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This is a motoring experiment. A very Irish experiment, at least brought on by Irish factors, stupid tax, stupid insurance, stupid NCT's etc. After spending a fun few years in large engined saloons and coupes, M5's and the like, a commercial jeep took over as daily transport. There was no longer a need for a motorway crunching uber-saloon, it was easier to take the jeep in most cases, so I decided to have a look at the classic market. I wanted to avoid the tax for one, but I also went pre-1980 to avoid any yearly NCT testing. I settled on the 240z, made from 1970-1973, as I like the shape better than the 260 or 280, and once I got in in my head......you know the rest.....
Not a lot of them to be found. UK cars are mainly rusty or fully restored, the latter demanding a large premium. I turned to Japan. Garage forecourt sales in Japan demand huge money for anything I seen, usually in concourse or resto-modded condition. I lost days on the websites of rocky auto https://rockyauto.co.jp/, where RB26 G-nose converted examples abound, if you have the 12,000,000 yen or abour 90k euros to stump up for one. Needless to say, I do not. http://www.goo-net-exchange.com wasted my nights spent searching, but it's hard to take a punt on a car that's many thousands of miles away, so I turned to the auctions.......
Surely buying a car in an auction in Japan is to car nerds, what buying pineapples is to the man from Delmonte, such is the excitement involved. Waiting for a car to come up, setting a maximum bid, waiting to see if it's accepted, the pictures, the shipping etc. It has to be noted that one of the best parts was tracking the movements of the cargo ship from port to port on an app after the car left Japan, the lads Whatsapp group got much amusement out of it. Even when the car was transferred to a smaller ship in Bruges or Rotterdam, and we had all been anxiously tracking the original and wrong boat to Southampton..........
So the day finally arrived, and I get a call to collect my car that I bought on the other side of the world and never seen or drove. I was a tad excited, as you can imagine. I drove down to the docks with a mate and a jumper pack. This is what I could make out as I waited for the trade unionist to wobble over with the key for the gates......
Not a lot of them to be found. UK cars are mainly rusty or fully restored, the latter demanding a large premium. I turned to Japan. Garage forecourt sales in Japan demand huge money for anything I seen, usually in concourse or resto-modded condition. I lost days on the websites of rocky auto https://rockyauto.co.jp/, where RB26 G-nose converted examples abound, if you have the 12,000,000 yen or abour 90k euros to stump up for one. Needless to say, I do not. http://www.goo-net-exchange.com wasted my nights spent searching, but it's hard to take a punt on a car that's many thousands of miles away, so I turned to the auctions.......
Surely buying a car in an auction in Japan is to car nerds, what buying pineapples is to the man from Delmonte, such is the excitement involved. Waiting for a car to come up, setting a maximum bid, waiting to see if it's accepted, the pictures, the shipping etc. It has to be noted that one of the best parts was tracking the movements of the cargo ship from port to port on an app after the car left Japan, the lads Whatsapp group got much amusement out of it. Even when the car was transferred to a smaller ship in Bruges or Rotterdam, and we had all been anxiously tracking the original and wrong boat to Southampton..........
So the day finally arrived, and I get a call to collect my car that I bought on the other side of the world and never seen or drove. I was a tad excited, as you can imagine. I drove down to the docks with a mate and a jumper pack. This is what I could make out as I waited for the trade unionist to wobble over with the key for the gates......
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