If you spent the 1990s poring over car magazines here in the United States, you know that there was a lot of forbidden fruit. Elsewhere, the rest of the world got cars with way more horsepower and torque than we did, while we plugged along with a lot of beigemobiles featuring the world’s worst headlamps. Japan, in particular, had some incredible cars for the domestic market, which we were never able to access—either in the form that they had taken at home, or at all.
Explaining the Japanese Domestic Market and the Best JDM Cars
- Best JDM Cars between $5,000 and $10,000
- Best JDM Cars between $10,000 to $20,000
- Best JDM Cars between $20,000 to $30,000
- Best JDM Cars $30,000 and up
What is a JDM car?
JDM is an acronym for “Japanese Domestic Market.” Originally, this meant what it said: Cars that were only available on the domestic market in Japan. Over the years, though, the term has grown to encompass any Japanese car that wasn’t available here in the United States. Cars like those from Nissan’s Pike Factory, for instance, were popular in the UK and Europe, but they’re still considered “JDM” here.
Are JDM cars legal in the United States?
JDM cars were not originally legal in the US, for a number of reasons. One of the biggest was that these cars were never certified as complying with National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) rules. Everything from headlamps to turn signal lenses to speedometer readings kept these cars from being legally certified.
There was an appetite among car enthusiasts for “Gray Market” cars that were converted to United States specification in the 1980s and 1990s, but the importation and conversion of a JDM car to US standards was prohibitively expensive. Not only did the conversion cost money, but the strength of the Japanese Yen to the dollar in the 1990s made cars like the Nissan 300ZX Turbo nearly as expensive as a Porsche 911. Adding tens of thousands to convert a JDM car to US spec when it was already more expensive than some German counterparts meant that not a lot of JDM cars went through the process.
Now, though, lots of JDM cars have gotten beyond the “25-Year Rule,” which allows the importation of non-FMVSS-compliant vehicles from around the world, as long as they’re 25 years old or older. There’s still expense involved in shipping and federalizing a JDM car, but they can exist here as collector vehicles without the huge expense of conversion to comply with US FMVSS regulations.
Are there still JDM cars becoming available that weren’t legal here originally?
We’re right at the crest of the wave of really interesting JDM vehicles becoming legal in the US. 2023 means that the Class of 1998 will now be able to be legally imported to the United States. 2022 marked the first year that a Honda Civic Type R could be legally imported, for example. We got the Honda Integra Type R, badged as an Acura in the US, which is a legitimate classic now. We also got the later Civic Si, but the Civic Type R was always off-limits until 2022.
JDM cars need not be expensive. Below, we’ve grouped them into price brackets with some suggestions for each.
Best JDM Cars between $5,000 and $10,000
There are a surprising number of cars that we could never get here that are now available for somewhere around $5,000. We mentioned the cars from Nissan’s Pike Factory above. The Pike Factory built four ultra-compact “Kei” cars between 1989 and 1991, all on essentially the same chassis. The first was the Nissan Be-1, followed by the Nissan Pao, Figaro, and S-Cargo. These cars were all unibody construction, right-hand drive, and front-wheel drive (FWD), and they all featured a 1.0-liter MA10S inline four-cylinder engine. The Be-1, Pao, and S-Cargo all had normally aspirated engines, but the stylish Figaro had a turbocharger. Though most of the examples you’ll find in the US have automatic transmissions, manuals did exist. Outstanding examples of these cars are going to sell for $15,000 to $20,000 today, but models with tons of miles can be had in the $6,000 to $7,000 price range.
The Japanese Kei-class cars are generally available in the US in the $5,000 range if you don’t mind some mileage and shop wear. The most popular for a while has been the entire class of Kei trucks, including the Subaru Sambar, Suzuki Carry, Honda Acty, Mazda Scrum, Mitsubishi Minicab, and Daihatsu Hijet. These trucks (and their van counterparts) are nearly ubiquitous around the world, and in the 2000s, importers started bringing them to the United States by the container-load. They’re cheaper than a side-by-side, and most have four-wheel drive (4WD), making them a favorite among farmers. Unfortunately, some US states have started looking into these vehicles and preventing their registration. The state of Maine, for example, will no longer register any of the Kei-class pickups for legal road use.
Best JDM Cars between $10,000 to $20,000
The $10,000 to $20,000 bracket includes a lot of Jeep-like vehicles that were popular in Japan and around the world. Manufacturers like Suzuki offered the Samurai here, but plenty of other Japanese manufacturers had similar vehicles that we either never got, or got early versions of without ever having access to a second generation.
The Daihatsu Rocky is a good example. Daihatsu sold vehicles here for a very short period, and included the Rocky between 1988 and 1991 before it fizzled out completely. But those vehicles sold strong around the world for two more generations. That vehicle sold in Japan and elsewhere around the world through 2002, so they’re relatively plentiful and not super expensive. Even if you bought one from an importer, you’d be likely to find one in the $12,000 range.
Similar to the Rocky is the Mitsubishi Pajero Mini, which features a 660-cc turbocharged four-cylinder, a five-speed manual transmission, and 4WD. We got the larger Pajero in two generations from two different manufacturers, in the form of the Mitsubishi Montero and the Dodge Raider, but we never officially got the Pajero Mini. These compact SUVs are easily attainable in excellent condition around $10k.
Mitsubishi also built its own version of a CJ3B licensed from Willys between 1953 and 1998, meaning that any year of one of these vehicles is open for importation in 2023. They have the classic look of a Jeep CJ3B, but the later examples have four-cylinder diesel engines—some of which are turbocharged—and five-speed manual transmissions. They’re a great alternative to a classic Jeep CJ, and with low mileage in excellent condition, they’re competitive with the price of a CJ5.
Best JDM Cars between $20,000 to $30,000
The $20,000 to $30,000 bracket is a real sweet spot for JDM cars. There’s inventory here from nearly every shape and size of vehicle. Back in the 1990s, we had access to future drift cars like the S13 and S14 eras of the 240SX, but in Japan, those cars were available with smaller displacement engines, too. The Nissan Silvia was wildly popular in its home market as the 180SX, both from the S13 generation (1988 to 1994) and the S14 generation (1993 to 1998). These cars had multilink rear suspensions, limited slip differentials and even available four-wheel steering. By mid-1990 the CA18DE and CA18DET (turbo) engines had given way to the SR20DE and SR20DET, which offered better power and torque and a more efficient turbo.
Twenty grand will also buy you a car from the opposite end of the spectrum. The earliest years of the second-generation G50 Toyota Century (1997 to 2017) are now available for import, and they stretch the definition of what you might expect from a Japanese luxury car, even if you have experience with Lexus and Infiniti. These cars were powered by a 5.0-liter 1GZ-FE V12 power plant, which put out 276 hp and 340 lb-ft of smooth torque. These limousine-like cars were the first and only Japanese cars with a front engine and rear-wheel drive (RWD) ever produced with a V12, and they’re available here for between $20,000 and $25,000 now.
Then there’s the fourth-generation Toyota Hiace, which launched in 1989 and ran through 2004. More and more of these tall, capable vans are being imported in all kinds of configurations, from work trucks to luxury campers. They came with a range of engines, including a 2.0-liter gas engine all the way up to a 3.0-liter turbodiesel, and the front engined vans were available in both RWD and 4WD. They’re prized among van-lifers and overlanders today.
Best JDM Cars $30,000 and up
Between 1997 and 1999, Mitsubishi offered a road-legal version of its off-road rally works vehicle known as the Pajero Evolution. The first two years have just become legal for import into the United States, and they’re starting to show up here more and more. Based on the two-door Pajero, the Pajero Evolution had blistered fenders, twin-nostril hood scoops, and a 3.5-liter DOHC 6G74 V6 with a claimed 275 hp. Underneath, the Pajero Evolution got skid plates, mud flaps, a double-wishbone front suspension, a multi-link rear, 4WD, and Torsen limited slip differentials at either end. We’re seeing these cars sell in the $60,000 range at the moment.
Mitsubishi also crushed it around the world with the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo. It wasn’t until the fifth generation in 2003 that the US saw a road-going replica of Mitsubishi’s world-famous rally car. All four generations prior to it are now legal for import, including the entirety of the fourth generation. The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV had a 276-hp twin-scroll turbocharged four-cylinder with a five-speed manual, all-wheel drive (AWD), and Mitsubishi’s Active Yaw Control on the GSR. 10,000 of these cars were produced, and they sell in the $35,000 range today.
The Nissan Skyline GT-R has always been a JDM darling, and the R33 generation always will be. We’re just at the cusp of legal importation of the next-generation R34 (1998 to 2002) available in both coupe and sedan body styles, and in the most desirable GT-R trim, a 316-hp RB26DETT twin turbo.
Just as interesting for some, though, is its stablemate, the Nissan Stagea wagon, built between 1996 and 2001. The first few years are starting to arrive here now, and they can feature a range of engines up to the twin-turbo 2.6-liter inline six from the Skyline GT-R, along with AWD. We’re currently seeing twin-turbo, six-speed manual, AWD versions of this wagon offered with under 75,000 miles for under $40,000.
We’ve been exacting in our definition of JDM cars. A lot of people think JDM cars are just any Japanese cars from the 1990s, but we’ve really focused on the ones that were never available here. We’re breaking that rule slightly with the Toyota MR2 GT-S Revision 3. The MR2 was available here in two generations (three if you count the MR2 Spyder). But the MR2 GT-S wasn’t. All of the MR2s sold here in the United States were equipped with either a 130-hp normally aspirated or a 200-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine. The Japanese market MR2 GTS Rev 3 was equipped with a 242-hp turbocharged four-cylinder and was only available with a manual transmission. These tiny sports cars were capable of reaching the quarter mile in 13.1 seconds, faster than a contemporary Honda NSX (Acura NSX for the US market) or even a Ferrari 348 TB.
Then there’s the cream of the crop: The Subaru Impreza 22B STI has been making news around the world for ringing up supercar money at auction. The predecessor to the Subaru Impreza WRX STI, these cars just became legal for import in 2023. A World Rally Blue example of this one-of-400 EJ22G-powered 300-hp beast sold at auction in 2021 for an eye-watering $312,555. That example had been legally imported to the US in 2020 under a “show and display only” exemption, but the other 399 examples of this car are now available for legal import.
These are just a handful of examples of JDM cars that are available here now, in any range of prices. By the time we hit 2035 or so, the number of interesting JDM cars that are newly available for legal importation here are going to dry up. By 2000, we started getting more interesting high-performance cars than the Japanese Domestic Market did in a lot of cases. But right now, every year brings a new crop of fascinating cars, freshly available in the United States.
