We have previously looked at factory heritage programs available from many European automakers (“Collecting Thoughts,” April 2023). From Aston Martin to Porsche, owners can send their collector cars back to the mothership for verification and, in some cases, factory restoration. Now as Japanese collector cars increase in value, a similar-yet-distinct set of services are becoming available from these brands. However, due to a variety of factors, these programs differ from such well-known offerings as Ferrari Classiche certification or Porsche Classic’s Technical Certificate. Japanese automakers offer specific restoration and renovation services for their most collectible cars, but these programs are currently limited […]
We have previously looked at factory heritage programs available from many European automakers (“Collecting Thoughts,” April 2023). From Aston Martin to Porsche, owners can send their collector cars back to the mothership for verification and, in some cases, factory restoration. Now as Japanese collector cars increase in value, a similar-yet-distinct set of services are becoming available from these brands. However, due to a variety of factors, these programs differ from such well-known offerings as Ferrari Classiche certification or Porsche Classic’s Technical Certificate.
Japanese automakers offer specific restoration and renovation services for their most collectible cars, but these programs are currently limited to Japanese Domestic Market cars. Primarily, they are designed to allow older sports cars to pass Japan’s rigorous vehicle-inspection requirements.
Keeping a classic car street-legal in Japan is no easy feat. The annual inspection includes a strict emissions test as well as an exhaust-noise measurement. The speedometer is tested for accuracy, and if it’s not accurate, you can’t drive, making tire- and wheel-size changes illegal. The inspectors scrutinize the car’s suspension, and corrosion or worn bushings will trigger a failure. Even the seats and dashboard have to be in as-new condition. These tests are why many Japanese cars are junked or exported after just a few years. This is also why the focus of factory restoration programs is limited to the most desirable home-market cars owned by Japanese collectors.
However, Japanese automakers are also responding to the collector market with expanding parts programs for popular decades-old collectible models. None of these seem quite as expansive as offerings from, say, the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center, but here’s a brief rundown of each automaker’s Kaishū and parts programs.
Honda
Honda has an established factory refresh program in Japan for the first-generation NSX (sold in North America under the Acura brand). In 2020, the company hinted that an American version of the program might be forthcoming:
“They have a refresh center at Motegi,” said John Watts, Acura’s senior manager of the NSX product line, in 2020. “That is where you can take your first-generation NSX, but this is available only for residents of Japan and people who have a J-spec car. Currently, the wait time to get your car evaluated is about 12 months. It’s running at full capacity. We’d like to open a conversation about the interest in having something like that available here in the United States for first-gen owners.”
The costs of factory refurbishment were high in 2020 and would presumably be higher now. For example, an engine overhaul was priced at $23,600, and a suspension refresh cost $24,033. A repaint was listed at $38,000.
While the NSX refresh program has yet to arrive in North America, Honda does offer a classic-parts program for the 1999–2009 S2000 sports car through honda.co.jp, its Japanese website.
Mazda
Mazda offers factory restoration services for the third-generation (FD) RX-7 and first-generation (NA) MX-5 Miata in Japan. American buyers who manage to get a hold of a JDM Miata or RX-7 could theoretically ship the car to Japan for restoration or buy a car in Japan for restoration before exporting it to North America. For the American market, Mazda offers a comprehensive Miata parts catalog, as well as parts for the second- and third-generation RX-7, through the company’s Japanese website, mazda.co.jp.
If you’re looking for OEM performance parts, Mazda Motorsports (formerly Mazdaspeed) offers some parts for a wide variety of cars from the Mazda2 and Protege through engine refresh parts for early RX-7 12A rotary engines. There are also many Miata parts, but those are heavily oriented towards Spec Miata and third-gen SMX-class competition pieces.
Nissan/NISMO
Nissan has a comprehensive factory restoration program for the 1989–94 third-generation (R32) and 1995–98 fourth-generation (R33) Skyline GT-R at its factory in Ōmori. When the program was established in 2020, the cost for a full bare-metal restoration was over $400,000, once you got the car to NISMO.
The NISMO heritage parts program also includes the later 1999–2002 fifth-generation (R34) GT-R, available through nismo.co.jp. At this time, there’s no specific parts program for popular classic Nissan/Datsun models such as the 240Z, 510 or the ZX line.
Toyota Gazoo Racing
By far the most wide-ranging classic-parts program among Japanese automakers belongs to Toyota, through its Gazoo Racing subsidiary. Toyota offers parts for select collectible models back to the 1967–70 2000GT. Additional vehicles in Toyota’s GR Heritage parts program include the A60- and A70-generation Toyota Supra, the AE86 Corolla, and the 40-, 60-, 70- and 80-series Land Cruisers. It’s not a complete parts availability by any means, but if you needed to rebuild the transmission, Toyota’s got you covered. Notably, the GR website (toyotagazooracing.com/jp/gr/heritage) takes requests for new parts lines.
More recently, Toyota rolled out a renovation program for the Japanese-market 2012–21 Toyota 86. Marketed as the Scion FR-S, Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ in America, the 86 occupies a similar niche to the Mazda Miata, and Toyota is getting ahead of the restoration game with this popular sports car. The program has the idiosyncratic name of 86Re:Project and offers a whole menu of refurbishment services for the 86, including a certification course with test drivers and a printed certificate of condition. Restoration can be performed at any GR Garage location in Japan. ♦
