As former British colonists, Bahamians drive on the left side of the road. Most of the cars here come over from the US though, which results in the somewhat unnerving situation of driving on the left side of the road from a steering wheel also on the left side. I began noticing that there were lots of Japanese domestic model (JDM) cars with right-hand drive, including some (kawaii) kei cars. Dennis King, from whom we rented a car on Cat Island (a right-hand drive JDM Honda Accord) told us that there were websites (e.g., BeForward, SBT, Trust), from which you could order used Japanese cars and, thanks to the magic of containerized shipping, receive them in the Bahamas just 45 days later. I like thinking of these cars and trucks, which began their lives on the hectic streets of Tokyo, or in the cold northern reaches of Hokkaido, getting to live out their dotage on the balmy, traffic-free, sandy roads of the Bahamas.
Here are some of cars I’ve seen that don’t usually make it to the US:
Dennis King’s JDM Honda Accord, Shannas Cove, Cat Island.
Honda Stream, Arthurs Town, Cat Island.
Suzuki WagonR, Rock Sound, Eleuthera.
Nissan Note, Rock Sound, Eleuthera.
Not sure. (Nissan, I think), Spanish Wells.
Daihatsu HIJET Cargo, Spanish Wells.
Toyota Noah, Little Harbour, Abaco.
Suzuki Carry, Hope Town, Abaco
Toyota Sparky, Hope Town, Abaco.
May 26, 2016 at 16:54
Don’t those happily tropically semi-retired Japanese cars rust out? Sort of returning to the earth?
May 26, 2016 at 19:34
Auto news in a sailing blog. Interesting. Learned a new acronym. JDM. What’s the price of petrol in the Abacos? Probably a lot more on Cat Island.
May 29, 2016 at 21:16
Those cars remind me of the parking lot in front of my motel about now ;-). It makes sense… the cars get good gas milage, and they are always in top condition… all the cars on the road here have to pass a very rigorous inspection every 2 years to stay legal. I just hope we can all remember what side of the road to drive on when we get home.