Help me get some rad wood.

So, I've been car shopping. We all know this. We are probably bored of this. I very nearly landed on the evo3 as the winner. Right price, I know the platform, it's weird and old and Japanese and probably questionable. These are all things I like. 

This morning however, I was having a meeting in the porcelain office and I had a thought. Given that I have my Google machine at my side, I ran a quick query. I came across that my friends, is an r31 skyline. Arguably one of the coolest, and certainly most unappreciated skylines. Super rad, rb20 powered, questionable Japanese awesomeness. And they seem to command the same prices as an evo3. 

That got me thinking, what else is out there? I tried to buy a Cosmo on Vancouver once, that did not work out. I'm not super into Subarus, they're not...weird enough unless it's an svx. What other sort of 80s/90s tastic, weird, wtf was that when you see one on traffic wheels are out there? I'm not really worried about dd, I'll probably slap a jagerty policy on it and drive out to shows and make all the old guys vomit. 

Even more underappreciated Skyline? R30, in case you're wondering.

They also made a two door coupe version of that. Then there's the various Nissan Marches in a frock (Pao, Figaro) plus a bunch of Kei car stuff.

The Brits also have some nutso kit cars during that period, but those are usually of very questionable quality. Plus you get TVR, Marcos etc.

Nissan Pulsar GTiR

I've been eyeing the Mazda Astina/323F. It is basically a BG chassis Protege LX in drag with a big ass. We've had a few BG chassis cars and loved them, but nice ones are very thin on the ground here in the States. A 323F might be just the ticket to having another nice one with the added bonus of being completely weird.... Maybe not weird/questionable enough reliability for you though.

Shinku Classics has this one in their inventory currently:

Badassery

Oh heck yes to the r31. Or r30, even. My favorite is the silhouette racer, you could try to emulate that car with huge box flares.

Mazda Cosmos. 

Toyota soarer of the same era?

Ooh - a Honda City, or some sort of Kei hatchback.  It'd be hilarious.

All I know is you had better show up to rad wood with a set of pit viper sunglasses. Otherwise, don't even try bro!

eastsideTim said:

Ooh - a Honda City, or some sort of Kei hatchback.  It'd be hilarious.

Tim has met me. Those who have not, do not realize how hilarious this is.  

_ said:

All I know is you had better show up to rad wood with a set of pit viper sunglasses. Otherwise, don't even try bro!

Og Oakley's. Don't fake the funk. 

classicJackets said:

Toyota soarer of the same era?

I do love me some Toyota. 

Mndsm said:

eastsideTim said:

Ooh - a Honda City, or some sort of Kei hatchback.  It'd be hilarious.

Tim has met me. Those who have not, do not realize how hilarious this is.  

Powar said:

I've been eyeing the Mazda Astina/323F. It is basically a BG chassis Protege LX in drag with a big ass. We've had a few BG chassis cars and loved them, but nice ones are very thin on the ground here in the States. A 323F might be just the ticket to having another nice one with the added bonus of being completely weird.... Maybe not weird/questionable enough reliability for you though.

Shinku Classics has this one in their inventory currently:

 

Badassery

So my buddy Jesse works for Shinku and I know their lead technician,in passing, who is known as JDM Dad. JDM Dad is actually a big time R31 enthusiast, who spent a lot of time in Japan back when the R31 tuning scene was big, many decades ago.  if you really want a R31 I would call over there and ask to talk with JDM Dad about his R31 knowledge.  Shinku can also find a car for you. They are really straight up guys who try to sell cars that have been gone through to the best degree. Not just your average importers. 

Just a matter of when, not if for me. Undervalued at the moment in my opinion. Especially compared to say, R32 GTST or GTS4. 

I don't think these were anything remarkable to drive, but they're DIRT cheap at Japanese auctions, and the rear end is a strange/unique look.

Skyline RS Turbo in the black/red is peak cool, but if you can get one of those soarers—specifically the Aerocabin—you win.

Don't forget the early 90s Toyota Century. It's like a 1960s Japanese Rolls Royce with a hearty helping of '90s thrown at it.

If you want to get into real trouble, just pull up Duncan Imports and take a look at what they have in stock. All kinds of wild nonsense.

In reply to fatallightning :

Love the FTO. And as crazy as this sounds, get the automatic. It learns your driving style and adapts shifts for it. 

Nice clean 300ZXTT?

In reply to spacecadet :

Oh snap! I need them to find me a Ford Festiva sedan (available in Japan and Venezuela, possibly other places)

Speaking of which: Ford Festiva sedan. You know you want one.

In reply to slowbird :

Yes. And I wanted to be all rally car'd up

In reply to _ :

Alternatively, there's the Festiva GTX. I just learned about this a few minutes ago.

slowbird said:

In reply to spacecadet :

Oh snap! I need them to find me a Ford Festiva sedan (available in Japan and Venezuela, possibly other places)

Speaking of which: Ford Festiva sedan. You know you want one.

I hurt my brain on this one. I think that's good. 

*twitch*

In reply to Mndsm :

Here’s the car you need: Ford Laser TX3 Turbo AWD. 
 

Mndsm said:

*twitch*

Who ended up with the one that was being built on air here?