Who ever thinks to buy a Left Hand Drive (LHD) car from Japan?
Cars made in Japan for the Japanese market have the steering wheel on the right, right? Right. And you certainly can’t have both.
But Right Hand Drive (RHD) cars are not the only thing we drive here in Japan. There are plenty of LHD cars on the road here, too.
Why? Well, for many people in Japan there is a certain specialness, and certain element of posh attached to having a foreign car with that is LHD. I’ve even seen more classic British sports cars with the wheel on the left (likely re-imported from the USA) on the roads here than with the wheel on the right; and yet there were many many made with the steering wheel on the right, like it is in Britain. They’re British cars after all, right?
Right.
But that’s got nothing to do with it.
And then the other reason why we have so many LHD cars in Japan is that there are just so many great European cars that only ever came out in Left Hand Drive. Motoring fans here want those cars and LHD is not going to stand in their way of getting the European car of their dreams.
And so Left Hand Drive cars from Japan break down into, roughly, the following categories:
The LHD British classics that I have already mentioned; cars like the MGA and the MGB, Triumph Spitfires and Triumph TR3s.
The Italian sports cars like the FIAT Barchetta, Alfa Romeo Giulietta, the classic Julia, the Alfa Romeo 147, the 156, 156 Sport Wagon, 159 and 159 Sport Wagon, and, of course, the best of them all: the Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce.
Also the Lancia Delta Integrale. All are to be found used and in good shape in Japan in Left Hand Drive.
And then we’ve got the real treasures of the LHD European cars from Japan, The Germans. Cars like:
BMW: Both classic and newer such as 1 Series, 2 Series, 3 Series (lots available here),
5 Series (again, lots available); the M3, M5 and M6 are well represented on the Japanese used car market, as are the Z3 roadsters.
Alpina: B3, B5, B6, B7 and B10, and D3 and D5.
Mercedes Benz: A-Class, B-Class, C-Class, C-Class Station Wagons, the great off roader G-Class, M-Class and the grand S-Class. The Sporty CLK-Class cars in both convertible and hard top, with Kompressor or with NA engines; the very powerful CLS-Class and the AMG versions can be found in Japan in Left Hand Drive layout.
And I have not even mentioned the LHD Audis that we have scored here in Japan for customers in a number of countries, including Germany!
Cars like the Audi A3, A5, A6, and A6 Avant; TT Coupes and TT Roadsters.
And what about Porsche? Yes, indeed. LHD Porsche 911s are one of our best sellers here at Japan Car Direct. Does a week go by that we don’t find a good 911 for someone in Poland, Germany, Taiwan, Canada, or the US? No. The used 911 is one of the most steady sellers for us.
Not only are all these Left Hand Drive cars available used for direct import from Japan, but they are in very good shape because their Japanese owners have truly treasured them. These cars are machines that fulfill dreams here and they are treated right.
Let me show you a few of the Left Hand Drive European cars that we have exported from Japan in recent days (and see our Exported Vehicles page here on the site, too):
This mean and powerful 2011 AMG CLS 63.
This very fine and understated 2000 BMW M5.
This clean and gorgeous 1988 Alpina B3 2.7.
This sprightly 1995 Lancia Delta Integrale.
And many others that you can find on our Sold and Exported page.
So, yes, you can buy Left Hand Drive cars from Japan, and very nice ones, I must say, too.
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