JDM

This is an acronym for “Japanese Domestic Market.” It refers to cars that were built to be sold in Japan and not the rest of the world, or particular, not the United States.

Some JDM cars are considered rarities in car culture. The most famous example is the Nissan Skyline GT-R, which went through five generations of production for Japan only. Several versions of this car were extremely performant, and when imported to the United States, sold for large amounts.

Another example is the Toyota Century, a luxury car (or even a pseudo-limousine in some variations) that was used to transport Japanese royalty.

JDM cars are not sold anywhere else under other badges or logos. For example, Honda sold the NSX in Japan, but also sold it in the United States under the Acura brand.

JDM cars are right-hand drive by definition.

Why I Looked It Up

I saw an infographic called “The 10 Greatest JDM Cars in History,” and it was full of cars I didn’t recognize.

In researching this, I also remember Paul Walker’s Skyline in the beginning of 2 Fast 2 Furious. It was right-hand drive, and at the time, I realized that signaled some level of uniqueness or rarity. In retrospect, this was just a byproduct of it being a JDM car.