn’t keep up, forcing Lexus to develop a slick, sliding digital unit. Another fun fact: Much of the carbon fiber found on the LFA was woven together using parent company Toyota’s centuries-old expertise building looms.

Unlike the earlier Acura NSX, the LFA wasn’t intended to be a cheaper alternative to a Ferrari. In fact, its original MSRP of $375,000 was about 65 grand more than the quicker Ferrari 599 GTB. Still, listen to the V10 howl to its glass-shattering redline and the money becomes utterly immaterial.

Sources: Motor Trend, Car and Driver (1) (2) (3), Hemmings