RightHandDrive.ca/blog Canadian Right Hand Drive News and Thoughts

10Aug/150

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.

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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.

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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.

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Anyway, it was fun day, and it's always exciting to see brand new imports!

28Nov/140

Reader Import Stories Wanted!

If you have a story you'd like to share about your import, or how you fell in love with imports... send me an email at robg@righthanddrive.ca! It doesn't have to be unique - you may have already written most or all of it on a forum somewhere. As long as it's your writing, and your story, I'm happy to post it.

If you have the inspiration to write an article and want to see posted here, I'd be interested in that too.

21Nov/140

Daihatsu Hijet Deckvan – Reader import story

This is a repost, as it was lost when I lost data. This is too good to not be on the internet.

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My story started way back on Valentines Day 2 years ago.  I was at church with my wife and my friends and I had a hockey game later on that evening. During the hockey game I was struck by a puck on my right eye, eventually I would find out that I would lose about 80% of my vision.  Although this seems like a completely unrelated tragedy it would eventually allow me to dream about owning a vehicle like the Daihatsu Hijet Deck Van. It turns out that although losing an eye sucks it rocks to have good insurance!

After about a year after my accident my insurance company decided to give me a cheque to "pay" for my injured eye.  This began the dreaming stage and the search for a replacement to my Cavalier.  I had contacted a number of different dealers in Nova Scotia and BC about these vehicles but was nervous about spending that kind of money on line and not really knowing what you where getting.  So on a whim I typed in Daihatsu on my search engine and to my surprise this little blue thing pops up in the auto trader. I looked at it like 100 times, talked to my wife about it and decided to take it for a test drive in Winnipeg.

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It was dark by the time I got to the previous owners house but there was no doubt it was beautiful.  I loved it, we took it for a drive around the city.  The previous owner and myself got along really well and had some good discussions about the van.  It turns out that the Van was owned by and man in Fort Saskatchewan AB, and he was a toy collector...he had many cars and extra large trucks, and this little thing.  He is the person who brought this little midget to Canada from Japan and fixed some minor body work and gave it the BMW racing blue paint job.  The guy in Winnipeg bought it of him and used it as a handyman van while he was running his own business.  So after two test drives including one at highway speeds, I decided I needed to own this awesome vehicle.

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My 3 boys and I love it, the looks we get are priceless.  I have never been videoed while driving before, had people take pictures of my vehicle.  It is a great little addition to our family I use it for work and I have magnetics signs on it during the week and it is the best advertisement vehicle.  The 660 cc motor is fun, push button 4 wheel drive is a blast, the sound system pumps and the gas mileage is outstanding.  I absolutely love my Hijet Deck Van.