The Supra, the Skyline, the AE86, the Miata. These are just some worshiped Japanese sports cars that everyone wants to either own or drive. They always seem to be the first cars mentioned by enthusiasts, and they are constantly rising in value due to their popularity, appearance in media franchises, or the fact that it's difficult to find one in nice condition. A lot of these Japanese cars quite literally changed the world as well.
Those JDM legends completely stealing the show just about everywhere, has ultimately led to one unsurprising side effect; tons of cool cars made by Japanese automakers have slipped under the radar. That's a shame because some of these underdogs are actually very cool.
10 Mazda Luce
Everyone knows that Mazda is currently working hard to move their brand and their models more upmarket, right in the firing line of BMW and Audi. Interestingly, this wouldn't be the first time Mazda threw their hat into the executive car ring. Aside from the ill-fated Xedos 9 in the 90s, there was also the Luce.
Named after the Italian word for "light," the Luce was Mazda's answer to the BMW 5-Series and the Audi 100. It was a more left-field alternative for consumers who wanted all the necessary luxuries at a more affordable price, and ones that weren't bothered about badge kudos. As Mazda found out, their target demographic did care about badge kudos, and the executive sedan available with a rotary engine eventually went under.
9 Toyota Celica Supra
In the JDM car scene, the Mk4 Toyota Supra is considered royalty. Values are going crazy, and many agree it's one of the best JDM sports cars of all time. As a result, everyone forgot about the car that spawned the Supra, which was a simple trim level for the Celica.
The Celica Supra, also called the Celica XX in Japan, was a higher performance version of the 80s Celica, powered by an I6 engine. It also featured a variety of handling upgrades, and it caught on fairly quickly. The success of the trim meant that it eventually became its own model, and the rest is history.
8 Lexus IS F
From the moment Lexus was conceived by Toyota, they were gunning for the Germans' crown in the luxury car market. The original LS400 did exactly that, but it wasn't quite enough for Lexus. In the 2000s, they decided to steal the crown from the Germans in another way; the sports sedan.
They took their compact IS sedan, shoehorned a massive 5.0 liter V8 under the hood, and created a totally new performance arm specifically for it. The result was the Lexus IS F, and it was brilliant. Sadly, the Japanese antidote to the BMW M3s and Mercedes C63s of the world didn't exactly receive a warm welcome, leaving Lexus to can it a few years ago and allowing values to drop significantly.
7 Eunos Cosmo
Once again, Mazda was serious about moving upmarket in the 80s and 90s, just like they are now. In 1990, they went to battle once again, this time in the personal luxury car segment. Their fighter was the Eunos Cosmo, a svelte 2+2 luxury coupe with a rotary engine.
As you might imagine, the Eunos Cosmo didn't do all that well, partly because it was never sold outside of Japan. Only about 8,800 units were ever sold. That might be unremarkable, but the same can't be said of the features. This was the first production car in the world to feature a navigation system. In 1990. It also had a touch-screen infotainment system, and a soon-to-be-popular electro-luminescent gauge cluster.
6 Honda S660
The only reason why the S660 is underrated is that not many people know of it, due to it only being sold in Japan. In actuality, enthusiasts the world over are desperate for Honda to sell this car to the rest of the world, and with good reason.
As you might know, the S660 is a kei car, and a surprisingly conventional one considering how weird some of them are. It's a tiny two-seat roadster, hearkening back to the S600 and S800 from Honda's early years. Complying with the kei car rules, the S660 features a 660cc turbocharged three-cylinder engine making 63 hp. A 6-speed manual is standard, and to say the driving experience is fun would be a crushing understatement.
5 Nissan EXA Canopy
A bizarre name for a very bizarre car. On the face of it, the EXA Canopy looks completely different from just about everything Nissan was offering in the 80s, but it's actually based on the Pulsar compact underneath. The most interesting thing about it is undeniably the "Canopy."
It might appear to be a shooting brake at first, but an entire segment of the rear hatch removes completely so the car turns into a coupe. Not only that, but there are also T-tops, meaning the roof panels can be removed, turning it into a targa top convertible. It was quite literally a five-in-one car, and even though it only made a piffling 118 hp, this car will turn heads everywhere.
4 Mazda Mazda5
A minivan falling into the category of underrated Japanese cars might seem like sacrilege, but there's more to the Mazda5, also known as the Premacy, than meets the eye. Sure, it is a practical seven-seat minivan, but it has one distinction that makes it unlike any other minivan pretty much ever; it's fun to drive.
Despite this being a family car with hauling duties first and foremost, Mazda managed to inject some of the fun driving dynamics usually reserved for their more conventional cars. To add to the fun, the 5/Premacy was available with a 6-speed manual transmission, though these versions are quite rare. It's a perfect compromise; a practical minivan and a great handling car all in one.
3 Subaru Baja
When Subaru first arrived in the US, they wanted to corner the pickup truck market. The end result of their idea, the quirky and confusing BRAT, never really reached the big leagues of the pickup truck world, even though it's a cult car nowadays. In the 2000s, Subaru tried it again, in the most Subaru way possible.
They took the Legacy Outback station wagon, removed part of the roof, and added roll bars and a pickup truck tailgate. The resulting car was the Baja, and it was as strange as it was awesome. If anything, simply for all the workarounds Subaru found for the potential issues that could stop the Baja from being a true pickup. Not to mention, it was available with a turbocharged flat-4 and a manual transmission as well.
2 Mitsubishi 3000GT
By the 1990s, Japanese sports cars and the automotive industry were absolutely thriving. Not to be outdone, Mitsubishi created their own response to the sports car craze, in the form of the GTO, which later became the 3000GT and Dodge Stealth stateside.
The earliest 3000GT models featured some truly crazy (for the time) active aerodynamics, and the V6 engine under the hood pushed 225 hp, which was upped to 300 hp in the VR-4 models. Even though it was pretty heavy, the 3000GT was a great sports car, and one that never seems to get the attention it deserves, unlike the Eclipse and Evo.
1 Toyota Mega Cruiser
Not to be outdone by the Humvee, Toyota created its own giant boxy SUV, primarily to be used by the Japanese military and armed forces, but one that could also be purchased by civilians. The Mega Cruiser is quite literally a Hummer with a Toyota badge.
The Mega Cruiser was, in a way, a tech demo to preview what future Toyota SUV models would offer. Unlike the Humvee and Hummer, however, it wasn't exactly successful, and Toyota didn't sell many units of it. Even then, the 4.1-liter turbo diesel under the hood will pretty much run forever.