I had a chance to ask my grandpa in Japan about the inspection question. He
is a retired auto repair shop owner over there. He says that the older cars
that are still roadworthy (e.g. roadsters and the like) are probably being
meticulously cared for, and are not being driven much. The inspection
process, which I believe is like the MOT in England, requires every aspect
of the car to be checked out every 2 or 3 years depending upon how new the
car is. If it fails, it has to get brought up to snuff or it gets kicked
off the road. As a result, owners of older cars tend to not drive the car
much so that parts don't wear out and break. Owning a "classic" is almost
prohibitively expensive because of the inspection process, and because you
can get little use out of the car for fear of wearing it out before the next
inspection (or "sha-ken").
Get this. My grandpa says that the law in Japan is that unless you are a
certified mechanic, it is illegal for you to open up your engine. This is a
law that is not enforced much, but it is still there. This too makes
ownership of a car such as a roadster very expensive... especially for the
law abiding folk.
In the end though, a few cars stay roadworthy because their owners spend the
money, or keep the cars well-preserved in garages; just like in England.
The freedom that we here in America have as car owners is mind-blowing from
my grandpa's perspective. [He has often mentioned to me though that the
condition of cars that he sometimes sees on the road here in the States
scares teh crap out of him!!]
I don't know shipping costs.
Taro in Seattle
'67 1600
>From: "datsunmike" <datsunmike@nyc.rr.com>
>To: "Taro Kusunose" <tkusunose@hotmail.com>,
><datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net>
>Subject: Re: Japan: Roadsters/Silvia for Sale
>Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2001 22:16:44 -0500
>
>Taro,
>
>Well it's nice that someone was able to translate. Since you are obviously
>Japanese or have family that comes from there you may know the answer to my
>Q: If Japan has such a strict policy regarding inspections and such, how
>are
>the old cars still allowed to be used and why weren't they destroyed or
>exported like so many others? While in the Caribbean I saw many Japanese
>home market cars exported there. They were very interesting.
>
>Yep, that shop is "the Dream Garage" for us Roadster nuts.
>
>BTW, how much does it cost to ship a car to the US? Just curious.
>
>Mike
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Taro Kusunose" <tkusunose@hotmail.com>
>To: <datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net>
>Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2001 9:21 PM
>Subject: Re: Japan: Roadsters/Silvia for Sale
>
>
> > The webpage implies that the five cars listed are only a sample of what
>they
> > have, Roadster-wise. Taro
> >
> >
> > >From: "Andrew Murphy" <solex67@hotmail.com>
> > >Reply-To: "Andrew Murphy" <solex67@hotmail.com>
> > >To: datsun65@hotmail.com, datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net
> > >Subject: Re: Japan: Roadsters/Silvia for Sale
> > >Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2001 17:11:13 -0800
> > >
> > >I checked out this site. I didn't realize there was a Datsun Roadster
>house
> > >in Japan that was actually selling these cars. What is really wild is
>that
> > >the LHD cars are WAY less than the RHD drive cars. I did the
>conversions.
> > >Here is what they are selling for over there
> > >
> > >SP310 (I am guessing a 64) 6,000.00
> > >SPL310(I am guessing a 64) 3,860.00
> > >SR311 (Looks like a low windshield) 36,000.00
> > >SRL311(1970) 8,577.00
> > >SR311 (1969) 34,000.00
> > >
> > >There is a shot with five roadsters in it and one is up on a lift. Does
> > >anyone know what shop this is?
> > >
> > >Andrew Murphy
> > >SoCalROC
> > >
> > >
> > >From: "Dan Zubkoff" <datsun65@hotmail.com>
> > >Reply-To: "Dan Zubkoff" <datsun65@hotmail.com>
> > >To: datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net
> > >Subject: Japan: Roadsters/Silvia for Sale
> > >Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2001 00:35:11
> > >MIME-Version: 1.0
> > >X-Originating-IP: [192.9.25.22]
> > >Received: from [207.173.21.42] by hotmail.com (3.2) with ESMTP id
> > >MHotMailBC531F2300324004319FCFAD152A0D210; Tue Feb 13 16:41:11 2001
> > >Received: (from majordom@localhost)by teamfat2.dsl.aros.net
>(8.11.0/8.11.0)
> > >id f1E0ZL514827for datsun-roadsters-actors; Tue, 13 Feb 2001
>17:35:21 -0700
> > >(MST)
> > >From datsun-roadsters-owner@autox.team.net Tue Feb 13 16:42:02 2001
> > >Message-ID: <F2681qCcWNYgEj4v5iJ0000346c@hotmail.com>
> > >X-OriginalArrivalTime: 14 Feb 2001 00:35:11.0609 (UTC)
> > >FILETIME=[FD68B690:01C0961D]
> > >Sender: owner-datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net
> > >Precedence: bulk
> > >
> > >Check Out the Following Cars for Sale in Japan
> > >
> > >http://www.oi-sys.co.jp/car/niss_fairladys.html
> > >
> > >If only shipping was cheaper............
> > >
> > >Dan Zubkoff
> > >San Mateo, CA
> > >1966 CSP311, SPL311
> > >_________________________________________________________________
> > >
> > >_________________________________________________________________
> >
> > _________________________________________________________________
>
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