Want to combine the classy looks of the original Porsche Speedster with the efficiency and low-down torque of electric motors. Can’t wait for a Tesla Roadster, or looking for something cheaper and not as common? This might be the answer.



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This 2000CS BMW was in the auction last week, a grade 2 selling for almost 400,000 Yen. This model was made between 1965 and 1968. To my eyes the styling is pleasantly modern, although maybe not to everyone’s tastes. Apparently, the 2800CS is more popular, but if you want an affordable and classy classic, this could be the one for you.



Want to find out more about the Japanese car auctions? Click here.

Provide Cars, we provide you with the largest selection of vehicles available from 115 car auctions in Japan each week

For some reason I have had a couple of people ask me independently over the last few days whether we could help them get authentic Japanese license plates for their cars to give them that real JDM look. Anyway, I thought this would be of interest to others, so this is the story:
You can sometimes find real Japanese plates on sale on eBay. I would say that at best these are in a legal gray area, and at worst their sale is illegal. Basically, when a car is exported or (I believe) when it is recycled here, the original license plates have to be returned to the Rikuun Kyoku (the Department of Transportation). We have had some plates hanging around a few years ago, but that was when someone had sent them to us in error and we could not figure out who to return them to. Even with these, we passed them on to the Department of Transportation anyway as we knew that would be where they were supposed to end up.
So the only ways you could get your hands on authentic plates in Japan would be to either steal them from a parked car, or to remove them from an abandoned vehicle. The latter may or may not be technically illegal, but the former definitely would be.
If you want a sort-of authentic-looking plate, you can order one from this site. The thing is, any real Japanese person will immediately be able to spot it as a fake, as the kanji at the top are clearly supposed to be “Nagano”, but they are written in the reverse order.

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Morgan is one of those quintessential English marques. Not only has it got a long and glorious history, but it let’s its classic heritage all hang out - even when creating an all new model with advanced materials, like the Aero 8.



From the 1.99 liter engine displacement mentioned for this particular Plus 4, we can guess it was made between 1953 and 1962, although all we know from the auction is that it was first registered in Japan in 1995. As for how much it will fetch, like the Mini Moke in my last post, it is one of those cars that is so rare that it is impossible to predict a market price.

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I haven’t seen one of these on the roads for years - certainly not in Japan - but here is a great example of the utility vehicle that was based on the Mini for sale in the car auction in Japan today.



Apparently the whole Moke concept started with an attempt to create a Jeep-type vehicle that could be air-dropped. Of course, as you can see, the slight problem with the Mini Moke being used as an offroad vehicle is fairly obvious: Ground clearance is minimal. Power was also lacking, and so it was really not a practical proposition as a military vehicle.
That did not stop the Moke entering production as a utility vehicle, gaining cult status in such diverse locales as Australia, the US, the Seychelles and the Carribbean.
I wonder how much it will go for in today’s auction? This is such a rare site, there is no real historical prices to go on, but with a start price of 500,000 Yen, I expect the owner is looking for a good payout.

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While I am a big fan of the technology and sheet ability of the Nissan GT-R, I have to say that for me the styling is definitely function over form. Call me a Ferrari lover all you want, but there is something uniquely challenging about the GT-R’s shape.
And I don’t think I am necessarily the only one out there. So let’s just say I was surprised when Mercedes decided that cross-breeding the late 50s / early 60s classic gull wing SL with the GT-R was the way to go with the metal work for their new Mercedes AMG SLS. It looks like the GT-R gulped down the gull wing and got indigestion for its trouble. Check out the head lights in particular.
              

2009 Nissan Skyline

2010 Silver AMG SLS Mercedes

                  

As they say in the Eurovision: Styling - nil points

GT-Rs are very common in the Japanese used car auctions and readily buyable.

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I started getting interested in cars as a teenager in the 1980s. These were the days of the Countach versus the Testarossa, and later the 959 against the F40. But another battle was in progress a little further down the food chain: This was the battle of the offspring of the horsepower-fueled insanity that they called Group B rallying.
Famous names in this particular turf fight were the Metro 6R4,  the Ford RS200, the Peugeot 205 T16, the mighty Audi Quattro S1, and Lancia’s own 4WD step up from the formerly-dominant 037 - the Delta HF Integrale. The Lancia was a little later on the scene, but was born from the same gene-pool as these other crazy machines.
Unfortunately for Lancia, rallying dominance did not translate into sales as their other cars were critically panned, with Lancia as a brand withdrawing from many markets not long after.
Here is a nice example in the Japanese car auctions today with mileage under 65,000 KM and little work needed to clean it up. Looking at previous sold prlces, I expect this will go for between 1.2 and 1.5 million Yen.



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Well, this is shaping up to be a Mercedes day, what with my previous post being about the classic Mercedes 230S. This time the news is a little different: The leader in plutocrat luxury announced its hybrid assault on Japan, the home of the hybrid, on September 3rd.

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The new hybrid S class is part of a general range make over for the perenial S Class model, with the twist that it also breaks new ground for Mercedes and achieves excellent fuel effiency figures - beating its sibling S350 by 30%. As a result it beats the Japanese 2005 emmissions standards by 75% (gaining a 4-star rating), and even manages to undercut the 2010 standards by 25% (to gain a 2-star rating next year).
The question Mercedes must be wondering is whether it can beat the Lexus LS600h on its home turf. That will be an interesting battle!

Provide Cars, we provide you with the largest selection of vehicles available from 115 car auctions in Japan each week

This Mercedes 230S  in today’s auction is not just a beautiful-looking car, but it is also a piece of automotive history: It is likely that thousands of people owe their lives to the pioneering engineering work on crumple zones that were premiered on this model.
Ironically, this particular car was graded R in the Japanese car auction due to its front accident repair history. Nevertheless it ended up fetching almost 500,000 Yen, and I am sure it will be a really great car when completely restored.



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Sometimes I see cars in the Japanese car auctions and I really wonder what the previous owner was like. Take this beautiful Nissan GT-R V-Spec. Bought in 1999 with the same owner ever since, it is immaculately turned out with only 1,390 (authentic) kilometers on the clock. Now, I understand how a proud owner would love their car, but surely a car like this is just begging to be driven. I mean, this car is ten years old, so it has not even managed 200 km each year!
Where has it been? What has it been up to? It’s all a mystery.
Whatever the reasons, the low mileage got the buyers out with it reaching almost 4 million at auction, when regular V-Specs of this age and grading (4.5) would normally average 3.1 million - although they also would typically have about 70,000KM on the clock, whereas this pristine example is only just starting to get run in.



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This Pushmi-Pullyu Mini is a hot tip from one of our friends. It’s not in the Japanese car auctions here, but you can pick it up on eBay where it is available until September 8th, 2009. Someone really had Minsanity, and spent about 40,000 Pounds (and, I am sure) countless hours creating this amazing machine. Apparently the creator wants to export it out of the UK to make sure his next (presumably even more bonkers creation) does not have to go head-to-head-to…. errr…-head with this piece of craziness.



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