The story I heard is that post war Japan had local car manufacturing but there were no European dealers there, so if you wanted to show off your money and status you had to import a car from the USA. This then became a thing and stuck ever since
Damn I had no idea LHD was so prevalent in Japan. The only car I noticed being LHD was a current gen Dodge Challenger, hard to miss being such a boat in the streets of Japan! 😂
Australian delivered E34 models also have the brake booster on the left side. Lots of compromises for RHD variants on both old and new cars. The Australian delivered Ford Mustang has the hood latch on the left side. It would be nice if Australia allowed new LHD cars like Japan does.
I somewhat agree although our infrastructure is not setup for LHD. If you have ever driven LHD in Australia you’ll realise some drawbacks. For example trying to overtake on a single lane road you can’t see around the car to check that it’s clear to overtake.
@@JayDM2311 For sure. I’ve driven a few LHD Corvettes. But they’re pretty small so easy to place the car in the right spot. Larger cars would take allot of practice. And getting out to get a parking ticket would be annoying.
@@JeremiahStephen-mm3icdon't get me started on Peugeot 206's LHD design wiper BTW it's legal in Indonesia to buy one but very hard. Cybertruck is one of them, quality wise is meh, but it shows you actually can buy LHD in Indonesia (driving it is legal, military and embassies did it)
Plenty of 20-25 year old BMWs and Mercs that i see here nowadays are actually secondhand imports from japan. That's how i sorta found out about the LHD situation over there.
I find it a bit sad that the Japanese see European cars and being "prestigious", when their local cars are so much better and more reliable in almost all cases. I have always found the UK example to be stranger, with the steering wheel on the _right_ side and the control stalks reversed! This seems to have been caused by European laziness in their "prestigious" cars (you mentioned the brake booster in the BM, but they are too lazy to even change the side of their parking lights!) but has led to the strange situation where Japanese manufacturers make cars for that market that have the the indicator and wiper stalks reversed as well!
I tend to agree. I love european cars I have owned, driven and continue to spend alot of time around them at my mates shop that specialises in them. However, I tend to see Japanese cars as superior in almost every tangible metric lol. Regarding RHD models of euro cars, as you said even today they lack care and attention to the RHD conversion, probably always better to get the local model (as many Japanese do). TLDR I love my euros but they are painful to own and are often compromised in more ways than one.
The story I heard is that post war Japan had local car manufacturing but there were no European dealers there, so if you wanted to show off your money and status you had to import a car from the USA. This then became a thing and stuck ever since
Damn I had no idea LHD was so prevalent in Japan.
The only car I noticed being LHD was a current gen Dodge Challenger, hard to miss being such a boat in the streets of Japan! 😂
Australian delivered E34 models also have the brake booster on the left side.
Lots of compromises for RHD variants on both old and new cars. The Australian delivered Ford Mustang has the hood latch on the left side.
It would be nice if Australia allowed new LHD cars like Japan does.
I somewhat agree although our infrastructure is not setup for LHD. If you have ever driven LHD in Australia you’ll realise some drawbacks. For example trying to overtake on a single lane road you can’t see around the car to check that it’s clear to overtake.
@@JayDM2311 For sure. I’ve driven a few LHD Corvettes. But they’re pretty small so easy to place the car in the right spot. Larger cars would take allot of practice. And getting out to get a parking ticket would be annoying.
Yep, we got a lot of those here where I live in Malaysia. Even the brand new Ford Ranger has the bonnet/ hood latch for the LHD cars.
@@JeremiahStephen-mm3icdon't get me started on Peugeot 206's LHD design wiper
BTW it's legal in Indonesia to buy one but very hard. Cybertruck is one of them, quality wise is meh, but it shows you actually can buy LHD in Indonesia (driving it is legal, military and embassies did it)
Plenty of 20-25 year old BMWs and Mercs that i see here nowadays are actually secondhand imports from japan. That's how i sorta found out about the LHD situation over there.
Yea it's become quite common to buy them there, since they are often low mileage and very well maintained.
Just got back from JP and I did notice so many LHD too! Pique my interest. It’s a head turner for sure, especially most of LHD are on luxury cars.
The shut up Elon 😂
Inb4 Elon says otherwise lol
Camaros were also in Japan still LHD too.
hehe I loved this!!
I find it a bit sad that the Japanese see European cars and being "prestigious", when their local cars are so much better and more reliable in almost all cases. I have always found the UK example to be stranger, with the steering wheel on the _right_ side and the control stalks reversed! This seems to have been caused by European laziness in their "prestigious" cars (you mentioned the brake booster in the BM, but they are too lazy to even change the side of their parking lights!) but has led to the strange situation where Japanese manufacturers make cars for that market that have the the indicator and wiper stalks reversed as well!
I tend to agree. I love european cars I have owned, driven and continue to spend alot of time around them at my mates shop that specialises in them. However, I tend to see Japanese cars as superior in almost every tangible metric lol. Regarding RHD models of euro cars, as you said even today they lack care and attention to the RHD conversion, probably always better to get the local model (as many Japanese do). TLDR I love my euros but they are painful to own and are often compromised in more ways than one.
No way bro said porsche aint prestigious, get the fuck out bro, through the window, now!