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Hino Contessa

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JPSmit

JPSmit

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We have a dealer in town who imports JDM cars (15 year rule in Canada as opposed to 25 years in the USofA)

went to ask a question - and in the showroom an immaculate Hino Contessa. Of course I forgot my phone in the car but, it was gorgeous, I think they are soo cool and have never ever seen one in the flesh before - and likely won't again.
 
Very neat little rear-engine car.

Some of them remind me of NSUs or even small Corvairs (with that "beltline".....BMW 2002s have it too).

While others have a Karman-Ghia look. Or maybe a bit like a Ginetta G15.
 
Hino got its start actually as a spinoff from Isuzu, and mainly built trucks and buses until the early ’50s, when they began assembling Renault 4CVs under license. The little rear-engined cars coming out of the Hino plant became known for being markedly better-built than their French counterparts, and the buzz must have encouraged Hino to strike out on their own and introduce the similarly rear-engined Contessa range.
https://hooniverse.com/2010/11/05/leadfoot-contessa-hinos-michelotti-masterpiece/
 
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