Japanese domestic market

Because at that point, the engines that they're using were EJ-based engines.

Especially in the early days, there was a lot of overlap between, again, the STIs that you would buy, like the JDM STIs you would buy, and what the rally car was.

And so my argument would be, like, the first part of my argument would be, in those times, that is really what started to set Subaru apart.

Because before they really got into the WRC, and this, again, this is like 80s into the 90s.

Um, [laughs] it carries a lot of meaning in regard to, like, uh, you know, taking you back to that, that point in your life, at least for me.

Um, this really blew up the, the JDM scene, and, like, really put it on the map globally, I think.

What's that?

Uh, Japanese domestic motoring.

Tokyo Drift made in comparison to one, since they took it to, like, the birthplace-

That's a good question

... of, like, the whole JDM culture thing.

I'm just curious.

Yeah.

So that you just sit there and then just like JDM cars, like cars start showing up.

It's just been, it's been a famous car park for forever.

Shingo said it used to be like low riders and mini trucks and now it's turned into the JDM thing.

Um, but we were like watching all these cars come in and, uh, there's, it's no, there's no Japanese people.

It's all, it's all tourists.

Oh, interesting.

So the, the big business there, is JDM car, you fly to Japan and you pay these drivers and they drive you around in these different cars, whether it's a GTR, old GTR, Silvia, Toyota 86, whatever all these cars are.

Especially Lexuses that came from Japan, right? I mean, that is its home market.

The JDM, Japanese domestic market, gave a range of makes and models that we don't know, that don't exist.

Look, to answer the question, you're always gonna get better value buying a Japanese car, Japanese spec car, but you're always gonna get a bit less on the way out.

So it swings around about, so you're just gonna have a bit less equity locked into a car, but in general, if it checks out, if there's no accidents, if it's original paint, if you've got a bit of service history, then it is a savvy choice, really, to buy Japanese

Uh, and I wanna take this as a brief opportunity to discuss again the music and the car culture of Tokyo Drift.

One of the reasons why I really love this movie is because it is such a pure celebration of JDM and tuner car culture rather than merely using cars as props in a crime movie.

This is one of my favorite sequences of the entire film when The Teriyaki Boyz kick in and the camera starts fetishizing the cars.

And suddenly the parking garage feels like a showroom for JDM and tuner culture.

I love those sorts of automobiles.

You know, longtime listeners of the podcast know that my first car, uh, was a 1998 Acura Integra and it was a piece of crap, but I fucking love that thing and I love that era of car culture.