July 14, 2006
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Is that an oxymoron? Or are they quirky cash cows?
When I've had a tough week at work and I finally get a day to relax and unwind, there is one place I love to go. The old car junkyard. Call me weird but I love the rusted metal, the dried out fabrics and the smells of motor oil, dirt, and plastics. After I pay my dollar to get in, I head straight for the area with old 1970s Japanese cars. I poke around and I get excited if I see a rare Datsun Honey Bee or an F-10. Then I go home, euphoric and ready to take on the challenges of a new work-week.
My love of old Japanese cars began with a neighbor's Datsun Honey Bee. It had tiny wheels, awkward styling, and a giant decal of a Bee plastered on the side. At three years old, I was in love. Later, when my parents went looking for a new car I knew exactly what they should get. I was only eight years old but I pitched a fit until they purchased a Tercel Wagon 4WD with blue plaid seats and gigantic windows everywhere. To say I loved that car is an understatement. Many years later I was done with college and I had money from my first real job. So I spared no expense searching for my old Tercel. Not one like it, mind you. I wanted THAT specific one. I had the VIN number, searched the Internet and miraculously I found it. The guy who owned it said it was in a ditch. So I went all the way from San Diego to Idaho in the dead of winter to get it pulled out. I spent $600 for a car that some people might pay double the price to get rid of.
Japanese cars from the 70s and 80s are the best. They are horrendously ugly, gorgeous and cool at the same time. If you don't believe me, rent "Cannonball Run," "Smokey and the Bandit," or episodes of the old "Rockford Files" TV show. There's something strangely sexy about a chrome bumper, all that metal and glass and not a single air bag. The radios and steering wheels are works of art. I lust after them. The day a neighbor I didn't know rolled up in a 1978 Subaru was the day I became a stalker. I walked my dog Lou two blocks out of our way to see it. I took photos of it in the middle of the night and I searched until I found one just like it.
I may be crazy, but I am not alone. This is a growing trend and these once disposable second-choice cars are becoming desirable. So many of them have been put to pasture over the years that they've become quite rare. All over the Internet, sites are popping up for these cars, and the traffic on the sites is higher than you might think. Who would have thought that there would be a sight devoted to the preservation of "vintage" Subarus? Apparently 17,000 members thought about it, according to (1) ultimatesubaru.net moderator Todd Peters. Or even better still; check out this site devoted to micro cars of all Japanese makes and models, (2) www.thelittlecartrader.com.
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Comments
Scot Thompson wrote:
Bryan has always loved little 3rd-world type cars. At four-years old, he could tell if a VW sported hubcaps from a different year on it (go figure!)! That neighbor's Datsun Honeybee was symbolic of the times...1974 in Phoenix and the gas lines were long and gas had jumped over $1.00 per gallon! Geez...we wish, now. Of couse, we drove a 1968 MGB-GT, lived in our very first home and raised a great kid!
Bryan wanted to be a car designer from day one, and he pursued that dream relentlessly. All of us can find our dream if we just pursue it.
I am proud of Bryan's accomplishments and his intensity to pursue new levels.
All my love, Dad
posted on July 19, 2006 at 5:33 PM
Matt wrote:
Great Blog and many props to ultimatesubaru.net !!!! That 78 is subaru is one sexy car.
posted on July 19, 2006 at 8:36 PM
Ellen wrote:
I just took a walk back in time....can't believe those pictures! I LOVE that I can remember all the things you write about. The love of Japanese cars must run in the family! I still think about camping trips and hanging out at T&L's with Eddie Rabbit and the family concerts....amazing how a car can bring a flood of memories!
posted on July 21, 2006 at 10:41 AM
Steve Schwinghammer wrote:
I'm doing a video slideshow for my parent's 25th Wedding Anniversary and there's a few pictures of my Dad's old 70-something Honda. I vaguely remember that car from when I was little. I remember not liking it as well as going outside with my sister with a butter knife to chip off bubbling paint and rust behind my Dad's back.
After seeing the Honda in those picture, I wish he (or I) still had it because now I have an appriciation for the older models, goofy styling and all.
posted on July 21, 2006 at 12:19 PM
Gabriel wrote:
Growing up, I lived next to a Greek man who lived with his mother and who loved Fiat X1/9's. I was raised by parents who rode bicycles, and never having a car as a child attracted me in unspeakable ways to his side of the block.
These Mediterranean wedges littered his mother's front lawn, likening her garden to a mechanical operating room; albeit medical students being replaced with her comprehensive collection of pink flamingos. Some x1/9's were hoisted on wooden blocks, others only had one eye (headlight) and a few decapitated from his attempts to make a working weekend convertible out of its fragile targa-top configuration.
When I was seven years old, he gave me a ride in his favorite (and therefore most complete) Fiat; a golden-red two-toned coupe he named Zorba.
He had just replace the rear drums, and needed to take it for a test run around the block.
Warning me of the rusted-out hole where my feet should have gone in the passenger foot well, I scrounged for a spare plywood plank in my father's wood shop to cover it, and off we went.
This x1/9 was one of the earlier models, with the funky geometric shifting knob that met its demise in the later models; Gumbi's wacked green head had nothing on its bulbous form. Coupled with that abstracted dashboard, the dramatic whine of the clunky four pot and the panging of road debris underneath the plywood, that summer cruise made for the first and finest motoring experience in my life.
Although we must have only been going a max of 15 miles per hour, It very much felt like entering orbit in a greasy haired Greco Italian rocket shuttle.
Moving out of his mother's when he got married led to the extinction of Italian rust in the neighborhood, and I haven't seen too many of those wedges since.
But I think that lack of seeing them now only enhances the perfection of that unforgettable road trip of my childhood.
posted on July 21, 2006 at 4:26 PM
Kevin wrote:
Yup, the Toyota Tercel Wagon was the best-looking wagon ever made. I would not say that it is ugly. I owned an '83 SR5 like you! It was a single-tone, though, and unfortunately it is now at a junkyard. :(
posted on July 31, 2006 at 10:05 AM
Matt wrote:
Hi Bryan,
500 of us from USA, Australia, France, Norway and Russia agree with you about the Tercel 4wd.
We made you our tercel4wd driver of the day at tercel4wd.com.Now if you can only persuade your boss to let you make an updated version of these great cars!
Cheers
posted on September 4, 2006 at 2:38 AM
David wrote:
Wow. I though I was the only one that like to wonder through junk yards. In 2003 I took a whole week off work to do only that. I love all the old cars, but especially 1970s Japanese and 1960s American.
I guess each generation has their aspirations based on the cars of their childhood. I remember being shuttled as a toddler in the big american cars of the 60s, then later in junior high school a friend of the family bought a first-gen Honda accord. Even at 14 years of age, I knew I was seeing something new: the future of cars (smaller, more efficient, with fwd and superb engineering). In the past 25 years I've had many cars of all brands, sizes and types, but in the end I choose to drive an early 1970s Nissan. It is noisy, drafty, oddly sporty but very spartan. For some reason I am crazy about those little cars.
posted on September 26, 2006 at 1:07 AM
Steve Phelps AKA The Sageman wrote:
Well be it old Datsuns,Tercel wagons or even AMC eagle wagons, I love them all and I own atleast two of them. My friends would say"why are you keeping that junker??" My response was and is always " Someday it will be worth something,REALLY" !!
I have wanted a tercel 4x4 wagon but the AMC Eagle came along so I have two of those. They have quirky little problems but boy what a nice ride. My Honey Bee though is my first love and I now have a hatchback too!
Great story!
Sageman
posted on September 26, 2006 at 8:24 PM
Mike Kamm wrote:
I share your enthusiasm for the 70's Japanese cars. I own all Datsuns and Nissans, but I like other makes as well, like the 78 Subaru you had pictured. Looks like I recognize a few of the names on this list of replies too. Sage, i didn't know you were into AMC's too!
Mike Kamm
'77 Datsun B210 1608cc A-series
'81 Datsun 210 CA20 with twin Mikunis
posted on October 3, 2006 at 7:41 PM
rabies wrote:
i love japanese cars too! i collect diescast cars of these 70s & 80s classics; love the choroq models as well :P
posted on October 5, 2006 at 10:56 AM
Shawn Watson wrote:
URL for www.ultimatesubaru.net has changed to .org
Thanks!
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posted on October 29, 2006 at 3:41 AM
Todd wrote:
I currently (until 11-20-07) have a 1975 Datsun B210 Honey Bee for sale on ebay. You may want to bid, or just look at the pics. It is a true SURVIVOR car, wearing the original paint, Honey Bee decals, A-14 engine, 4 speed tranny, and has brand new interior. It is selling to the highest bidder!! Take a look!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6188&viewitem=&item=120053850961
posted on November 17, 2006 at 8:50 AM
Karen wrote:
Hi Bryan,
Wow! I checked out your site and think your designs and concepts are absolutely amazing! It must feel so satisfying to see your designs (sketches and paintings) come to life. What a brilliant mind you have there!
Your story on the Honey Bee is certainly a cute one. :) What made you decide to own two?
Here's my story summed up in a nutshell: When I was around 3 or 4 years old (shortly after I was adopted) my parents decided to trade in there Fiat convertible for a practical family car. My father asked me what car I wanted and I told him "A yellow car!" Well, hours later my father pulled into our driveway with a yellow Honey Bee! It became our family car for at least a decade. This is why I have always dreamt of owning one again someday. Too many fond memories and reminds me of being a kid again.
Feel free to write me whenever you'd like!
Karen
posted on March 28, 2007 at 1:37 AM
Patty Bee wrote:
My grandma had a Honeybee throughout my childhood until she sold it when she could no longer drive. She lived thousands of miles away, and I wish I knew what happened to that car! but this blog has put me on the pursuit to locate it! thanks for the inspiration!
posted on December 5, 2007 at 2:45 PM