JDM JZA80 in the Alps

[decryphe]

Hi guys!

Now that my AE86 is basically mint (just needs the wheels and some minor trim pieces) I have a certain urge to take on a new project. This time it'll be much more fabrication and modding, definitely not going to stay stock. In its current shape it is though, but that'll change soon enough.

Current location of the vehicle is in Germany. First step of the journey will be to get it in the country, which turns out to be a project of its own. As the car is currently not registered, it's almost as complicated to get it across the border as it is to get a car from Japan. I'll be picking it up with a rented van and trailer, if all goes well. October 31st it'll happen.

Reveal of car and plan after that, let's see who can guess it first when I start posting hints.

Either way, I'll start by revealing the first thing of the car that will have to go: it's equipped with an automatic gearbox.

Happy guessing!

[banpei]

Let the guessing game begin!

Okay, so it's going to be a project car that will receive mods. It's a car that's not registered in Germany but it's a Japanese car. That can only mean it's too exotic to be made legal in Germany and probably has a lot of parts that are not Tüv compliant. I would guess it's a 4 door saloon from Japan that's set up as a beginners drift car. Toyota Mark II / Chaser / Cresta JZX100?

[decryphe]

Actually to make it more difficult, it was indeed registered in Germany from 2014 to 2019, but has no TÜV currently.

The guess so far wasn't right, but it would have been an interesting option.

[banpei]

Okay if it has been registered from 2014 till 2019 it actually had to be stock or had TÜV-able parts. Any hints you can give us? Is it a 4 door? Does it have a turbo?

[decryphe]

(10-19-2020 03:36 PM)banpei Wrote:  Okay if it has been registered from 2014 till 2019 it actually had to be stock or had TÜV-able parts. Any hints you can give us? Is it a 4 door? Does it have a turbo?

Neither four door nor turbo. Car is still stock, but won't be for that long.

[banpei]

Then it must be a Gita!

[decryphe]

It's on its way now, should have been delivered today but will be delayed until tomorrow. Corona makes everything more complicated.

It's a two-door.

[decryphe]

Sorry for the very late actual post about this project!

The car arrived as expected that Friday in late October. It's just... it was the wrong car. It was better than it should have been.



Here's the long story: I'm planning on building/getting a car for track use only. It should be plenty fast, go around corners well and look cool while doing so. Preferrably JDM as well. First I was contemplating an MR2 AW11, possibly K-swapped, but that's a pretty dangerous machine when lacking any serious track experience. So I kept looking and stumbled across an auto, non-turbo RHD Supra Mk4 in Germany for a really good price. Well, perfect, it's described as slightly run-down, dented and abused but in working order. Best material for building a track car out of and having a blast. After a few weeks of trying to figure out how to get it into Switzerland during Corona and doing the paperworks it finally arrived on October 30 on a sunny Friday afternoon.

But I got the wrong car. It's all original, no missing pieces, just a set of wheels and side skirts. It hasn't been tuned or otherwise modded. It's obviously been garage-kept too, the chassis is, apart from the small scratches on the exterior, totally rust-free. The engine's just about broken in at 120k kilometers and runs like clockwork. Even the original spare wheel and toolbox are still where they should be.
Then I drove the car for an entire week-end with the temporary license plates I can get here in Switzerland. Drives like new, fresh off the lot. Only two minor things that I could make out: The typical O/D-lamp-blinks problem stemming from a manufacturing defect of the speed sensor in the auto box, and a Xenon lamp that blew during a night ride. The former is an easy fix and the latter is a wear item anyways.

This threw me a bit off the path I wanted to go down. It's not the right car to butcher, strip and abuse. Frankly, I would have paid more for less, if it'd been a bit broken and more worn, just to not feel bad about butchering it...
So what do I do now with this car? I don't know yet. If I can, I'll just register it and drive it as it is, it's a great GT car the way it was originally intended. If I have to go through all the hoops for emissions cycle testing, I may manual swap it and have it tested/registered that way.

Will I turbo it? Unlikely. If anything, a small supercharger and watercooled intercooler for an N/A-like experience and smooth response, maybe ITBs as well. Any mods done as professinally as possible to make it look like it was intended that way from the factory.











First going to confirm what I can and have to do with the local authorities. Let the ride begin!

[banpei]

The wrong car?
You mean you bought a car but got a different one? The paperwork must have been different too then?
On the other hand: now you have a much better platform to begin with.

But I understand your doubts: turning such an (almost) unmodified nice car into a track car will be seen as a blasphemy a few years in ahead in time. Currently the prices for a non-turbo automatic Supra is about as low as you can get. The price will definitely increase as these cars will all be gone in a few years: either swapped, hacked up (to save a turbo model) or simply wrecked. But it will never reach insane amounts of money in the end.

If I project my AE86 experience on this: any near mint AE85 will fetch mad money (above 10K in Japan) even though they are the least desirable of them all. While a swapped AE85 (or SR5) will never fetch the same price as a true AE86...unless it's a track/drift modified car obviously.

[r.ave]

(12-02-2020 10:55 AM)banpei Wrote:  The wrong car?
You mean you bought a car but got a different one? The paperwork must have been different too then?
On the other hand: now you have a much better platform to begin with.

I read it as he got a better car than he was expecting for the money paid.
Very pretty car indeed! Have fun with it!