![]() At one point there was even sponsorship of the Red Bull Formula One team. Nissan has poured big money into its luxury car brand, trusting in the worldwide success that Toyota has achieved with Lexus. Suzuki also makes the obligatory SUV, the good-looking Vitara, but we'd say an Ignis and a Jimny make a pretty good two-car garage. Witness the current Ignis hatchback - wedgy design, four-wheel-drive available - and the square lines - almost as if a child had drawn it - of the current generation of Jimny Jeep-style on/off roader. ![]() Motorcycles have long been Suzuki's bread-and-butter, but on four wheels a certain leftfield approach has always been the company's trademark. The marque that's often - and unjustly - forgotten among leading Japanese car brands. Innovation is key: the all-electric Honda E is a minimalist statement of contemporary urban design. A certain out-there spirit has always accompanied R-designated models: the Civic Type-R for instance is a bewinged brute that's seen significant success in the British Touring Car series. Senna famously helped with the development of the NS-X supercar, too. Motorcycles saw success at the notoriously demanding Isle of Man TT, while the company's Formula One engines powered the likes of Ayrton Senna to World Championships. Soichiro Honda founded his company with one eye on the road and the other on the track. There is out-there design here too: the LFA coupe was made of carbon fibre and capable of 150 mph. Every Lexus is a well-appointed, cosseting place to be with reliability to shame the more established luxury brands. Reliable premium luxury is what Mercedes do, after all, said the cynics, and who would want this new Lexus badge? Turns out more than 700,000 people worldwide do want one each year, and for good reason. No-one thought that a new luxury marque invented as essentially a money-spinning side hustle by Toyota would work. Mazda's design philosophy - known as Kodo - has won multiple awards for its swooping, minimalist approach. Not only that, but enthusiasts love Mazda's commitment to the traditional front engined/rear wheel open top sports car with multiple generations of the much-loved MX-5, broadly what British marques like MG could have done, only better and - of course - reliable. The Japanese car company that's always taken a slightly different route: witness its steadfast refusal to abandon the frequently unreliable, gas-guzzling speed of the rotary engine, in the wacky suicide-doored RX-8 for instance and even powering a Mazda Le Mans winner. The sought-after Nissan GT-R takes it to another level. Later 350Z and 370Z machines are brutally fast, the latest, simply called Nissan Z, recalls the 240Z. Nissan's so-called Z-cars - beginning with the now legendary 240Z in the late 1960s - have long been revered among petrol-heads for styling, speed and readiness to be modified. Oh, and did we mention the multiple Le Mans 24 hour wins? Nissanĭull, right? Great for filling with shopping/dogs/people - the British-produced Qashqai helped define the crossover genre, the Juke adds funk to that mix, the Micra is everyone's starter car - but little else. Who else would have built the frankly crazy GR Yaris, an entirely re-engineered, carbon-roofed version of Toyota's everyday hatchback that's basically a rally car for the road? Then there's the GR86, a hilarious-to-drive back-to-basics sports car and the Supra, a svelte continent-crushing coupe developed in conjunction with BMW. The secret truth about Toyota - beyond it's mind-boggling international sales figures, legendary reliability and pioneering hybrid technology - is that this is company run by car nuts. Subaru’s offer is all-terrain capability matched with rally-winning pedigree and the distinctive exhaust note that only a flat four engine can provide. Road going Impreza WRXs are still the darlings of the modded car crowd, while the company's long-running Outback and Forester estates are longtime favourites with those needing true off-road capabilities rather than a Chelsea tractor. Long a proponent of flat-four engines and four-wheel-drive, Subaru is also a multiple World Rally Champion with the Impreza, most notably with the great Scottish driver Colin McRae.
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