If you’re in the mood for a dose of sunshine, you’re in for a treat today. The Kyusha Club reconvened in Phoenix over the weekend, bringing together a strong mix of 2005-and-older vehicles to a meet-up downtown. I wasn’t able to attend, but my friends shared some pictures with me. It seems that Arizona-based car enthusiasts are eager to get back outside because the turnout was huge.
The event was centered around the Lawrence Building on Grant Street on October 25, and sponsors included Coffee Drunk, Discount Tire, and Tire Rack. I thought it would be fun to carve out a few of the vehicles in a specific color just to illustrate the caliber and variety of Japanese cars and other imports on display.
In order of model year, here are several vehicles that stood out.
1972 Mazda RX-2: Mazda’s 1.1-liter, twin-rotor, Wankel rotary-powered compact was available in affordable coupe and sedan formats, helping establish Mazda’s unique identity in North America.
1973 Datsun 240Z: Okay, it’s not bright yellow, but it’s cool! The Z-car stole market share from European sports cars by delivering similar performance at a fraction of the price. It was powered by a 2.4-liter inline-six.
1977 Toyota Cressida: The flagship sedan from the brand, long before Lexus became a thing. It was powered by a 2.6-liter inline-six.
1995 Honda Civic (EG): It’s getting crazy difficult to find any ‘90s Civic that hasn’t been modified to the point of no return. This was a tossable hatchback that became a popular platform for import-tuning.
1995 Suzuki Cappuccino: This Kei car was small in every dimension, including its 657cc turbocharged three-cylinder. It was a rear-wheel drive two-seater with a removable roof.
2000 Audi A4 (B5): The sedan that helped bring Audi back into the big leagues. It’s a design that also has aged well even a quarter-century later. It could be powered by a 1.8-liter turbocharged inline-four or a 2.8-liter V-6, often equipped with Audi’s Quattro all-wheel-drive system.
2000 Honda Civic Type R (EK9): Not sold in the United States, this Japanese-market, right-hand-drive hot hatch was powered by a 1.6-liter “B16B” DOHC inline-four and close-ratio five-speed manual.
2001 Acura Integra Type R (DC2): The holy grail for fans of high-revving Hondas from the late-1990s and early 2000s, this sports coupe was known for legendary handling and its robust B-series inline-four.
2004 Honda S2000: The S2000 was Honda’s flawless two-seat roadster known for its high-revving 2.2-liter VTEC inline-four (with 8,000-rpm redline) and six-speed manual.
2004 Porsche 911 GT3 CS (996): The Clubsport package (code M003) took this generation of the 911 to new track-ready heights with a bolt-in rear half-cage, six-point driver racing harness, fire extinguisher, and fire-retardant bucket seats.
As always, Kyusha Club brought out vivid all-stars of Japanese and European motoring! Keep tabs on the organization’s Instagram page for information about upcoming events.
