Container shipping to Winnipeg – Part 2
1998 Subaru Legacy GT-B - super clean! No surprise when you're importing through Mark!
My 1998 Legacy GT-B
The container ended up having 2 Legacy wagons, 1 Legacy B4 RSK and 2 mini trucks.
Super cool stuff.
The minitrucks are both some of the cleanest I've seen. A lot of Grade 1/2/R trucks get imported to Canada, so it's refreshing to see such nice ones.
One of the trucks had a dump bed (tipper model!)
The Tipper!
Mark sends about 80 photos to you when he receives the car, focusing on any damage. It's for peace of mind and insurance purposes. And you know exactly what to expect when you finally get your car.
Next Week... what they look like in the container!
Container shipping to Winnipeg – Part 1
These were up before my data loss. I'll try to recreate them as best I can.
So, around xmas 2013, I was considering getting a new car. I was dead-set on a Nissan Pao, but, like many things, preferences change. Really what I was looking for was a stylish commuter. I've desired a Suzuki Alto Works in the past, but I just don't want to be in a jam when it comes to parts.
The problem is, that my life has fundamentally changed in the last year. It's a lot harder for me to take off a 4-5 day weekend to fly out to Vancouver and drive back. The uncertainty of driving an untested car 2000km and the sheer amount of time needed just didn't work for me anymore.
Solution: Bring the car all the way to Winnipeg!
Two obvious ways to do this: RO/RO, or bring an entire container all the way to Winnipeg. I'm not excited about the idea of a people touching my stuff... so I wanted to go container. Also, because I have a screw loose and thought it might be an interesting experience.
Since I'm not independently wealthy, I can't really justify shipping a container from Japan with just one car. And, I can't justify getting two for myself, so I had to recruit some friends to go in with me.
Luckily, many of my friends suffer from the same fascinations as me... so this wasn't a huge hurdle.
I've imported 2 cars from Mark @ Brave Auto in the past, but was thinking about trying someone else... again, just for the experience. But, Mark offers free indefinite term storage... something no one else really offers. So, we chose to import through Mark. Otherwise, we'd get dinged with dockside storage fees for more than 2 or 4 weeks of storage. Buying 5 cars in 4 weeks is a tall order, so Mark became an obvious choice.
After some back-and-forth, we found out that containers can hold from 4-6 vehicles depending on the size of the vehicles. We decided that we could safely do 5, which ended up being a balance of cost and car safety.
Then, off to the auctions!
The bidding process took us some time. I had started looking for a Pao, but nothing in my range came up. It was either too rough, not a manual, or pristine and out of my price range. I ended up opening up what I wanted... and ended up with a .....
Stay tuned for next week!
Pronunciation of Japanese car names
Super awesome, via Mighty Car Mods
Even better is how Americans said Subaru when Subarus first hit our shores!
Shamed!
I host my own website in 'the cloud'. I was using a service I wasn't paying enough for... and paid for it. I thought my automated backups were working... and they were not. Shame on me.
So. I've lost the last few months of posts. If anyone has the full text cached somewhere, shoot me a line.
I'll recreate the last few about my latest import.
Got something to say?
Say it here!
I've become super busy, and don't have time to entertain everyone on my own any more. I'll hopefully be getting a gloriously quirky car soon, and hopefully that will be a source of talk. But for now, I'll do my best effort here, as always... but would love to post your stories too.
Things you can (should!) submit:
- I'd love to start a 'my import story' category. Tell us your story! Why that make? Why now? Did it go smoothly? Who did you use? Any surprises?
- My troubles with the law. We're on the ragged edge of the law in some regards. Any problems? I'll probably have to strongly edit these.
- Your import dreams. What do you want? Is there something uncommon that you want that no one else has heard of before?
I'm ok with re-posting your forum posts (provided they are, indeed, yours), as some people have already documented their story in some places.
To submit: email robg@righthanddrive.ca - I'm listening!
Weird JDM Cars, Part 4
Mitsuoka Galue
Mitsuoka is a great company. No original ideas. Look! It's a Rolls Royce.
Nope... that's a 4 cylinder Japanese car! Epic. James May drove one in Series 11, Episode 6... and that's worth a watch. He's pretty fair about it, and it's... umm.. 'inspiration'.
Toyota Urban Supporter
This one is truly weird. It doesn't even have a wiki page. In my mind, that means it doesn't exist at all. This one deserves front and back shots.
I just love how it's intensely practical. I'll bet the visibility out of that thing is INCREDIBLE. Big fan.
I don't really know a lot about this one. Hope you enjoy! Throw in a comment if you know anything about this thing!
My import story, version 2
Version 2, and 1 year later. Sorry about the wait... but it's not a super interesting story.
I imported my Pajero 2-door, 2.8L Turbo Diesel (XRII spec) from Mark at Brave Auto. Who is a champ. Crazy clean truck.
The only problem... it had bald summer tires, and it was February in Canada. It would literally be insane to try to cross the Rocky Mountains with bald summer tires. So, I recruited 'dah_hunter', aka Ben, to pick up some winter tires on rims and put them on my truck before I get there. That transaction was smooth as silk. Ben is literally the man. Though, his website is always in various states of disarray, he's definitely the man to talk to if you can't make it to the dock.
So, off I went on my journey... taking a selfie before I go.
But one problem. The truck was... sluggish. No matter. Got to the highway.
Ok. We can only do 80km/h. What the heck.
We make it to Merrit, BC, to find a mechanic, or any generic help. We get some pointers, but nothing too useful, and no mechanics would give us the time of day. This is a problem, since we were planning on getting to Calgary in 1 day.
We hit the road again, and sleep the night in Golden.
We had a lot of time to troubleshoot the problem. There was a power cut if we hit about 80km/h. The cut was pretty significant... so it wasn't the turbo, it would lose power more smoothly. So after 10 hours of 80km/h on the highway, we came to a solution. It must be fuel related. Let's replace the fuel filter.
So, we got to my friend's place in Calgary 1/2 a day late, and sourced a filter (amazingly). When we took off the old filter, some BLACK SLUDGE came out. Diesel fuel is a little darker than gasoline... but this is crazy.
In went the new filter, and it's been amazing ever since.
Work I've done to it since:
- new glow plugs
- new temperature sensor (was cheap, basically free since I threw it in the same shipment)
- 8 inch round headlights
- some wire and a relay for DRLs
And that's it. Total cost... $500ish. Not bad!
Overall... I love the little truck.
Weird JDM Cars, Part 3
This has to be one of the weirdest Nissan-retro-line cars out there. I don't have words to describe it. It's, again, the same chassis as the Micra, just made retro.
I feel like I'd need a flat-top, and blast some early 80s music to drive this one.
Be-1... wat?
Thank you, Nissan, for allowing yourself to be different.
Subaru Casablanca
The Subaru Casablanca. This one is weird. I think this video basically says it all (Thanks Might Car Mods! Their second channel is full of random!)
Basically a body kit. But... Not one you'd ever expect from the factory!
Weird JDM Cars, Part 2
Nissan Pao
Another one of Nissans retro-inspired line, that's based on the micra, is the Pao. The external hinges and roof rack make this car look super retro, with tasteful chrome accents.
Pao at auction, usually about 6 per week!
They aren't a rare car, with a number of them going through auction per week, but there are very few in Canada that I've seen. I really like these, as they're more function than a Figaro, and really really weird looking.
Mazda Autozam AZ-1
Gull-wing doors? Check.
Hardly functional window-in-window design? Check?
Turbo? Check!
660cc? Big check!
Mid-engined? Check
It can only be the Autozam AZ-1. This is a real piece of work... and is apparently super tiny. Like, 5'10'' people beware. This was build to compete with the Honda Beat (another one of my Kei weaknesses), and is very very stylish. I love it.
Weird JDM Cars, Part 1
Welcome to a new segment of righthanddrive.ca called Weird JDM cars. The Japanese market is very interesting in that they have many cars available, made in Japan, that have not really seen the light of day anywhere else in the world. This is my small homage to these cars.
Mitsuoka Le Seyde
This on is... super weird. It's supposed to be a bit like a Zimmer, but isn't. It says Cruella DeVil all over it, and it's hilarious, and I want one. Despite the way it looks, it's rocking a 1.6L 4 cylinder. Wicked awesome. Mitsuoka has a lot of goofy looking rip-off cars in it's line up, and we'll see more of them, but this is the best, goofiest and most eye-catching.
A LeSeyde at auction
Nissan Figaro
This has to be one of my favourite cars ever, and one of the first JDM cars I saw in real life here in Canada.
Nissan Figaro, always cute!
It's based on a Micra, and is part of a retro inspired line of cars made by Nissan and sold in the late 80s/early 90s. So, parts are readily available for it (save body panels), and they're a good buy. Too bad it's hard to find one for under $12000.
Tell me what you think of this... I have a bunch written (I wrote them over xmas, and I've been sitting on them since!)... so I could start a semi-regular thing!