1970 Nissan Fairlady Z-4332

There is an entire world of exotic vintage Japanese racing machinery that is rarely, if ever, written about or discussed in The West. I’m principally talking about cars built exclusively for the Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) and more explicitly low-production automobiles that were built, and sometimes homologated, with a keen eye on competition. This month’s “Hidden Treasure” differs from the usual theme of my column in that I not only describe a single car but also an entire genre of relatively unknown automotive gems waiting to be discovered.

For the most part, JDM cars have remained unfamiliar to American and European collectors and racers for a number of reasons. By their very definition, JDM cars were never exported to the United States and Europe and have therefore been generally unknown to Westerners. These cars have also been difficult to source from Japan because of differences in language, culture, and business practices. In addition, these automobiles have not been seen competing at important historic racing events, have not been displayed at major concours, have scarcely been sold at public auction, and have not been marketed by known dealers and brokers. This does not mean that these cars are not important. It simply means that they have not yet become entirely important to us.