Big Tonka Toy.. ‘95 Pajero SWB.. in Japan
Discussion
It’s 1991 and I’m 14 years old. A mates dad has an 80s Shogun that he’s looking to trade for one of these new fangled lines from Land Rover.... it’s called the Discovery. It’ll never catch on 
For some reason that I don’t recall, I’m with them at the 4x4 dealer. While the deal is being discussed, my mate and I are having a wander around the showroom. Sat there in two tone bright red and silver is another newcomer - the MK2 Shogun SWB. It looks fantastic and once sat in it, I’m fascinated by the Altimeter and Inclinometer gauges.
I’ve wanted one ever since that day, but never got around to scratching the itch...until now.
Problem being, 25-30 years later, all the UK Shoguns are dead or have terminal issues. All of the imported Pajeros that I looked at online have been abused or after years in our climate have horrid Mot histories littered with chassis corrosion.
Only way to avoid all of that is to import from Japan. But there aren’t that many decent ones left there either! There were a handful at dealers, but prices were seriously eye watering - think £12-15k on the road in the UK!
So I decided to stick with the auctions. After 6 weeks of looking, one finally appeared, with just 51k miles....
.... and duly ‘won’.... though I did have a bit of ‘what the hell have I done’ that day
A couple of weeks later and the pictures at the docks arrived. No idea why they all use potatoes in this day an age though.
For some reason that I don’t recall, I’m with them at the 4x4 dealer. While the deal is being discussed, my mate and I are having a wander around the showroom. Sat there in two tone bright red and silver is another newcomer - the MK2 Shogun SWB. It looks fantastic and once sat in it, I’m fascinated by the Altimeter and Inclinometer gauges.
I’ve wanted one ever since that day, but never got around to scratching the itch...until now.
Problem being, 25-30 years later, all the UK Shoguns are dead or have terminal issues. All of the imported Pajeros that I looked at online have been abused or after years in our climate have horrid Mot histories littered with chassis corrosion.
Only way to avoid all of that is to import from Japan. But there aren’t that many decent ones left there either! There were a handful at dealers, but prices were seriously eye watering - think £12-15k on the road in the UK!
So I decided to stick with the auctions. After 6 weeks of looking, one finally appeared, with just 51k miles....
.... and duly ‘won’.... though I did have a bit of ‘what the hell have I done’ that day
A couple of weeks later and the pictures at the docks arrived. No idea why they all use potatoes in this day an age though.
There’s a few things to deal with on the bodywork - being a grade 3.5, it has some scuffing to the silver wheel arches and the roof was noted as faded. I’ll just have to wait to see how bad that is.
Cant complain too much at that age though and the interior is in really lovely condition.
Cant complain too much at that age though and the interior is in really lovely condition.
105.4 said:
Looks nice and clean.
What are the extra charges after the hammer has dropped up until it’s on the road over here?
May as well come clean - the hammer price was circa 400k yen and it’ll be on the road for £7,400.What are the extra charges after the hammer has dropped up until it’s on the road over here?
It’s a lot for a Pajero in the UK, but it’ll be incredibly rare at that mileage and condition. I did see nice looking one go for £6k on eBay that had a cracked chassis on the Mot the year before!
TommoAE86 said:
The wait is the hardest part, it'll be hard to resist but don't get the vessel name/check it online - it'll just prolong the wait!
Been there and done it - I’m a glutton for punishment! I enjoy tracking them along despite the wait 
Worst part I find is waiting for it to get on the boat in the first place
Terzo123 said:
The head cracked on mine and rot was starting to take hold of the chassis. I had a replacement head fitted then moved it on.
Seems to be a big issue with the 2.8s as a result of cooling problems. Will wait and see what the radiator is like, but minimum will be a full coolant flush on arrival.First purchase - the obligatory roof spoiler. I think they look bare without them.
Surprisingly difficult to find, so some work to be done with it...
It’s white for a start and it had a brake light. I don’t want one - there’s a high level brake light in the rear window.
So this is going to get filled in first... could go horribly wrong in my amateur hands
Surprisingly difficult to find, so some work to be done with it...
It’s white for a start and it had a brake light. I don’t want one - there’s a high level brake light in the rear window.
So this is going to get filled in first... could go horribly wrong in my amateur hands
zedstar said:
great purchase!
How did you get on buying it at the auctions? Did you look and bid yourself or did you have an agent?
Thanks How did you get on buying it at the auctions? Did you look and bid yourself or did you have an agent?
This time I kept an eye on the auctions myself as I enjoy doing that - jdmauctionwatch.com is the best I’ve found.
When I find one to bid on, there’s someone relatively local to me that does everything. There’s no warranty once I pick it up from him, but the fee is much lower than the big importers. It’s included in the £7400.
5 In a Row said:
I had a 1992 lwb 2.5 manual that did without the wheelarch extensions.
It was laughably slow (it allegedly had 99BHP but I think some of those had gone missing) but still great fun in a weird sort of way.
I dread to think what the 2.5 LWB Autos are like. The 2.5 SWB Autos are available too, but are unloved and cheap as a result. Not for me!It was laughably slow (it allegedly had 99BHP but I think some of those had gone missing) but still great fun in a weird sort of way.
interstellar said:
Can you track it being shipped from Japan?
Also fun to see where it is on a boat somewhere
Yes absolutely. You get the name of the boat and Vessel Finder doesn’t even need a log in - you just type the name of it in and appears on the map and says where it’s headed.Also fun to see where it is on a boat somewhere
For example:
Psycho Warren said:
The wait is annoying though. I imported my Pajero Evo and the wait does seem like forever! Surprising how much the "normal" pajeros are going for now. I thought it was just the rarer one shooting up in value.
The really annoying bit is waiting for the V5 from DVLA which in the current climate of them being lazy striking assholes could be a while.
The US is importing some of them now, so the numbers of good ones are really dwindling in Japan. They didn’t get a SWB version back in the 90s.The really annoying bit is waiting for the V5 from DVLA which in the current climate of them being lazy striking assholes could be a while.
patchb said:
I used to use my 2.8 lwb for towing my 21ft Bayliner boat and I couldn’t actually feel it was attached, I once pulled a stuck car with a stuck boat behind it out of some deep mud with fairly bald tyres on the Paj and it still didn’t bother it one bit!
I’ve read that a lot. Towing seems to make no difference to anything other than fuel consumption!Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff