June 15, 2026
Sirens, speeders, and steering-wheel snark
The Last Surviving Japanese Porsche 912 Police Car
Japan’s last Porsche cop car has fans swooning, critics fuming, and jokers fighting over the steering wheel
TLDR: Japan’s last Porsche 912 police car survived years of service, decay, and a scrapyard scare to become a restored one-of-a-kind relic. Commenters turned the story into a mini-war over whether it’s gorgeous history, overpriced Porsche hype, or just a perfect setup for steering-wheel jokes.
A tiny slice of car history just rolled back into the spotlight: the last surviving Japanese Porsche 912 police car, a sleek speed-chasing patrol vehicle that worked the highways of Kanagawa from 1968 to 1973, racking up more than 155,000 kilometers and even helping stop a driver blasting along at 178 km/h. After years on display, weather damage, and a near-doom trip to the scrapyard, the car was rescued and restored — and the internet promptly lost its mind.
Over in the kottke.org discussion, the vibe was equal parts heart-eyes, outrage, and comment-section chaos. One camp was instantly smitten, calling the car “beautiful” and “totally Japanese,” basically treating it like a museum-worthy anime prop come to life. Another group was far more intense, with one commenter declaring that scrapping vehicles like this should be a crime. That set the mood fast: this wasn’t just an old car, it was a survivor.
But of course, no online thread stays wholesome for long. One commenter came in swinging at Porsche’s legacy itself, dismissing the whole thing as “driving scrap” and questioning why anyone worships the brand at all. Meanwhile, the funniest jab of the bunch was pure comment-section gold: “Steering wheel on the wrong side!” A classic joke, instantly reminding everyone that if history won’t start a fight, left-vs-right-side driving definitely will. Add in grumbling about classic Porsche prices getting absurdly inflated, and suddenly this restored police car became the center of a very online debate about beauty, class, history, and who gets to be a “real” car person.
Key Points
- •Four Porsche 912s were customized for Japanese police use in the 1960s, and only one survives.
- •The surviving car served in Kanagawa Prefecture from 1968 to 1973.
- •During five years of service, it traveled more than 155,000 kilometers and helped stop a speeder traveling at 178 km/h.
- •The vehicle was retired because of engine failure and then displayed at a police academy for 26 years.
- •After deteriorating from exposure and being sold to a scrapyard in 1999, the car was recovered following six months of negotiations.