Built Not Bought - Owning a "Classic" JDM

[Fiisch]

I'm 30 and a pretty big petrolhead. Historically, that's manifested itself as spending a huge portion of my earnings on car payments, having always bought new hot hatches.

Last year, I started working in London, so no longer needed a "daily" driver. My wife has the family car - a fairly boring but very capable Seat Leon - so I went ahead and bought a 2003 Subaru Impreza STI (Blobeye). 80,000 miles on the clock, coilover suspension, noisy, unreliable, smelly, it was great fun! However, I was constantly trying to find excuses to drive it, and mostly I ended up getting it out the garage for a 2 mile drive to the gym, or a quick spin around town. Averaging around 20mpg, it seemed a ludicrous expense without much purpose. I did manage to change the battery all by myself - for someone who has barely opened a bonnet before, I was extremely proud of this achievement!!

Fast forward to my 30th, and I took a job very close to home, so wanted a more reliable car. I ended up forking out a huge monthly payment on the FK2 Civic Type R which I love - it's ideal for what I need, although again my mileage is still pretty modest (5k on the clock having bought it new in November) and I don't get to use it much in anger. The outlay seems extravagant - especially when if we go anywhere as a family, we'll take the Leon, mainly because I'm fanatical about keeping it nice (I also suffer from obsessive car detailing syndrome).

So I'm now mulling over a possible job move in the next couple of years, which will almost certainly see me go back to working in London, so will no longer need a car for commuting, so I could go really stupid.... Although I do enjoy the Type R, I miss the lunacy, the noise of the Scooby, and I'm starting to lust over old (Evo 6; RX7; Toyota Supra... or R34 if I won the lottery!) JDM cars and it's got me thinking. Is it viable to have a really daft 500bhp JDM show-car without any mechanical nouse? Is this the preserve of people who know what the **** they're doing?

I guess I'm torn between:

a). Keeping the Type R - a new exhaust system/B pipe should give me the noise I'm after - and as it had a limited run (2,500 UK Cars), it *might* hold it's value in the future.... Equally, it might plummet like a stone!

b). Selling the Type R and buying one family car (e.g.: Alfa Romeo Giulia QV; Audi RS4) and sharing with the wife, although I'm not sure I could trust her not to prang it/get the usual mum and baby car park scuffs.

c). Selling the Type R and buying a classic imported JDM car and ploughing money into making it a proper show-car and road weapon.

d). Growing the **** up, selling the Type R and sharing the Leon like any normal family would!!

I am leaning towards Option C, but is this really practical for a family man with a young baby? (I think I know the answer to this!). How do people come by these amazing old JDM cars - is it self-built? And I'm assuming huge money?

Sorry for the ramble... I guess as petrolheads we're always thinking of the next car, and fast forward a year or two and I can see my annual mileage being >1000 miles, but would love something very silly stored in the garage for sunny afternoons!!

[996TT02]

If you want/can keep a special second car I can think of many other far more special cars than anything that falls under option c.

For less money than you might end up spending and eventually not recouping.

[Gad-Westy]

With the greatest of respect, option C sounds like you're wanting to do some fairly serious modification to something interesting but you have already admitted that changing a battery was a big personal achievement. So, whilst it's always good to learn skills etc I get the impression that you're not currently of the mindset that a typical serial modder is. You're inlikely to have your head buried under the bonnet until midnight trying to change a turbo by the sound of it. I think the worry I'd have is that heavily modified cars nearly always need constant attention. They won't start on Thursdays, they'll catch fire every full moon and they'll be off the road for three months at a time waiting for an uprated strut top mount to arrive on a big boat from Japan etc. I know I'm exaggerating but you have to anticipate that there are going to be problems the further you go with mods. This maybe something that you have already considered but if it isn't, I just wanted to make sure you have.

Since you're a petrolhead, option b and d aren't going to work. They might work for a few week and you might tell everyone that you're happy with your choices, but you'll be browsing the PH classifieds in no time at all. Been there my friend! It's a disease, we have to accept it

Have you considered a variation of option C where you buy an absolute minter of a rare special edition JDM car and aim to keep it that way? There are obviously a lot of earlier imprezas that fall into that category among many other things.

[designforlife]

so many options, i envy you!

I was in a similar, albeit lower budget position and went for a low mileage integra DC5. I've since moved closer to work and it's purely a weekend car now.

Personally, I would avoid going down the heavy modding route unless you have very deep pockets, or decent mechanical knowledge.

There are plenty of interesting "investment" JDM cars, which will be an engaging drive out of the box, or with minimal mods.

How about a tommi makkinen evo?

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd say buy a well looked after RX7 if the prices aren't through the roof buy then find a good specialist to keep it tip top, one with around 400bhp will be spot on.