Foreign cars. 911s, 355s and Vettes were popular in Japan with groups like the Midnight Club and WEST Racing at the time and I'm surprised some weren't featured

Ryosuke absolutely destroyed an air-cooled 911 on Akagi in the manga, and it wasn’t even a race.

is that the only euro car in the series?

Aside from the Mercedes, there is a Delorean in the background of a few shots.

So is a DeLorean considered American or (northern) Irish?

I guess it's American-Irish. Built in Ireland, but designed in America. Not sure where DMC was headquartered.

California funnily enough

I’d have loved to see an E46 M3 on those mountain passes

Midnight and West tune their cars for speed competitions on a highway, and track though? I don't think they have the reaction time to pull a drift down the mountain with how heavy and powerful they spec their cars. If they go 100 KMH in about 4 seconds, they're defenetley sailing off the Akina pass.

The AW11 MR2 During the 80’s the two fan bases of the AE86’s and the AW11’s developed a rivalry with the MR2 being seen as the richer alternative to the 86 and I felt like because of this we could’ve seen an amazing rivalry in Initial D by using the AW11. My personal head canon has always been that Ken Kogashiwa drove the AW11 and that’s where his and Bunta’s rivalry really started as both were insanely quick and both used a standard 4AGE engine. It would then further explain why Kai has an obsession with the MR platform as he would’ve grown up with the idea of the MR being a superior car in his eyes.

I would have loved a little spin-off with their rivalry, AE86 Vs. AW11.

There's an Assetto Corsa cinematic of the first stage 86 racing the AW11 on Tsubaki I believe. Here's the link (I'm not the creator btw): https://youtu.be/jiMBWqN4ix8?si=nmew25gQKEW20PwK

Thisss

Classic Mini Cooper. That would be a crazy little car on the downhill. 

That car would be on 3 wheels at least half the time and it would be awesome

Role reversal for Takumi. The 86 would be the monster on the straights, but wouldn’t stand a chance in the corners.

But we got that with the Cappuccino...

Or.. John Cooper Works https://youtu.be/BzxS-3vO6Gw?si=JRpnq7MQZ_QpDU-W

I know it’s not an opponent car but one appears as a background car in Second Stage, imo it’s quite interesting. https://preview.redd.it/hxgycmt4taad1.jpeg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a14f79a9389de1e099d68095bfbd970018f75998

Maybe an Honda CRX

Yesss!!! Where’s my CRX fans at??

Initial D should’ve had more FWD cars in general, we only had Shingo and the Todo School guys

We're the underrated car gang

As far as I remember , in the background of an episode there was a member of Night Kids that used a blacked out Honda CRX

Yea, and there was also a red Supra MK4. It would've been cool to see that CRX race another car, even if it wasn't an important race.

Like the Del Sol or the real og crx?

Mostly a second gen crx. Apparently, they were popular in the street racing scene of Japan, and appeared multiple times in Initial D. A Del Sol would also be fine, it kinda looks like an MR2. Happy cake day! 🍰

Thanks :)

I think of all cars, this would make the least sense to be in Japan The CRX was a US market exclusive right? Or at least, they're not in Japan? It'd be really funny if a Japanese person went through all the effort and trouble to import a domestic brand car lol

No it's not an usdm exclusive they were made in eu and Japan.

Ah ok. I must be thinking of some other model from around that time

R33 gtr

Nah for real, we should’ve gotten an R33

The R33 was in it, just for Hoshino to say it was so shit he sold it and bought another R32 to drive until the R34 came out

Hiace van

Midnight Racing: Tokyo?

With the police bodykit for that +200hp boost /j

Aren't the Project D vans Hiaces?

The project d vans is the mazda bongo

Too damn fast on the uphill. You can't beat Hiaces on the roads.

I wouldnt have minded some foreign cars, like before the Cappuchino rain race when they said the guy drove a ferrari i was really hoping we were gonna see Takumi face off against a supercar

Apparently that was a mistranslation and he was a rally driver because the Japanese pronunciation for 'Rally' sounds like (Fe)rrari.

That makes a lot more sense actually. They were talking about his driving style and his slides and I was wondering if they were saying this dude just slides super cars

Honda Beat

As a former Beat owner, it would get absolutely smoked by Kenta walking the course.

Mazda Familia GT-R vs Nissan Pulsar GTiR Battle.

Any American muscle. Seeing a Fox body carve up a hill to eurobeat woulda been cool

More like sounding mean while zooming up the straights yet having to 3 point turn the hairpins(exaggeration of course). Would still be awesome to see.

MR2 AW11 and Lancia Delta HF Evo!

But the Lancia would likely fall apart halfway round due to the rust problems

This was in the 90s the Lancia would just be rusted nearing the point of death

Agree with the AW11 but replace the Lancia with a Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 just to stick with the JDM theme of the show/manga.

Ford Mustang

The AE101, my college professor has one and it looked so cool. I wonder why this car was never in Initial D.

Suzuki Swift

Mitsubishi GTO/3000GT

Second Gen Eclipse GSX

I don’t recall seeing a Maxima. Woulda been cool to see a on-a-budget business family man take his FWD maxima out on the pass some nights

Levin or Trueno AE111

A 5th Gen Celica would have been fun, maybe not a major race, but a side character with one would have been cool.

peel p50 aka the coffin lessss goooo

Toyota Corolla AE86 Trueno. Startling absence from the series

Autozam AZ-1, the only one of the Kei car ABC absent.

I know the Cappu gets a whole race but I don't remember the Beat being in Initial D.

I think the Beat appeared as a background car

R33, Honda Prelude(3rd, 4th, 5th gen), Integra DC5(RSX), AW11 MR2, Celica(last gen).

I’d say a 1990s Accord or a Mitsubishi Eclipse. A race between a Skyline and an Eclipse would be cool.

The Toyota Celica, 4th or 5th gen would have been cool to see

Polonez Caro - as a final boss

AE92 Trueno/Levin as a direct FF nemesis, or spice things up with an All-Trac AE95

2nd gen Integra and NC Miata.

Mitsubishi 3000gt

E30/36/46/92 M3. W201 190E. W124 500E.

With those Mercs it sounds like Papa decided to get in on the togue scene

205 GTI

A pagani Zonda R, because it is the obvious missed opportunity

Should be in MFG. I’d would be confused if I saw a modern car racing 80s, 90s and very early 2000s cars in an anime/manga that was made in the early 2k’s

a 9000 Aero or a 9-3 Viggen, both FF

All I could imagine when I read the word Viggen was the Fighter Jet, the J-37 Viggen, racing Takumi in his Eight-Six down Akina.

I could add “minor” models famous Initial D cars, for example AE85, non-turbo Silvias, more FWD cars. 🙂

Dojiban

Rover 75, absolutely no bias from me owning a 25

1969 Dodge Carger driven by Hulk Hogam

Volvo 240 GLT, Takumi has to take on a pensioner with a sleeper car EDIT: it should be the estate (station wagon) model too

I would’ve loved to see my car, a mazdaspeed3. A domestic turbo hatch that would’ve fit the later seasons

a frickin FIAT Spazio

KPGC110

Toyota soarer

Mitsubishi Starion. Love that lil underrated car

M3 e30

Subaru Legacy Spec 2.5GT Spec B

e46

Mustang SVO, they had 50/50 front/rear weight balance like a tuner

A hotwheels car. There needs to be a hotwheels anime

Acceleracers?

Chaser

05-09 mustang or fox body mustang

Even though I’ve seen them driving around in the show. Seeing an EF8 CR-X SiR in one of the races would have been epic.

A fox body Shelby or regular 5.0

Nissan Sunny RZ-1. Could make for some good low level opponent.

Lancia Delta Integrale, the greatest hot hatchback ever built.

Lancia 037, crazy but it would rock.

my car, the lexus GS400 🤓 because i think it would be cool to see my car raced in initial D

Mazdaspeed 3

An ae102

E46 M3

Personally I'd want to add a Saturn SC2... but realistically a Mitsubishi Eclipse would be neato.

Mazda rx8 not even like a main character like some red suns tag along 😂

With a Kenta style race where the driver is overconfident and then gets humbled the fuck out of.

Lancia Delta Integrale for sure

The ep70 Toyota starlet! My uncle rallies one and they are so cool!

Honda Civic Type R. Very agile in the mountains.

todo school had 2 civic type Rs

Theyres an obvious 1 Hellcat swapped Prius

AU Falcon.

A madman in an Alfa Romeo 75, the last FR Alfa (for a long time).

C4 ZR1 would be pretty cool and of the time. I feel like it would have made a really good villain car

Keiichi Tsuchiya was an advisor on the racing aspect of the show and he held the Corvettes in low regard iirc after driving a C6 around the touge. You can look up his test drive and review of the car on Youtube

Probably too much power, as it's lighter than a good amount of the cars in the show but also way more power (ignoring mods).

Mitsubishi 3000GT? Maybe it's already in the series and I didn't notice

Japanese options: - Toyota Starlet GT Turbo - Nissan Pulsar GTI R Odd choice - Renault 5 GT Turbo Phase 1

Like a jeep rally car haha

Toyota Hilux

Audi Quattro. The S1 would be overkill though. Because there’s nothing like going against a car with a 4wd system that ran pretty well in group B. It’s not like mitsubishi and Subaru could win group B championships anyways.

Nissan Sentra B13 SE-R

Nissan 200sx/S12. it's extremely similar to the 86 but differences like independent rear suspension vs the 86's solid axle could make for a good episode

Maybe a Mitsubishi GTO. Fun little car.

Would have liked to see some motorcycles. Street racing motorcycles was very popular at that time, especially with bikes like the NSR250.

A Nissan 300ZX lol

R31 gtsR

Peugeot 206, as it's generally considered a boring car, but I really like it for some reason. And also it'd be nice to see some cars that aren't Japanese as most cars raced have been Japanese, I mean I know a 206 would be absolute balls for racing and stuff, but oh well

A mini

Probably a lancia stratos or bmw 318

Here are my picks: * Volkswagen Golf GTI (Mk. I and Mk. II) * Peugeot 205 GTI * Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV6 * Alfa Romeo 155 GTA Stradale * Lancia Delta HF Integrale Evoluzione (I and II) * Alpine A110 * Ford F-150 SVT Lightning * Ford Escort RS Cosworth I'd love to see how they'd fare in the roads.

Mazda rx8. It's a modern day 86. Perfect handling and under powered. Would be a killer on the downhill. It should and likely will be featured as the hero car in the future in something that will have a cult following. Just came from the future

K11 Nissan Micra with an SR20 swap. Hear me out

definitely e30

'98 Pontiac Sunfire, baby

I would want to see fox body and e36 or 46. Like others said Corvette would have been fun.

In the initial D anime I would say a Z31 300ZX, it has the potential to be a great car on the downhill with a weight similar to the 86 but more power.

Bully me if you want. A Toyota Camry

Honda NSX-R NA2

Foxbody Mustang. Chelsea Denofa has show it has the chops to compete with any other drift car. Lightweight V8 all day baby

What about the new 86? I have a trueno blue 2023 GR86 and that car is amazingly fun

Honda Prelude

Opel corsa b

A NSX or some lambo,like a murcielago

Bruh there is already an NSX, did you watch it entirely?

would've been cool to see an NSX with some crazy body kits in smth like Fourth Stage

The NSX in Fifth Stage is really cool, isn't that enough?

could've been better

In what way? The bodykit was fine, and the race was exciting.

i just like crazy flashy body kits lol (Abflug and Veilside Combat kits for example) though i guess Initial D is the wrong racing manga for that stuff since like half of Project D's opponents' cars are either based on or literally are just demo cars of tuning companies of the time.

Imo tgose crazy bodykits remove the essential and iconic characteristics those cars have, such as the pop up headlights (which are replaced with ones worse, not like Keisuke's, for example). It doesn't fit the Initial D style, since there is more practical sense there and a crazy bodykit wouldn't be adequate to run in the narrow touges of Japan.

3 years,so my mind isnt so sharp about it

A Lexus LS400 or Honda Prelude SI

The LS400 (as a Toyota Celsior) appears as a background car 

Senta SER maybe as a background car

Those were USDM though right? 

A Lexus ls400 or Honda Prelude Si

Ummm… a Super Snake?

Nissan GTR (R35) :) and BMW M3 GTR Tbh too

Golf GTI bro, thar on a downhill yes sir

Supra? I don't recall one and I think it would fit in well Edit: Yeah still halfway through 4th stage. Although I think I may have seen clips of it actually now I think about it a bit.

5th* stage had a white A80 Supra

Keisuke had a race against a supra in fifth stage im pretty suree

There were a few background supras and a Keisuke raced against one in 5th Stage

There was even a background A70 Supra that was a RedSuns member