My 25 Year Old Import 'Want' List

"Bird" (Bird)
01/29/2015 at 12:40 • Filed to: None

With all the talk of 25 year old imports since Doug's article, I thought I would share the list of cars I'm patiently waiting for.

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1) The Eunos Cosmo

This is definitely top on my list. I have a soft spot for GT cars, and only Mazda would build a high-revving, twin turbo, triple rotor GT car...Available this year. The earliest car I've seen at auction recently was a May build, and it wasn't a 20b. It's got to have the 20B.

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2) The Autozam AZ-1

My other soft spot is for tiny sports cars. Another Mazda (manufactured by Suzuki), but as far as you could get from the Cosmo. It ticks all the right boxes. Mid-engined, turbocharged, and tiny. Being a Kei class car, it's only 550cc. It also has gullwing doors...for the right reason. See how high that door sill is? I can only imagine that helps chassis rigidity substantially. The first cars were produced October 1992, so we've got a couple years to wait.

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3) The Suzuki Cappuccino

It's like a mini Miata...what more could you ask for?

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4) Lancia Delta Integrale 16v Evo I

Produced 1991-1992 with several special edition models. My favorite being the Martini editions. Lancia went nuts with the special edition models in the later part of production. In 1995 they even made 250 Evo II Japan only 'Final Edition' models!

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5) JZX90 Mark II (Cresta and Chaser as well)

Four door sedan with a 1JZGTE?...yes please.

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We'll be updating !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and making the official announcement very soon, but we want Oppo to know you guys have friends in the import business. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and I have spent the past several months rearranging our lives, moving across the country, fixing up a vintage gas station (more on that soon), and getting all the paperwork, licenses, and insurance set up for !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Our !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! coupe triple weber 2JZ swap is nearing completion, and that will be up for sale soon. We'll also be getting more stock in, and can source vehicles as well. We're experienced in purchasing from Japan and Europe, and can navigate both markets easily. Even if you don't buy a car from us, we're here to answer any questions you might have.

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DISCUSSION (24)

As Du Volant > Bird
01/29/2015 at 12:46

Kinja'd!!!

The only disappointment about these is they were only made with automatic transmissions.

Party-vi > As Du Volant
01/29/2015 at 12:49

It's a GT, so an auto is OK.

Bird > As Du Volant
01/29/2015 at 12:51

True, but a manual swap is possible...and something we can do once the car arrives!

carcrasher88 > Bird
01/29/2015 at 12:51

Kinja'd!!!

Just a few more days and the earliest produced ones will be legal!

MonkeePuzzle > Bird
01/29/2015 at 12:52

Kinja'd!!!

you buy teh cappuccino, I will use my vacay days to fly out to whatever US port you bring it into and drive it to your home state.

Bird > MonkeePuzzle
01/29/2015 at 12:53

I'll let you know...lol. I'm not sure if my insurance guy would like that too much though....

Bird > carcrasher88
01/29/2015 at 12:54

Yep, we're waiting for a nice clean 20b to bring in for our stock.

carcrasher88 > Bird
01/29/2015 at 12:58

There's a July '90 build 20B on Goo-Net, but it doesn't appear to be in the best condition.

Bird > carcrasher88
01/29/2015 at 13:03

That's the key...a lot of them have been beat-up pretty bad.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Bird
01/29/2015 at 13:09

Congrats on the new business! Great choices.

Kinja'd!!!

http://oppositeblog.kinja.com/

Saracen > Bird
01/29/2015 at 13:11

1. Audi RS2

2. Audi RS2

3. Audi RS2

...and so on.

Bird > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
01/29/2015 at 13:24

Thank you! And thanks for sharing it to Oppositeblog.

Bird > Saracen
01/29/2015 at 13:25

Everybody has their list.....lol

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Bird
01/29/2015 at 13:28

Sure thing - hope you get picked up for the front page. If you haven't already, I'd tell Doug about your new business. He might be willing to do a couple fellow Opponauts a solid and write a feature about it.

roflcopter > Bird
01/29/2015 at 13:45

I've been counting down the days until I can make an extremely financially irresponsible decision and import a 20B Cosmo. I figure if I sell both cars I currently own I could probably make it seem like a good idea... if you guys want to give me some info on your methods and quotes, I could definitely be interested in doing something stupid.

Bird > roflcopter
01/29/2015 at 14:39

We're going to update our site when we're officially open for business, but we're going to stock some cars, and offer flat fee importing.

I'm looking for a Cosmo for us to have as stock right now, but I'd rather be looking for one for a customer, lol. If we source a vehicle, the best place to get a deal is the auctions. With our method all you pay is actual purchase price in Japan + our fee. All Japan transport costs, auction fees, international shipping, US customs, duty, port fees, inspection, Kentucky title, etc. are included in our fee. The only additional cost a buyer has is shipping from our lot in Kentucky to their door (you can save that buy picking it up), and registration fees in their home state. The process there is the same as if buying any used car from any out of state dealer, and you'll be registering a vehicle with a Kentucky title, not a car on Japanese documents which can be more troublesome.

For cars under $10k purchase price in Japan, our fee is $5000. So if we found a good Cosmo at auction for $4k, you would pay $9000. All in US currency as well, saving you any currency exchange fees.

It can be done cheaper if you handle shipping and Customs yourself, but we want to be a full service importer. A lot of guys throw the cheap price out, and then charge you fees for every little thing. Car cleaning in Japan, inland transport in Japan, etc. I want our customers to know exactly what dollar amount they will be paying before making the decision to buy.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > Bird
01/29/2015 at 15:21

There is a Eunos Cosmo in Alabama/Tennessee, don't know which one, I've just seen it at car shows in two border towns.

Bird > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies
01/29/2015 at 15:43

A company in Florida brought two in illegally last year...could be one of those...

The importer was very un-happy at being called out as illegal when Bring a Trailer listed it.

http://bringatrailer.com/2013/12/11/rot…

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > Bird
01/29/2015 at 16:49

Nope, this was 4-5 years ago.

Bird > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies
01/29/2015 at 16:50

Ah, there are a few kicking around...

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > Bird
01/29/2015 at 16:51

It was quite a shock to see it in a small town in Tennessee, then in Alabama.

Bird > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies
01/29/2015 at 16:53

I'm sure! I've only seen one in LA...and Mazda owned it...that was still a shock!

roflcopter > Bird
01/30/2015 at 09:15

That's not terrible... it's definitely cheaper to handle it yourself, but not having to worry about it is worth its weight in gold. I may start tentatively trying to find a buyer for my current toy in the hopes of making something like that happen.

I've looked into the auctions before, and that is definitely the way to go, if you have someone who can check the cars out for you. I'm not sure how I feel about paying that much for a 25 year old car that I haven't even seen.

Bird > roflcopter
01/30/2015 at 11:59

After doing it, we decided we wanted to do flat fee. I really do think there's a value to it, because if something goes wrong, it's on us. Our Aerocabin got pulled for inspection, and the top wasn't functioning at that time, so they couldn't get into the space where it goes to look inside...In the end it was fine, but if they had wanted to do it, they could have sent it off for 'intensive' inspection, and you have to pay customs several hundred extra for that. It's unlikely that ever happens, but it's just one of the ways our flat fee protects the buyer. If that happened to a car we were bringing in that would be on us not the buyer.

Buying something 25 years old from photos can be tough. I think the most important thing is to take any negative issues very seriously. If you suspect something about the car, you're probably right. Again with our Aerocabin, there was a weird note on the auction sheet. 'Missing Gasket' is what it said. I think the reality is, that was a 'read betweeen the lines' hint from the inspector. They can only comment on what they actually see. In my mind that instantly raised flags of a blown headgasket because 7M's are known for that. So we bought it knowing there was a chance that might be the case...and it was.

You can't always get a car inspected by a third party easily. If it's at big house in Tokyo or Nagoya, it's no problem. Our Aerocabin was listed only a few hours before it was to be sold, and I wasn't able to set up a third party because it was at a smaller auction house, and I didn't have enough time to get someone there. Patience is a virtue when it comes to this, but with a rare car, sometimes you just have to take the chance. In the end, the car was amazing (aside from the blown headgasket, which we knew could be the case). Everything on the auction sheet was correct. Paint and interior were in amazing shape, no rust at all. The car was a grade 3.5, and I really wouldn't suggest anything less than that. Our Crown was a grade 3, and has a few more issues. You also have to take into consideration the age. A Grade 3.5 1989, will probably be in better shape than a grade 3.5 1970 car.

I would say no matter what, if you buy something, buy the best you can afford and leave a little in reserve for small repairs. It all depends on the grade of car, but it's tough to find a perfect 25 year old car. It's fairly easy to avoid major issues, (I wouldn't have recommended our Aerocabin to someone unless they were okay with a possible blown headgasket), but it's better to be prepared for a few little things.