"Until the Japanese came along, we all assumed cars break down.." 😂

There's a saying in Australia, "If you want to visit The Outback, take a Land Rover. If you want to come back, take a Toyota."

"Until the Japanese came along we all had assumed cars break down."

I spat my drink.

:) My favorite quote: " Land Rovers's 90% share of Australia's off-road market falls to 2% after the introduction of Toyota Land Cruiser."

"Can you imagine ANYTHING worse?"
Yeah
British Leyland.

here in Australia they gave us heaters and adjustable seats without us having to pay more for the privilege. When we found they were reliable that was the icing on the cake. To this day our car enthusiasts will tell you if you want to minimise extravagant post warranty costs then buy Japanese over Europeans

Damn, this video is from 2000 and yet I thought it was from late 80s or 90s. I thought 2000!? But that's only recent. Then I realised 2000 was almost 20 years ago. Somebody hand me a paper bag.

"The current Nissan Skyline..." How time flies.

After suffering too long in a Morris Minor,  top speed 71 MPH, a bad joke of a heater [it was barely warm to the touch] and Lucas electrics,  I bought a 1969 Datsun 510.  Cruise all day at 80 MPH, front disc brakes, independent rear suspension, and actual working heating system, much appreciated here in Canada, I knew that Japan would eventually dominate the world car market.

The build quality on an early Lexus LS makes a 90's Mercedes look like a 70's Fiat

"What are we going to do today, Hirohito?" "Same thing we do every decade, Prime Minister. Try to take over the world!"

This is Clarkson at his best... informative, entertaining and funny with a compact writing and delivery style that has been copied by all kinds of presenters and lecturers. Certainly he can be a bit of an arse, but this and the Motoworld shows demonstrate how he got where he did.

Love how this goes from "Japan is legit" to "Japan copies everything from us and fails" in a minute flat. Vintage, trademark Clarkson.

I think the Silvia is a nice name for a car and it was a great car too

"It was aimed at the middle-aged family man, who knew all about the Japanese. Just a few years earlier, he'd helped them build a railway, through Burma."
All these years and I never caught that one, now I'm gasping for air through the laughter.

Now if Mitsubishi would just get their shit together again and resume making Evos...

This is more like "How Japan Took Over The World... And We Don't Want To Admit It"

Considering that Japan was pretty much medieval less than a century before WW2 (and underwent a rapid modernisation period before the turn of the 20th century), i think it's pretty impressive that they have an automotive industry at all. Most countries don't.
Good for them, i say. The Japanese have never been too proud to try and learn from others.

Italian aesthetics, German mechanics, Swedish safety, French suspension and Japanese reliability in the same car... Is that just a dream?

I have a Toyota Refrigerator. It's a 2006 with 300,002km on it (186,000 miles). I tell ya, the A/C in that car will freeze your face off, use with care.