5 of the Best JDM Cars Ever

At Rear View Prints we've always been a fan of different car cultures from around the world. It's the beauty in diversity that makes the automotive world so enchanting and special.

Whether you're into beautiful Italian sports cars or sleek and efficient German motors, there's always one style and culture you'll prefer over another. This brings us neatly to this blog topic, a selection of 5 of the best JDM cars ever made.

For the uninitiated amongst you, JDM stands for Japanese Domestic Market. Japanese culture has a long-held band of adoring 'fans' from trends and subcultures across the globe, and it's no different with vehicles.

The unique but endearing Japanese style shines through its automotive design in a variety of different ways. Below, we've picked out 5 examples of some of the best.

Honda NSX

1990 was the year Honda unleashed the NSX onto the market, making pretty sizeable waves in the process. Can you imagine a car more powerful than high-performance Ferrari models, just as good-looking, and cheaper in cost? This is the type of disruption Honda was going for when they manufactured the NSX, and it worked.

The knock-on effect of Honda's 'everyday sportscar' meant that Ferrari was forced to make their motors more reliable, easier to maintain, and generally more consumer-friendly. Its legacy made sports cars more accessible, and rightfully deserves a spot in the list of best ever JDM cars.

Nissan Skyline GT-R

The second and most notable iteration of the Nissan Skyline was produced in 1989 and had three models; the R32, R33, and R34.

It remains to this day one of the finest JDM cars to exist. Packed with state of the art technology for its time, the vehicle was born out of Nissan's thirst to return to motorsport in a big way. Jeremy Clarkson himself once called it "one of the best cars in the world". So, you know. Don't just take our word for it!

Nissan Silvia

It turns out 1989 was a pretty good year for Nissan. Not just the Skyline GT-R release, but the Silvia arrival too. Japan quickly voted the Silvia the car of the year award and its popularity has been ingrained ever since.

It also had an impact in other parts of automotive culture too, with drift racers modifying it to compete in the scene. When it comes to the best JDM cars, the Nissan Silvia certainly made an impact in more ways than one.

Toyota Supra MK4

Truth be told there are a few Supra models we could have put on this list, but after extensive discussion, we landed on the MK4. Not everyone will agree, and you can make plenty of cases for other models, but overall we think it's a well-deserving fixture in a list of the best JDM cars ever.

Its legacy is a strong one, and it's famously featured in a lot of pop culture, including The Fast and Furious movie franchise and the Gran Turismo video games.

Honda Civic EK9 Type-R

You knew the Civic was going to feature somehow, right? We landed on the EK9 Type-R for a few reasons. It was the first Civic model to be given the now famous Type-R designation for high performance.

It's one of the purest examples of Honda's car design philosophy. All round, the Civic EK9 Type-R has become iconic and a worthy fixture in a list of the best JDM cars ever made. As recently as 2020, one crisp model (with just over 1k on the odometer) sold for a sensational $73,000. Wow.

 

We hope you enjoyed our rundown of the best JDM cars. A lot of the vehicles featured on this list are available on our main website.

Please check it out for loads of fantastic automotive art prints. Furthermore, please make sure to give us a follow on Instagram, twitter, and a like on facebook. We'd love to hear from you and your opinions on this list!

Until next time, folks.