classic cars Archives - Club4AG

TOM'S KP47 Starlet, that's Tachi-Oiwa Motorsports

MotoP — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 12:06:24 +0000

The KP47 Toyota Starlet here was carefully built and assembled by Tachi-Oiwa Motorsports. That's TOM's Racing, for most of you who've seen their logos on 40 years of race cars in Japan and abroad. Always one step ahead of everyone with making Toyota cars go faster around the raceway.

This was the car in 1973, launched the brand, and the outfit that will grow to being one of Toyota's right hand teams to set the world straight on how to build a fast car.
The KP47 by Tom's won Japan's Grand Championship series with it's fully modified and meticulously honed and balanced K-series engine that revved sky high at 11,000 rpm. This engine, 3K-R was the benchmark reference for all of the Toyota DOHC engines that followed from the 4A-G, 3S-G, 5M-G, 7M-G, G-G,and JZ-G. It was a puny 1300cc, that packed over 190 horses breathing natural atmosphere. No turbo.
With maximum torque at a very narrow peak and 100 lbs-ft at that, those who could drive it fast was far and few in between.

This car comes out of the TOMS's Shop for the Toyota Gazoo Racing Festival in November, once a year, to let everyone hear the screaming engine along the Fuji Speedway main straight.

Perhaps for a Toyota fan, this is another experience on your "Bucket List"

The post TOM'S KP47 Starlet, that's Tachi-Oiwa Motorsports appeared first on Club4AG.

Toyota Automobile Museum, Nagoya, Japan

MotoP — Sat, 08 Dec 2018 19:11:34 +0000

Toyota's main headquarters museum, features a chronological and theme-oriented display of automobile history from design standpoint, and historical assets. It is a gallery of all makes and models with tribute from Toyota as a car crafter, to all designers and engineers in automotive history.

It isn't so much a fan-zone, but more a very good reference of cars around the world in one of the best restoration crafted state, performed by the extremely capable fabricators and curators within the museum.

The post Toyota Automobile Museum, Nagoya, Japan appeared first on Club4AG.

Just a another tip for buying your car parts from Japan, or any other rarities...

MotoP — Mon, 20 Feb 2017 18:56:53 +0000

Just a another tip for buying your car parts from Japan.

I've been recently getting a lot of inquiries for random classic/vintage car parts to be bought from Japan.

The thing to remember folks, is that for anyone in bigger cities in Japan, it is very different for people in Japan.

It's one thing, if the shop has it and is willing to deal in English language and takes payments from foreigners, and wants to ship. But for most cases, these guys are older, and is content with doing business locally, and for many are reluctant to deal with foreigners. We can't blame them as Japanese culture and community is very uniform and safe. A lot of foreign transactions from many countries are thought to be unsafe, and people are not willing to deal with it. Period. Also, because they have plenty of demand within Japan, they are not really eager to start anything out of the ordinary, though anyone looking in from the outside feel they should. It doesn't phase them though...

Secondly, for folks in Japan's cities can't just hop in a car, drive somewhere, and fetch something, and return home like many of us Americans. Their gas prices are more than twice the US prices, and highway tolls are few bucks every few miles, and parking prices can also be as much as what you'd pay in Manhattan. For many, it often takes a few train trips and a lot of walking too. They are hard working people who have much less time in the day from their daily chores and work too. When they pick up large pieces, they have very little room to store anything for long periods between shipping too. So having a third party or a friend do a favor of buying and shipping something is also something a bit more involved than most of us in the USA.

Lastly, for many of these shops the foreign transactions are something secondary. You see in Japan car parts shopping is done almost strictly by shop owners and repair/restore industry personnel and not generally by hobbyists or owners from public domains. So not only are they accustomed to public inquiries, but also aren't in need of setting up vast catalogs for public viewing on the internet either.

So having said all this, it isn't like they don't want to sell you stuff. It's just that we need to take these things into consideration, and be considerate and patient, and willing to spare then extra fees and expenses too. If you are prepared and thoughtful of how things are in Japan, you can avoid issues, and frustrations and deal with importers and dealers in Japan too, smoothly. You may also consider buying from a reputable shops online like Bend Brothers for a hassle-free process.

Take note of these if you're buying random collectibles from Japan, not just car parts but most other rarities as well from anime goods, art, and trinkets to tools. Good hunting!

PS: If you have large items to ship, consider talking to a expert importer who can arrange logistics and payments that are easier BEFORE YOU leave. That way you have a place to ship to in Japan and whoever you buy from can ship them directly to that agent where he will ship them for you, so you don't need to carry it around trains in Japan during your trip either.
KJ Takahashi of MyJapanDirect is such a guy, and he can make arrangements like this, or even hunt and order things for you without you having to leave Japan! https://myjapandirect.com/

The post Just a another tip for buying your car parts from Japan, or any other rarities... appeared first on Club4AG.