*LOACH*

Fantastic cars, looks like it would have been a great day. Thanks heaps for posting.

Hehehe the couple in the back look like they have something other than zero gravity and two dimensional characters on their mind. Cool pic

Woops, sorry guys. I didn't do any special editing when I created the sig just used the fonts given. Please let me know if you want me to change it (due to its buginess not its content ) Thanks heaps for fixing it Revhead

Not that I know of, there was a HDT VL wagon built that had a stroked V8, only one ever made. It changed owners a few years ago for a ridiculously low price. Considering that SS group As go for over a 100k in good condition and that Aussie muscle cars are always increasing in value someone definitely made a killing on that one. For the record HDT made Calais Wagons prior to 88. Holden shipped all the parts to them including a Berlina. They arent proper Holden Calais though and usually dont have a HDT build plate either. Still I wouldnt say no to one

Sorry if this bug has been posted already, I got to page 5 of the thread and ran out of patience checking. The text in the posts come out in random sizes. Sometimes it is so small it is unreadable. Even with posts I have put up and I know I haven't changed the font size from default. It didn't do this in the old forum and has not done it in any other websites I have been to. It only seems to happen with the text in the actual posts not other text on the pages.

EVO wagons have to be one my favourite looking proper wagons (not 4 door hatchbacks). It wasn't just my old mans Pajero that stuffed up either. I had a....well its a bit embarrassing to say .... but a 1990/1991 Hyundai Excel (I was at uni and I was living off Austudy). They are a Mitsubishi engine. It was blowing smoke when I bought it. After a few months it sheared the belt pulley off the crank (I had never even heard of cars doing that before....then the same thing happened to my Dads Pajero). Then mine eventually blew a head gasket... among a myriad of other smaller problems. All this and it had less than half the kilometers of the VL which I doubt has ever had the head off the engine. I have heard storeies of people pulling the heads off RB30s after 300000 plus kms and you can still see the honing on the bores. Awesome engines. I realise my experiences are probably just a few random cases but I would never risk it again. There is no denying EVOs are fantastic I just dont want to own one. Thanks for the luck and replies

Thanks for the comments but.... First of all I have owned a Mitsubishi engined car and my father has owned 2 Pajeros and I never want anything to do with them again however cool they look or their specs are. Secondly I have done a fair bit of net research and there is not really anything that fits everything I want - Stagea is too big, older cars are high priced here and worthless in Australia, newer cars are difficult for me to work on. I love my current VL wagz, I loved that I bought a genuine rare car that was a bit of a mess for $2700 and every week I would work on it and fix something or mod something and during the week I would drive it to work and notice the improvement. Got the back end suspension set up now so it handles like a decent sedan. Parts interchangeability is great genuine 19inch wheels bolt straight on, 20s can be machined to fit and it it makes a difference having Holden made wheels, I have had enough mags on cars to notice the difference, of course you can spend huge amounts on custom set up wheels for the same effect. Later model seats and other interior bits easily made to fit. Massive amounts of info on the net about VLs - you just dont get that with JDM only cars. Bolt in engine conversions for LS motors, the list goes on.I dont expect anyone else to like them as much as I do because its for personal reasons that they suit me perfectly - if there was a car in Japan that was as perfectly fitting for me as that then I would get it.

Thanks enormously Beer Baron especially for the offer of help should it have been in NSW. Sadly I didn't end up buying it. Seller decided to increase how much he wanted for it after we made an agreement. Also from the photo he sent of the plates it looks like it may be possible that they were put on more recently. Then someone else retracted their bids on ebay. So I am thinking it is possible that someone had a look at it after bidding and either decided it was a Berlina with Calais plates (ripped from a wrecked car) or it was otherwise not as the ad listed. As I am in Japan at the moment I couldn't take a look myself. If however I ever find out that it was all genuine and the bodykit was factory fitted I may spend the rest of my life deepening in regret until such time as I finally crack and climb the nearest bell tower and start shooting innocents - I dont even need a rifle - just a water pistol - its so cold my goosebumps have goosebumps - or maybe its not the weather maybe its just the lack of warmth in my heart due to missing a certain cardinal red A9Y wagz - damn she was gorgeous.

Back when I was doing helicopter pilot training about a decade ago I visited a training school with a pretty expensive setup. An old piston engined helicopter (Robinson R22 for those who know/care) with the pilots window taken out. They had a CRT monitor sitting on a shelf in the hole and had hooked up the helicopters controls to a PC running Microsoft flight SIM and other games. Was pretty dodgy but fun and made me start humming Ride of the Valkyries

Isuzu Bellet - I went to tafe with a guy who raced them. I think he said it was like driving a greenhouse but once done up they were ok. A VL wouldn't be significantly more expensive to rego and run than a 32/33 GTR or a TT Supra. It is just for fun as I live less than 5 mins walk from my work. I have seen a bunch of older cars since I have been here, probably from living in the sticks. 240zxs, 1960s Skylines/Corollas, heaps of American cars and a bunch of other stuff. Datsun 1200 utes have a cult following - although they were still being manufactured in Japan for a lot longer than in Australia (still being made new in Africa I think - called Blackie).

Fantastic photos, haven't had a chance to watch the whole slide show but what I saw was great, I actually have a desire to go to Disneyland now Photos are great quality too, wish I could do them that well instead of the dull lifeless ones I always take. Thanks for taking the effort to upload and link.

Yeah elrodeo666 is right (thanks mate). I want to buy a car in Victoria and send it to NSW. Sorry I could have been clearer. In the future I may be interested in importing a car to Japan but not right now, thanks anyway. Something which I have never seen before just happened - the bids on ebay went backwards. It was up to over $2000 with 30+ bids yesterday and today its got 20+ bids and down to about $1000. I am in love with this car but am scared I am will make a big mistake by buying it. Any ideas?

This may have a better home in another forum but I only seem to get replies in the Japan one so here goes. I am looking at expanding my rare VL wagon collection (I only have one at the moment - a genuine Berlina manual turbo wagon- possibly only 5 ever made) by buying an A9Y Calais wagz. I am looking at sending the money from my Aussie bank account and then having it shipped interstate all with me still being in Japan. I havent done anything like this before so am more than a bit nervous about it - any hints, tips or suggestions greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the photos. Awesome cars and awesome pics. Most appreciated.

Hi, Just wondering if anyone has or has used one of these netbooks and what they think about them. I bought one and should have it by the end of the week/early next week. Also, on a more specific note, does anyone know if the 12.5mm thick 2.5inch drives WD make will fit it? I know with small mods these HDDs have been made to fit some laptops but what about the Emachines Em350s? I cant find much info on the net on them at all. They arent even sold in Japan. Thanks in advance.

Just write the English version that Adam suggested. You don't need to write in Japanese when using Japanese post. I have received and sent many letters/packages using English equivalents. They still got to the destination even when they were nowhere near being correct - wrong building names etc (thanks Mum and Dad ). Japanese post is pretty good in that regard.

Pick and choose what you want from the sticky http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/JA...NKS-t37461.html Up garage is certainly worth a look especially for second hand stuff - there are heaps of them around (even in small towns), try using the website from the sticky to see which is closest to where you are going.

おいしいよ!

Are you guys trying to make me feel guilty when I haven't done anything?? I just wanted my tax form!! Next you will be saying I kicked the nuke out of the back of the plane during WW2 even though it was decades before I was born, you just pick on me because I like VLs - that is it!! I am going to lie down in the foetal position, using back issues of Street Commodores as a blanket while sucking my thumb and have a little cry.

Thanks for the photos! I love that twin charged S15 and the RX7s. Glad you got to see so many awesome rides.

Thanks mate

Hey Mark do you know the name of the branch where your mate goes? If it isnt to far I will give it a go otherwise I will see if there is one in Gifu. PM or email if you prefer.

In Nagoya the main licence centre (which is huge) is manned by cops. Even for native Japanese to get a renewal they have to see the cops at the authority. My friend rang up prior to us going and we took everything they asked for including the JAF translation (followed your advice from a post a while ago). We got there and had problems with the passport and now they want some paperwork from the NSW RTA to confirm my current Aussie licence. Something about the issue date not being on my card, maybe it is easier for people from other states in Australia, I dunno.

Thats f%#&ed man, hope he got it sorted out in the end, although the damage done to his reputation at his workplace would have been impossible to fix. Friends here say the cops can be rude although mostly I have found them to be ok. Except when I tried to use my Aussie licence to get a Japanese one. Apparently the cop looking at my passport couldnt find my re entry stamp into Australia after a four day trip to Hong Kong/Macau some 4 years previously so he wouldnt let me do it. The cop implied to my friend/coworker (a 40 year old housewife) that we were lying to him. Didnt seem to matter to him that I had been allowed into Japan, obtained a work visa and gotten my visa renewed a year later without any problems with the authorities and that the authorities might have a bit more of an idea about whether I was in the country illegally than him. Nor did the copies of my Bachelors degree attained in Australia well after my returning to Australia have any affect. Still trying to get my Japanese licence. Anyways I found a way to get stuff sent to the post office - it is called kyokudome adoresu. Basically Japans version of Poste restante. Emailed my ex employer to get him to send my tax withheld certificate. No response to my email and I just checked at the post office and he didnt send it.

REALLY??? I thought there would be some sort of privacy law preventing city hall from giving out my address without my consent. That is f%$ked.