
JDM cars are not produced for the international market. JDM specifically means the vehicles that are made in Japan and sold in Japan’s local market. Can any car be JDM?Ī common myth or misconception attached with the term JDM is that any car produced in Japan is called a JDM car, but that is not true. While just about any car can be modified and tuned, Japanese cars – especially performance-oriented models like the Nissan Skyline, Toyota Supra, WRX STI etc – are famous for providing excellent tuning platforms. It would be extremely hard to find this model anywhere in the US you can’t import it either because it has still been blacklisted by the NHTSA.Īnother reason why JDM cars are so popular and have a good reputation is for tunability.

The illegal Supra The 1994 Toyota Supra model was banned by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration because of serious long-term reliability issues. The fact that the car was also unmodified increases its scarcity, as Supras from this generation were often modified and customized, making the unaltered examples a rarity. It also has just 7,000 miles on it, which is naturally a rarity when it comes to vehicles this old. Japanese automobiles, mostly sports cars of the caliber of a Toyota Supra or Nissan Skyline, are visually and technically brought to fruition with eye-catching paint finishes, large rear … Honda NS-X | Chassis Code: NA1 | Years: 1990-2005.Īt least since the Fast and Furious movies is the so-called JDM tuning for tuning fans from around the world on everyone’s lips.Without further ado, here are 9 of the most iconic JDM cars in the market today. A Toyota Corolla built in Japan but sold new in Australia, for example, is a Japanese car but NOT JDM. JDM refers specifically to cars produced for the Japanese Domestic Market. The most common myth we see repeated is that all Japanese cars are JDM. JDM Culture is a part of the automotive universe that is slowly taking over the world. Instead, we have made some tough choices and trimmed it down to bring you 20 JDM cars that everyone should drive at least once.The acronym JDM actually stands for Japanese Domestic Market, meaning things tuned and sold for the Japanese automotive standards.

This certainly isn't a comprehensive list of every legendary JDM car ever produced for that, we would need a website double the size of Wikipedia.

Meanwhile, Mitsubishi cars have a reputation for cornering around three times the speed of sound. Nissan, for example, has a reptuation among the car community for being easily tunable to achieve mind-boggling power. Japanese carmakers have given us some of the greatest cars ever, and any true car enthusiast remembers how the Nissan Skyline R32 won the Australian Bathurst 1000 in both 19, upsetting the status quo and forcing rule changes that banned "Godzilla" from competing in the race.Įvery Japanese car manufacturer has its own unique characteristics, and in some cases, that has earned them a cult-like following. Some "JDM cars," were never available in the United States, others have been slightly modified to make them legal for importation-and where this is the case, we will explain the differences. Over time, though, the term's meaning has expanded to include Japanese-made cars exported to other countries. JDM, of course, refers to the Japanese Domestic Market-basically, cars that are only sold in Japan. Updated December 2021: Whether you're a fan of Japanese sports cars, looking to buy or import one, or just want to learn more about these highly popular cars, we've updated this list with our favorite JDMs every enthusiast needs to drive at least once in their life. It doesn't matter if they're into roaring V8s or prefer German precision engineering, very few car enthusiasts can resist the sound of a tuned K-series screaming as VTEC kicks in, or the throaty rumble of a well-tuned WRX. A lot of gearheads consider JDM cars a guilty pleasure.
