"Flavien Vidal" (flyingfrenchy)
02/11/2015 at 21:00 • Filed to: None | 5 | 24 |
EVENING BUMP (well morning for me)
So this is just a project for now... If I were to do that, it will probably be in a couple of months as I'm just too busy right now.
I'm in Japan now, for good and I struggle to find a car I really want. I do know what I really want though. A Datsun 240Z (or a 260Z or a 28Z, as long as they look like a 240z :) ).
Problem being that the damn Datsun, in Japan, is freaking expensive. Believe it or not, you will NOT find a 240Z for less than 15000$. And it will be in average condition at this price and most likely LHD.
So I'm thinking about bringing a LHD car (a RHD would be even better!) from California to Japan... I would have a 10.000$ budget, ro-ro shipping and taxes included. Shipping from LA is between 1000 and 1500$, taxes here are 8%, so that would give me somewhat of a decent margin to actually buy the car.
So what do you guys think I should do? Plan a trip to Cali to find one? Pay a fellow Oppo member that I would trust enough with my money to buy it for me and ship it here?
I'm not looking for one in immaculate condition. I just want to be pretty much rust free and I want it to be mechanically fine... Cosmetics, I don't care so much.
All I know is that I WANT a S30 plateform car that looks like a 240Z...
Any suggestions? Trip to Cali? or buying it unseen through/from a fellow and a ô so trusted oppo member?
JDIGGS
> Flavien Vidal
02/11/2015 at 06:45 | 0 |
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/cto/484924…
http://www.autotraderclassics.com/find/vehicle/v…
also can select 260 / 280 which are not showing
pip bip - choose Corrour
> Flavien Vidal
02/11/2015 at 06:46 | 2 |
with any luck , customs will stop these from being exported due to historical reasons ;)
Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
> Flavien Vidal
02/11/2015 at 06:49 | 0 |
Wouldn't getting it through the shaken be pretty costly/ difficult? I imagine they'd be even harsher on imported vehicles.
Flavien Vidal
> Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
02/11/2015 at 06:50 | 0 |
Nope, very old vehicules are fairly easily passed through shaken. And I don't mind doing a mods once the car gets here to get it to pass the shaken
Flavien Vidal
> pip bip - choose Corrour
02/11/2015 at 06:50 | 1 |
Hell no! :)
Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
> Flavien Vidal
02/11/2015 at 06:55 | 0 |
Ah that's good, I just assumed from what I'd heard that they'd be very strict.
Flavien Vidal
> Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
02/11/2015 at 07:02 | 0 |
The car has to be mechanically good... but polution limits are not that bad really. And if the car is fine to drive in California, it's fine to drive in Japan lol :)
Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
> Flavien Vidal
02/11/2015 at 07:10 | 0 |
In that case you get that 240. I'm sure there'll be an importer willing to do the hard work for you for a fee.
Ferrero1911
> Flavien Vidal
02/11/2015 at 08:15 | 0 |
Have you looked into purchasing one at the auctions? It can be much cheaper than buying from a dealer in Japan.
Flavien Vidal
> Ferrero1911
02/11/2015 at 08:30 | 0 |
Auctions here (despite being reserved to license dealers only) are pretty much only good for relatively recent cars... Anything older than 1985 will not be interesting so much in auctions. And 240z are already 10 to 15k$ more expensive here than in the US so auctions will not magically drop the price of 10k$.
Ferrero1911
> Flavien Vidal
02/11/2015 at 08:41 | 1 |
There seems to be some kind of Z bubble in Japan. I looked for recently sold ones at the auctions and it looks like many are going unsold, which either means the reserves are higher than what people want to pay or no one is bidding. The ones that are sold are sold by negotiation, which suggests it's both.
Let me know if you decide to pull the trigger on buying one in the US. Bird and I import cars from Japan, but we could also export one to Japan. We're in Los Angeles/Western Kentucky. Our company is Roadtrip Motorcars .
Flavien Vidal
> Ferrero1911
02/11/2015 at 09:11 | 1 |
I have thought of contacting you guys... I'll drop you an email tomorrow.
RustedSprinter
> Ferrero1911
02/11/2015 at 11:49 | 0 |
Kinda a dumb question Ferrero1911 but do you guys ship cars to different states or do you only do local pickup?
Ferrero1911
> RustedSprinter
02/11/2015 at 11:53 | 1 |
Not a dumb question at all! We can arrange to have cars shipped to other states. You would just pay the actual cost of shipping from Kentucky.
RustedSprinter
> Ferrero1911
02/11/2015 at 12:34 | 1 |
Awesome! I definitely choose you guys for when I want to import a car! Whats your site again?
Ferrero1911
> RustedSprinter
02/11/2015 at 12:56 | 2 |
Great! Just drop us a line and let us know what you're looking for when you're ready. Our site is: www.roadtripmotorcars.com
RustedSprinter
> Ferrero1911
02/11/2015 at 13:10 | 1 |
Thank you so much! You guys are doing god's work.
415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
> Flavien Vidal
02/11/2015 at 13:34 | 0 |
I found my 240Z in a shed in Santa Cruz, been working on it since. I go to Japan a lot, I'm going in May, catch some sumo then too. Yeah they are expensive in Japan, far more of them in the USA. Try to get a 240 or the very earliest 260 if you have to.
Flavien Vidal
> 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
02/11/2015 at 21:11 | 0 |
Yeah I'm not a "purist", I just love its look... I wouldn't care having a 280Z, swapped with whatever other engine... As long as it does not look like a 280z with the awful bumpers :)
I would of course, prefer to have a 240Z, that I would later have engine-swapped with a rebello stroker :)
Birddog
> Flavien Vidal
02/11/2015 at 21:40 | 0 |
This would be a neat counter to DeMuro's adventures for the FP.
Flavien Vidal
> Birddog
02/11/2015 at 21:48 | 1 |
If I were to go that way, I would most certainly write about it yes :)
415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
> Flavien Vidal
02/11/2015 at 22:06 | 0 |
Rebello is pretty much out of parts these days, waiting list is long. I say the 240 because as a car its a few hundred pounds lighter and the original engine is lighter. The bigger motor is heavy and its more fun to set the original 240 up with better brakes, triple carbs etc.. Lighter is better!
Flavien Vidal
> 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
02/11/2015 at 22:12 | 0 |
Yeah I know, but as a first, I'll setlle with whatever I can find for now :)
Also, it's a few hundred pounds lighter if you keep the interior the way it is, which I will not do if I get a 280z.
And I said "as a first" as I plan on doing a track car out of one later on, maybe in a year or two...
NaturallyAspirated
> Flavien Vidal
02/11/2015 at 22:32 | 0 |
I live in SoCal, about an hour from LAX, and I've looked at a couple of S30s. I don't have parking for a second car right now, so I'm waiting on that to actually purchase one.
If cost is a concern, a 280z is the smart bet, because due to California's stupid smog laws, 240zs and 260zs do not have to be smogged, but 280zs do. From what I've seen, they are inherently less valuable around here due to how big of a pain it can be to get a car with 1975 emissions to pass smog.
I almost bought a clean 280z for a DD a few years ago for $3000. The "floor temp" light came on during my test drive so I decided to pass, but you can certainly find them at similar prices.
Here's a few ads that I found on Craigslist.
http://ventura.craigslist.org/cto/4880748544…
http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/cto/4883781267…
http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/cto/4887961533…
2+2 280z's are practically free if you don't mind the look (I'm not a fan personally).