Back in 1979 my friend bought one of the first Honda Civics to be sold in America......it was so small and so cute.....I found it charming and was very taken it with it.......Eventually I owned both a Toyota and a Honda Accord, but they were nothing like that cute little Honda Civic. I was a hippie back then and really didn't think much about jobs at all.

My Father’s first new car was a 1971 Toyota Corona Mark II. He purchased it to replace an old Fiat just days after my twin brother and I were born. He was a broke college student who needed an affordable and reliable car with a back seat – for the two new passengers. I have fond childhood memories of countless miles in the backseat of that early Toyota. We eventually moved to a rural area, and all of my friends would comment, ‘your dad drives that “foreign” car’. In the mid 1970s, Japenese cars were very foreign in rural Kentucky.

In 1986 I purchased a Metalic Blue Mazda RX7 after reading an article about the race car driver Jonny Rutherfort taking one out on the track and getting it up to 168mph with just a header modification, and i have to say that no car i've have owned can compare with the Mazda for pure fun and performance. It is in my driveway right now, not running, and i am trying to convince my son to let me restore it as his first car. I can not make myself get rid of it! I currently drive a late model BMW, but that Mazda makes me smile everytime I look at it.

My very first car was a 1982 Mazda GLC and ever since then I alsways bought Japanese. Over a 20 year period I then purchesed 3 Toyota MR2's which still runs perfect almost 20 years later. I have owned american cars, but they are always of very poor quality and very ugly. The US car designers must improve their design and quality if they want to compete with Japan and the rest of the world. It may take away more US jobs, but hopefully the US car manufacturers will learn from this mistake. Stop thinking of the bottom line and start building quality!!!!

My first Japanese car was a brand new 1969 Datsun 510 -- a fun little car that was a joy to drive: responsive and agile and nothing like the "mushy" American cars of the time. We only sold it because our growing family could no longer fit. Later, I bought a 3-year-old 1989 Honda Accord, which I sold (with much sadness) 14 years and 240,000 miles later. Its replacement? A 2007 Camry Hybrid.

Perhaps at the beginning, I might have had some misgivings about American jobs, but now I think as many "Japanese" cars are built in America as in Japan. The success of Japanese vehicles have dragged their American counterparts -- kicking and screaming -- out of the past and into the present. Whether it be handling, safety features, reliability, fuel economy, or just plain style, the Japanese manufacturers have led the way. Detroit needs to get its head out of the past and think beyond yesterday.

Actually, I've never owned an American car, now that I think about it: after the Datsun 510, there was a beloved Volvo station wagon (10 years of joy), a cursed Audi 5000, the Accord, and now the Camry. Except for the Audi (which really was evil), all have been wonderful cars.

My First Japanese Car Was A 1970 Datsun 510 two door sedan. I purchased the car used in 1973,and I still own It. Today I Have 325,000 Miles on The Car,and Im Currently Having It Fully Restored. I Have Never Owned anything as trouble free as this car.I Know The Japanese in The 1970's Wanted To Prove That They Could Build Anything As Good,Or Better Than anyone In The world, And This Little Car Has Proven That To Me. Thanks Mike Anderson

My first Japanese car was a 1976 Datsun B210. I bought it because of the gas wars in the mid-70s, and have owned only Japanese cars since--2 Camrys, and now a Honda van and Acura RSX. Their quality can't be matched by anything that comes out of Detroit.

In 1958, when I was 10 and my father was in the Navy, we brought our 1950 Dodge on a converted troop ship to Japan. I could stand up in the back seat without touching my head. The four of us in my family took a taxi in Sasebo from the train station to a hotel. We were stunned that 4 people (3 were tall) could fit in it, let alone all of our luggage!
When I grew up, I longed for the US to make small cars so I could buy them. They didn't and I have yet to buy a US car, which I would prefer. I now own a Toyota Prius, and love it. Come on, USA, you can do this!!

My first Japanese car was a 1979 Mazda GLC that I got when my 64 Ford Galaxy literally fell apart. It was really a "Great Little Car", although one nephew called my "goofy little car".It was a tiny car that didn't feel like one, when I test drove it I didn't feel like I was in a small car, even though I was used to the Galaxy. I had it nearly 14 years. It took me from Iowa to Bar Harbor Maine, to Paris, Texas, and all points in between, getting over 50mpg on the highway. I carried a 17 foot aluminum canoe on top down many dirt roads to get to the water. If it hadn't simply just worn out I would still have it. I now have it's decendent, a 2003 Protege5

In 1999 we test drove a green and then purchased our first japanese car, a black 1999 Mazda Millenia S with the Miller Cycle engine. When we test drove the first car at the dealer we were very impressed with the acceleration. When our car was delivered, we found that it hesitated whenever we enter the interstate. Several trips to the dealer produced nothing but disappointment.

Last year the engine started running very rough at 86,000 miles. The dealer found low compression in two cylinders. He said that there was a hole in two of the pistons. The dealer would not contact Mazda on our behalf. We asked the dealer if this was normal and were were told, yes, we've seen this. I had a hard time believig the diagnosis. The dealer wanted $8500 to drop in a new engine. We took the Mazda to an engine shop and they rebuilt it for $4000.

The engine shop found that when the engine was assembled at the factory the gears in the overhead cams were not properly aligned. One gear was off a tooth. The problem, burned valves. We contacted both Mazda and the dealer. Neither would step up and do anything to ease the pain.

That Mazda was our first and LAST foreign car. Our company vehicles are Chevy trucks. Great service, great performance, great reliability. We buy American and will continue to buy American.

In 1978 after 10 years of owning 1950's era GMC and Chevy six cylinder trucks, a 1962 Chevy Nova wagon and a 1959 VW bug I purchased a 1900cc 4 speed 1970 Toyota Corona Mark II station wagon with 90,000 miles on it.

The GM products I owned were good for 100,000 miles during that era with acceptable maintenence costs. The VW handled a lot better, shifted a lot better and you couldn't get it stuck in the sand, snow or mud. The VW however required a lot of engine maintenance, a new engine at 100,000 miles but other than that it was good for 200,000 miles if you didn't freeze to death driving over the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the winter (not much heat from an air cooled engine). When I retired the Toyota at 180,000 miles in 1983 it had required far fewer replacement parts than the GM or VW products although the ignition points needed adjusting every 3,000 miles and it required premium leaded fuel which fouled the plugs every 6,000 miles. From 1975 model year on, Toyotas used regular unleaded fuel and had electronic ignitions which cut the maintenance down. I drove 1980s and 1990s era Toyota and Mazda cars and trucks for 150,000 to 250,000 with only alternator, starter and radiator replacements. Even carbureators and clutches lasted more than 250,000 miles.

My first Japanese car was a 1967 Datsun I bought for $200 in 1971. I fixed the dent and broken tail light myself, drove it 30,000 miles, and sold it for $700 to the Presbyterian minister for his daughter to take to college. It was a wonderful car; roomy (boxy), relatively powerful, comfortable, and dependable. Ever since then I have waited for Detroit to catch up to the Japanese cars. I make a game of noting the brands of cars that are broken down on the highway or have malfunctioning lights. Most of the failures are General Motors vehicles, with Ford and Chrysler products following. The rare Japanese car is so old it belongs in a museum.

Yes, I was concerned about American jobs, but I knew that the problem was management at the American manufacturers, so we deserved what we got. My grandfather was a contemporary of Henry Ford, working in Detroit as an inventer in the earliest days of the automobile. To see how the American companies destroyed the car industry was painful. Not only did they design and build sorry cars, but they built them in other countries, with no concern for being "American".

I buy the best car for the money, so my family and I drive a 2004 Acura MDX, a 2007 Acura MDX, a 1998 Lexus LS400, a 2004 Lexus LS460, and a 2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid.

As a truck driver,making deliverys to Ford and Chrysler Plants,in the 70's and 80' most of the dashboards and electronics ,engines,(mitsubishi)was of japanese origin,so,were is the "All American" car?

I bought my first Toyota in 1987. It was a used 1994 Corolla. From the first day I enjoyed the car like none before it. Since I was young I always wanted a good, reliable small car. The American builders would not build one. I had the best luck with that car. Very few repairs until I replaced it with another Corolla in 1997. This was another used car, three years old with 38K miles on it. Today I continue to drive that same car with 267K miles on it and incredibly few repairs. At this time I believe this car will take me over 300K. With this kind of reliability, why would I buy anything else?

The piece on Toyota's long climb from the 1930's learning of Henry Ford's revolutionary production line to top of the heap with World War II sandwiched in between is eerily synonomous
to the path of Communist China. They have sent students to the US for generations all tasked with learning our engineering and organization. Beyond that are the spies actively inserted in Colleges, Industries and elsewhere. Written manifestos broadcast goals of being number one. Their navy is full forward to be number one. Their many automobile manufacturers are set for introduction to the continental U.S. Will fifty years more put them beyond Toyota?

In 1982, my wife and I flew to Sacramento to do some hiking in the High Sierra and Death Valley. At the time there was a car rental special offering a Chevrolet for $100 for a week's rental, unlimited mileage. When we arrived, the rental agency was out of Chevrolets, but it had a Honda. Not having any made-in-Japan automobile experiences, I queried whether the car was new. The agent said it was and I decided that it was worth the risk. It was one of life's momentous decisions. With minutes of driving, I had the sensation that I had stepped into an alternative universe. It ran so perfectly and quietly that I decided to dump my Big Three vehicle as soon as possible and buy a Japanese vehicle. Using Consumer Reports, I limited my choice to a Honda or Toyota. In early 1984 I ordered a Toyota Corolla. Today, at 515,250 miles, it still is one of the great pleasures of life. In 2001, my experiences with the Corolla gave rise to my website: www.autooninfo.net

I have only foggy memories of the first Japanese car my family owned, a Datsun Cedric in the late 60s. See, I grew up in Honduras, and in Central America almost all vehicles at the time were Japanese, mainly because they were cheaper than U.S. and European cars, but also because even at that early stage people had figured out how reliable and well-built they were. Ironically, today the tables have turned and even though Japanese cars are still very common in Honduras, you now find a lot more U.S. Korean, and even European vehicles because now *they* are cheaper, though still not as realiable as the Japanese.

Alexis Aguilar

In 1969, for a class assignment, we had to do an advertising campaign. We chose a Subaru, which was pretty much a glorified tin can in those days. We packed 15 kids in the car, drove up honking, and each of us jumped out with an ad line. Mine was "it leaves you breastless!" Hard to believe that "Made in Japan" really meant it was junk at that time.

I bought a used Subaru Justy because the price was right. I loved that car and drove it into the ground. But when it was gone, and my husband I needed a new car, we decided to go American, because again, the price was right, and American car makers have really done a lot in recent years to make their products compatible with those dominant Japanese brands. We went with Ford Focus, and have been really happy-- it's been reliable and fun to drive. And also cost less than the Japanese cars who demand a higher price because of the positive association with the reliability and quality of their cars.

I bought a Honda civic in 1972 for 1800 cash new. It was a great car, got about 50 miles to a gallon.