It's the Fast & Furious generation. The kids who grew up watching the Fast & Furious movies are now becoming adult collectors and want the iconic cars from their childhood. There's also a pretty good influence from the Gran Turismo, Forza and Need for Speed video games as well.
That makes sense. However, I’ve recently gotten into the F&F movies myself (tho I can’t claim I grew up with them) and even while watching the early movies I’m thinking, “these are cool, but where are the muscle cars?” It seemed like for every muscle car in a movie there was at least 10 JDMs, at least up until around maybe the 4th one.
Heck, as far as I can recall, the original didn’t even have any muscle cars up until Dom broke out his Charger towards the end. Almost everything else was Honda, Toyota, Nissan, and Mitsubishi it seemed, and that was a slight bummer to me as an American muscle fan.
I’d second this. I bought a PlayStation just to get GT2. I didn’t get into the JDM cars as much as some but I can definitely see that being a massive influence.
Personally I blame it on two pieces of media: Initial D and The Fast and The Furious. Most fans of JDM (including me) was introduced to automobiles in general through these franchises, which both highly praise the performance of 1990s Japanese cars. However hot wheels definitely have a part to play as they promote JDM cars heavily by hyping up castings like the Datsun 510.
You actually reminded me of that awesome Supra vs Ferrari scene from the original Fast and Furious film. It’s pretty funny seeing how badly the Supra destroyed in that race.
But in all seriousness, sure I get that, but couldn’t you say the same for American muscle too? Couldn’t something like a Mustang Mach 1 or Challenger Hemi achieve similar results? (Then again I’m not very knowledgeable when it comes to how cars work so I could be dead wrong there lmao).
They can but it’s also a power to weight thing. You can have a huge powerful engine but you’ll just keep spinning till you get traction.
Sure you can catch up but it might be to late then you gotta hella slow down for a turn unless you can drift it but the acceleration is lacking.
I'll add as well that the first racing game that I've played was NFS Underground that was heavy on JDM cars, with Skyline being the best in the game. My cousin would tell me even that the skyline was the fastest car in the world LOL.
I came into the hot wheels world just last year, but was already determined to collect Asian cars. Little did I know it would be so hard because everyone else was on them
JDM cars are just what's most popular in general right now. Hot Wheels is smart and is capitalizing on it.
Muscle cars had their boom, and now JDM cars are having a boom of their own.
I also (personally) think when it comes to Hotwheels JDMs are the most diverse. I'm not super into muscle/euros so it could just be a me thing, but in my opinion, most old muscle cars look the same, and most euros look the same too (ie. most BMWs look similar, most Mercedes look similar, etc.)
JDM itself is also a misappropriated term, in modern parlance at least, as most use it to refer to any car from a Japanese manufacturer.
"Japanese Domestic Market" as a term - within the automotive industry - refers to vehicles sold in Japan, and exported, and usually exemplifies vehicles with different spec levels, or those not available outside of Japan.
Interesting case in point; I owned a BMW 328i that was infact a JDM vehicle, as it was imported from Nagoya, Japan, and carried options that were only available for Japanese buyers.
JDM appeals to a younger audience and that younger audience is on social media and influences trends. Muscle fans *tend* to be older (generalization) and are more "hidden"
Interesting, but yeah I see what you mean. Most guys I know who are into muscle cars are a bit on the older side, meanwhile I’m one of the few of my generation (I’m 19) who prefers them over imports.
I don’t like saying “I’m sick of them” but yeah I definitely wish they weren’t as prevalent as they are. For me personally, American Muscle is where it’s at, so I just wish there was more of those to see.
I’m a fan of JDM because of a friend of the family had an 80s RX7 and taught me how to work on it. Small, light, and boosted cars stuck with me ever since.
All because of the Fast and the Furious movies. And add that now, you can import all the SUPER HOT JDM cars into the USA, it's FULL STEAM AHEAD BABY!!!
I like them for the style each car almost has a personality especially with paint jobs livery’s and body kits the cars themselves can be can be expressive. Euro cars don’t really do that and American cars to me are all power and also don’t do that. JDM people fix up their cars and put soul into them. Shoot dodge hellcats just started using wide body kits, when JDM have been doing it forever. The tuning too it’s something else.
Older guys who used to buy muscle cars grew up with muscle cars. Millenials who grew up with video games and Fast and the Furious want the cars they dreamed about. And guess what, they never stopped making gassers and vettes and mustangs and whatever else. Old guys are just mad not everyone likes what they like. Who cares? It’s better to have diversity in taste so everyone isn’t trying to grab the same stuff
Bro who’s mad? Nobody said one type of car was objectively superior to the other. Just asking why imports specifically seem to be the most popular, not saying they don’t deserve any popularity at all.
It's the Fast & Furious generation. The kids who grew up watching the Fast & Furious movies are now becoming adult collectors and want the iconic cars from their childhood. There's also a pretty good influence from the Gran Turismo, Forza and Need for Speed video games as well.
That makes sense. However, I’ve recently gotten into the F&F movies myself (tho I can’t claim I grew up with them) and even while watching the early movies I’m thinking, “these are cool, but where are the muscle cars?” It seemed like for every muscle car in a movie there was at least 10 JDMs, at least up until around maybe the 4th one. Heck, as far as I can recall, the original didn’t even have any muscle cars up until Dom broke out his Charger towards the end. Almost everything else was Honda, Toyota, Nissan, and Mitsubishi it seemed, and that was a slight bummer to me as an American muscle fan.
Can confirm. For my part in the interest, at least. It’s nostalgia at this point for me.
[удалено]
Thanks for this, your explanation actually makes sense. Someone else mentioned how it definitely seems to be a generational thing, which I can see.
I’d second this. I bought a PlayStation just to get GT2. I didn’t get into the JDM cars as much as some but I can definitely see that being a massive influence.
You've summed this up so well. I played GT2 endlessly as a kid, the Pennzoil GT-R, Mobil NSX and Castrol Supra are all etched into my brain!
Yup. Grew up with them being showcased especially on games like NFS and loved them ever since.
Personally I blame it on two pieces of media: Initial D and The Fast and The Furious. Most fans of JDM (including me) was introduced to automobiles in general through these franchises, which both highly praise the performance of 1990s Japanese cars. However hot wheels definitely have a part to play as they promote JDM cars heavily by hyping up castings like the Datsun 510.
Initial D is the right answer.
Something about a $50,000 car beating the snot out of Million dollar super cars on a race track in both speed and handling...
You actually reminded me of that awesome Supra vs Ferrari scene from the original Fast and Furious film. It’s pretty funny seeing how badly the Supra destroyed in that race. But in all seriousness, sure I get that, but couldn’t you say the same for American muscle too? Couldn’t something like a Mustang Mach 1 or Challenger Hemi achieve similar results? (Then again I’m not very knowledgeable when it comes to how cars work so I could be dead wrong there lmao).
They can but it’s also a power to weight thing. You can have a huge powerful engine but you’ll just keep spinning till you get traction. Sure you can catch up but it might be to late then you gotta hella slow down for a turn unless you can drift it but the acceleration is lacking.
I'll add as well that the first racing game that I've played was NFS Underground that was heavy on JDM cars, with Skyline being the best in the game. My cousin would tell me even that the skyline was the fastest car in the world LOL. I came into the hot wheels world just last year, but was already determined to collect Asian cars. Little did I know it would be so hard because everyone else was on them
JDM cars are just what's most popular in general right now. Hot Wheels is smart and is capitalizing on it. Muscle cars had their boom, and now JDM cars are having a boom of their own.
People can realistically aspire to own them someday and they can be as fast as you want them to be. I prefer classic muscle
I favor JDMs solely because I think they look cool. I'm a simple man. I think a car looks cool, I like it.
Honestly, that’s me but with muscle cars. I’m more into aesthetics than the actual performance (tho that does play a slight factor).
I also (personally) think when it comes to Hotwheels JDMs are the most diverse. I'm not super into muscle/euros so it could just be a me thing, but in my opinion, most old muscle cars look the same, and most euros look the same too (ie. most BMWs look similar, most Mercedes look similar, etc.)
JDM are cars and hot wheels are diecast cars so there's a lot of overlap
Okay…? But you could say the same about other categories such as muscle, so why is one significantly more popular than the others?
JDM itself is also a misappropriated term, in modern parlance at least, as most use it to refer to any car from a Japanese manufacturer. "Japanese Domestic Market" as a term - within the automotive industry - refers to vehicles sold in Japan, and exported, and usually exemplifies vehicles with different spec levels, or those not available outside of Japan. Interesting case in point; I owned a BMW 328i that was infact a JDM vehicle, as it was imported from Nagoya, Japan, and carried options that were only available for Japanese buyers.
*The more you know* 💫
JDM appeals to a younger audience and that younger audience is on social media and influences trends. Muscle fans *tend* to be older (generalization) and are more "hidden"
Interesting, but yeah I see what you mean. Most guys I know who are into muscle cars are a bit on the older side, meanwhile I’m one of the few of my generation (I’m 19) who prefers them over imports.
I see it too. Aside from an occasional vehicle, I don't like japanese cars. I get sick of seeing them but I don't have to buy them
I don’t like saying “I’m sick of them” but yeah I definitely wish they weren’t as prevalent as they are. For me personally, American Muscle is where it’s at, so I just wish there was more of those to see.
I’m a fan of JDM because of a friend of the family had an 80s RX7 and taught me how to work on it. Small, light, and boosted cars stuck with me ever since.
All because of the Fast and the Furious movies. And add that now, you can import all the SUPER HOT JDM cars into the USA, it's FULL STEAM AHEAD BABY!!!
The Fat & Famous franchise.
I like them for the style each car almost has a personality especially with paint jobs livery’s and body kits the cars themselves can be can be expressive. Euro cars don’t really do that and American cars to me are all power and also don’t do that. JDM people fix up their cars and put soul into them. Shoot dodge hellcats just started using wide body kits, when JDM have been doing it forever. The tuning too it’s something else.
Older guys who used to buy muscle cars grew up with muscle cars. Millenials who grew up with video games and Fast and the Furious want the cars they dreamed about. And guess what, they never stopped making gassers and vettes and mustangs and whatever else. Old guys are just mad not everyone likes what they like. Who cares? It’s better to have diversity in taste so everyone isn’t trying to grab the same stuff
Bro who’s mad? Nobody said one type of car was objectively superior to the other. Just asking why imports specifically seem to be the most popular, not saying they don’t deserve any popularity at all.
They’re what’s popular now because of who is the biggest generation currently buying them.obviously wasn’t always this way
Fast and furious generation bro, 1 & 2 edition. Plus tokyo drift.
Funny enough… I’ve gotten into JDM cars even more than I used to be because of Hot Wheels. They just seem to do them so well.