If you’re the type of JDM car nerd who scours the internet looking for yet another photo of a GT-R at Daikoku PA, this probably isn’t the site for you (though I’m sure I have something from there on an old hard drive somewhere…). There are literally a million foreign content creators making that kind of stuff for each other—like a hypebeast uroboros—while I try to spend my time looking for stuff that’s interesting. And seeing something like this is interesting.
I’m no stranger to seeing American cars on the streets of Japan, er… more accurately, I’m no stranger to seeing American cars on the streets of Tokyo. But I saw this 1982-1987 El Camino in a dull suburban area of Sapporo, in a countryside-adjacent neighborhood, while walking my kid to school.
Granted, if ever there was a Japanese city suited to our big ol’ Yank tanks, it’d be Sapporo. It’s a newer city, having been officially established in 1868, a couple years after which a bunch of Americans came in to help develop the city. So instead of the gnarly mazes where old meets new—like what you see in Tokyo or Osaka—Sapporo is a city built on a grid, with straight, wide streets. Change some of the signage around and the city itself could cosplay as downtown Dallas—or at least Vancouver.
With all that in mind, it should hopefully not come as a shock when I say that this last-gen El Camino didn’t feel large or out of place at all. Just look at how comfortably it fits in that parking space! And then take a gander at just how clean this thing is. Its stance is perfect, as are the chrome-dipped wheels and white-wall tires. While I didn’t get down on the ground to look at the undercarriage, this car appeared to be rust-free, which is rare for any car subject to Sapporo’s harsh winters.
Looking at that number plate, it looks like Japan officially designates the El Camino to be a truck, which is interesting, I guess. Also looking at that number plate… nice.
