JDM-less!
So, the Scoob is gone! I'm currently a poser, without a right hand drive car... running a right hand drive car website.
That aside... this is the next dream!
2.8L Pajero SWB
So, that's a Mitsubishi Pajero... with the 2.8L turbo diesel engine, and ideally a spoiler. I want the SWB (short wheel base... 2 door not 4 door) because I think it's awesome! Nothing like this has ever been sold in Canada. If you want a diesel engine you either get a GIGANTIC mall crawler, or a VW. I have deep love for VWs, but don't want a car right now.
I've already bid on this one:
I've named it Jesus (pronounced 'hey zeus')... Mexican Jesus. I didn't get it because of technical difficulties... my auction agent couldn't get on the server, and they wouldn't take bids any other way. Super lame. It didn't hit reserve, so it didn't sell... so it might be back (in 3 days?!?!?!), at which time, I'll bid on it again!
So... the auction and import fun start all over again. I'm excited!
730
If you visit this website with any frequency, chances are you're interested in driving laws/rules and idioms in general. You've probably asked the question, "Why do some countries drive on the left side of the road?". Well. Because Britain did, and they had HUGE influence on the world back in the days of colonization.
Think about countries that drive on the left. Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Australia, India, South Africa... the list goes on... all former colonies. Now. What about the source of all of Canada's RHD imports? Japan.
Well, Japan was occupied by Britain after World War II, which is a common thing to make sure the country that lost the war doesn't start it right back up again. So, driving on the left became the traffic laws.
But one island was occupied by the USA... so that island, which was (and is) owned by Japan was made to drive on the right!
Now, turns out there's a Geneva Convention on Road Traffic! From Geneva Convention on Road Traffic (1949):
All vehicular traffic proceeding in the same direction on any road shall keep to the same side of the road, which shall be uniform in each country for all roads
So, this island was in violation of this convention. So, they switched the side of the road the island drove on... in one day.
The islanders we not allowed do drive starting at 10pm on July 29, 1978. Overnight, all the signs changed sides of the roads, bus stops were moved and a lot of work was done.
The next day, July 30th (7th month, 30th day.... hence 730) people were allowed back on the road at 6am. The island brought in loads of police to help with the potential disaster that would ensue. And, from that day forward, all of Japan drove on the same side of the road!
LHD cars were then called 729 cars, and RHD cars were .... well, just cars!
Amazing story!
Sources:
Wikipedia
More Wikipedia
Importing, going the other way
If you're on this site, chances are you're interested in importing cars from Japan, but have you ever thought it'd go the other way? I keep saying, "None of the good cars were sold here".... then I found this.
Jeremy Clarkson (with his 90s poofy hairdo) is in the USA extolling the amazing cars that they can import for almost nothing. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Then, you can see how good we have it. Sure the UK can import any car, but they have to, and I quote, "Pay tax, on the tax, on the tax". They get taxed many more times than we do when we import cars. We don't get off that much easier, but the people in the UK have to pay 17.5% 'Value added tax' on the purchase price, plus the taxes they paid. We get dinged at the border, and when we insure... but that's pretty reasonable in comparison.
Also, it sounds like there is an exemption date for them to import cars without duty... which is somewhat like our 'RIV exempt' 15 year rule (which also gives us the opportunity to buy the cars we actually want).
A tense moment…
Got this in the mail yesterday:
MPI - not a huge fan of RHD
Now, this is tense since MPI is known to call in cars for re-inspection (free of charge!), where they'll re-check all the compliance items that imported cars must adhere to. It's happened to a few of my friends, but I've not been called in yet. So, I was thinking this might be a precursor to it.... luckily it's not. So, what was this for? Well...
A VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) is a North American invention. A VIN is a 17 digit number, with a few different conventions on what the numbers mean.
JDM vehicles ship with a chassis code (or frame number).
Example chassis codes
As seen here, the codes can be of varying lengths, ranging from 9-12 digits. Also, this is where the chassis number comes from! The model is the first few alphanumeric digits. My Subaru's number is GC8-xxxxxxx, my Hijet was S83P-xxxxxxxx. An 'S13' Silva would be S13-xxxxxxx. Super cool!
There should be a plate on every JDM car listing the model number, chassis code, engine number and transmission number. It's quite informative and interesting to look at. Check it out on your car, or your friend's car!
BC's public insurer (ICBC) provides 17 digit VINs to their customers, while Manitoba's (MPI) doesn't. So, apparently they'll occasionally check in to make sure it's still the same number. Make work project!
My Japanese-speaking turbo timer
When importing a car from a different continent, you might get some unusual goodies along with it. My friends have found Japanese Yen, subway tickets, cigarette packs, and random notes. You also might get goodies like turbo timers, blow-off valves and other engine tweaks.
My favourite goodie is my turbo timer. It speaks Japanese when I turn the car on or off (if the timer is on). For a long time I didn't know what it was saying. I took a Japanese course at university (I needed some arts credits, and, why not?) and all I knew was that she was saying 'something something is ok'.
It got funnier as time went on, as I knew the rhythm and tune she said her sentences, but not what she was saying.
And here it is!
My friend was kind enough to translate for me, you can see it in the youtube comments.
Standby: OK Desu (Standby is ok)
Countdown: Starto shimasu. (Starting countdown)
Pretty fun to have these quirky things with your pretty unique import.
Thanks "foomeister2347"!
My answer to “Why would you want to drive a right-hand drive”
My aunt actually asked me this question the other day. It was particularly interesting since she's over the age of 60 and one of the most judgemental people I know. I feel very good about the answer I gave.
I turned the gun on her.
"Have you ever gone to the States to buy something there because it's cheaper, or not sold here?"
I feel that this pretty much sums up why I drive what I do. My truck has never been sold here, it's very good on gas and extremely useful. And, it's actually pretty cheap to buy when you start looking at the 4x4 market. In fact, all JDM cars are reasonably priced when you look at what you're getting.
Other answers I thought up after the fact are:
- "I like the style." Though I'm not a huge fan of admitting to buying something because it's stylish... it's true. I like being seen in my truck, and I like the conversations it starts. I'd love to say I bought the truck because it's useful, and it happened to be be RHD... but that's a lie. The two factors were equal in my mind.
- "Because it's an icon." This is for you Skyline people, Hilux people, Figaro people and more. These fantastic vehicles were never sold here, and they're amazing. People just like seeing these drive around!
- "Because it's amazing." Here I'm thinking about a Delica, or the like. You just can't get that from a a USDM van!
The reason I hear altogether too frequently is "Because it's fast". You're not going to win hearts by saying that you can drive fast. Think up something more inventive if this is your go-to.
rob
Ways to know you drive a weird car
The spelling mistake - undeniable proof!
So, I recently put my truck for sale on kijiji.ca (and then linked it in with the classifieds), and noticed something odd. They spelled Daihatsu wrong.
Clearly this problem would never happen with a car like a Buick, or Cadillac.... and both of those words are kind of weird too!
So, being a good citizen of the internet, I made a report of it. Now, for those who don't know... I'm a programmer, and a programmer will eventually get to this ticket. I know that this is a trivial thing to fix, and most people wouldn't want to waste their time on it... but this is a feel-good fix. The perfect way to waste 20 minutes and be productive. Anyway, should be interesting to see how long it will take for this to be fixed.
While I'm on a rant and talking about kijiji... it bothers me when people say their bone-stock right hand drive is 'unique'. Was it a one-off from the factory? Is there no other cars like this in the ENTIRE WORLD? I think not. It's neat. It's different. It's rare to see in Canada. But unless you have done some pretty profound work on it... it's not unique. Sorry.
rob
Installing Daytime Running Lights on a Hijet
Hijet side marker - has two lights, one for marking, one for signaling.
Up until now I haven't had Daytime Running Lights on my Daihatsu Hijet. If your vehicle was manufactured before January 1st 1990 you don't need them.... It's a 1990 Hijet, so I figured it fell under that category. If I had the original import paperwork I wouldn't have to explain and prove it to the authorities that be.
But... I finally proactively broke down and installed DRLs. And, like most everyone on Earth, I'm cheap... and wanted to do it for free... so I did!
The Hijet (and all minitrucks) are painfully simple. It really reminds me of working on my classic VW Beetle. Two relays and simple to understand!
Fuses in the Hijet
Ok! The Hijet has two lights in the corner housing: One for signaling, one for being a side marker. I made the side marker light come on when the ignition is on. I used the ACC circuit to do this. To make things painfully easy, I used the wire that goes to the cigarette lighter, and spliced from that.
First thing to do... take out the ACC fuse. There is a cover on the fusebox that pops off... squeeze the sides to pop it off (you don't need to undo the screw). The lower right fuse is the one you want to remove.
Now, behind the lighter you'll see two wires. Use a multimeter to see which one is 'hot'.
Good. put that to the side for a moment. Remove the amber housing to get to the wires behind it. You also need to remove the vent that is inside the cab behind the headlight to run the wires. Do that now.
Remove the side marker.
The vent to remove, note the wire going in behind it.
The vent removed, you can now see the back of the headlight.
Now, figure out which wire is the hot wire to the marker light, and which is the ground. The easiest way to do this is to turn on the side markers, and shove the lead of your multimeter into the backs of the harness clips. My control (hot) wire was green with a red stripe, and the black was ground.
Testing the wires in the housing.
Now, run a wire from the hot wire on the cigarette lighter to the control wire of the corner marker. I used the existing clips and hacked my wire on there, leaving the original wire.
My hacked in wire.
Make sure everything is wired in tight, put your fuse back in and turn your key!
Now, something happy happened. Since I left the original wire, when I hacked in my new hot wire from the cigarette lighter... both the corner markers come on! Huzzah! That means you only need to do this process to one of your corner markers.
Done!
Funny notes: you can really see the poor job that was done as an aftermarket paint job.... oh well.
Serious note: now that I know this, a better way to do this would be to find the wire that runs to the corner marker by the fusebox. I don't have a wiring diagram, and this was easy.
Rob
Disaster in Japan
I'm sure that almost everyone has heard about this now... a major earthquake, and then tsunami (caused by the earthquake) struck Japan yesterday.
Cars ready to ship from Japan destroyed by the tsunami
I was wondering how long it would take an enterprising person in Canada to bill their car as 'more rare now due to the disaster in Japan'. Answer: One day. A fellow from Sudbury thought it'd be good to update his ad to include the disaster in Japan (link).
Due to the recent disaster in Japan, there are even less Skyline R32s left, which makes this car rarer and worth more. GTS-4 is the hardest Skyline to find, check for yourself.
To this I say: Have some class. Don't try to make a quick buck quoting this disaster.
You can (and should!) donate to the fund to rebuild Japan at the Canadian Red Cross.
Rob
Photo from cbc.ca via STR/AFP/Getty
Your first
Right hand drive vehicles, not surprisingly, have interested me for a long time. I can actually remember the first right hand drive car I saw.... a MG convertible. Being a kid about 9 years old, I couldn't help but stare. I hadn't heard that traffic rules are different for different countries. I was in the car with my parents at the time, and they muddled through explaining traffic to a 9 year-old.
After that I don't remember seeing one (saving mail carriers) for a long time. I remember seeing my first Kei truck up close. It was quite mind-blowing at the time. I was in the market for a new vehicle, and have a flavour for... well... weird vehicles. It was in a parkade and for sale. I spent about 5 minutes looking it over in disbelief. I remember saying the highly stereotypical "this can't be legal in Canada" and "wow, that must be a puny motor", and most other things that people say if they are not educated in grey imports. I also distinctly remember looking to see where the signal stalk and the petals were, and how they were arranged.
8 months after seeing my first Kei truck, I was buying one. I was at a business that is a Kei truck dealer of sorts and took the truck I now own for a test drive. And, it turns out that this story rings true for most people that drive an RHD; The first RHD they have driven is their own.
After talking to a few of my friends and acquaintances that drive RHDs, most of them had to 'take the plunge' and buy an RHD before they ever get to try driving one. This struck me as quite amazing. Finding out this fact, I've turned my truck 'open source' - if you can drive a stick, you can drive my truck (given I know you at least a little). It's good for two reasons: It's education for those who have never driven one (no, it's not super weird) and it lets people have the experience of driving an RHD (which a lot of people do not have). It's been a good exercise for both me, and everyone whose gotten to drive it.
I, of course, drive one of the cheaper RHD on the road, so this does not scare me as much as people who have more invested in their cars. But, I encourage everyone to let their friends and family take their car for a spin. It helps them realize that you're not crazy for driving 'on the wrong side of the car' and will maybe plant some seeds to get more people driving these great cars!
rob