I need another car - just a reliable beater to convey me around town - since I want Nam to drive the Cefiro (and its newfangled safety features) when we move to the new house. The new house is within walking distance of my university, but I need something for rainy days and whatnot. I think I've found a good candidate:
That's an honest-to-god classic car (4th generation S60), with prices to match both in Japan and the states. I think I can get this one for about a thousand USD. There are a lot of classic Japanese cars being driven around on a daily basis in Thailand. One of the reasons is that maintenance and repairs are so cheap. Another is that they often aren't considered classic here, just old - which is a shame for the cars, but great for people who love them.
The Toyota "Kujira" Crown was apparently not very popular in Japan when it was released, except among Osaka taxi drivers (according to one of the links above). It also got some airtime on TV shows at the time, but the avant garde looks were just too kick-ass for that stiff-upper-lip generation of Japanese sheeple, I guess. Oh, well.
This particular specimen has a secret under the hood that should make it anything but a whale (kujira = "whale") on the road: A "silvertop" Nissan RB20DE !!! That's the non-turbo powerplant for a type 32 Skyline!
It also has the matching drivetrain and 5 speed manual gearbox.
I promised myself I would think about it for at least a day, but I'm having a hard time waiting until tomorrow... The first thing I'm going to do is put the wing mirrors out on the hood like they oughtta be... Then I'll have the body restored (there's a bit of rust in places, the owner says) to look something like... this.
What say you?
UPDATE: I've just talked to the owner and it sounds like he's taken very good care of it. I told him I want it; now it's just a question of enacting the sale and slogging through any related paperwork, which I have no idea about. Yay!
Cool car! I would drive it!
Huh- so this is what a Camry looked like in '71. What's the mileage like?
If I had to choose, I'd choose something smaller and lighter but this one looks pretty good for it's age.
buy it
If you're that stoked about this car, get it, play with it, make it pretty and enjoy!
The owner says it gets "pretty good" mileage if you drive it conservatively. So that may not apply to me since Skyline engine + RWD + 5 speed = happyhappyjoyjoy. It is an old car, though, so I'd want to take care of it.
I've looked up prices for the RB20DE engine here and it costs as much as this whole car is going for. I think I'm gonna call and reserve it today.
Oh dear, it's my dad's 1st or the 2nd car he owned back in 70's! He used to let me drive on his knees. I was perhaps 4 years young...
Excellent car! What kind of lame bumper sticker can I bring you from Japan? P.S. - We are thinking of arriving on December 7 and leaving December 9 on the noon flight if you and Nam are free that weekend.
OK, Dave - I'd give my left nut for a set of 藤原豆腐店 decals. Hell, I'd even look for a AE86 to put them on:
http://diary.jp.aol.com/initiald/img/1128324178.jpg
Nam and I will make time, no worries.
Hi, so did you buy it?
I have 3 in my garage in spain LOL
Mine are Supersaloon with 2600 (4M) engine and automatic box, what are yours?
Cheers.
I sure did! You can read all about it on this link:
http://www.cosmicbuddha.com/mt/mt-search.cgi?search=kujira&IncludeBlogs=1
Wow, you have 3? Let me know if you want to part with the upper left corner piece of chrome trim for the front; I only need one!