Tokyo Auto-Otaku-ing, Morning cruise style. 

"Mockngbrd" (Mockngbrd) 02/07/2018 at 00:06 • Filed to: None

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Every month (usually), Tsutaya bookstore’s flagship at Daikanyama T-Site holds a Cars & Coffee style meet called the Morning Cruise. Every month (usually), i will feverishly be checking their facebook page for the latest photos and updates from the meet. Needless to say, one chance encounter attending this meet up back in 2015 left a pretty big impression on me. It was definitely one the biggest highlights of my Auto-Otaku trip.

Unfortunately since then, the stars never aligned for my subsequent trips to Tokyo and i still have yet to revisit the most marvellous way to start a Sunday.

This year was no different, with the Tokyo Auto Salon no longer on my agenda since i was planning a vacation to Kansai, i paid little attention to the dates of T-Site’s next Morning Cruise. But wouldn’t you know it, the year i decide to skip Tokyo now happens to be the year January’s edition of the Morning Cruise would be held over the same weekend. Shucks.

Interestingly, although i had to miss out on yet another Morning Cruise meet, i did have a friend in Tokyo attending the Auto Salon, so i slipped in a recommendation for him to check out T-Site and managed to get him to snap a few pictures. It looks like once again, T-Site’s Morning Cruise did not disappoint.

Did i mention this friend rented a sweet R33 GTR to bomb around Tokyo in? What a jackass. (I totally didn’t mean that, i’m just jelly.)

Anyway, back to the meet. Although they do welcome everyone who is keen to join in to attend (and add to the amazing variety), the organisers do set up these meets with a “theme” just to keep things interesting, the theme for this morning? “Green”.

It looked like the meet was already in full swing by the time my friend arrived.

Starting them young!

356, Morgan and an AC, just another day in Tokyo i guess?

Appropriate number plate on the Alfa!

TE27 Sprinter Trueno must be a regular.

Parked next the Te27 was its younger brother, the TE47.

I’m still trying to figure out how to snag me one of these rear view mirror tags as an omiyage.

Continuing the green JDM run of cars is this TA22 Daruma Celica GTV. Looks great on those mesh wheels. Look what’s next to the Celica!

Pop quiz! What’s styled with an European influence, hand built with individually hand crafted body panels, was one of Nissan’s most expensive cars at the time, and had a production run of a little over 550 cars? (You probably already know by scrolling down, but just bear with me.)

If you guessed the original Nissan Silvia, you are so right!!! The CSP311 is one of Nissan’s rarest cars with the majority of these limited production cars only sold in Japan and i think seeing one out in the open should be something special indeed.

But then again, this is Japan. So look right across this Silvia and there you have it, a second CSP311 out basking in the sun. Madness.

This one came with some Borrani style wire wheels. Personally i prefer the other car with the chunkier looking rims, but as long as the owner is happy, it’s all good.

This early Accord Hatch also seems to be quite a regular Morning Cruise attendee. The 205GTi next to it looks particularly sweet too.

Yet again, an appropriate license plate.

It takes quite a bit of dedication to drive a Caterham in the middle of winter, but i guess, when it comes to hardcore driving, it’s probably a given when you own a Caterham. Did you know, the Caterham 160 qualifies as a Kei car in Japan? Their 660cc engines, power levels and size slot them right into Kei car classification. Don’t believe me? Check out the yellow plates. I would so run one of those if i lived there. Awesome Japan right?

Japan loves their minis.

Here we have member of BMW royalty, a 3.0CSL. Rare, expensive and green as heck.

This one was running without the Batmobile rear wing, which i think makes it look better. What do you think?

Eventually the very pretty E9 Coupes had to give way to the almost as pretty E24s. These were both M6s. I wish i had one.

A more current interpretation of the BMW Gran Tourer, albeit in Alpina form. I think Alpinas look great in green with the gold decals setting off the look perfectly.

A rather odd color choice for a G-Wagen.

I wonder if lightweight, non gas-guzzling cars qualify under the “Green” theme.

Europa looked fab.

A track battle-hardened Circuit Wolf? (Hehe…)

Japan.

Curious looking Subaru Leone Wagon. Unremarkable to the casual observer but Auto-Otakus might geek out when they see one. We have a strong hunch this is a 1988 car.

I’ll take the one in the middle! How small that 106 Rallye must be!

Yet another oddity but quite a bit more exotic and quite a bit rarer, an Abarth 750 Zagato “Double Bubble”. Some say, only around 600 of these were made.

Want something even more exotic? How about a Ferrari 365 GT4 BB. The Japanese sure love their matching plates!

Before Maserati became all shouty shouty, they had a period when they produced rather understated looking cars, like this Quattroporte IV.

Beautiful Continental Coupe sitting next to my favourite car of the meet…

Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaag……

Not just any Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaag, this here is an XJS Lynx Eventer. A product of Lynx Engineering transforming the sleek cat into one of the most Auto-Otaku cars ever. If the Abarth 750 Zagato is rare and the Nissan Silvia CSP311 rarer still, this Lynx Eventer is the rarest-est of the lot. Only 67 (some say 68) were ever made and given how awesome it is, are highly sought after today. Which also means, i will never get to have one, that makes me a little sad.

As the cars started to leave, my friend darted into the automotive section of the book store. Hopefully you have geeked out as much as i have. I really ought to plan my future trips to coincide with their future meets!

Boxer_4 > Mockngbrd 02/07/2018 at 01:00

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Unless I’m missing something, that Accord and Leone are left-hand drive, and in Japan... I wonder what their story is?

That Accord seriously reminds me of a friend of mine’s Accord. It was featured on Jalopnik , but he sold it to someone else before it was featured. As I recall, he found and bought it with 2,300 miles (3,700 kms), and left it completely original (I believe he got a second set of wheels to put new tires on even).

Mockngbrd > Boxer_4 02/07/2018 at 02:20

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Sometimes the Japanese re-import these cars back to Japan (many LHD 240z’s have gone back to Japan this way). Some also do it just to be different, others do it because those cars were made for the export only and having them LHD is “correct” + just to be different. It’s a thing i guess. Strange but true.

Not sure if the Accord is the same car though. Maybe...

winterlegacy, here 'till the end > Mockngbrd 02/07/2018 at 09:07

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I want to hug that Loyale. It’s probably my favorite Subaru of all time.

AM3R, lost another burner > Mockngbrd 02/07/2018 at 11:07

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Seeing those e24's immediately made me jump to Craigslist to see if any good ones are for sale locally... I must have one.

t0ast > Mockngbrd 02/07/2018 at 11:10

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Awesome pics, and thanks for sharing. The Daikanyama Morning Cruise is pretty high up on the list of things I want to see during my occasional visits to Japan, but the timing has yet to work out.