The golden days: traffic jams with classic Japanese tin

9 July, 2017

There’s so much classic Japanese tin slammed by traffic in this one we can’t even name them all. Cedrics, Celicas, Soarers, Corollas, Crowns, Citys, and everything else we’ve missed — all in pristine condition. Yep, this footage is pure bliss. But why are the roads so rammed? Well, it took place during Golden Week — one of the biggest tourism holidays in Japan — back in 1985, where crowds were flooding to the newly opened Tokyo Disneyland.

Surely there is some kind of irony that almost 35 years later we’re sitting here pining over what would have otherwise been everyday family haulers whisking mum, dad and the kids off to the theme park. If the same were to occur today, we can’t say we’d even make it inside Disneyland as we’d be too busy lurking the parking lot …

NZ Classic Car magazine, January/February 2026 issue 403, on sale now

Morris’ ground-breaking, world-beating, Minor
It was Britain’s biggest small car, and it got Britain mobile again.       Morris Motors celebrated its millionth Minor in December 1960, a car that defined the British motor industry, and was in production for 10 years alongside the iconic Mini of 1959.
Whakatane dentist John Twaddle has a passion for Morris Minors going back to 1982, and he still has his first example. There are now three ‘Morries’ in his garage. One, however, is quite special, a rare ‘Minor-Million’. 
One of just 350 made commemorating the millionth Morris Minor produced, the first British car to hit a million units, the well-rounded little Brit’ would end production in 1971with a tally of over 1.6 million units.
John finished his Minor Million six years ago, resplendent in lilac, its official factory colour. He calls it his ‘Minor Resurrection’, and it has won numerous awards.
This summer edition also comes with our annual FREE classic car calendar, a must for every garage wall.
Every issue comes with our FREE huge wall poster; this issue, our poster is of a couple of garage mates, a 1957 Ford Ranchero and a 1968 Lincoln Continental.