SoarerTara

Lol yeah I was having a bit of fun, I saw your thumbs up, I waved back but I had a feeling you couldn't see me through the tint. Your's looked super clean, I wished I would have caught up sooner instead of right at my exit >.<

jadu

iTrader: (42)

Nice Soarer! Been following some of the soarers for sale in the US and there have been quite a few sold this year and last: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sc-...d-soarers.html

- V -

iTrader: (1)

incase anyone is looking for one, this just popped up on my facebook feed.

Shayy

iTrader: (1)

I purchased one through a dealer near Seattle and had it shipped to Missouri as soon as it landed. It was a one owner car and I believe it was an older woman. I don't have many pictures yet because I still have some stuff to fix cosmetically. The rear bumper has paint fade and there's a dent on the passenger side that needs body work. It's only taken on short drives for now because it's winter and I need to do some major maintenance just for good measure.

1992 Toyota Soarer 218k km (135k miles) with factory R154 and no modifications before my ownership. As of now, It has full 3 inch exhaust including a brand new catback Blitz Nur Spec R. I put new endlinks on along with brand new PBM coilovers. The paint is very old. I did a good bit of cutting on it, but didn't feel comfortable using anything too heavy. So I moved on to a polish and coated it with 22PLE. It turned out alright. Some of the interior looked aged so I sourced some OEM Soarer interior bits like the shift boot for example. I also ordered and received an OEM Toyota clutch master cylinder(RHD) for a rainy day in the future.






Here are some random phone pics of progress

logix7

i saw that one for sale online... hard to forget those seat covers lol

Boblobllaw

Avoid all the hassle of having the car shipped in from Japan. If you want a car that is 25 years or older and you aren't in California just leave all the hassle to the people at Japanese Classics in Richmond Virginia. They get really nice cars and at a very reasonable price. They have imported quite a few Soarers. They will handle everything for you and you can pick it up and drive it home just for the fun of it. Or they will ship it to you. I'm pretty sure that as long as you are not in California you're good. There is a list of all the cars they have imported on there web site. Atleast last time I looked there was. You can even have them look for the specific car you want and they will let you know when one is available. I know this sounds like a advertisment but I do not work for them. However, I have seen some of the stuff they have imported 1st hand and I was really impressed.
. https://www.japaneseclassics.com

jadu

iTrader: (42)

been following their sales, and i definitely agree, they import very mint condition cars! wish they would have more soarers; i see a lot of nissans and skylines. cant wait to see the mkiv supras for sale next year

Shayy

iTrader: (1)

From my experience, none of the importers/dealers can be trusted. It all depends on the condition of the specific car you're buying.

97-SC300

iTrader: (17)

I like how you still kept the old Meisters..... car looks amazing. Welcome back to the SC game! Car looks phenomenal.

logix7

do you guys think the japanese ever sit there on the internet and think "damn, why couldnt we have that" about ANY of our 80s-90s cars?


probably not lol

Aron9000

I'm sure there are a few weirdo Japanese out there who lust after our V8 muscle cars and would like an IROC Camaro, a DOCH ZR1 Corvette(heck I'd like one of those), or a Fox body Mustang. Maybe even a few Japanese perverts who are into low-riders and would like a 1982 Regal or Cutlass Supreme lol.

KahnBB6

iTrader: (5)

There are some such cars that aficionados that like some classic American cars in Japan. Predominantly low riders, classic 1960's and a few very early 70's muscle cars... models like those. Very old Cadillacs from the same golden era that we like. Not so much 90's American cars unless someone there really, really wants to go through the hoops of importing a 1990 Corvette ZR1. As an example I have heard that the Buick Grand National and GNX have been sought after by some collectors in Japan.

^^ Yep. Exactly. All of those and maybe a few more. Even a Mustang SVO, possibly. But also UK Fords such as a Sierra Cosworth or Escort Cosworth.

Importing a foreign car into Japan isn't so easy or cheap either. It just isn't isn't restricted to 25 years as it is in the United States.

KahnBB6

iTrader: (5)

Japanese Classics is a very good importer. They do take care of the mountain of paperwork involved and make it easier. So is Sean Morris' company Import A Vehicle (I think that's the name of it). Morris was the man who did the technical work for Motorex when they imported Skyline R33 GT-R's years ago but not in their illegal shenanigans that got them shut down. I've spoken to him on the phone a while back when a good friend was consulting him about a vehicle he wanted to bring in.

As regards California... unfortunately it does add a layer of complication and barrier to the process that more or less makes it not worth it to bring in a grey market gasoline vehicle that is 1976 and newer. However for a good chunk of cash you can technically send your non-US car with a non-US engine to one of a couple of companies such as G&K Auto for emissions modification and after that you can spend around $11k in fees to have the car certified at an official emissions laboratory to make sure its modified state conforms to the emissions requirements for the year it was manufactured. Some people will do this, though.

Actually I am not at all aware of what the deal is with the repeatability of a specifically certified emissions modified foreign engine but I believe Sean Morris was or is looking into this as an additional service for anyone who is determined to have a gray market 1976+ vehicle legally registered in California. If anyone would know the brass tax involved and whether it is possible or not outside of a case-by-casebasis he would.

If it didn't take that much work to get a foreign engine registered legally here (California DMV & smog) I'd have swapped in a 1JZ-GTE VVT-i by now.