I FINALLY bought a thing!

"nerd_racing" (nerd189)
07/31/2017 at 07:15 • Filed to: zoom zoom, autozam, autozam az-1

After 10+ years of pining and waiting for them to become legal, I won this at auction over the weekend! Can’t wait until January when I can bring it over.

DISCUSSION (59)

pip bip - choose Corrour > nerd_racing
07/31/2017 at 07:17

nice!

how much roughly, if you don’t mind me asking?

Flavien Vidal > nerd_racing
07/31/2017 at 07:22

haha I actually sat in this one :)

Wagon Guy drives a Boostang > nerd_racing
07/31/2017 at 07:25

There was one of these at autocross in San Antonio recently. Pretty quick and handled well.

nerd_racing > pip bip - choose Corrour
07/31/2017 at 07:27

585k Japanese Yen was the final bid.

nerd_racing > Wagon Guy drives a Boostang
07/31/2017 at 07:27

Sounds like a blast! I plan on doing an even or two with mine.

nerd_racing > Flavien Vidal
07/31/2017 at 07:28

That’s awesome! What did you think of it? Also the all red seats are odd. Did they look aftermarket?

random001 > nerd_racing
07/31/2017 at 07:32

More importantly, what the hell is it?

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > nerd_racing
07/31/2017 at 07:34

Kinja'd!!!

Flavien Vidal > nerd_racing
07/31/2017 at 07:34

They were seat covers if I recall correctly, original seat underneath... I didn’t look under the seat covers to see if they were in good condition or not though. I just walked by on friday morning at USS Nagoya, opened the door and sat in it quickly, nothing more. Started it 10s and it did sound normal if it’s any rei-insurance :). Woudl have probably tried to buy it if I could store cars for this long... But January is just not doable. I probably wouldn’t have bid as high as you did for it too... Nice, but repainted I think and a bit too high of a mileage for the price and the “R” rating to my tastes (eventhough I don’t recall anything out of the ordering repair-wise) ;)

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > nerd_racing
07/31/2017 at 07:37

Seems like a bargain considering the prices you see here:

http://www.goo-net-exchange.com/usedcars/MAZDA/AUTOZAM_AZ-1/index.html

Flavien Vidal > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
07/31/2017 at 07:38

Dealer prices and dealer auction prices aren’t the same :)

Keep in mind that buying at auction is also a bit of a bet if you can’t inspect the car at all beforehand... This one is on the cheap side auction-wise. Good looking, but “r” rated and fairly high mileage for Japan. I sat in it in person and the 30s I spent with it, I didn’t notice out of the ordinary, it looked alright :)

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > Flavien Vidal
07/31/2017 at 07:56

Rated R, huh? ;)
I guess you don’t get any documentation about what exactly was broken do you? Also: what does it take for a car to be R-rated? Fender-bender? Half the roof torn from the car?
Also: what’s the restriction to participate at dealer auctions?

nerd_racing > Flavien Vidal
07/31/2017 at 07:59

I’ve messed around with the auctions for a while now and the price seemed more than reasonable to me compared to most that I’ve either won and not met reserve, or been outbid on. I saw it was a re-paint but they replaced the rear AZ-1 sticker and the front hood emblem so that’s at least a good sign.

High miles don’t bother me too much, I can always rebuild it and look into a turbo and ECU upgrade.

Thanks for the info! I ended up working with a guy that does this sort of thing a lot that I know from forums. The container this one will be coming over in will also have a Skyline GTR in it.

nerd_racing > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
07/31/2017 at 08:00

It still hasn’t fully set in yet that I own one.

Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch > nerd_racing
07/31/2017 at 08:03

SO MANY NEW OPPO CARS!!!!!!!

Awesome grab!

nerd_racing > Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch
07/31/2017 at 08:04

Thanks!

Flavien Vidal > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
07/31/2017 at 08:07

R-rated could mean a fender bender or it could have rolled 20 times, took fire and was rebuilt lol.

You get basic informations of whatever the auction inspector sees on the car and that is all. I personnally never buy R cars that I can’t inspect in person before the auction. I usually don’t buy cars I can’t inspect before at all actually. Too much risk involved and I got a few bad surprises doing it before so... If you just buy one car, once, it’s fine, the risk is minimum but when you buy a few per months, you’re bound to get terrible surprises...

As for participating to those auctions, you need to be a registered car dealer in Japan and for USS you have to pay around 150.000 yen a year I think to just have access to it... I don’t recall the exact price though, I’m not the one taking care of that...

Flavien Vidal > nerd_racing
07/31/2017 at 08:14

Container? Ouch, that’s not cheap man lol... RoRo for a car this size is about 600$ (EDIT: less actually... about 500$) to anywhere in the US. Unloading costs are also limited with Roro (1 to 200$ depending on port) and tend to cost a fortune for containers... Containers start to be interesting with 4 cars in it, if they are expensive and you want protection... But for 2 cars, that will cost you a lot...

For ECU and Turbo upgrade for the F6A engine, I recommend the Monster F100 one... 150.000 yen well spent :)

http://monster-sport.com/e/parts/turbo/turbokit_cap/

That’s for the Cappuccino, but the AZ-1 has the same engine so...

random001 > nerd_racing
07/31/2017 at 08:18

Ah, AZ-1!

So is there a typical cost to registering a car in the US that can be estimated? I’m looking at you, Pajero...

nerd_racing > Flavien Vidal
07/31/2017 at 08:22

I’m not sure how he is shipping it, but I will ask him. The price he quoted me was about what you have up there.

Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius > nerd_racing
07/31/2017 at 08:22

awe yeah! Those are just the coolest.

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > Flavien Vidal
07/31/2017 at 08:23

Side mirror broken, car sat on top of it :)
Yeah, not buying cars you can’t inspect beforehand seems like a good idea. Maybe I should stop doing it :)
Yeah, seems like a bit much to save a few thousands on an Autozam

Flavien Vidal > nerd_racing
07/31/2017 at 08:26

Then probably not shipping by container :)

Container typically costs around 2500$ for a 40 feet one, but most of all, costs A LOT to unload once in the US... Like around 600 to 1000$ on top of broker fees, taxes...etc. Nobody uses containers to ship cars unless they are illegal to import in the US lol or if they are really expensive high end cars...

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > nerd_racing
07/31/2017 at 08:28

Congrats on the score btw!
How did you participate to a dealer auction?

Flavien Vidal > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
07/31/2017 at 08:36

It’s a leap of faith to take :)

I’ve also had good deals with cars I couldn’t see in person before buying... But the potential problems that happen from time to time outweight the good deals by quite a bit (this car, bought without in person inspection ended up needing an engine swap too, thanks to bent valves: http://oppositelock.kinja.com/in-a-couple-of-weeks-i-will-have-this-suzuki-cappuccin-1793324152 )

Cheapest AZ-1 I will offer will be around 8500-9000$ landed, good ones around 11k$ landed or so.... But the main difference is that the buyer won’t be discorvering his car at the port after he bought it :)

nerd_racing > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
07/31/2017 at 08:45

I knew a guy who buys at auction. We used Japan-Partner for the listings.

gawdzillla > nerd_racing
07/31/2017 at 08:56

any reason you decided to use this company over the others ?

I have this place “Rivsu” thats semi local to me I am thinking about checking them out

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > Flavien Vidal
07/31/2017 at 08:58

I still hope the market will be surged when they turn 30 :)
Let me dream!

Wacko > Flavien Vidal
07/31/2017 at 09:03

please tell me you farted in his seat.

Flavien Vidal > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
07/31/2017 at 09:04

Nah won’t happen... It already has happened with Honda Beat and it might happen with Cappuccino, but less than 5000 AZ1 were made when 33000 Beat were produced... Prices aren’t going down for those anytime soon....

Flavien Vidal > Wacko
07/31/2017 at 09:06

Shhhhhh, he doesn’t know!

nerd_racing > gawdzillla
07/31/2017 at 09:07

Rivsu seemed great when I talked to them on facebook, I would recommend them if you go through an official importer. I just didn’t have the budget to go with them. They only import non “R” designation cars. Mine was an R because of a re-paint but the auction sheet didn’t show any other issues and they put the badges and stickers back on (most R cars don’t have this) so I was comfortable with my decision. Plus I gave a buddy/fellow car enthusiast the money to help me out. But if Rivsu is local I would definitely recommend them.

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > Flavien Vidal
07/31/2017 at 09:08

Reality is hard

Wacko > Flavien Vidal
07/31/2017 at 09:08

Oh he knows.

So Shiney. So Chrome! So Frunky > nerd_racing
07/31/2017 at 09:17

I’ve been plotting and scheming to import an Autozam for a year or two now. I’m saving and hoping to see one in person to figure out if i will fit. Congrats! Also i’d love to hear about your experience getting plates on this thing. I worry the DMV will freak when the make says “Autozam”.

Santiago of Escuderia Boricua > nerd_racing
07/31/2017 at 09:22

yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah

nerd_racing > So Shiney. So Chrome! So Frunky
07/31/2017 at 09:30

I’ve registered a French Mazda 323 Diesel and had a couple small bumps but nothing too off-putting. I’m sure as long as it is insured they can make it work.

JeepJeremy > nerd_racing
07/31/2017 at 09:32

Um......

Holy WOW!!!

So Shiney. So Chrome! So Frunky > nerd_racing
07/31/2017 at 09:37

Kinja'd!!!

It seems we have similar taste in cars.

LongbowMkII > Flavien Vidal
07/31/2017 at 09:40

That really bumps up the redline. I guess the factory tune doesn’t allow the motor to spin near max to keep the power under the limit?

Flavien Vidal > LongbowMkII
07/31/2017 at 09:43

No, it’s just that the engine can safely be retuned with a higher redline... Regular cappuccinos already have a 8500rpm redline with a 9300rpm fuel cutoff.

nerd_racing > So Shiney. So Chrome! So Frunky
07/31/2017 at 09:53

3i sport? Some days I wish I had gotten the 2.5L, but then it reminds me I need to finish my other projects if I want to go faster.

So Shiney. So Chrome! So Frunky > nerd_racing
07/31/2017 at 10:02

Yes. Same here. was my first new car and didn’t want to spend the extra for more motor plus i was driving 60 miles a day for work so the gas mileage of the 2.0L was a selling point. Now that i’m driving less i want more power. I’m thinking i’ll probably drive it into the ground and then swap in the 2.5 turbo from the CX-9 if the rest of the car is still okay

nerd_racing > So Shiney. So Chrome! So Frunky
07/31/2017 at 10:11

I got mine CPO but I wanted the mileage too. I drive 6-8 hour one way trips about 6-7 times a summer. I’ve managed 42 mpg on those trips so far. I can drive to NYC from Buffalo on a single tank (89 octane). Have you noticed a lot of difference with 87/89/93 fuels?

LongbowMkII > Flavien Vidal
07/31/2017 at 10:14

Usually to safely bump up the redline more than a couple hundred you need to improve the moving parts.

Flavien Vidal > LongbowMkII
07/31/2017 at 10:20

Oh no, not with those engines... They are really, really solid... Think rotary... A thousand RPM more or less doesn’t change much for them :)

So Shiney. So Chrome! So Frunky > nerd_racing
07/31/2017 at 10:24

I’ve only ever fed it 87 and managed 41 mpg combined when i was doing the 60 mile round trip to work. Probably dropped to about 32 when i put the biggest possible cargo box on the top for the 7 hour roadtrip to my parents for Xmas. Still cheaper than driving an suv all the time though

nerd_racing > So Shiney. So Chrome! So Frunky
07/31/2017 at 10:55

I’ve been taking the middle of the road and doing 89. I’ve considered 93 if the trip is 400+ miles, maybe the next one out to new hampshire.

scoob > random001
07/31/2017 at 12:24

Ford RS200.

Kidding, Autozam AZ1.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autozam_AZ-1

t0ast > nerd_racing
07/31/2017 at 12:47

Awesome, and congrats! I too have been pining for those (also Cappuccinos) for the longest time. Sounds like you got a really great deal too from the other comments. I really need more garage space...