You Can Own an Original Giugiaro!

"DanPadge" (danpadge) 07/02/2015 at 22:08 • Filed to: None

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The Japanese auto auctions, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , have incredible cars pass through them, right alongside a used Kia C’eed. You get a couple photos, an inspection sheet that is typically quite thorough and the opportunity to inspect the car ahead of it hitting the block. Then, when auction time rolls around, you have roughly 30 seconds to make your bid through a computer terminal before it’s sold and onto the next. This ain’t Mecum!

The auction setting in Japan

This week, an Italdesign Aztec has made an appearance. Perfect timing given the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ! It has the bargin-basement starting bid of $300,000 which could be a great deal or maybe the seller is dreaming, who knows (NP or CP candidate?). Only 18 of the things were made by a Japanese industrialist who loved the concept car so much he bought the product rights to it. Rumor is that the last one sold on Hemmings for $75,000 in 2011.

In case you forget the designer, just look on the hood

Honestly sometimes the Japanese auto auction sellers disappoint me, like when a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . This is a car that deserves to be sold by RM, or Mecum, or at Amelia Island after being displayed on the lawn. Some sort of high profile auction house where this thing could get the attention it deserves.

Anyways, the Aztec is basically some sort of combination between a Star Wars Landspeeder and a car. It is fantastic for anyone who hates talking to their passenger, though not so good for anyone who likes to change lanes or turn right. At least it’s left hand drive (odd, being built in Japan) so you don’t have to face the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! with his Skyline.

It’s powered by a 5-cylinder turbo Audi motor and has a four wheel drive system reportedly derived from a Lancia Delta Integrale though even with that heritage I don’t see rallying in its future.

Thanks to the separate cockpits, the driver and passenger have to communicate electronically and since this was made in 1988, I have no idea how that actually works. I do know the passenger side looks like it also handles ATM transactions.

The driver’s side is not a whole lot better from an aesthetic point of view and it seems apparent that the majority of the design effort was spent on the outside of the car. At least the leather looks good and the seats have nice bolsters, plus it has a manual so that’s sure to win some Jalops’ favor.

If you can read Kanji, you may find the auction inspection report fascinating. I can’t, however I can tell you that A stands for “scratch” and U stands for “dent”, with the numbers indicating the severity.

There are a few peculiar and interesting things I can point out. 1) This car has 3,000km on it, meaning it has been driven at least a little. 2) This car comes with ETC, which I think stands for Electronic Toll Collection and is like EZ-Pass. (Maybe !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! could enlighten us?) 3) This car has JCI through 4/2017 which means it has been inspected and deemed road-worthy.

This all adds up to indicating that this car did not live in a sealed, climate controlled basement where occasionally men in white gloves would change the oil and dust it but that it actually hit the road every now and then. Driving a 1 of 18 left-hand drive concept car in a right-hand drive world? Ballsy!

If you want to buy it, you only have a few hours as it hits the block sometime on 7/3 and it is already almost noon on the 3rd in Japan. But, if you hurry up and get your act together, you can own something that I bet isn’t found in the garage of Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld, Ralph Loren or even the Sultan of Brunei!

DanPadge is a enthusiast of weird, unique and often overlooked cars - a description that covers much of the JDM market. Join the Facebook group !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! to see more examples of these and other cars coming up for sale.

Eggplant > DanPadge 07/02/2015 at 22:31

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The ETC system is indeed like an EZ-Pass. One interesting thing about them is that they run off of credit cards (or ETC specific debit cards), so different people can pay. I presume it’s so that the charges go to the driver rather than the owner of the car.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > DanPadge 07/02/2015 at 22:37

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I really like this. Forget practicality. This is amazing.

Anon > DanPadge 07/02/2015 at 22:56

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I can never see a cockpit like this without thinking of the Nirvash from Eureka 7. And even though it is a giant robot, it was a manual too!

DanPadge > Eggplant 07/02/2015 at 23:20

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Interesting! That would explain why they are so common in cars. For awhile I used to think they were mini-disc players lol

Eggplant > DanPadge 07/03/2015 at 04:02

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One of the other reasons why they’re so common to find in used cars is that the units are keyed to the cars’ classification. Uninstalling it to transfer to another vehicle then becomes pointlessly expensive if you’re upgrading, as an authorized installer is needed to set them up (to prevent fraud, as different classes of vehicle are charged at different rates).

Another reason to their ubiquity is that the toll roads can literally cut the drive time in half. I think the drive to Narita from where I live would have taken 6 rather than 3 hours had we taken regular roads. Modern goverment run infrastructure is something that we as Westerners take for granted until we see what it’s like otherwise. (That trip cost about $100 in tolls each way, BTW)

DanPadge > Eggplant 07/03/2015 at 09:04

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Neat, thanks for the extra info! I remember Kat mentioning how expensive highways were. I thought the $30-40 to cross Delaware and Maryland was a lot lol!