Kei Central

05XR8 · Oct 6, 2018

I want them all in my pocket! The cars too.

INEEDNAWZZZ · Oct 6, 2018

That Subaru 360 ad is as awesome as it is confusing. :lol:

Turbo · Oct 10, 2018

Found a slew of Subaru Rex brochures.

Unrelated bonus:

Populuxe · Oct 10, 2018

I'll take a 4WD Rex Combi please, thanks.

05XR8 · Oct 10, 2018

Sold! To the sucker with wide open eyes!
That classic shot of it kicking up dust, got me. Want.

homeforsummer · Oct 10, 2018

I do love these old brochure and ad shots.

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Populuxe · Oct 10, 2018

homeforsummer
View attachment 772121

I think "she's hot in the yellow minidress" and then I remember she's someone's grandma by now.

05XR8 · Oct 10, 2018

The top pic is like a Speed Racer pose. Looks like him too.

The Honda is such a henchmen's mobile. I'd have that.

homeforsummer · Oct 10, 2018

05XR8
The top pic is like a Speed Racer pose. Looks like him too.

I've driven cars with 20x the horsepower of the Subaru Young SS in that ad, and I will never be as cool as that guy.

Populuxe · Oct 10, 2018

05XR8
The top pic is like a Speed Racer pose. Looks like him too.

homeforsummer
I've driven cars with 20x the horsepower of the Subaru Young SS in that ad, and I will never be as cool as that guy.

I want to be him when I grow up.

Turbo · Oct 12, 2018

05XR8 · Oct 12, 2018

The 80s was such a fun time. Tacky, but fun.

Turbo · Oct 13, 2018

Some more 80s kei. Here's some Minica.

As a bonus, here's a very period correct Wagon R, to say the least.

homeforsummer · Oct 13, 2018

Only the mightiest of bois:

05XR8 · Oct 13, 2018

homeforsummer
Only the mightiest of bois:

View attachment 773307

That grille insert.

kikie · Oct 14, 2018

This is supposed to be a very rare Kei Car.

05XR8 · Oct 14, 2018

Not to start a hard argument or debate. Just see how many of these cars have the engine out back?
I was feeling the new Beetle could have been RR. Truth that the Beetle used a shared platform for cost. A bespoke chassis would cost too much. Plus, modern kei cars are mainly FF anyway. A small modern RR, just interests me, that's all.

Volksauto · Oct 15, 2018

05XR8
Not to start a hard argument or debate. Just see how many of these cars have the engine out back?
I was feeling the new Beetle could have been RR. Truth that the Beetle used a shared platform for cost. A bespoke chassis would cost too much. Plus, modern kei cars are mainly FF anyway. A small modern RR, just interests me, that's all.

RR was a very common platform for compacts from the late 1930s to the mid 1960s. Because the technology for creating a front wheel drive car was largely unheard of so the RR layout had many benefits for the time compared to FR:

It was space efficient (lack of transmission tunnel and shorter front end)
Provided good traction

However, as cars like the Citroen Traction and the Mini that had and FF layout came around, people realized the FF layout was the best for those two things listed above. It has good traction but when the engine is mounted transversely, there is still no transmission tunnel like a RR AND you have a much larger area for luggage in the rear.
So RR started becoming out of date and less practical than FF cars as the years progressed.

homeforsummer · Oct 15, 2018

Yeah, I'm not getting the revival of the Beetle conversation here @05XR8.

The original problem was that a RR Beetle wouldn't make sense in a modern context. That's still the case, and referencing a bunch of rear-engined kei cars from when the original Beetle was still on sale doesn't change that.

Could we keep things vaguely on-topic?...

05XR8 · Oct 15, 2018

homeforsummer
Yeah, I'm not getting the revival of the Beetle conversation here @05XR8.

The original problem was that a RR Beetle wouldn't make sense in a modern context. That's still the case, and referencing a bunch of rear-engined kei cars from when the original Beetle was still on sale doesn't change that.

Could we keep things vaguely on-topic?...

View attachment 773713

That's why I added, I didn't want to create a big debate, as we discussed in the other thread. I just love seeing these cars and it hits me in the feels.

homeforsummer · Oct 18, 2018

More ads! (Just a few):

I believe the Hijet isn't technically a kei (as sold in the UK, where that ad's from, at least) because of the engine (1.0 and 1.3 I think), but Japanese versions fit the regulations obviously. The ad reminds me very much of the old Citroen 2CV one ("faster than a Ferrari travelling 68mph" etc).

The "Legacy" appears to be a rebranded/retooled Daihatsu Mira converted to a pickup.