From GT-Rs, Supras and RX-7s to Evos, kei trucks, Motocompo scooters and some genuine pieces of Japanese motorsport history, the inaugural Canberra Japanese Motor Festival was a celebration of everything we love about Japan’s incredible motoring culture.
If you’re into Japanese cars, Thoroughbred Park was the place to be on Sunday, 18 October.
Under blue Canberra skies and with temperatures sitting comfortably in the low 20s, around 500 Japanese enthusiast vehicles came together for the inaugural Canberra Japanese Motor Festival, creating one seriously impressive display.
The new event was established by Japanese enthusiast and social groups to bring the community together, featuring vehicles ranging from rare road cars and classic motorcycles to race car and trucks
And for its first year, it certainly delivered.
There are certain cars that immediately come to mind when you think about the golden generations of Japanese performance.
Toyota Supra. Nissan Skyline. Mazda RX-7. Subaru WRX. Mitsubishi Evolution. Honda NSX.
At Canberra, they were out in force.
Walking through Thoroughbred Park, you could have been forgiven for thinking Forza Horizon Japan had come to life in Canberra for the day. Everywhere you looked there was another Japanese icon, wild build or cult favourite waiting around the corner.
And just like any great Japanese car gathering, some of the most interesting vehicles weren’t necessarily the obvious headline acts.
Among the standout cars was an immaculate Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 6.5 Tommi Mäkinen Edition, presented in arguably its most iconic guise: Ralliart red, white wheels and the full sticker pack.
For anyone who grew up watching World Rally Championship footage or following the battle between Mitsubishi and Subaru, it’s the sort of car that immediately takes you back.
Another highlight was the GT-R Days line-up.
The display brought together multiple generations of Nissan’s performance flagship, spanning the R32, R33, R34 and R35 Nismo.
Seeing the generations sitting alongside one another was a great reminder of how the GT-R has evolved while retaining a fiercely loyal following among enthusiasts.
And then there was something altogether more serious.
The Xtreme GT-R World Time Attack car driven by Tim Slade in 2025 added genuine competition machinery to the mix and provided another example of just how broad Japanese performance culture can be.
That variety was one of the best parts of the festival.
Sitting alongside the big-name performance cars were kei trucks, Motocompo scooters and a strong gathering of Toyota MR2s, alongside modified street cars and plenty of wonderfully left-field Japanese vehicles.
That’s part of what makes the Japanese enthusiast scene so good.
You can appreciate a beautifully preserved factory special editions, an outrageous modified build, a tiny kei truck and WTAC machine for completely different reasons, and somehow they all belong at the same event.
Famous Insurance was proud to support the inaugural festival, and Famous Ambassador Glenn Ridge brought along one very special Mazda.
His genuine 1995 Mazda RX-7 SP.
One of just 35 originally built, the RX-7 SP is a special piece of Australian performance-car and motorsport history, conceived with the goal of taking the fight to Porsche at Bathurst.
It’s also exactly the type of car we love seeing at Famous.
Yes, it is rare. Yes, it is collectible. But more importantly, it has a story.
And surrounded by hundreds of Japanese enthusiast vehicles in Canberra, Glenn’s genuine RX-7 SP looked right at home.
With around 500 vehicles on display, choosing an overall winner was never going to be easy.
Taking overall honours for the day was Cody Lansdown with his 2000 Mazda FD RX-7.
Finished in distinctive Nardo Grey, Cody’s RX-7 features plenty of carbon-fibre details, air suspension and an Alcantara-trimmed interior. It’s a very individual interpretation of one of Japan’s most recognisable performance cars and a brilliant example of how the FD platform continues to inspire enthusiasts decades after its introduction.
Congratulations Cody on a fantastic result.
And with both the overall winner and Glenn’s RX-7 SP attracting plenty of attention, it wasn’t a bad showing for the rotary fans either!
While the cars understandably grabbed the attention, the Canberra Japanese Motor Festival was about something bigger.
The event was created by local enthusiasts and social groups with a simple aim of bringing Canberra’s Japanese motoring community together.
It also supported Camp Quality, with spectator entry by donation.
That community focus is a big part of why Famous Insurance was proud to support the event.
For us, being involved with events like this isn’t simply about putting an insurance brand on a banner.
It’s about being there. Talking cars. Meeting owners. Hearing why they bought them, how they built them and what they plan to do next. And, importantly, supporting the clubs, volunteers, event organisers and passionate individuals who keep the enthusiast scene moving.
With blue skies overhead, hundreds of cars on display and enthusiasts filling Thoroughbred Park, the inaugural festival provided a pretty convincing argument for Canberra to have its own major celebration of Japanese motoring.
The organisers intend for the festival to become an annual event, and after bringing together such a diverse cross-section of Japanese motoring culture for its debut, there’s plenty to build on.
The car doesn’t have to be expensive, exotic or perfect to be special. It just has to mean something to its owner.
Famous Insurance was proud to be part of it.
And if Sunday was Canberra’s real-world preview of Forza Horizon Japan, we’re already looking forward to the next instalment.
