Ultimate '90s JDM 5-Car Garage Can Cost Over $1 Million

I never won anything in years and decided it was best to stop. But I've still kept a close eye on the used car market. I've seen my favorite cars becoming more and more expensive with each passing year. Gone are the days when you could buy a functional Nissan Skyline GTS-T for $4,000. Even FC RX-7 prices have doubled or tripled in the past six years.

All these thoughts led to the question: how much would the ultimate '90s JDM 5-car garage cost these days? I used two auction platforms as a reference point, analyzing all the cars sold in 2023. The classic one saw 141 vehicles finding new homes last year, while the upcoming market is down at only 25. But I'll tell you how much these cost at the end of the story, so keep reading for the reveal.

Mazda RX-7 FD3S

Even if I must wait another ten years, I still need an FD RX-7. I've been lucky enough to drive my buddy's 1992 model, but I still want one in my garage. Mazda produced less than 70,000 units between 1991 and 2002. Given all the rotary-related news lately and our recent MX-30 R-EV test drive, I'm eager to see if the RX-7 will make a comeback soon.

But that's beside the point for now. Some FD versions are rarer than others, and you can always expect a newer model to cost more. Don't even get me started on how expensive Spirit R parts are today. There's a new member in our rotary group, an 18-year-old enthusiast who paid $100,000 for a Spirit R replica. But FDs can be even more expensive than that.

With 36 cars sold on BaT last year, prices varied between $25,000 and $148,000. The latter was a '94 model with just 7K (11,265 km) miles on the odometer, a pristine example. In trying to determine the average market value, I ignored the lowest and highest prices, and the value I got was $50,000. Even though only nine FDs found a new home via CaB, the average price was similar.

Toyota Supra MK IV

You can't have an ultimate JDM garage without a Toyota Supra MK IV inside. Of course, it needs to be a turbo model. And there are two ways to go about it. Buying an NA version and adding a boost might be cheaper, but some purists may look down on you. We all know that Supras "rule the highway," and they're fast at the drag strip.

But as I've shown in my recent interview with Simen Olsen, they're pretty good at drifting, too. It's always a matter of upgrades, though. A stock Supra still comes with less than 300 hp, and it's a lot heavier than an RX-7. And thanks to its Internet notoriety and Fast & Furious appearances, it has become annoyingly expensive.

The average price on BaT for these cars is 70% higher than what I noticed with the FDs. That's because prices range between $40,000 to $190,000. Things aren't as bad on Doug DeMuro's platform, but the cheapest MK IV sold for $36,500. Hey, you can always dream of a barn-find Supra!

Nissan Skyline GT-R

I knew this would be the trickiest point of the conversation. The R34 GT-R is much rarer than the FD RX-7 and the MK IV Supra. At 11,578 units, it's no wonder most people think of it as the King of all Japanese sports cars. If that number doesn't sound impressive, think of it this way: there are more Gallardos (about 14,000) than R34 GT-Rs worldwide.

Most Gallardos sold on BaT are cheaper than the cheapest Nissan counterpart. And it's only just starting, given the 25-year-old rule. Four GT-Rs found new homes last year on this platform, with prices ranging between $179,000 and $455,000. The latter was one of 285 M-Spec Nur units, and it's almost twice as expensive as a brand-new Porsche 911 Turbo S.

The two GT-Rs that showed up on CaB last year were slightly more affordable at $125,000 and $210,000 respectively. But we're still in the Ferrari F430 territory here. And as much as I love Japanese cars, I would buy an Italian supercar first.

Honda NSX

Speaking of supercars, here we are, the Honda NSX. It had a rear-mid-mounted V6 engine with VTEC, it was light, Ayrton Senna drove it, it had RWD, and some people will still mistake it for a Ferrari. Even the inventor of the McLaren F1, Gordon Murray, loved it. Honda built 18,000 of these between 1990 and 2005, so it's more common than the R34 GT-R.

But it does command attention at every event it shows up to. I have only ever seen less than ten in my entire life and have probably seen over 20 LaFerraris in the same interval.

Even so, more NSXs traded hands on BaT last year than FD RX-7s and MK IV Supras combined. Prices varied between $52,500 and $180,000. Excluding these two, the average value calculated for 67 cars was $87,569. That's about the starting MSRP for a brand-new BMW M3 Competition xDrive Sedan.

Subaru Impreza 22B STi

Choosing the first four cars for this list was easy. And I knew taking on the fifth one was more challenging. I'm more of an Evo guy and would have opted for the Lancer Evolution VI TME. But it's not the same level as the Subaru Impreza 22B STi. The most expensive Tommi Makinen model I've spotted recently had an asking price of $150,000.

But Subaru only made less than 500 units of the widebody 22B. Only two of them found a new home via BaT last year. The cheapest cost $188,288, while the other sold for $226,000. I only saw a few regular Impreza Coupes on CaB, and one had a winning bid of $55,555 (that's a nice trick, isn't it?). Now, let's add the numbers and see how big of a budget you'd need for that dream garage.

If you had bought these cars' five most expensive versions last year, the final price would have been $1,199,000. That's almost $1.2 million, which you could spend on a Porsche Carrera GT, a top-of-the-line Ford GT, or even a McLaren Senna. You could buy a brand-new Porsche, Lamborghini, or Ferrari and still have some money left for gas. But it all boils down to how much cash you have to play with and the cars that make you happy. For my subsequent analysis, I'll likely develop a cheaper JDM 5-car garage variation within more people's reach.