A few weeks ago we started digging into the most famous Anime to show you how much the Japanese culture has been influenced by the occidental automotive culture. We discovered how much some Italian cars were highly appreciated by the authors. 
First among many, Akira Toriyama, author of kolossals as Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball. The eccentric cartoonist used to spend much of his free time to his passion for motoring. It all began when, at the end of Dr. Slump, Toriyama decided to buy an Autobianchi A112 Abarth, a car which he was so obsessed for that he put also in Dragon Ball on several occasions. The sensei also showed a certain taste for personalization: he had in fact customized his car with the words “Uccello Studio” to sponsor his own design studio, “Bird Studio” for a curious joke related to his surname (‘Tori’=bird).Below is an overview of the most interesting four-wheeled cameos in Akira Toriyama’s manga.
Another lap, another race, always on an Italian car.Do you remember Naoto Date, aka the Tiger Man? His lonely raids (in the night) aboard a Lamborghini Espada are now also written in school books. And then, we guess that a model like the Espada (only 1226 units sold) for Tokyo in those years was not so common. Was it too hard to realize that Naoto and the famous masked wrestler were the same person?! Definetly not.
Let’s close this second excursus with “You’re Under Arrest!”, the manga (and then anime) signed by Kōsuke Fujishima that become a cult for many motor fans.Its great popularity then gave birth to two anime TV series, several OAV (read Original Animation Video) and a movie. In Italy only Rai1 has broadcast a few episodes within Solletico tv program. The series, set in Tokyo, tells the adventures of Natsumi and Miyuki, two police officers serving the imaginary Bokuto district in Sumida.
In the second episode a violent typhoon hits the city. Taking advantage of the storm and the deserted streets, another tricolor icon peeps out.A mysterious yellow Lancia Delta Integrale whiz into the street at full speed: will the two policewomen be able to stop its wild race?
