showrooms, including the all-wheel-drive Subaru Impreza WRX STI and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution (or Evo). Soaring gas prices lead to high demand for hybrid and electric vehiclesīy the early 2000s additional JDM models had made the leap to U.S. The 1990s also saw substantial horsepower and chassis upgrades to existing U.S-market Japanese sports cars like the RX-7, Supra, and 300ZX, many of them now featuring twin-turbo engines and successfully competing in high-profile motorsports activities. The growing popularity of those American market magazines was conveniently timed with a wave of Japanese supercars coming to U.S showrooms, such as the all-new Honda NSX (badged as an Acura in the U.S.) and Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4. The Acura Integra, Honda Civic, Mitsubishi Eclipse, and Nissan 240SX were among the most common models featured in these magazines. But the real pivot toward JDM vehicles came in the 1990s, when magazines like Sport Compact Car and Super Street focused on the growing enthusiasm for Japanese “tuner cars” and the enthusiast culture forming around them. That started to change in the 1980s, as sporty two-door coupes like the Honda Prelude, Mazda RX-7, Nissan 240SX, and Toyota Supra and Celica joined the Nissan 300ZX in U.S.
The term JDM originally represented cars sold primarily in Japan, but it has come to mean any high-performance Japanese model, where a new or used car sold exclusively in Japan or in multiple global markets, including the U.S.
That’s not to say Japan’s performance car industry didn’t exist before 1990, but the average American’s awareness of Japanese domestic market models (or JDM cars) was minimal, at best. (iSeeCars) – From the perspective of USA-based car enthusiasts, performance-oriented Japanese cars have gone from obscure to mainstream over the past 30 years.
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