Interview with the founder of the Japanese Car Museum, Igor Reitzman

How did the idea of creating the Japanese Car Museum come about?

The idea came completely spontaneously. I was working at a Mercedes-Benz dealership and was bored. I wanted to visit some themed car show, event or museum. Since I have been passionate about cars since childhood and have been in the car scene for a long time, I wanted something new. At that time I already owned a Japanese car — a Toyota Crown (body 151), and I wanted to see other Japanese cars. I knew very little about them and began looking for places dedicated to the Japanese automotive industry. As a result, I couldn't find such museums not only in Russia, but in other countries either. That is how the idea of creating a museum dedicated to the Japanese automotive industry was born. Later we found partners and investors who helped with the initial funding. Roughly speaking, it wasn't really investments but borrowed money that made it possible to launch the project.

What is unique about Japanese retro car manufacturing in the 1980s?

To begin with, the Japanese began making cars in the 1950s, borrowing ideas, concepts and designs from the Americans and selling cheaper, more fuel-efficient cars to their market. Japanese car design resembled American design, but with smaller dimensions. This continued until the late 1970s. In the 1980s, technologies in the Japanese automotive industry began to develop rapidly. The country's economy and legislation, technological development and the Japanese pursuit of perfection had a great influence on the fashion and styling of Japanese cars. Japan completely moved away from American designs and started developing its own automotive style. The Japanese style was distinguished by size — cars were made small and fitted with mirrors on the fenders. As far as I know, the idea of fender mirrors was borrowed from England, but only in Japan did it take hold on such a scale. The Japanese made cars as comfortable as possible: they installed electric instrument clusters, panels, LED screens, illuminated markers on the fenders and hood, light and rain sensors, electronic and hydro-electronic suspensions, piping systems and fuel injectors. They were constantly developing and inventing something new. In the 1980s Japanese cars had so many options and extras that you couldn't list them all. One of the coolest innovations at that time was Toyota's TEMS electronic suspension. A scanner mounted at the front of the car 'read' all the road irregularities, sent the information to the 'brain', and from there to the suspension so the car would react: in some places the suspension became firmer, in others softer, and in some it did not change. 1980s cars already had options like heated mirrors, seat adjustment and massage seats. Because of all these innovations and functions, Japanese cars were highly valued. Then the 1990s came, which are considered the golden age of the Japanese automotive industry because that was when the most powerful sports cars were built. But the most interesting and technologically advanced Japanese cars remain those made in the 1980s.

How many cars are in the collection and how do new cars appear in the museum?

At the moment the museum's collection includes 36 cars. Initially, when the museum was just being organized and the first investment funds appeared, there were 11 cars. Over four years the collection grew to 36 cars, but since the museum has space for more cars, half of the fleet consists of private cars that our friends, clients and employees place in the parking or for storage. The current capacity of the premises is 75–80 cars and 36 of them are ours. Cars enter the museum spontaneously. The first cars in the collection were the rarest, most interesting and oldest exhibits. Now we conduct a careful selection and try not to buy for ourselves cars that our clients have or that can still be found on the streets. We try to buy something rare, interesting or very cool and popular. For example, the Toyota AE85 Trueno — a popular car that we acquired for the permanent exhibition, Nissan Datsun, Toyota Celica Camry — rare cars that not everyone knows about. All three generations of the Subaru Leone, which have always been rare. We place special emphasis on cars from the 1970s because they are rarer and more interesting in design for visitors. You definitely won't find them on the street.

Can you tell us about a few favorite exhibits?

This is probably the most difficult question for me. It's worth separately saying which cars I like from the 1970s and 1980s and which cars I like most personally and among clients' cars. One of my favorite personal cars is a first-generation Subaru Leone from 1979. First, it was the first car bought for the museum, and second, it is a very beautiful and interestingly designed old car — a small front-wheel-drive Subaru in a bronze color. The car looks very unusual even for the 1970s. Of the cars I drive periodically, I can single out the reliable and high-quality Nissan Laurel. Favorites among clients' cars are the executive limousine Nissan President, the Mitsubishi Starion — a rare interesting coupe similar in design to the American DeLorean from the movie Back to the Future. The Nissan Fairlady 240Z — a bright, beautiful, powerful car. Skyline GT-R R32 — an insanely beautiful car, one of my favorites. Since the cars with us change often and I am a car fan in the broad sense, I equally love the old German and American car industries, so it's very difficult to single out a favorite car. I could name a top 50 of world cars that I like, but picking one specific car is almost impossible.

Classic steering wheel placement — on the right (right-hand drive)

What is the main mission of the museum?

Our mission and goal are the same — to unite all owners of Japanese cars under one roof and to popularize the Japanese automotive industry. We want people to better understand this topic and realize that 'Japanese cars' are not Americans, not Soviets, not Europeans, but completely different vehicles. Few people know that car styling and tuning originated in Japan. Japanese culture, the quality of Japanese car manufacturing and driving culture have formed a unique automotive sphere. In our region of Russia very few people know about Japanese cars, so our activities are aimed at creating the correct image of the Japanese automotive industry and showing that Japanese cars are in no way inferior to American and European cars.

The museum sells various merchandise, including original posters in Japanese style

Can you share the museum's plans for the future?

We have very big plans for the future. First of all, we want to open a St. Petersburg branch. We planned the opening a year ago and are getting closer to implementing this project. Hopefully we'll open this year. There are many cars in St. Petersburg, there is an audience, clubs, fans and owners of Japanese cars and everyone there is interested. We thought it would be great to have museums in two cities, with different car fleets and the ability to visit the second museum at a discount. Developing the Moscow branch is also in the plans. Right now we are located in a good spot near the metro, but there are still inconvenient aspects. We are expanding and growing, our and clients' cars are becoming more numerous, and we are starting to run out of space. We want a large premises or our own territory-complex so that people could come to us not for a few hours but for a whole day. To make it a little piece of Japan in Moscow or in the Moscow region — a place where you could arrive, park nicely in a special zone next to the museum, where there would be themed Japanese cuisine, a lounge area or a service center. We planned to open a service for Japanese cars because we need to service personal and client cars. That is why moving to a more spacious and attractive premises is among our near-term plans.

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