#Mazda 121

[carsthatnevermadeitetc]

Mazda 121, 1975. The piston-engined version of the RX-5 (Cosmo AP in Japan) was sold on international markets as the 121. It was powered by Mazda's 1769cc "VC" SOHC 4 cylinder engine. It was identical to its rotary-engined sibling part from badges and having steel wheels instead of alloy. In Japan it was called the Cosmo 1800. The 121 model name was recycled by Mazda from the late 1980s onwards for a range of small cars.

[pasparal]

Mazda 121 Cabrio Top From the 1987 sales brochure

[speedlimit15]

just got the (approx) year make and model correct on a car in midsomer murders that ive never seen before based solely on its color and styling. couldnt even see the insignia bc the shot was dark. 2000 mazda 121 btw

[japanesecarssince1947]

1996 Mazda 121 4-door Hatchback EU

My tumblr blogs:

www.tumblr.com/germancarssince1946 & www.tumblr.com/frenchcarssince1946 & www.tumblr.com/englishcarssince1946 & www.tumblr.com/italiancarssince1946 & www.tumblr.com/japanesecarssince1947 & www.tumblr.com/uscarssince1935 & www.tumblr.com/swedishcarssince1946

[lauvra]

I don't know how to talk about this, and have backspaced entire paragraphs. How do I convey what this man has done for me over the twelve years since I first heard his voice? A radio station had either played a clip of D.D. or the entire song, the presenters were talking about an artist with a voice in the league of Michael Jackson's, I remember thinking he sounded far better. My memory is hazy, I think I searched online for artists who sounded like Michael -- all I knew was that that voice was one I needed to hear again and somehow came upon the Youtube video for House of Balloons / Glass Table Girls and was won entirely over. Nobody sounded like him, I'd never heard records produced the way those songs were; with credit to Illangelo, they were darker than typical pop songs, more lyrically and structurally interesting while emotionally compelling and carnally unparallel to anything I'd heard. Plus: that voice and its range. I bought Trilogy not long after it was released in 2012, by then I was nineteen with Manic Panic red hair living in a city two hours from my hometown and I fucking thrashed that triple-disk compilation on drives from day through dusk 'til dawn in my beat up Mazda 121. I've religiously awaited each release since, considering every new video, single and album an event. There are no bands, no artists -- none -- that I trust so much as Abel Tesfaye. Of me he has made a true loyalist. He expanded, experimented yet that signature sound remained, and I remain in awe. Each album punctuates a specific time in my life and brings up all those old emotional ailments he'd sung me through. I wont run through each album, but After Hours and Dawn FM in particular came precisely when I needed them and could feel aligned most strongly. Very few musicians compel me to listen from start to finish but he is one (I have to insist you lay in a dark room and listen to Dawn FM all the way through, allow Jim Carrey's poetic interludes to send you to space). Two songs into this evening my eyes welled but I stopped myself, the desire to rush to a bathroom stall to cry came on because for so long this music had remained a sacredly intimate experience best enjoyed alone and looking around the stadium, I couldn't see a single person who looked devasted enough to stand beside. I decided to enjoy myself, grateful to be there especially with my most cherished friend, one of two who've known me as long as I've known this artist. He bought these tickets to surprise me a few weeks ago, I'd been cooking lasagna in the kitchen when he came home and looked at me astounded. This lasagna was kinda my specialty, takes hours to make and I hadn't cooked it in years. He seemed suspicious, asked me why I was making it, why today? He'd bought the tickets earlier and told me he was going to wait to tell me until I was nice to him (a joke, but probably not wholly). It sounds stupid, but I thanked God, because I really had done it as a gesture of good will; knowing I hadn't really done anything particularly nice in a while. I'd totally resigned myself to missing this show, felt OK with it, knowing I'd be devastated either way but I am so fucking grateful that I didn't have to. The people in my life are ridiculously wonderful, like, I know, WTF.

[warningsine]

DETROIT (AP) — Ford and Mazda are warning the owners of more than 475,000 older vehicles in the U.S. not to drive them because they have dangerous Takata air bag inflators that have not been replaced.

The warning issued Tuesday covers more than 374,000 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles from the 2004 through 2014 model years and nearly 83,000 Mazdas from the 2003 through 2015 model years.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the inflators can explode with too much force in a crash, blowing apart a metal canister and shooting fragments that can severely injure or kill people. All were recalled previously but repairs have not been completed.

Ford models covered by the warning include 2004 to 2011 Ranger pickups, 2005 through 2014 Mustangs, 2005 and 2006 Ford GTs, 2006 through 2012 Fusions and 2007 through 2010 Edge SUVs.

Affected Mercury and Lincoln models include the Milan, MKZ and Zephyr from 2006 through 2012, and the MKX from 2007 through 2010.

Mazdas covered by the warning are the 2004 to 2009 B-Series pickup, 2003 through 2013 Mazda 6, the 2006 and 2007 Speed6 and the 2004 through 2011 RX-8. Also included are the 2004 through 2006 MPV, the 2007 through 2012 CX-7 and the 2007 through 2015 CX-9.

The government says 27 people have been killed in the U.S. by faulty Takata inflators, which used volatile ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion to inflate air bags in a crash. The chemical can deteriorate over time when exposed to high temperatures and humidity. More than 400 people in the U.S. have been hurt.

Worldwide at least 35 people have been killed by Takata inflators in Malaysia, Australia and the U.S.

Potential for a dangerous malfunction led to the largest series of auto recalls in U.S. history, with at least 67 million Takata inflators involved. The U.S. government says many have not been repaired. About 100 million inflators have been recalled worldwide. The exploding air bags sent Takata into bankruptcy.

Owners can check to see if their vehicles are covered by going to the NHTSA website and keying in their vehicle identification or license plate numbers.Ford and Mazda also have recall websites.

If a vehicle has an unrepaired Takata inflator, owners should stop driving them and call a dealer to set up a repair appointment. Ford and Mazda are offering free towing or mobile repairs and loaner vehicles if necessary, NHTSA says.

“Even minor crashes can result in exploding Takata air bags that can kill or produce life-altering, gruesome injuries,” the agency said in a statement. “Older model year vehicles put their occupants at higher risk.”

Ford says more than 765,000 inflators in Ford and Lincoln vehicles worldwide should not be driven until the air bag inflators have been replaced. In the U.S., the company has made more than 121 million attempts to contact owners including emails, phone calls, text messages and visits to customer homes. The company says over 95% of its U.S. customers have had their inflators replaced.

Nissan, Honda, Stellantis, Ford, BMW and Toyota and Mazda have previously issued similar “do not drive” warnings for some of their vehicles equipped with Takata inflators.

[kleinwagenblog]

Mazda 121 und MX-5 erhalten H-Kennzeichen

Roadster-Liebe reloaded: Der nachgeschärfte Mazda MX-5 (NA) Er ist die Marken-Ikone und der meistverkaufte Roadster. Kein Wunder, steht der MX-5 doch seit 1989 für pures Fahrvergnügen durch perfekte Ausgewogenheit, Agilität und Leichtigkeit sowie jene vollkommene Einheit von Fahrer und Fahrzeug, die Mazda „Jinbai Ittai“ nennt, aber auch Effizient und Zuverlässigkeit. Das Ganze gekleidet in klassisches Zweisitzer-Design mit langer Motorhaube, kurzem Heck und Hinterradantrieb. Damit avancierte der Mazda MX-5 in erster Generation (NA) zum Urmaß und Vorbild für fast alle modernen offenen Sportwagen. 1994, fünf Jahre nach seinem Debüt, genoss der japanische Roadster weltweiten Kultstatus, wurde aber inzwischen von einer ganzen Meute an Rivalen verfolgt. Zeit für eine Evolution des Mazda MX-5 (NA). Read the full article

[honeymoononvenus]

GOD SAVE OUR SPLENDOUR

The older I get, the more often I find myself reminiscing back upon my teenage years. Years that were spent learning to smoke stolen cigarettes, hacking into our hair with kitchen scissors, and pushing the line to see just how much you could get away with to any and all authority in your life. I had a great group of mates by my side; a motley crue soldered together by our mutual love of music.  

So, naturally, one of the key moments for us always came around the easter holidays. A morning where we would set an alarm to get up in time to hear a very important announcement coming through the speakers of my shitty little Mazda 121. An announcement that would then transform into multiple persuasive powerpoints, begging Mum to let me go. When the persuasions worked, we would next save up every single dollar we made at whatever crappy part time job we could find, and make up an excuse as to why we had to have the morning off of school ( IE. Orthodontist apt, Nans birthday, lost the car keys.. ) 

We HAD to ensure that we were first in the virtual line, to nab up tickets to the hottest thing your little teenage brain could imagine. I am of course talking about Splendour in the Grass, the annual 3 day music festival that takes place in the hills of Byron Bay. 

( Facebook post from my 15 year old self & some pics of that time to sum it all up )

Splendour to us was more important than any other pivotal high school moment - more effort and thought was put into festival outfits than Grad Formal attire. And we were not alone in this, even for people who weren't 16 and didn't yet grasp just how big and grand the world was. 

When the time came for my third year at the festival, 2015, tickets sold out in record time - 35 minutes was all it took for ALL three day passes to be completely gone. It was the Golden ticket to wonkas factory, no matter if you were celebrating your win in a grade 10 math class, or a white-collar corporate office. 

It's been about 10 years since these times I'm recalling oh so fondly; and in that period, there has seemed to be a definite decline in the hype surrounding ALL Australian Music festivals, not just our beloved Splendour. This year, 2023, has been the first that Splendour has failed to sell out their tickets.

There's no cushioning it; Australian music festivals are dying. They are becoming an endangered species, and if we don't act now, I fear they will meet the same maker as the poor Tasmainian Tiger... EXTINCTION. Imagine a society where we no longer roll around muddy fields, eating overpriced dagwood dogs with a pair of broken sunnies you found on the ground earlier adorning your face. A world where there is no crying happy tears while you stand arm to arm with strangers as your favorite artist takes to the stage, no fighting over set lists thrown into the crowd when its over and then spending 38 minutes trying to find your friend group at your ( failed) designated meeting spot since no one has reception anyway. Oh the horror! We only know what we got when it's gone. 

Speaking of gone, let's just take a moment of silence as we take a walk through the Graveyard of Australian festivals since you're probably still thinking “no way, festivals are such a money maker! They'll never die! We need em!” Well, In the graveyard we first find well-memorialized legends like Big Day Out, Homebake, Sunbury pop and Soundwave, as well as those perhaps forgotten; Parklife, Future, and Good Vibrations. Lingering at the gates is Falls Fest, who have recently announced a Hiatus for 2023 ( which, not to scare anyone, but IS the same announcement that most of those now extinct festivals made…) 

But - Why so much death and decay? How do we keep our favorites out of the boneyard? 

There are a plethora of causes that could be speeding up the grim fate of our once beloved festivals. From cops, to promoters, to money, to punters themselves.

MONEY MONEY MONEY 

Let's start with the elephant in the room, the reason why the world goes around... MONEY. To be frank, it costs a shit load of money to host a music festival. From land costs, staff, stages, artists, toilets, water, security, transportation, insurance.. The list goes on. In 2022, The financial times came out with a mini documentary to try and contextualize for us punters just how much of a risk is associated with hosting something of this scale.

Point being, there are big dollars being put into this from the get go. And it NEEDS to happen for a festival to be successful, safe and enjoyable. We all know what happens when you cut corners financially ( ala Fyre Festival…).  And those costs are only going up. According to the Australia Festival Association, the industry was hit with a whopping 30% rise in supplier costs at the start of 2023, with insurance premiums increased by as much as 300%. 

So naturally, ticket prices gotta increase to adjust to the costs from the top end. And, also naturally, punters don't like this. The current cost of living crisis ( which at this point feels like a buzzword boogeyman), means that more people are struggling to make ends meet in their day to day life, let alone find left over dollars to splurge a few hundred bucks in one weekend. Live music feels like more of a luxury these days for rich folks and internet influencers, rather than an accessible, cultural experience. 

Another problem lies in the fact that a lot of the time, Australians' favorite musicians hardly ever come to this side of the world at all. 

When I put a call out to my instagram followers to tell me why they do or dont love festivals, I got “line ups are shit nowadays', a lot. As in, out of 20 people, 17 of them mentioned something along those lines. Personal tastes of my instagram followers aside, this is a sentiment that has been so long running that every year it gets turned into a meme. There is a definite opinion that line ups from festivals across the industry have been declining in value over the years. 

Australia is a super scarce place for bands to tour. The remoteness between capital cities, a small population density, and a hefty distance from the rest of the anglosphere make it so that unless you are a big name like Harry Styles or Taylor Swift, bringing a tour down under can lead to a band hemorrhaging money. So, unless it's a financially viable move, and side shows will be a guaranteed success, artists are going to obviously be reluctant to say yes to begin with. 

Funding from government bodies also play a monumental role, in everything to do with Australian music. Starting from the bottom up, less funding to LOCAL artists = less Australian artists getting exposure = not enough popularity to be billed on a line up to begin with. Hence the foreign artists being brought in, which again just fuels the vicious cycle and creates the expense of overseas talent to begin with. 

Looking at the top level, government grants and funding can make or break a festival. 

As a little contextualising exercise, post covid both the UK government and the AUS government had a designated covid fun to help get the arts, and specifically festivals back on their feet. The UK fund was 500 Million pounds - nearly 1 billion Australian dollars- with festivals each being allocated up to 6 million AUD. On our side of the pond, Australia's RISE fund was only 75 million AUD, with the top hand out being 1.5M. 

It's no wonder how UK festivals continue to thrive with such a brilliant worldwide reputation. Our government needs to put more attention and money into the arts if they wish to keep it alive. 

THE WAR ON MUSIC

Going back to my own personal experiences, I will never forget the first time I came face to face with a punter's most dreaded enemy.. Its not rain, nor low phone signal, not even fashion mishaps take the number one spot. A punters nightmare; the humble black lab, dressed up and trained to find your narcotics, get you kicked out of the festival before you can even SMELL a dagwood dog, and gift you with a court date as a little parting present. 

To keep this from growing too broad, let's focus on the favorite festival drug, MDMA, perhaps wider known as Ecstasy. Typically taken either in a pressed pill, soluble capsule, or sniffed straight up the nose out of a plastic baggy. MDMA was huge in the 90’s and early 2000’s, which coincided with the flourish of Australian music festivals, but this sentiment was happening worldwide. UK rave culture was at its peak, as was the US. Its easy to look back on those days with fond eyes, and try to continue them on into today. But the fact of the matter is that drugs have changed a lot in the past 20 years. 

Dangerously changed. Back in the 90’s, the amount of MDMA in a single capsule would sit at around 80mg per pill, retailing for $10-$15. Today, pills on the dark web drug exchange sites such as Dream Market claim to have strengths starting from 160mg to 250mg, with most averaging to around 220mg. One pill in todays market equals nearly 3 pills in the 90s, with little to no education happening around these huge increases in amounts, nor the culture that surrounds it. 

And unfortunately the amount of drugs inside isn't even the most sinister part; in order to keep costs low, suppliers and dealers ‘cut’ party drugs with other substances. 

A study published in International Journal of Drug Policy, where they tested various drugs at UK festival Garden Party, found that Pills were being laced with pharmaceuticals from painkillers to anti-malaria tablets, while being bulked up by concrete plaster. Drugs sold as MDMA actually turned out to be  n-ethylpentylone, a long lasting cathinone that causes psychosis, paranoia, insomnia, seizures, and even death.  It's undeniable that there is a drug problem in our country that goes hand in hand with live music and partying. There is no one right approach to stop the tragic and unnecessary deaths of young people from these drugs, but as is the truth in most cases, prevention is better than a cure. The NSW government seems to disagree. 

Following two deaths at Sydney's Defqon 1 festival in 2018, premier Gladys Berejiklian had this to say. “I'll be doing everything I can to make sure it never happens again… this is an unsafe event.” Subsequently, the Australia media coined the term ‘the war on music’ to describe the crackdowns of live music and festivals by the NSW government. 

The message was clear from the people up top. Instead of taking the lead from other countries like England, Europe and even our neighbors New Zealand, who all use drug education and safety as a means of prevention, they pushed harder to shut them down all together. Ms Berejiklian has reinstated that there is no such thing as safe drug use. “Anyone who advocates pill testing is giving the green light to drugs. That is absolutely unacceptable.” 

Pill testing is a harm reduction strategy, which allows a person in possession of drugs to safely and discreetly find out what is actually in it. And by other countries' accounts, it works, with health care workers actually calling it life saving. During a trial of pill testing in New Zealand, 68% of those surveyed reported they changed their behavior after using a drug checking service, with 87% claiming their knowledge of harm reduction had improved. 

Following this success, In 2021, New Zealand became the first country in the world to completely legalize pill testing at festivals, after health minister Andrew Little introduced a bill urging parliament to look at the reality of recreational drug use. Unlike Ms. Berejiklian’s view, Mr Little acknowledged the truth of the situation at hand:

 “The reality is… we know that some people who attend those festivals partake of recreational drugs and substances. They purchase those substances and sometimes they do not know exactly what they are getting.. And there are risks associated with that.” 

The sentiment rings the same within the Australian public. In a 2019 National Drug Strategy Household Survey, we found that 57% of Australians supported pill testing, while only 27% opposed. Furthermore, a 2016 survey found that 86.5% of respondents believed drug testing could help reduce harm by users, while a whopping 87.1% said they would likely use this service if it had been available.

Fortunately, Queensland isn't living in the 20th century ( surprising for a traditionally conservative hick state, I know ), and has taken the lead to set what is hopefully a triumphant precedent of drug safety within Australia. The Palaszczuk government has given the green light on pill testing within the state, following the success of trials done in Canberra. The time is still unannounced, but it seems to be a great step into the right direction, one that hopefully other states can follow with. 

Queensland has already approved the introduction of these services and the NSW Government will examine the issue at their upcoming Drugs Summit. Hear from harm minimisation experts including a live demonstration of the scientific equipment at Pill-Testing Is Here.

Ok - so drugs, and testing, and governemnt, and etc.. why are the police a threat to the future of festivals? 

Lets take popular doof Bohemian Beatfreaks experience as an example. In 2018, they were forced to move their location all together mere days before their 3 day festival was set to commence, after a huge spike in fees promoters are made to pay for mandatory police presence. Their new location was just north of the NSW/ QLD border, in attempt to out run the NSW cops all together. 

The festival took to Facebook with the annoucement, adding “It is truly a sad state of affairs when we have government allowing gambling advertising on the Sydney Opera House, whilst music and arts events are shut down by excessive police compliances and User Pay Police requests that are out of step with the nature of these events.”

The fees in question rose to $200,000, a 1900% increase from the previous year, where the police were asking for $10,000 for their presence. Rabbits Eat Lettuce faced a similar problem, even after running 5 successful incident free years, the police wanted to push to shut them down all together.

PROMOTORS & FRIENDS

Australia has always had a complicated relationship with authority. We tend to make a person holding authority prove themselves to be worthy of the title before they gain respect. The authority of music festivals are pretty heavily put onto the event promoters - which in a nutshell means scouting a location, obtaining permits, booking artists, finding vendors, public relations, and most of all, getting people to come to their event.

At the end of the day, promoters obviously need to make a buck, and there certaining has been a feeling amongst punters that they infact arent happy with just a buck, they want multiple bucks, and that this isnt in the spirit of festivals, that they ‘dont do it for the music like they did back in the day’ blah blah blah. 

It’s entirely possible that we are too quick to point our fingers at promoters when things go wrong, withdrawing respect and reveling in anarchy instead. With the pressure of finances and the government threatening to shut them down, we can't deny that their job is growing increasingly hard as time goes on. However, the people are only as good as its government, and maybe its time for a re-election.

Are promoters out of touch with what we want, instead focusing on self indulgence and the lining of their own pockets?

Maybe. Upon its death, the founder of Big Day Out Vivian Lees called promoter AJ Maddah a ‘magalomaniac’, accusing him of driving it into the ground to profit his own founded rival festival, Soundwave. 

Peter Noble’s Bluesfest-Sticky-Fingers-Fiasco saw local radio stations scramble to give away tickets in an effort to boost attendance, even if that meant free entry. 

Splendor in the Grass saw 2022 to be much of a disaster than they obviously would have hoped for. Being dubbed ‘Splendour in the Mud’, Byron Bay was hit with the most rain it had seen in 50 years- which led to a domino effect, each hit being more sinister than the other. 

15 hour waits to get into the campsite, an entire third of the festival being canceled before it even began, workers and volunteers quitting at a rapid rate after their tents began floating away while on shift, and the infamous bus line hellscape. . . It was nothing short of a horrific nightmare for all of the event organizers. 

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what one thing was the biggest domino that has most likely led to low ticket sales this year. All I know is 2023 feels like a redemption year for Splendour, and they’ll have to do their best to win back the punters.

PUNTERS

The search for the scapegoat is the easiest of all hunting expeditions. What if we, the punters, are simply the reason why festivals are falling faster than we can count them? 

When asking some people why live music was unappealing now, there was a massive sentiment that post covid, we have lost our sense of concert etiquette. People dont look out for one another like they used to in the mosh, instead feeling more entitled to be there, to have their own space, to push closer to the artist. 

Festivals used to be just as much about community as it was the music, and if we truly have lost that community then we have lost festivals.

Ok. Maybe we aren’t entirely to blame - as a punter myself, I can’t lie and say I don’t feel disappointed by the state of line ups now when I compare them to what they were 10 and 20 years ago.  I thought maybe my lack of excitement over announcements was just a reflection of my growing age and loss of touch with what is hot and hip. But join any comment section of a festival related post and you’ll find solidarity from all ages. 

Promoters will still try their best to sell their diamond studded turd, but without a festival culture that people can get so excited by they look past the lack of ‘good’ artists, it’s a fantasy to think it will sell out. 

WHERE TO FROM HERE?

Even after all my research, I don’t really know what the solution is. All we can do is what we have always done, have hope and try to remember why we do this in the first place. Harness that rush of excitement you felt when you saw your first ever live gig, drinking your first ever vodka redbull, waking up hungover in a stinking, muddy tent for the first time. Think about the generations below you who should also have the right to all of these fantastic firsts, and to feel embraced by the power of live music in masses. GOD SAVE OUR SPLENDOUR!!  

[taevisionceo]

📰 TAEVision Engineering 's Posts - Tue, Jun 06, 2023 TAEVision 3D Mechanical Design • Automotive Fashion 'Showroom in the Night Mazda 3' Mazda3 Sedan Blue • Parts AutoParts Aftermarket EibachSprings springs suspension chassis Steering Suspension • Fashion Music NY NYC Sunset in 'Statue of Liberty' 🗽 WANNA BE FAMOUS 'music in New York' 01 - Data 366 3D Design Applications Automotive Fashion 'Showroom in the Night Mazda 3' Mazda Motor Corp. Mazda3 Sedan Blue zoomzoom JimEllisMazda of Marietta Atlanta ▸ TAEVision Engineering's Post on Tumblr 02 - Data 121 Parts AutoParts Aftermarket Eibach Federn EibachSprings springs suspension ▸ TAEVision Engineering's Post on Tumblr 03 - Data 129 Parts AutoParts Aftermarket chassis ChassisParts... Steering and Suspension Parts ▸ TAEVision Engineering's Post on Tumblr 04 - Data 365 3D Design Applications Fashion NY NYC Sunset in 'Statue of Liberty' 🗽 Enlightening the World (2) New York Harbor Manhattan ▸ TAEVision Engineering's Post on Tumblr 05 - Data 385 3D Design Applications Fashion Music NY NYC 'WANNA BE FAMOUS' 'music in New York' Manhattan ▸ TAEVision Engineering's Post on Tumblr

  📰 I just updated my Pressfolio: TAEVision Mechanics's Online Portfolio - Global Data - Jun 06, 2023 ▸ TAEVision Mechanics's Online Portfolio (last update)

Global Data - Jun 06, 2023

[monday3econlive]

Revving Up Inflation: The Rising Cost of JDM Dreams

Austin Dao

ID: 80846623

Kenny Nguyen

ID: 73367340

Econ 20A -Monday 3:00 PM to 3:50 PM

Introduction

Since the birth of cars, the car market has increased in production and price. Consumers are able to buy cars brand new or used at dealerships and different marketplaces. However, in recent years, inflation and economic influence from the COVID-19 pandemic have dramatically increased the prices of used cars. One particular market of used cars that were affected heavily was the Japanese domestic market. Commonly known as JDM, the Japanese domestic market consists of car brands specifically produced with the intention of being sold in Japan. Due to car enthusiasts and rising popularity in the car community, many of these cars were imported and sold in the United States. Some were sold in the United States, but in a small quantity, causing them to be more desirable. Despite JDM cars already being in low supply, during the pandemic, prices exponentially increased.

As car enthusiasts ourselves, the hobby itself is expensive. When we were first introduced to the car scene, we learned of brands like Lexus, Nissan, Acura, Mazda, Honda, and Toyota. These brands had dominated the market in general in comparison to European and American brands. As highschool students, prices for many of the newer cars seemed unreachable. However, saving up to buy used JDM cars seemed realistic and possible. There were specific cars that caught our attention, like base Honda civic and preludes, Acura Integras, Nissan z’s, and Mazda miatas.

Market type

The Japanese domestic market for cars is considered an oligopoly. There are only a few big brands that offer similar products. As a result, these companies dominate the automobile scene in Japan. Due to its economic structure, imperfect competition exists as the few sellers have power over their product due to prices not being standardized.

Listing prices now vs before

An example for this demonstration, we decided to show the used car market on a 1993 Mazda RX-7 FD. Shown below are used car listings from 2010 for a fully modified RX-7 with a listing price of $31,000. Below that posting is another posting 12 years after that posting was created. In December 2022 a 1993 Mazda RX-7 FD without any modifications sold for $66,900 at auction. An increase of 121% between the price in 2010 and 2020. We did not have that much money when we started looking for cars, so we decided to look for cheaper jdm classics like the Honda Prelude.

A listing from 2017 for a 2001 Honda Prelude without any modifications was listed for only $2,995. Compared to a listing in 2023 for the same model, it was on Facebook listed for $7,500. Again, the prices have increased by around 150%. Personally, saving up for these cars was especially difficult, as the closer we got to our goal, the farther the reach as prices were changing and increasing every day. As soon as we reached our goal for the car, the price seemed to rise even higher. 

Scarcity

The concept of scarcity applies to the used JDM market, as the demand for the good is extremely greater than the supply of the good. As a result, prices have soared and stayed at good value through time despite most of these cars being decades old. Because there are a finite number of these JDM cars, with no more current production, and a high demand, the resale value of these cars are priced higher than other branded cars. 

Supply and Demand 

Looking for JDM car parts was also extremely difficult. Because most of the used JDM cars were produced so long ago, as well as halting production, supply was limited, not only for cars but parts too. Parts became more expensive and scarce. Searching for reasonable prices for parts was hard. Additionally, there have been a lot of influences towards JDM cars, especially in social media and entertainment.

One of the biggest influences was the movie, The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift, as the movie had portrayed a lot of modified JDM cars, allowing for the vehicles and their brands to be more mainstream. 

Covid Impact

In addition to the scarcity of JDM cars, the recent pandemic played a great role in inflating the prices of these vehicles. Because COVID-19 caused so many to social distance and be locked in their homes, less money was spent on outdoor dining and activities which resulted in people shifting their money towards new things. Many different markets declined and halted to a stop. Jobs were lost, resulting in economic recession. As a result, importing and exporting jdm cars became challenging. As more people stayed inside, the amount of time spent looking for new hobbies increased, evident in time spent on social media. Tiktok, specifically, was one of the biggest factors in introducing many to the car scene, especially that of JDM. Consumer behavior changed as a result, increasing the demand for a limited supply of JDM cars. This increase in demand caused used JDM car prices to soar, thus inflating the market. Jdm cars became desirable, and people across the country began to look for JDM cars and their essential car parts to modify and build. However, prices were at all time highs, especially due to the fact that the pandemic had closed many ports, delayed shipping, and increased the fees and costs for enthusiasts to obtain their dream cars.

Opportunity Cost and Trade-off

When saving up for car parts, there was an opportunity cost. By allocating money aside, I had less money for food and entertainment. Instead of putting away cash, I could have used it to go out or shop for other cheaper things. However, the tradeoff between buying the car part is greater to me than going out to eat. By saving up, it would make me feel more happy and accomplished about my purchase as I was able to discipline myself from spending it on other things.

Conclusion

The market for used JDM cars have risen in popularity which comes at a cost. While expanding car culture and the car community, increasing popularity and demand for such limited cars has increased prices for these cars, making them harder to obtain. As people ourselves who struggle to afford the inflating prices of JDM parts and vehicles, it makes it harder for younger generations to get into this hobby as it has become an expensive one.

Sources:

https://www.jdmbuysell.com/jdm-importing-tips/jdm-importing-statistics/ 

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/221980563722876/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3Abf4101bb-8f8b-44f1-9a0d-1b32dcae35a7 

https://north-carolina.buysellsearch.com/view/vehicles/cars/103004099/r%2Fsearch%2Fvehicles%2Fcars%3Ffilters%255Bmake%255D%255B%255D%3Dhonda%26filters%255Bmodel%255D%255B%255D%3Dprelude%26filters%255Bbody%255D%255B%255D%3Dcoupe%26l%3Dnorth-carolina%26sortby%3Drelevance%26p%3D1?img_idx=1 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1993-mazda-rx-7-216/ 

https://engineswapdepot.com/?p=1328

[hirocimacruiser]

Mazda 121 bubble cars. A group of these turned up at Japanese Car Day too late to get in the full carpark but i was near the road at the time so still got some pics.

[carsthatnevermadeitetc]

Autozam Revue, 1991. A badge-engineered version of the Mazda 121 sold through Mazda's Autozam dealership chain in Japan. The Revue came with a roll-back canvas roof, its unconventional, tall, rounded styling and short trunk made it very un-aerodynamic with a Cd of 0.40. After the demise of the Autozam brand it became the Mazda Revue for some markets.

[cars-are-life]

[seat-safety-switch]

Whenever I visit Europe, the locals always have the same question. No matter what language they speak, the faith they hold, or the country they live in, the question is always about pickup trucks. Do people in my land truly drive a large-engined pickup truck with nothing in the bed in order to go to work?

Yes, I tell them, opening my phone’s photo gallery app and clumsily scrolling through images to provide them with evidence, yes they do. At an awkward future point, I present them with a video of my neighbour driving a 5.2 litre V8 4x4 long-bed F-150 down the block to get the mail, because the government supermailbox is almost a full two houses away. In just this fifteen-second video, I tell them, the same amount of irreplaceable fossil fuels have been burned as are consumed by the entire nation of South Korea in six years.

Now, a lot of you who actually live here might question my patriotism and the veracity of my statements. It’s easy to understand why you would be so upset about it. Am I not slamming our unique way of life and the holy bounty that our God has bestowed upon us? Would I rather run and hide in European socialism, a land in which you cannot get extra-thick King Ranch leather upholstery packages for your utilitarian work vehicle? No, of course, because my own wasteful lifestyle is also dependent on the underused pickup truck.

For years, I had struggled mightily to find enough parking room for my many hoopties. It is nearly as difficult - or perhaps more difficult - to find a place to park for your average Malaise Era rusted-out body-on-frame American land barges. The only answer was to switch to smaller cars, but it rankled me that I would pay the same amount in order to park my diminutive Mazda 121 as my fellow citizens paid for their bus-sized Tonka toys.

It was only once I saw this video that I realized. That F-150 had a maximum towing weight of like a billion fucking pounds. In fact, I’m pretty sure my neighbour wouldn’t even notice if he was hauling my Mazda - it couldn’t possibly handle any worse, and the fuel economy would now be “dire” instead of “really awful.” With the help of some neighbourhood kids’ skate ramp, I would just park my car in the bed of his truck, freeing up valuable street room for more hoopties. And since both of our jobs were downtown, if I got up early enough I could just launch the car out of his bed as he drove past my office.

Everything worked out great for a few weeks, but then I got greedy. You see, all the money I had saved on parking and fuel was burning a hole in my pocket. So I went on eBay and I bought the biggest, baddest anti-lag system I could afford, in order to keep the lawnmower-sized turbo on my 121 spooled up at all times.

How was I supposed to know the King Ranch’s rear window is actually low-temperature plastic?

[japanesecarssince1947]

1987 Mazda 121

My tumblr-blogs:

www.tumblr.com/germancarssince1946 & www.tumblr.com/frenchcarssince1946 & www.tumblr.com/englishcarssince1946 & www.tumblr.com/italiancarssince1946 & www.tumblr.com/japanesecarssince1947 & www.tumblr.com/uscarssince1935

[radracer]

Mazda 121