19th Japanese Classic Car Show a Sensory Feast
They started lining up well before daybreak. With fog prevalent at the Marina Green site next to the Pacific Ocean in Long Beach, CA, more than 500 vehicular participants in the 19th Japanese Classic Car Show found their appointed spots, shut off their engines and waited for the inevitable throngs to appear.
While the fog eventually burned off around 11am, the fervor for cars and trucks as old as the early 60s and as new as 2025 stayed in the air, as every single man, woman and child came to this venue to see, smell, photograph and appreciate the feats it takes to keep some of these classic cars at their finest.
The Marina Green location is perfect for a show of this type, with verdant space allowing everyone a soft step as they admire the vehicles, and play games at manufacturer enclosures to gain prizes of all types.
By far the largest contingent came from two Japanese manufacturers that once had their national headquarters in the South Bay area of Los Angeles: Nissan and Toyota. The number of Datsun and Nissan cars and trucks took up nearly half the allotted space – and it’s well over a quarter-mile. In the paved area normally allocated to public parking, food trucks and a plethora of aftermarket manufacturers held sway. Even the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles displayed a Toyota Mirai hydrogen car that adults and children could use as a graffiti art platform!
Manufacturers that retain their Southern California presence included both Honda and Mazda, the latter showing its beautiful orange and green 1991 Le Mans-winning 767B prototype, as well as the IMSA GTO prototype champion, freed for the day from Mazda’s basement vault in nearby Irvine. The “father” of the Mazda MX5 Miata, Kenichi Yamamoto, signed autographs and posed with owners who, when showing their Mazda keys, received a bag with Japanese well-wishes inscribed by on-site artists.
With its emphasis on classic Japanese vehicles built before 1995, this show attracts cars that aren’t always seen in either Southern California or elsewhere in this country. And so many have history on their side, like the Nissan GTR owned by “Tom”, an American who worked in Japan for several years. He’d always wanted a Nissan GTR, but mostly he wanted a car in original condition. Once secured, this silver 1992 Series 2 Nissan GTR – until he bought it, a single owner vehicle – was driven all over Japan before being transported to Tacoma, WA in 2016. As the second owner, he has kept the GTR as original as possible, with only an HKS Turbo Timer and a card reader for toll roads the sole changes.
Z Club of America had representation as well, with “Jeff” showing off his race-ready modern Z in the colors of Bob Sharp Racing, which competed with the original 240Z back in the early 1970s. Jeff had recently brought his Z to [somewhat] nearby Willow Springs to make sure he’d gotten it ready for competition; he’s looking forward to thrashing it soon.
Japan’s mini cars made their appearances throughout the gathering but mostly at the west end of the Green. There were several Honda N600s, a 1969 Subaru 360 and even a bright yellow Honda Beat. Of course most of the vehicles on-site were either in original condition, restored to original or maxed out with updated Japanese engines or even with American horsepower, including the 1986 MR2 Toyota fitted with a 3.5-liter V6 engine from a Lexus ES350! Now that was a tight fit!
The show ran from 9am to 3pm and was crowded by appreciative fans the entire time. Even though entries were limited for space considerations, many brought their wonderful examples of Japanese motoring culture, which made the parking lots almost as interesting as the show!
