For about the last 6 months, I’ve been looking over Japanese auction lists almost daily searching for something to buy and import. After a long dry spell, where either nothing interesting was popping up, or everything was seriously overpriced, I finally pulled the trigger on something!
It’s a 1993 Toyota ̶C̶̶a̶̶m̶̶r̶̶y̶ Mark II! I had a few basic criteria in my search. Car had to be
-RWD
-Relatively Interesting
-Somewhat common drivetrain (for parts availability)
So... Why? Why something that’s basically indistinguishable to non car people from a 90's Camry? Well for one, it’s light. Really light for a 4DR sedan at 3100lbs. Secondly, this one popped up in the exact spec I wanted. The Tourer V trim level. What that means is that it has this.
A 1JZGTE putting out “276" hp. This one is particularly rare because it is also a factory manual.
So this particular car is putting out about the same power as a turbo Supra, while being 4-500lbs lighter and having 4 doors. The 1j has a solid aftermarket and the JZX chassis is well supported by the aftermarket. Throw a couple quick upgrades, and this thing will be a fantastic sleeper platform.
The interior is also in near perfect shape.
Exterior has a few patchy areas of paint, but that’s pretty easily rectified. From here paperwork had been submitted to deregister in Japan, then it gets on a boat and comes over. So hopefully, I should have it in here within the next 2 months!