VIP Cars, European Origins?

In the mid to late 80s I know cars from Japan were not excatly as feature filled or luxurious as european cars from BMW and Mercedes. I think Honda had the accord and toyota the camry. No lexus or Inifiniti brands yet. I think Acura MAY have been starting out. I do remember the legend but I think that was the 90s. No superstar or gangster or underlord/yakuza rode in a Accord in Japan most if not all had Benz's (black ones preferably) With wings, rims and AMG body kits. (some had black rims also) If any of you are old enough you may have remembered the movie BLACK RAIN with Michael Douglas & Andy Garcia, one of the main characters a Yakuza by the name of SATO drove such a all black with dark black tint car.

As well as the other Yakuza members. (there is an famous scene of all the black benz's following each other driving up to a old japanese farm with dust flying from thier rims.) Now since these cars from europe (benz, BMW) in the 80s and 90s where so much more expensive and "exclusive" compared to what Japan was putting out/had to offer do you think the VIP cars started then? With people with not enough cash to afford a benz decided that wanted the Yakuza/gangster style (wannabes) without the price of a benz and started modding thier glorias, and other 4 door sedans to emulate the Benzs the Yakuzas drove? I see lots of similairity in how they try to make the cars look almost like a Benz from the black rims to the kits and even lights and grill.

Even today you see some of that similairty between cars. They try to take a home grown car and make it look like the more expensive one. but now since Lexus and Infiniti has stepped up to the europeans they are on equal footing. To help with my theory here are a few excepts from MSN and Mainichi Daily news:"Yakuza dons have ditched their penchant for the pricey Mercedes Benz with pure gold badges that were once a symbol of organized crime in this country in favor of equally functional but considerably cheaper Japanese cars, according to Shukan Taishu (5/10-17)." "Past Yamaguchi-gumi oyabun have been known for their flash cars, like the Cadillac favored by Kazuo Taoka and the Mercedes Benz limousine used by Masahisa Takenaka.Posh cars have long been regarded as a yakuza status symbol and by far the most popular set of wheels among mobsters has been the Mercedes Benz, especially the S600 limousine models.

Yamaguchi-gumi gang bosses started displaying their liking for the German-made cars in the mid-'70s, taking over from the American-made vehicles that had been the rage until that time."Mercedes Benz has the reputation for being reliable and functional. They're the type of cars people expect doctors to drive, but yakuza moved with the changing times and started choosing them too, if more for safety reasons than because of the way they looked," the gang insider says.Mercedes remained the preferred choice of Japan's pinky-less for decades, despite being briefly usurped by the likes of Rolls Royce and Bentley during the heady days of the bubble economy. Even when the economy soured, the Mercedes myth continued in the underworld."

http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/waiwai/archive/news/2004/05/20040501p2g00m0dm999000c.html

Here is one from inside line:"Luckily, my first encounter with the lads was in a specially prepared interview session to inquire why they employ left-hand-drive Mercedes-Benz S-Class limos (usually black or white) in Japan's right-hand-drive car culture. Questions like that, a Japanese scribe wouldn't dare ask in a million years.

That's just not done. But interestingly, one Yakuza boss agreed because, as I read it, he was intrigued with the foreign media. As expected, the replies centered on Mercedes' strong build quality and high status levels.But in Japan, there's an unwritten law: When you see big black or white limos, normally Mercedes S-Class or Lexus LS models, pushing their way through the traffic, just let them pass.

"Mr. Average doesn't want to cross paths with who might be inside. I let them pass, too. I like life too much."

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=109688