Jay Leno on the Japanese Icon That Has Appreciated the Most

It’s no secret that Japanese classics are having some time in the sun as younger enthusiasts slowly climb into the collector car market and bring with them the machines that marked the dreams of their youth. But which cars, among the dozens that seem to have reached bonafide collector status, has been the hottest over the past few years?

That was the question guiding the latest episode of Jay Leno’s Garage, in which Jay is joined by Donald Osborne, the CEO of the Audrain Museum in Newport, Rhode Island. Osborne joins Jay on camera with three certified legends of the Japanese automotive scene—a 1970 Datsun 240Z, A 1989 Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R, and a 1993 Mazda RX-7—to discuss the lore of each and what their values have done in the past five years.

Let’s begin with the Datsun. Both Jay and Donald are fans of this straight-six-powered sports car, although Jay mentions that he thinks the car has now “suffered from over-exposure,” owing in part to just how many of these things were sold in the U.S. While discussing a factory restoration program that Nissan undertook a few years ago, Osborne makes a fascinating note about the evolving perspective on these cars: “[Nissan] wanted to do something which was very new to them of course, which was to lean into their heritage … realizing that when they did that, a lot of people didn’t think about Japanese car manufacturers and heritage.”

Discussion continues as the two note how the 240Z was arguably the first Japanese car directly aimed at the American market, noting how much bigger it was than prior models, the similar styling to American icons such as the Ford Thunderbird, the Corvette, as well as a pseudo-American icon, the Jaguar XKE coupe.

Among the other interesting talking points they get into, Osborne sums up the significance of the 240Z as follows: “[The 240Z] proved that you could have something that was entertaining and original, and Japanese—words that you’d never put together before.”

From the Datsun, the discussion shifts over to the Mazda RX-7. The one seen here is a third-generation model, known colloquially as the FD RX-7. The RX-7’s party piece was undoubtedly its rotary engine, which was fascinating (“The only new engine idea in the twentieth century,” noted Leno) but not exactly a home run in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. It got worse mileage, consumed oil, and was prone to failure at its apex seals. However, that didn’t dull the charm of the car from an enthusiast’s perspective.

Here again, the discussion of the car’s history, the brand’s history, and initial reactions from both Leno and Osborne are worth loading up the video and listening to. Discussion about smooth power delivery and the overall balance of a package from horsepower to capability perspective—it’s all delightful conversation you and I have probably dabbled in from time to time.

Now, to the forbidden fruit: The Nissan Skyline GT-R R32. Osborne and Leno begin by touching on just how feverish the hunt for Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) machines had become by the 1990s, noting that “[The manufacturers] kept the good stuff at home, while the Americans got the watered-down versions.”

Osborne digs into the R32’s racing roots, as well as how these early Skylines didn’t fit into Nissan’s U.S. marketing strategy. “First of all, they didn’t race them here,” he notes, alluding to the challenges of selling such an expensive car in a place where it didn’t have a proven track record. “You think in 1989, ‘Why am I gonna pay $35,000 for a Nissan?’ What is it gonna do for me?”

After some discussion about car naming and how this car influenced the evolution of Nissan’s product lineup, Jay makes a rather bold claim: “I think this would be the equivalent to the 1964 [Pontiac] GTO in America … it was a huge engine by Japanese standards, this was a real high-performance car.”

As for which one has appreciated the most in the past five years? Jay takes a stab at the answer but allows Osborne to set the record straight: The Datsun 240Z has, according to Osborne, appreciated roughly 33 percent. The 1989 Skyline GT-R, meanwhile, has climbed a little more than 29 percent, Osborne says. And the winner, the Mazda RX-7, has appreciated around 60%.

These values track very closely to Hagerty’s own valuation data for #1 (concours) condition examples. We have, however, observed some variation in these rankings as you venture lower down into the market. Per Hagerty Price Guide editor Greg Ingold, if you take the average of conditions 1–4 for each of these cars over the last five years, the ranking becomes as follows:

1. Nissan Skyline GT-R R32 (+35.6%)
2. Mazda RX-7 FD (+31.5%)
3. Datsun 240Z (+27.5%)

The variance here makes sense. Remember, Osborne and Leno are talking about high-quality examples of each of the cars featured, and the spread of values over different conditions differs for each model.

However you want to look at it, there’s no denying the appeal of these Japanese classics to newer collectors and plenty of seasoned veterans alike. Just don’t let our favorite truth get lost in this discussion of numbers: The cars are best enjoyed when you actually drive them.