What is a JDM car?

JDM is short for Japanese Domestic Market, and strictly it just describes where a car, or a specific part, engine, or spec, was built to be sold: Japan, rather than an export market. A Japanese-market car can differ from the export version sent elsewhere in fairly small but real ways, from trim and equipment to the exact engine tune fitted.

Among enthusiasts the term has grown into shorthand for a whole strand of car culture: Japanese performance models, tuning styles, and the specific era of engineering they came from, especially through the 1990s. Many of that era's most-loved engines were also naturally aspirated, prized for exactly the throttle response that style of engine gives. That whole aesthetic — night drives, neon, and understated performance — is a big part of what car art as a collection draws on.

Written by Craig Fearn, Petrol & Ink.