What Different Jap car?

[Riknos]

So I'm after something a bit different as a daily driver - I really like AE101/AE111 GTZ Levins etc but they are rare to find, but is there something a bit more accessible that I'm forgetting about?
Looked at Preludes, not found any nice ones, Paseo over priced, mx6 too dull, 100NX overpriced, 200SX now over priced, MX3 not great, anyone suggest something?

Budget is £2k tops but prefer lower.

Thanks.

[lilwashu]

CRX Del Sol? Toyota Sera?

[Crush]

Mitsubishi FTO
Honda Beat

[KarlMac]

Your budget makes it difficult as it barely covers shipping from Japan so rules out a lot of the more bonkers jdm stuff.

Cera if you can find one. Maybe a suzuki cappuccino?

[jagr]

Mitsubishi FTO's are very underrated

[Crush]

Daihatsu Copen?

[Axeboy]

I think the Honda Beat usually goes for more than £2k

However, you might find a Suzuki Cappucino or a Daihatsu Mira TRXX for that budget. Maybe a Toyotoa Altezza could be an option too.

You might get a rough Galant vr4 for that price and they are becoming more rare.

A bit of an odd one, but for £1000 I have a strange soft spot for the Suzuki Ingis Sport. Seems to be rare, yet good ones are really cheap.

A few other options if you can find them:

Daihatsu Sirion Rally 2 or Rally 4
Nissan Stagea 2.5
Mitsubishi Legnum
Mitsubishi RVR Turbo
Not that rare, but the Lexus LS400 is worth a shout
Honda Accord Coupe 3.0
Honda Legend

Edited by Axeboy on Tuesday 2nd August 10:00

[TotalControl]

The Daihatsu Sirion Rally looks like a bit of a hidden gem. Might have a look into it myself.

[Axeboy]

Yeah, not easy to find but cheap when they do appear. We don't get many of the 713cc crazy versions in the UK unfortunately, the Storia x4 with around 120hp but plenty of tuning potential.

[Japveesix]

I absolutely loved my FTO gpx. Genuinely thought it was great fun to drive, sounded better than pretty much anything else in that price bracket, looks unusual/sporty and gets attention as people often don't know what they are.

The manual box is decent and it's a quick enough car to be fun. Main problem is hard to find a nice one anywhere nowadays

[mrtwisty]

Mk3 Supra?

Probably a n/a 3.0 Auto at this price, but certainly different.

[GravelBen]

Axeboy said:

You might get a rough Galant vr4 for that price and they are becoming more rare.

I think anyone buying a VR4 on a low budget (especially if that budget only gets a rough one) would have to be very good at fixing it - they don't exactly have a reputation for low running costs and bulletproof reliability.

If the OP wasn't after something 'different' I'd suggest an MX5 or MR2...

Maybe a Celica?

[Axeboy]

Personally disagree, ive had 3

I find them pretty easy to work on and they are no worse than others of that age/performance

[B210bandit]

Save a few more pennies and buy a nice fourth gen VTEC Prelude. Beautiful cars that are a great drive and rare as hell these days. Was down at Simply Japanese at the weekend and saw only two of these cars. Get a good one and look after it and you are unlikely to lose money.

[TotalControl]

B210bandit said:

Save a few more pennies and buy a nice fourth gen VTEC Prelude. Beautiful cars that are a great drive and rare as hell these days. Was down at Simply Japanese at the weekend and saw only two of these cars. Get a good one and look after it and you are unlikely to lose money.

You will I'd the inevitable rear quarter panel rust comes through. Catch it early and it's not that bad. I had to sell my one due to rust being nicely hidden by the previous owner. Had the BB4 LSD version. Was ace otherwise.

[B210bandit]

God, Honda still hadn't sorted out the rust treatment in the 1990s! What a shame.

[designforlife]

Mitsubishi mirage asti?

think of it as a pocket sized integra. Should be able to pick one up for £2k...
if you can find one (i recommend irish classifieds).

weighs less than an mx5, and packs a 1.6l 173bhp na engine. its great fun. over 100bhp a ton, 0-60 in 6.8s.

[cptsideways]

How's about a Nissan Pao, rather like them myself but it would have to be a Terracotta one for me.

google em as I'll get roasted putting a pic up lol

[designforlife]

cptsideways said:

How's about a Nissan Pao, rather like them myself but it would have to be a Terracotta one for me.

google em as I'll get roasted putting a pic up lol

I would love one of these.

[Axeboy]

Hah, or a Be-1