I spent two and a half weeks over Christmas with my parents in
Tokyo. I thought you all would be interested in the LBC's I saw over
there.
First off, there are Mini's all over. They are a fad right
now, and the Rover dealers seem to be taking advantage. They cost about
$20,000 new there, which is not too bad for Japan (for comparison, 15
gallons of go-juice costs $75, and ground beef is $30/lb). Thing is,
I just can't quite get myself to say Rover Mini. I can say Austin
Mini and Morris Mini, but Rover Mini? It seems the Rover group did
away with the Austin and Morris names some time ago - if you ask me,
they kept the worst one.
Down the street from the Rover dealer was a used car shop.
They had MGB's and an MGA, plus some older Minis. The MGB's were
$20,000, the A was $30,000. None were in concours condition. The B
would be worth about $2500 - $3000 here in Washington DC. The Minis
were $10,000.
A word about older cars in Japan. Like many US states, they
have inspection in Japan. New cars must be inspected. When the car
turns three, it gets reinspected, and starting when it is 5, it gets
annually inspected. The kicker is, the inspection costs $1500.
This is one of the reasons Japan's auto industry is so healthy -
people buy new cars more often. There are shipping companies that buy
perfectly good 5 year old cars for ridiculously low prices, and ship
them to the Philipines or to Thailand and sell them. So I saw very
few old cars. The most interesting was a Sebring Sprite.
Rover had a nice 4 seat convertible called a 216i for sale.
They also sell Mini Mokes, with or without hardtops, Range Rovers and
Land Rovers.
Something I thought amusing. In Japan, as in Angleterre, they
drive on the left. To many Japanese, a foreign car is one with left
hand drive, and since they want everyone to know they have a foreign
car, you see many British cars that have been converted to right hand
drive. How you drive a car with the steering wheel on the wrong side
through the little bitty streets is beyond me. Most intersections
have large convex mirrors on poles so you can see around the corner.
Driving in many parts of Tokyo is like trying to drive through a
Medieval town on market day - you compete with pedestrians, cyclists,
and street vendors. The Mini is about as big a car as I'd want to
drive over there. The drivers are better than they are in the U.S.,
primarily because the lanes are smaller so you have to pay more
attention. Getting around Tokyo is an adventure. Any street with
fewer than four lanes has no name. You can't get anywhere you have
not been to before without calling and asking for directions.
Other interesting cars: My Dad saw an MG RV8 at the Tokyo
American Club. He said it looked sharp, but it seemed to have very
little interior room. It casts about $40,000 there, which is a
bargain considering what it costs in the UK.
The Honda Beat is slightly smaller than a Sprite and seems to
be a fun car to have. Dad is thinking of buying one. Daihatsu makes
a similar car.
Mazda Miatas carry the Eunos nameplate, and they are almost as
common as Minis. Speaking of Eunos, the Japanese come up with the
strangest names for cars. The standard Lexus is called a Toyota
Celsior (I think). There is a Toyota Crown and a Toyota Corona - I
always thought Corona was Latin for Crown. The one that made me laugh
the most was the Mitsubishi Lettuce.
I saw a lot of BBC's. A few XJ6's, more Rolls Royces, and
even more Bentleys. There was a Lotus/Aston Martin dealer that had no
Astons in stock.
I have never seen so many Ferrari's and Lambo's in my life. I
saw at least one a day. Mostly 328's, but I did see one Testarossa
and one F40.
I guess that is it. Considering the roads were not very fun
to drive on, there sure were a lot of sports cars. I will probably
remember more as soon as I mail this, but I think you have the picture
- you can get most any new LBC in Japan, but you have to be a lot
richer than I could hope to be.
James
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