As we all know, some of the cars we'd love to drive came from the land of the rising sun. Japan is home to some of the biggest car manufacturers in the world, and they have been consistently in the top three of the countries with most cars manufactured since the 1960s. Only now, have they been surpassed by China on the list of countries that produce the most cars.With that being said, it's a common practice for car manufacturers in the world to only make select few models available in certain markets, and in Japan's case, some of the best and rarest ones are even exclusively sold there, making way for the term JDM, or Japanese Domestic Market. It's unfortunate that we may never get to see these things on our local roads, but these never heard of JDM cars are nothing short of awesome. Let's take a look at them.
10 Nissan R390
For those who didn't know, Nissan actually went toe-to-toe with the likes of Porsche and McLaren in the 24 Hours of Le Mans back in the late 90s with the Nissan R390 GT1. And back in those days, GT1 homologation rules say you have to build at least one example of a road-going car that resembles the race car.
And that's exactly what Nissan did — they built just one road-going R390, and it can reach speeds of over 220 mph. We can only wonder what Nissan's place in the automotive world would be had they mass-produced this supercar. But right now, the only R390 road car is in its permanent place at the Nissan Heritage Collection in Zama, Japan.
9 Subaru SVX
Subaru are not exactly the world's leading performance luxury car manufacturer, but they in fact gave performance luxury a shot back in the 90s with the Subaru SVX, a Japanese sports car built to rival the Jaguar XJS.
Designed by Giorgetto Giugaro, the SVX is a stark contrast to the rally-bred Impreza, as it was built to cruise, and not to go flat-out. It's such a rare car, that according to MotorTrend, even Subaru enthusiasts have a hard time identifying it.
8 Mazda Eunos Cosmo
Designed to be more of a GT car than an outright performance car, the Mazda Eunos Cosmo was the only car that came out of the factory with a triple-rotor engine, making it more powerful than the iconic RX-7.
In fact, the Eunos Cosmo was an advanced car for its time, as it featured a digital dash, and a colored touchscreen infotainment system with climate control and the car's GPS system, all while being surrounded in plush beige leather.
7 Autozam AZ-1
Japan's kei car market produced some of the quirkiest cars ever, and the Autozam AZ-1 is no exception. It's a mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive car with gullwing doors — all the characteristics of a supercar.
However, because it's a kei car, it could only have a 657cc turbocharged three-cylinder from Suzuki, which only produces 63 hp and 63 lb-ft of torque. But the lack of power is more than made up for by its lightness, as it only weighs 1,580 pounds.
6 Toyota Sera
You wouldn't really imagine a Toyota econobox to roll off the assembly line wearing butterfly doors, but the Japanese auto giant did so with the Toyota Sera, another product of the 90s Japanese economic boom that churned out unique cars.
Powered by a front-mounted 1.5-liter 16-valve engine with 104 hp, the Toyota Sera served as a design inspiration for Gordon Murray's McLaren F1, which, as we all know, is one of the greatest supercars ever built.
5 Nissan MID4
It's another classic case of what could have been with Nissan's MID4, an experimental mid-engined sports car that first featured an all-wheel-drive system and HICAS four-wheel-steering that eventually made its way to the iconic R32 Skyline GT-R and the 300ZX.
The MID4's VG30 engine eventually made its way to the 300ZX, and as we all know, was the one selected to go into production. However, with the success of the Acura NSX had as a Japanese mid-engined sports car, we'll never know if Nissan has made the right call.
4 Suzuki GSX-R/4
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Part car, part motorcycle — it's exactly what the Suzuki GSX-R/4 was, a mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive concept car made by Suzuki in 2001.
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Suzuki took the 1,300cc engine from the Hayabusa sport bike and placed it on an aluminum spaceframe. And as a result, the GSX-R/4 only weighed 1,410 lbs, and was capable of reaching speeds over 180 mph. Had Suzuki built it for production, it certainly would have gone toe-to-toe with today's Ariel Atoms and BAC Monos in the battle of the lightweight specials.
3 Mazda Lantis Type R
The Mazda Lantis Type R was a rare Japan-only performance version of the 323, or the Astina hatchback in other countries. It used a tuned version of Mazda's 2.0-liter V6 called the KF-ZE, which produced 170 hp.
To add to that, a limited-slip differential was fitted to the Lantis Type R, together with a host of body modifications to make it unique and separate it from the non-Type R models. In the rare Best Motoring episodes, the Lantis fared well when going up against the Honda Integra, and was one of the better performers in the comparison tests.
2 Nissan March Super Turbo
The Nissan March Super Turbo was one of Japan's small cars that were made to be enjoyed by enthusiasts because of its go-fast bits. To put things into perspective, the supermini came out of the factory with a twin-charged engine.
That's right, the March Super Turbo's eight valve, 930cc engine was boosted with the low-end torque coming from the supercharger, and the rest of it was provided by the turbo. It's very odd to see a twin-charged engine on a supermini, but either way, it's fascinating that it was made into reality.
1 TommyKaira ZZII
Tommykaira, a now-defunct Japanese sports car manufacturer, produced the ZZII, a lightweight, mid-engined supercar with a drivetrain borrowed from the Nissan Skyline GT-R.
Tommykaira tuned the RB26DETT engine to produce 542 hp, and was fitted in an all-aluminum chassis and full carbon fiber bodywork. However, a lot of issues prevented the car from reaching production car status, and ultimately, the promising car never made it through.