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KakerMix posted:I get an average of 22 mpg with a vast majority of our driving being in town with top speeds of around 50 mph on some sections. Like I was saying to everdave earlier though I don't know what an automatic 2.4 L with the extra weight on the back is going to be like in performance or fuel economy. We have a 2 door short wheelbase version. I don't know what the weight difference is between them is but I have to imagine quite a bit. People who "do" Land Cruisers generally dislike the 2.4 2LT engine that the brown one (and my white one) has. The 3 liter KZ one that was put into the Prado in 1993 is a much better engine from everyone who has an opinion. I mean I know it isn't technically a real Land Cruiser but I don't need an offroad warrior, I need a reliable wagon with ground clearance that can handle lot of different poo poo including my daily commute. And honestly like a RAV4 or something would be great, but if I could pull down an imported manual diesel Prado for less than 10k that I could daily I'd be way into it. KZ preferably. I follow this thread to daydream, but drat that seems practical.
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Aug 23, 2018 03:04
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LeeMajors posted:I mean I know it isn't technically a real Land Cruiser but I don't need an offroad warrior, I need a reliable wagon with ground clearance that can handle lot of different poo poo including my daily commute. And honestly like a RAV4 or something would be great, but if I could pull down an imported manual diesel Prado for less than 10k that I could daily I'd be way into it. KZ preferably. I follow this thread to daydream, but drat that seems practical. Technically it is a real Land Crusier since Toyota gets to make that call and they put the name and badge on it, and in this generation they shared so much that they are J70 Cruisers in a bunch of key ways. Ours even has a rear locking diff still, it's just that Toyota saw fit to make a light duty Cruiser, make it more comfortable and easier to live with in daily life, and call it a Prado. If you are cool with a two door model then (outside of actually finding one, they seem to be much harder to find than the 4 door ones) a 2.4 with a manual transmission is great, plus a lot cheaper than the KZ versions. We have to wait and see what everdave's is like to get an idea of an automatic 4 door one though. Might not matter with that hella brown interior.
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Aug 23, 2018 03:18
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They also seem to do ok in terms of crash safety. Just ask my girlfriends parents, who rolled their airbag-less J90 three times on the freeway. They got away with zero injuries somehow.
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Aug 23, 2018 06:02
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KakerMix posted:1989 Suzuki Jimny ~TURBO~ in supremely excellent condition. Wow that thing is clean. I keep looking at cars going across auction but haven't bid on any yet.
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Aug 23, 2018 10:41
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Throwing 450 at this Delica tonight. Its an auto but a 4 and great color. Yes I will probably lose. https://auc.japancardirect.com/aj-YEvOrZE4nlvnmN.htm Asking for a report on a Surf, Skyline and Cappuccino for tonight too
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Aug 23, 2018 18:20
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Re-reading through the thread and having found it yet but what is the process for ordering and inspection? Am I missing an obvious link on the japancardirect.com site?
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Aug 23, 2018 20:54
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NitroSpazzz posted:Re-reading through the thread and having found it yet but what is the process for ordering and inspection? Am I missing an obvious link on the japancardirect.com site? I just PM'd you
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Aug 23, 2018 21:18
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everdave posted:Throwing 450 at this Delica tonight. Its an auto but a 4 and great color. Yes I will probably lose. 450,000. You are about half of what they were going for when I was trying to buy one. Year and a half ago I was losing out with 750-800,000 yen bids.
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Aug 23, 2018 21:25
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Lord of Garbagemen posted:450,000. You are about half of what they were going for when I was trying to buy one. Year and a half ago I was losing out with 750-800,000 yen bids. Well I am a cheapskate and it's an auto ha who knows maybe I will bump it up tonight.
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Aug 23, 2018 21:40
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NitroSpazzz posted:Re-reading through the thread and having found it yet but what is the process for ordering and inspection? Am I missing an obvious link on the japancardirect.com site? https://japancardirect.com/how-to-buy/vehicle-search-engine-registration/ Which then gets you in contact with them as they will e-mail you. The way this all works is through email, not through some sort of store front. Depending on how they decide you'll either get Matt or Yoshi, I have Yoshi and like him quite a bit. You then gotta do a $500 deposit, there is a bit more back and forth, and then you simply go "hey how about this one?" then they sheet translate it for you, depending on that you decide if you want to inspect. Inspect it, if it comes back good they'll suggest a bid amount, you bid, and see what happens. You have to pay the inspection even if you don't win though, for me that gets wrapped up into whatever the next car I buy is. If you name drop someone they get a discount on their next car.
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Aug 24, 2018 00:05
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Raised bid on Delica to 600 - it ended up going for 1.035 million Put 325 on a Skyline GTS-T - haven't heard back on this one everdave fucked around with this message at 18:55 on Aug 24, 2018 |
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Aug 24, 2018 01:18
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Compared to Australia those prices seem quite high*, especially for fugly 3rd gens. Personally I like either the really boxy second generation ones from the 80s (whether or not it'll have PS seems to be a wash though) or the 90's/4th gen style, which are gonna start being legal from next year. *plz don't drive up the prices of Aussie Delica's I haven't bought one yet!
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Aug 24, 2018 21:52
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Ethics_Gradient posted:Compared to Australia those prices seem quite high*, especially for fugly 3rd gens. Personally I like either the really boxy second generation ones from the 80s (whether or not it'll have PS seems to be a wash though) or the 90's/4th gen style, which are gonna start being legal from next year. They are and it's being driven up by #vanlife types, almost exclusively by the pacific northwest. There is no easy way to import stuff from Australia and most stuff from Australia isn't going to be anywhere near as clean and well-taken care of as a Japanese one with how the systems are set up. Your Aussie stuff is fine, don't worry about it. It's just the stuff from Japan that's $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Wait, does Australia have the same 25 year import rule as the U.S.?
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Aug 24, 2018 22:00
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KakerMix posted:They are and it's being driven up by #vanlife types, almost exclusively by the pacific northwest. It has been a hard and fast "nothing newer than 1989"* for a while now, but apparently we will be getting a rolling 25 year policy like the US sometime in the next year or so. Of course, we also get modern grey market imports from Japan but I'm actually not sure how that works as some things seem to be OK and some are not. I was looking at importing my '92 XLR250 Baja from Japan and that was going to be a non-starter, but I had an '05 Nissan Cube camper rental a few years ago that was still sporting its shaken sticker  *We do have something called the Personal Vehicle Import Scheme, where if you were living overseas and had the vehicle for a year, are entitled to bring it back to Australia no matter how new it is, a guy I knew living in Japan did it with a 3rd gen RX-7. You can only do it once every 5 years IIRC. I wasn't eligible for it at the time as I wasn't a permanent resident yet. edit: I may have posted something to this effect before, but if you guys can get the vacation time together I cannot recommend going to Japan and doing a roadtrip enough. The trains are what everyone does and for your first trip it's hard to argue against the JR Pass, but once you leave the cities there is so much that is really inconvenient or flat out inaccessible without your own vehicle, and Japan has fantastic infrastructure for touring by car/motorbike. Ethics_Gradient fucked around with this message at 23:01 on Aug 24, 2018 |
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Aug 24, 2018 22:32
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I’m going to Japan next few months to see a friend related to music. I am total non anime or anything like that so any more tips on getting out doing stuff let me know. My friend is in Tokyo.
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Aug 24, 2018 23:52
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Tokyo is a very big place. Rent a newer car from Omoshiro in Noda and go to the Honda museum at Twin Ring. I don't think Hakone is worth the drive / cost to rent a car over night if you want to actually have time to do anything there, so you'd be better off renting something from Fun2Drive in Hakone, if you wanted to go that route. When you land at NRT and make it out of customs you end up being dumped right into the train area, go to the window right there and spend the money on the skyliner because it is much less painful and quicker. Also, get a SUICA pass from the green labeled train machines and pre-load it with money so you don't need to bother buying train tickets everywhere. I ball parked train costs and it came out a lot cheaper to not buy that JR Pass or whatever. I was there for 10 days so you might want to do your own math. It really depends on what you're interested in. Food is cheaper than here (imo), the portions are large, trains really aren't that expensive in the grand scheme of things, most other goods are more expensive -- especially electronics. You can get Arai helmets a few hundred bucks cheaper there, though. edit: Google Maps will handle getting you pretty much everywhere by train, but I also tried Rail Map on iOS that was alright. Get a Ninja portable Wifi unit at the airport if you don't have Google Fi or whatever so you can use it. BlackMK4 fucked around with this message at 00:17 on Aug 25, 2018 |
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Aug 25, 2018 00:09
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GOing to be eating and drinking and playing or seeing music with my friend. Honda museum sounds awesome.
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Aug 25, 2018 00:13
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Ah, don't know poo poo about that side of things. I went with my weeb girlfriend so we stayed in Akihabara at APA Hotel for like $90/night, which was actually pretty cool and very central to everything. Guess the coolest part, in retrospect, was when she made friends with two twenty something girls at Sunshine City Mall near Ikebukuro at like 8pm on a week night. They ended up taking us out of Tokyo via train to a Buddhist temple where we were given a booklet, prayer beads, etc and sat in on a session. The thought of being kidnapped crossed my mind during this because   It was p cool, they are snail mail pen pals now
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Aug 25, 2018 00:28
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If you get an international drivers license from AAA before you go, you can dress up as Mariokart characters and ride go karts around the city. It is fun as gently caress.
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Aug 25, 2018 00:37
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JR Pass is worth it if you're planning to go to Kyoto/Osaka or anywhere further. Otherwise maybe not worth it. If you're an American, our lovely chip and signature credit cards will not work in the train station Pasmo/Suica automated machines. You will need to withdraw cash from any of the ATMs and then load the Pasmo card with cash. Credit cards are basically fine everywhere else that is operated by a human. "Large" noodle portions are loving huge. Do not order them unless you are a bottomless pit or your fetish is feeling shame in a foreign land. Check out the Don Quixote store in Asakusa. It's awesome and cramped. Tokyo Megaweb is a neat thing to see but it's kind of remote and was a little pricey to get to on the train. But there are lots of awesome cars inside and outside of it. Japan is fun as gently caress. Fun2Drive was the best, and I want to go back.
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Aug 25, 2018 01:15
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On the Megaweb thing there are often car related things on Odaiba so it might be worth it if something like that lines up with your trip, otherwise yea, probably not worth it unless you really also want to see the tall Gundam and take pics of rainbow bridge. The Japan Motorsports Festival was going on when I was there. Kinda cool. Doubling up on be careful about large portion sizes. I always assumed portion sizes would be smaller in Japan.... no. OTOH, at least the toilets will keep your brown starfish clean.
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Aug 25, 2018 01:20
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Best train resource is http://www.hyperdia.com/ - times and costs to get anywhere. For longer journeys, a rail pass is good value over just buying individual tickets. When are you going? I'm out there next month. Definitely get an international driving permit. I think suggestions hinge on how long you have, whether you want to travel out of Tokyo, and what 100% "must see" stuff you've already lined up.
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Aug 25, 2018 01:22
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Roppongi at night to party, nothing like it. Also find out where the best ramen shops are and hit those. And climb Mt.Fuji if you have time, and deliver some tofu over a mountain pass.
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Aug 25, 2018 03:49
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Update the OP with my cool pictures and put in a section about auction houses. I'll copy/paste it here, just my experience but it seems common with the others who have bought from auction:KakerMix posted:
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Aug 25, 2018 05:00
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everdave posted:I’m going to Japan next few months to see a friend related to music. I am total non anime or anything like that so any more tips on getting out doing stuff let me know. My friend is in Tokyo. For a few months or in a few months? There's plenty to do in Tokyo, though if you've got the time hiring a car to get out and see some stuff would be ideal. Time it so you have the car on a Friday night and can poke your head in at Daikokufuto - apparently not as active as it used to be due to police crackdowns, but there was a decent spread when we went there (and were a bit early at 8pm). You'd otherwise need to take a taxi to get there as it's on an island off the highway. Not that I think it's likely this'll come up, but if you rent a moped (50cc or less) you need a motorcycle license + IDP. Many countries/states include a 50cc endorsement with a car license automatically (as does Japan...) so you'd think the IDP would extend to that too, but apparently it doesn't. Or maybe it does but some cops thinks it doesn't, I'm not sure... but either way it's messy and better to avoid the uncertainty in case of unpleasantness. Tyro posted:If you get an international drivers license from AAA before you go, you can dress up as Mariokart characters and ride go karts around the city. According to one of my friends who just did it a few weeks ago they're getting sued by Nintendo, so get in while the getting's good! Ethics_Gradient fucked around with this message at 05:54 on Aug 25, 2018 |
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Aug 25, 2018 05:49
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Ethics_Gradient posted:According to one of my friends who just did it a few weeks ago they're getting sued by Nintendo, so get in while the getting's good! They're getting sued by loving everyone. It's basically a matter of whether Nintendo or the government will figure out how to slit their throats first.
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Aug 25, 2018 05:57
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I’m going sometime in a few months. Probably only 4-5 days and hell I could maybe have no time to do anything but jam with my buddy and go to bands and dj nights with him or I may see him 1-2 nights and do whatever. Never been don’t know but love all the recommendations!
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Aug 25, 2018 06:03
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Seat Safety Switch posted:They're getting sued by loving everyone. It's basically a matter of whether Nintendo or the government will figure out how to slit their throats first. I'm not entirely convinced that this isn't a sales tactic. The being shut down thing has been in the media for over a year. That said, do it, it was one of the best days we have had in Tokyo and its a way to see a bunch of the city also.
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Aug 25, 2018 09:06
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Kaker and others that have bought specifically to sell what are your thoughts on selling locally versus something like Bring a Trailer? Locally the JDM stuff is big, small trucks (sunny/courier/b1400/etc) sell decently as well. BaT seems to move small trucks ok but not a lot of them so I'm leaning more towards rare stuff if I go that route. Need to setup a bunch of saved searches for quick browsing and figure out how to view all Japanese and all everything else. edit: Everdave, I let that one go and because it's USS I can't see what it sold for. Will probably get things lined up and talk with Matt this week so I can put bids on the next one. Let me know if you another pop up and thanks for the help. Sucks we didn't see the orange one until after it was done...hoping it didn't sell and pops back up. NitroSpazzz fucked around with this message at 12:00 on Aug 25, 2018 |
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Aug 25, 2018 11:49
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LoG can tell you better but remember there might be a 25% chicken tax on 2 door trucks. I just don’t see much money to be made on Sunnys and such...just an opinion but Matt has advised me against them.
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Aug 25, 2018 16:00
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everdave posted:LoG can tell you better but remember there might be a 25% chicken tax on 2 door trucks. While I don't want to poo poo on Matt's knowledge he is far from an expert. All he (and Yoshi) do is export from Japan, mostly to people who want a JDM car for themselves. They do not know about the local market, reselling in the USA, what's popular outside of Skylines, etc. There have been countless times where I've gone outside their initial advice on bids and amounts. They routinely get it wrong, but like I said that isn't really a fault of theirs, just they have other things to worry about. Japan Car Direct can get you a good vehicle, what you do with it afterwards is in your court and if you do this even 2 or 3 times you will specialize way past what knowledge they have.
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Aug 25, 2018 17:11
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KakerMix posted:While I don't want to poo poo on Matt's knowledge he is far from an expert. All he (and Yoshi) do is export from Japan, mostly to people who want a JDM car for themselves. They do not know about the local market, reselling in the USA, what's popular outside of Skylines, etc. I totally agree! I go way against what he tells me bidding. But early on I was wanting to bid on Datsun trucks and he did tell me to check what they sell for and I don’t think there is any room “on most” to make any Profit. But everything you said is spot on.
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Aug 25, 2018 17:30
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This is the only key I have for the AZ-1 and I hate it. It's this big fat stupid crinkly plastic thing. Today I was examining it and pried the plastic apart:   I have potentially 2 plastic-bodied OEM key blanks on order but this alternate metal one is fantastic, you guys have no idea how much more enjoyable this car is because I have this key. Also I changed the oil and fuel filter on the AZ-1 using parts in stock at Advanced Auto  Purolator BOSS PBL10241 specifically, although there are a whole host of oil filters you could use that are an analog with that. Filled it with full-synthetic Mobil 1, 2.5 quarts. Fuel filter is another 'take your pick' option but I just grabbed Carquest Premium 86477 as this one as it was in stock at my local store along with the oil filters. Tomorrow I'm going to do the Jimny, assuming that this oil filter will work as well. The fuel filter situation will not though as it's a bit different. I still don't anticipate any issues. KakerMix fucked around with this message at 00:55 on Aug 27, 2018 |
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Aug 27, 2018 00:50
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I had to skip Car Week this year which made me sad, but I saw there was an AZ-1 at Pebble Beach. Not entered into the Concours though, in a big display of Japanese cars. It had a non-standard front bumper, however.
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Aug 27, 2018 15:55
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drgitlin posted:I had to skip Car Week this year which made me sad, but I saw there was an AZ-1 at Pebble Beach. Not entered into the Concours though, in a big display of Japanese cars. It had a non-standard front bumper, however. I tried looking for a picture of it but I guess nobody there cares about the AZ-1. Was it a Mazdaspeed variant? Today I found out that the same oil filter that works on my AZ-1 would also work on the Jimny if the Jimny didn't have a motor mount bracket right in the way making sure that any oil filter that goes in the little pocket behind it can only be so tall. It's so close that if I could get the filter to thread down just a couple of turns it would fit, but the initial height means you can't ever even start the threading. Disappointing because for now that means I have to order them from Japan and try to find an alternative later.
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Aug 27, 2018 17:00
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KakerMix posted:I tried looking for a picture of it but I guess nobody there cares about the AZ-1. Was it a Mazdaspeed variant?
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Aug 27, 2018 17:17
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Cut a couple threads off the filter adapter. don't do this
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Aug 27, 2018 17:20
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KakerMix posted:I tried looking for a picture of it but I guess nobody there cares about the AZ-1. Was it a Mazdaspeed variant? https://twitter.com/evoAntony/status/1033842809881735168
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Aug 27, 2018 18:04
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Yeah that's a Mazdaspeed version, that's stock. Those ones received that bumper, spoiler, hood, limited slip diff, single color paint (lower section the same as the upper), those wheels and I believe specific seats and steering wheel. Also a tunable suspension.
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Aug 27, 2018 18:15
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Prado is at port in Japan        
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Aug 27, 2018 18:43
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