The End
Hey all.
Thanks for being with me all these years. I've really enjoyed creating this blog. But, all good things come to an end. I haven't had the time or drive to update for a long time. So, I'll be mothballing the site. I'll leave all the blog's content up for the foreseeable future, but will be setting it to an archived state.
I'm still driving a RHD at the time of writing, with no intention of stopping.
Rob
Regular Car Reviews – More RHD
Regular car reviews (the best...) apparently has a lot of friends that are as quirky as me!
He keeps saying 'kei' wrong. It's not 'key', it's 'kay'. But.... man am I happy to see these things in the states. And, he's right. If you drive one of these, you WILL talk to people.
Thanks RCR!
Fun interesting history
I've talked in the past about magnets on Japanese cars, wakaba and koreisha marks... and that history is important when you see something like this:
So, we know that it was an old person that drove this in the past, since this is the same shape as the original, teardrop shaped koreisha mark. Super funny thing to notice.
Helping with a container
My friend recently imported a container straight to Winnipeg. He was one of the people in the container I brought in... so I guess he's hooked.
Anyway, I took a day off work to help him out for the unloading and transportation of the trucks. He followed approximately the same process as last time (see that here), with a few changes.
He went through Brave Auto International, which works the best for container shipping because they offer free car storage in a fenced in lot. Shipped 'to the door' by Hanjin, and import documentation by Al Thompson.
BUT... Canada Border Inspection Agency threw a wrench in the works. They decided they needed to visually inspect the trucks while they were being unloaded. Last time we unloaded at Willm Craning.... but they're not bonded... meaning the container couldn't be unloaded there. So, the hunt was on. He (and I'm not certain how) found Locher Evers International (115 Paramount Rd, Winnipeg), who was willing to unload it into their warehouse. At Willm's we had to unload the container from the chassis, but Locher has a dock.
So... what was in the container? 5 kei trucks, and 1 kei van. I belive 4 of the trucks were hijets, 1 suzuki, and a MAZDA SCRUM!!!!!! And it was awesome.
I didn't get a picture of the trucks in the container (I wasn't there), but they were pushed up on each other, so they were given cardboard on the front to protect them.
The Scrum was hilarious. It was a 660 turbo 5 speed, and the turbo was LOUD. My favourite part was popping the hood. The van is a cab over, so the engine us under the front seats. The hood is just access for maintenance.
Anyway, it was fun day, and it's always exciting to see brand new imports!
Should I buy an R grade car
I've been watching Derek Weldon (of Pacific Coast Auto) has been making videos about Japanese auctions, culture, life in Japan and is answering random questions about anything. I've enjoyed them, but this one stuck out for me.
The question answered was "Should I buy an R grade car?"
The answer is 8 minutes long, which tells you the answer is not 'YES!' or 'NO!'.
The "I don't have time to watch this" version is that they can be a good deal, but you HAVE to read the sheet, and it does come with more risk. They _have_ been in an accident, but maybe not a big one, and it could have been fixed right. Finally, modifications can not make a car an R grade.
Give it a watch, and subscribe to the channel!
JDM CRX Walkaround
Most of you know I really like Regular Car Reviews on Youtube. They did a US-spec CRX earlier this week, and today did a "POV" video of a JDM version.
So, their POV videos are not full-blown reviews. Just driving and discussion with the owner. This owner seems to know his stuff, and I think it's a pretty good introduction to the CRX.
RHD in the states – reactions
To followers of Jalopnik, this will be old news, but it's still a fun story. Doug DeMuro, a writer for Jalopnik (or, I guess Kinja in general) bought an R32 GT-R. He lives in the states, so this is still a really big deal.
Waiver - I sometime like, and sometimes hate the same video. He's got a bit of a grating personality/sense of humour.
Anyway! He's really excited to have his GT-R and is documenting his story very well. It's funny, he keeps saying it's hard to get used to/drive. Now, I may be jaded since I've done this for years, but.... no... it's not hard. There is a give-and-take, and left turns across traffic can be tricky, but you also get other perks.
I hope you enjoy!
The classic RHD through a drive through. The server is REALLY REALLY funny - worth a watch for just that. I remember this shameless glee of having an RHD, and he really nailed that exuberance in this video.
This is probably my favourite - Reactions to the GT-R on the street. When I used to drive my Red Daihatsu Hijet, I got this all the time.
Rob
After a trip to the colonies
I was lucky enough to be able to get out the Bahamas this winter. It was pretty awesome. They're what I call "a proper colony", and drive on the left side of the road. So, needless to say, I was stoked to see all the RHD cars they'd have.
Well, it was a bit of a let-down in that sense. RHDs are the minorities on their roads. I'd estimate 1/6 are RHD. Most of their cars are old cars shipped in from the States.
There was one car that caught my eye that I was lucky enough to get a photo of. Now, I knew these existed, but never expected to see one.
The Toyota Cavilier!
So, Toyota and GM had a badge-engineering car swap - Toyota badged some GM cars as Toyotas to beef up their line up, and vice-versa. Needless to say, the Toyota Cavilier was a flop in Japan due to dismal build quality...
RCR does a true JDM
So, these are still quite rare in the states.... so this is a nice review from someone who isn't too jaded from seeing a lot of RHDs on the road.
If you don't already follow RCR, you should.
JDM Awesomeness
Digging through the auctions a while ago, I found this car. It was flagged as a 'Honda 360'... and apparently it was sold here as the Honda Z.
What I see? The JDM Gremlin.
I'm in love.
