Dodging Bullets and drooling over Ferraris in Japan

[supremeBaleno]

I am not sure whether this qualifies to be in "Travelogues" or "The International Auto scene". But since this is going to be more of ramblings about cars/bikes spotted during my trips to Japan, I guess Travelogues makes more sense.

Starting with my first trip to Japan in Jun07, I had been seriously checking out the auto scene in this country and even clicked away like mad. Ended up with a huge collection of snaps, but the thought of spending hours on imageshack to upload them, deterred me from starting a thread.

Anyway, got the inspiration to start this thread yesterday night after sightings of an Enfield bullet and a Ferrari (yeah, I know, a strange combo). I was zapped to see this Enfield Bullet parked on the street in front of my hotel. Japan is the last place I would expect to see the mighty Bullet, but then I guess Bullet fans are all over the world.


BTW, is that the trademark Bullet oil-leak I see below the bike ?

This was just after a trip to upscale Ginza (window shopping mainly - cant afford the stuff in the hi-fi stores there) where in just a few hours I saw more of the big names in cars, than in the so many weeks I spent in rest of Japan.

Was standing on the pavement checking out the Apple shop, when I hear a sweet drone behind me and what do I see ? A Ferrari come to a stop near me. As soon as the owner leaves the car and goes shopping, I start clicking. The first and only Fiat (after all, as the Fiat fans would say, every Ferrari is a Fiat ) I saw in Japan.






Next stop was the Nissan showroom, where they had the GT-R displayed. Awesome car, great interiors. Sat in it for a while - was heavenly, to say the least.







They also had this bug-like concept car displayed, which I pretended to be interested in, just due to the Japanese girls demo-ing the car.






Closer home, near my hotel, there is an Alfa-Romeo showroom, which I had been planning to checkout for long. Finally got a chance today, when I went out for a walk in the snow.



They had quite some AlfaRomeo cars in the showroom, though I have no idea about the various models on display. Maybe you guys can find out for yourselves - they have the model numbers alongside the cars. Snaps are a bit hazy because I took them from outside the showroom.






They did have posters of Fiat cars (Grande Punto) and also a Panda in the showroom, though I am yet to see a true-blue Fiat on the roads.






And check out who is doing duty here as a cop car - our own Alto.




And for the Jeepers / offroaders (headers, this is for you), here is a Jeep (a Mitsubishi) that I saw at a customer's parking lot in Yonago. Loved the looks.





Again at Yonago, I spotted another Indian favourite, the Zen (not the Estilo).



Have loads more of photos and info to post, which I plan to do whenever I can manage some time. So, hang on.

[shuvd]

Amazing snaps! Man, I'm jealous! Do you have the interior pictures of the GTR?

[bottle]

very very interesting set of pics biju keep posting please

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by shuvd

Do you have the interior pictures of the GTR?

Unfortunately no. It was such a small showroom (what is big in Japan anyway) and it was crowded with people. Getting these snaps itself, without people coming in between me and the car, was such a big deal.

I knew then itself that I should wait some time for the crowd to thin and go for the interior pics - they were cool and would have been worth the effort.

[kpzen]

Nice interesting pics.!! Keep them coming.

[Mpower]

Great snaps supreme. Would love to see more. I am particularly interested in the kind of cars and bikes that the regular/average Japs drive.
I know they have a lot of cute little K-cars.

[toiingg]

355 is still the best of them all.
Great pics, keep em coming.

[spawnofsatan]

Did you have a chance to take any more detailed pics of the Alfa's?

[Cyrus43]

whoa man..u break my heart..the skyline and the alfas just look gorgeous..

[GTO]

Great pictures, but ever better is the writeup! Thanks for sharing man.

BTW, is that the trademark Bullet oil-leak I see below the bike ?

LOL!

That Jeep is a CJ3B (Indian Classic / CJ340) body style. I wasn't aware that Mitsu made jeeps . Come to think of it, a Jeep with Japanese reliability is Gods answer to us fans.

[reignofchaos]

^^Its a chrysler rebadged as a mitsu I think.

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by GTO

That Jeep is a CJ3B (Indian Classic / CJ340) body style. I wasn't aware that Mitsu made jeeps . Come to think of it, a Jeep with Japanese reliability is Gods answer to us fans.

I regularly see a station wagon Jeep in white and brown, running as a taxi of sorts in Pune, regd MFA something. It too sports the mitsubishi logo in that fashion, I always thought it was a cut and paste job!

[jkdas]

You are bald and got round blue eyes?

Have heard that Japs were big fans of our Bull; but didnt expect to see a red one!

[BUSA]

Nice pics SB, thanks for sharing. So what are you getting from Japan for your Baleno? A Turbocharger?

[Nitin]

Nice pics,biju!
Nothing to beat a Ferrari in its trademark color.
Keep up the good work!