Author |
Message |
John Jantzen
Tinkerer Tasmania V8 UZZ31 Limited
Posts: 11 Reg: 11-2005
| I have this glossy "coffee table" book, "Japanese Supercars", in which there is a chapter on the Lexus SC300/SC400. Our car is in good company too, with all the top Japanese GTs. I will scan the SC300/400 chapter if you like and publish it somewhere. It's where I saw my first Soarer and started my interest in them! |
David Vaughan
DieHard ACT Soarer GT-L (4.0 V8) Lexus is300 (3.0 VVT-i 6)
Posts: 959 Reg: 07-2005
| Curiosity, John: what are the best and worst cars they list, that is, those most and least deserving of being in the book? |
John Jantzen
Tinkerer Tasmania V8 UZZ31 Limited
Posts: 13 Reg: 11-2005
| OK, here's all they list - there's a chapter to each: Honda-Acura NSX, Lexus SC400, Mitsubishi 3000 GT VR-4, Nissan 300ZX, Mazda MX-5 Miata, Mazda RX7. Published '92, so current models of eash of these, of course. The first chapter is also good because it details the evolution of the Japanese Sports/GT. Nice photos of first Cosmo Coupe, Toyota 2000GT and the more expected ones. (Fairlady, 240z, first RX-7 etc) I think the MX-5 is the standout here in terms of being out of its company. Including it should have meant also including the Supra, MR-2, FTO, and as it includes the SC400, why not the Honda Legend Coupe, a very similar concept? |
Murray Lund
Tinkerer NSW V8
Posts: 12 Reg: 07-2005
| Please scan and post John. Love to read it. |
Simon Triantafillou
TryHard NSW Soarer Turbo
Posts: 330 Reg: 07-2005
| Mmmm 3000GT VR4... almost bought one of those instead of the Soarer. Heavy beasts, but packed full of goodies. Would have to sell body parts to pay for mods or fixes though |
Don Bagnall
Moderator New Zealand 1991 UZZ30 GT4.0 V8
Posts: 1840 Reg: 05-2005
| Simon, this is our GTO that we swapped for the Soarer . It was MINT, and we paid $8.5k(NZD) for it.
|
Simon Triantafillou
TryHard NSW Soarer Turbo
Posts: 331 Reg: 07-2005
| Very nice... I was looking at that colour too. Pity they were worth AU$40k for a 91 model, and $95k+ for 95+ models when I was looking. |
Don Bagnall
Moderator New Zealand 1991 UZZ30 GT4.0 V8
Posts: 1842 Reg: 05-2005
| Sheesh they sound like they're big bucks over there. Strangely the TT version goes for the same sorta money . The ones that command the relatively big bucks, are the 93 on 6 spd. TT's, as the earlier 5 spd.TT's tended to lunch their gearbox's if thrashed. NOT one of Getrags better efforts |
John Jantzen
Tinkerer Tasmania V8 UZZ31 Limited
Posts: 17 Reg: 11-2005
| Well, in response to your interest, here is the scanned article. Each page is approx 200kb, so it's not really dial-up friendly. Each image is 960 pixels wide, except the cover which is much smaller (it's only there so that if you see the book you'll recognize it quickly). The Cover Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Enjoy! (OK so some of the text is pretty trite!) |
Adam Parisi
Tinkerer sa uzz30 pov pack
Posts: 9 Reg: 07-2005
| I think I just spotted a blooper. In page 4 of that article, isn't that a 6 in the picture and the caption is about the v8? |
John Jantzen
Tinkerer Tasmania V8 UZZ31 Limited
Posts: 18 Reg: 11-2005
| The angle of the shot, and the fact that it's a LHD bay shown, may make it look a little unusual, but I'm sure that's the V8 engine. |
Adam Parisi
Tinkerer sa uzz30 pov pack
Posts: 10 Reg: 07-2005
| Yeah, you're right, my bad. |
Don Bagnall
Moderator New Zealand 1991 UZZ30 GT4.0 V8
Posts: 1857 Reg: 05-2005
| Thanks for that John, a good read, and GREAT pics |
Matthew Sharpe
TryHard North Island 3.0 GT
Posts: 213 Reg: 10-2005
| At least the writer researched it properly! |
Callum Finch
DieHard WA Soarer TT
Posts: 556 Reg: 09-2005
| yeah i like it when my car (well... not the same model >.>) is called a super car =P |
Brad Elphinstone
TryHard NSW JZZ30 GT-T
Posts: 351 Reg: 07-2005
| Call me picky, but are there any real supercars in that book? If its a 90's book, the NSX is a start.... |
Ben Kelly
Tinkerer Lidcombe v8
Posts: 50 Reg: 08-2005
| hey what prices are quoted. I was sure i saw an article or post that quoted the original price of the sc400 as 100k + U.S. Does anyone know? |
John Jantzen
Tinkerer Tasmania V8 UZZ31 Limited
Posts: 42 Reg: 11-2005
| Prices quoted (book released in 1992) were: SC400 (SC300 not listed) - $37500 'basic' to $44000 'fully loaded with options' Traction control is listed as a '$1500 option'. Other cars priced in this book are: Honda NSX $62000, Mitusubishi 3000GT $34000, Nissan 300zx NA $28000 (TT $34000), Mazda MX5 $21000, Mazda RX7 TT $30000 (approx). All these prices are in US Dollars. |
David Vaughan
Goo Roo ACT Soarer GT-L (4.0 V8) Lexus is300 (3.0 VVT-i 6)
Posts: 1339 Reg: 07-2005
| That is a handy scaling for the common "what would my car have sold for here" question, to which my preferred answer is "lots and lots, so feel good!" |
Don Bagnall
Moderator New Zealand I have LESS Soarers than Hayden :-(
Posts: 2343 Reg: 05-2005
| EDITED: Coz it was rude and obnoxious. I should learn NOT to post when I'm in a cranky mood & drinking. Mine cost us $8.5K(NZD) 14 months ago. It is in excellent condition, and will continue to be kept in excellent condition, for the forseeable future.
|
Andreas Niaouris
TryHard W.A. V8 Limited
Posts: 173 Reg: 07-2005
| Thanks for the info John |
John Jantzen
Tinkerer Tasmania V8 UZZ31 Limited
Posts: 43 Reg: 11-2005
| Thanks Andreas, This information was provided on the request of a member and was posted "without prejudice" - I do not choose to agree or disagree whether this sort of information is valuable, but I very much appreciate your gratitude as it took a skim read through the whole text of the book to get it, and I've been feeling very uncertain since publishing it as I didn't think it was controversial enough to elicit some of the responses which it did. (Insert emoticon for 'scary' here!) |
David Vaughan
Goo Roo ACT Soarer GT-L (4.0 V8) Lexus is300 (3.0 VVT-i 6)
Posts: 1356 Reg: 07-2005
| Perhaps I should shorten my post: quote:so feel good!
|
John Jantzen
Tinkerer Tasmania V8 UZZ31 Limited
Posts: 71 Reg: 11-2005
| Just noticed something interesting on Page 5 of the article I uploaded. The bronze car has its SC400 badge located in the middle, below the L, rather than to the right. Was this ever the case with production SC400's, or a private modification? I think it looks unbalanced, personally, well, maybe just a bit less unbalanced than someone who posts about the position of a badge on a car! |
Delan Peiris
Tinkerer VIC UZZ31 V8 LTD
Posts: 57 Reg: 08-2005
| All the US spec SC400s I've seen (in pictures) had the SC400 in the middle as in the article. |
Don Bagnall
Moderator New Zealand I have LESS Soarers than Hayden :-(
Posts: 2837 Reg: 05-2005
| The original US spec Lexus sales brochure shows it in the center, which, as John says does look unbalanced. If I recall correctly the later SC400's did in fact shift the badge location to the more "Normal" RH side of the boot lid. |
Paul Irwin
Trader NSW GT-T (1JZ-GTE)
Posts: 124 Reg: 07-2005
| Yes, good to see the read soarers made up a large percentage of the photo shots! |