Saturday, August 23, 2008 - 10:23 pm, by: Tahmid Sanjari(Rednchrome)
After a long hunt I managed to track down a good late 98 GTO (the 99 shape) in Japan through J-spec. Its silver, 46ks on the clock, leather, grade 4.
I have just transferred the money in Yen yesterday. It was a bit nerve racking though, to transfer the whole FOB amount without even knowing the bank account. Craig at J-spec assured and re-assured me however that it was their agent's account in Jap and not the seller directly. Craig has been very supportive with all the enquiries I have had.
So hopefully it will be on its way soon, ETA including compliance in mid October-November. Cant wait!
Still love the soarers, having done so much interior work in the V8 I had. Probably can never have a better interior than that ever in any other car- at least not to me personally, as it was all custom.
Fell in love with the 99 shape GTOs, however.
Any import/ compliance tips from you guys would be much appreciated!
Sunday, August 24, 2008 - 10:28 am, by: Robin Giles(Rob)
Good find, I looked for one for ages eventually got a red one with 100k on the clock. If you need parts get them from the US heaps cheaper and more readily available.
Don't expect it to be like the Soarer, I have a 3" exhaust 19s and 35 profile tyres and my wife thinks it like riding in a light aircraft. It is fun though.
These have to be one of the hottest looking car going and they are rare as here in Aus. Join 3si.org there is even a Aussie section there with heaps of good info.
Sunday, August 24, 2008 - 06:49 pm, by: Matthew Sharpe(Madmatt)
We have a few of them around here now. I think they look like a 10 year olds drawing of a cool car myself, but I can understand the appeal.
Of course they are Mitsi's from the time when Mitsi was busy murdering customers and bystanders by not acknowledging vehicle defects for fear of the cost of recalls...
Sunday, August 24, 2008 - 10:28 pm, by: Tahmid Sanjari(Rednchrome)
James: Thanks mate. Appreciate your suggestions. Clearly you have been through it yourself. The car will be arranged to be transferred by J-spec to the compliance place. I am hearing they are very good. Hopefully would hold true for me too. I would have loved to be at the dock myself, however I am in Adelaide and the car will be coming in at Sydney. Re-mods, it doesnt have much other than 3 extra gauges and TEIN coilovers, which even, I believe potentially the compliancer can want to take off. Hopefully not as they can be a bit lax sometimes. Of course if it was their own car they were brining in then no probs!
Robin: A red one!!! I looked for ages for one in red, no luck. I am already a 3SI member: gtoer. Whats your user name? Yeah I know what you mean about parts from US, makes them so much more affordable.
Maurice: Pics shortly, hopefully during the week.
Drew: Thanks mate. As above, car will be transported by J-spec.
Monday, August 25, 2008 - 04:55 pm, by: James Harris(Haro)
Prob wont have any gauges by the time it gets to Australia.
Dodgy warfies...
Some places will remove your suspension for you and put some stock stuff back in (assuming its in the boot). But be prepared for a solid bill as many of those places are pretty crap.
Yeh im keen to see some pics also, they are such an odd looking car but i still like them. PIty you probably wont get out of 3rd gear driving around town.
I drove a 6 spd GTO a while ago and even at 110km/hr 6th gear was not really neeeded hey... I think that gear comes into its own at about 150 at least (and that is a CRUISING speed !)
Monday, August 25, 2008 - 09:29 pm, by: Tahmid Sanjari(Rednchrome)
Adrain: One of these would set you back anywhere between 28-38k, depending on condition, milage etc and what sort of bargain/luck you manage to get at a time.
BUT absolute nightmare to source as they are rare as hell due to the following:
I enquired a lot into the issue and was told by all the compliancers that only one engineer has emissions data for 99 onwards, and he charges 5k to sell his data. This makes importing 99+ a gamble, that is, there is no gurantee that it will pass emissions, unless one is willing to fork out the 5k for that engineer. The only other way is to get a very late 98, ie 98 September onwards which is when this latest upgrade came out. Essentially it means only 5 months worth of cars- dec 98 being the cutoff for compliancing/emissions purposes due to the emmissions data problem. Very hard to source.
Thursday, August 28, 2008 - 12:22 am, by: Maurice Diggler(Mau_rice)
I read in a CarSales add someone say "Genuine 3000GT, not a GTO" or something along those lines, however reading thru Wikipedia nothing was said, I think it's just different names for different regions, like it's Called a Stealth Turbo in the US ect...
Thursday, August 28, 2008 - 08:15 am, by: Robin Giles(Rob)
A 3000GT is a export version of the same car and it was export to Aus the US and Europe. The stealth is a re-badged version that dodge did in the US with some different body panels and interior trim. If you check on wiki it tells you why they couldn't use GTO in the US and Europe. Basically the same car.
Don Bagnall Moderator New Zealand Mercedes Benz SLK230 Kompressor
Thursday, August 28, 2008 - 04:57 pm, by: Don Bagnall(Baggs)
Maurice Diggler wrote on Thursday, August 28, 2008 - 12:22 am:
Who knows? Maybe Donald would know? Donny?
Yeah, what Robin says. In NZ & Japan they were sold NEW as a GTO, but the rest of the planet got the 3000GT..........Same car different badgey-bits!.
As an aside, the Mitsubishi Pajero could not be sold in Spanish speaking countries with THAT badge, as Pajero (pronounced pa-hero) means Wanker! (NOT a good look!). Hence they were called Montero for the US & guido type destinations.
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