7 Overlooked Legends Of The 90s JDM Scene

1. Autozam AZ-1 (1992 - 1995)

Let’s start with the kei car ABC; first up, it’s the Autozam AZ-1, which has a mildly confusing family tree. It was built by Suzuki, but sold by Mazda through its Autozam brand. It’s got a 657cc turbocharged Suzuki engine that sits in the middle of the chassis making a giddy 63bhp.

You can’t help but fall for the miniature sports car styling, with its bonnet intake and rear wheel arch vents, but most exciting of all is the gullwing doors. A few sporty Mazdaspeed parts were made available, including a rear wing and a redesigned bonnet, as you can see in the picture above.

Unfortunately, the AZ-1 was a sales failure due to the fact it was deemed too expensive compared to rivals, and therefore they’re a bit rarer than other sought-after kei cars, adding to the allure.

2. Honda Beat (1991 - 1996)

Next up, in the B corner, it’s the Honda Beat. As we all know, rear-wheel drive and mid-engined make the perfect sports car recipe, and the Beat proves that’s the case. It also holds great significance as the last car approved by Soichiro Honda before he died, and its design came from Pininfarina.

The Beat’s 656cc engine made 63bhp at a screaming 8100rpm, and featured individual throttle bodies for each of the engine’s three cylinders.

3. Suzuki Cappuccino (1991 - 1997)

And finally, representing C, it’s the Suzuki Cappuccino. Boasting the biggest engine size of these three cars thanks to its whopping turbocharged 657cc dual-overhead cam, inline-three cylinder engine (kei car rules state the engine must be below 660cc), it also made that magic 63bhp.

The Cappuccino has a claimed 50/50 front-rear weight distribution, which helped it gain appeal with car enthusiasts as a small sports car alternative. It was even homologated for sale in Europe, and won “best car of the show” at the 1992 British International Motor Show.

4. Toyota Cresta (1996 - 2001)

While the Toyota Chaser gets a lot of the limelight for being a big ol’ drift barge, the Cresta is its oft-overlooked sister car. Identical in every way - apart from body shape - the Cresta would make just as viable a drift weapon as any Chaser.

In Super Lucent trim, the Cresta was available with the 2.5-litre twin-turbocharged inline-six 1JZ engine that has absolutely bucketloads of tuning potential. You could also get it with the non-turbo’d 2JZ, but that’s not quite so exciting. A limited-slip differential was an option, and although the 1JZ Crestas were almost exclusively sold with a four-speed automatic. You’d be hard pushed to find one that hasn’t been manual swapped by now.

5. Nissan 300ZX (1989 - 2000)

Known as the Fairlady Z in Japan, the 300ZX is unfairly glossed over time and time again despite being an absolute riot to drive - it made Car and Driver’s ‘Ten Best’ list seven years in a row. The Z32 generation was on sale throughout the 90s, and although its design looks incredibly dated now, it’s a gorgeous slice of 80s wedge action.

Power came from a twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 making 300bhp, and it featured Nissan’s then-new ‘Super HICAS’ four-wheel steering setup that also featured on the Skyline GT-R.

6. Toyota Starlet Glanza (1996 - 1999)

Here in the UK we’ve grown a huge affinity to the hot hatch. Bunging a big engine in a small car seems to appeal to our sense of humour and hooligan nature. So it’s no surprise the Glanza has been a hit over here thanks to the import market.

In the Glanza V, the 1.3-litre engine was turbocharged making it good for 131bhp, a solid number for such a tiny, lightweight car. The great thing about the 4E-FTE engine is that by simply swapping the standard turbo for a Subaru-sourced TD04 unit, you’ll unlock a safe 220bhp.

7. Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 (1990 - 2001)

Thanks to its all-wheel drive system, the Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 is an absolute beast off the line. The 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 makes an impressive 320bhp and 315lb ft of torque, making it one of the more powerful cars in its segment.

Power was routed to the wheels via a Getrag manual transmission, and active aerodynamics were used to keep everything stable at high speeds, something that’s only just being mastered by supercar manufacturers today.