Life inside a Toaster: Owning the World’s Squarest Car
Published: 12/06/2010
As a car fanatic, working as an import broker is, for me, pretty much my ideal job: who wouldn’t want to sit and look at and talk about cars all day? But I have a confession to make – I’m a bit of a ‘car tart’. It’s the downside to being exposed to some […]
Personal Imports
Published: 12/01/2010
Even the most casual of PI readers will know that the Specialist and Enthusiast Vehicle Scheme (SEVS) allows makes and models not sold in full volume in Australia to be imported in small numbers for enthusiasts like us. It’s the reason why cars like the R33 Skyline now populate our cities in plague proportions. But […]
Diana, Destroyer of Minds
Published: 22/09/2009
Going back nearly 12 months ago, I received a lovely phone call from a lady I’d pegged to be in her mid-50s. Given that she didn’t fit my normal customer demographic, I very politely listened to her inquiry, whilst preparing to give her the 30-second introduction to importing: “unfortunately, because BMW sold the 3 […]
Diana and her Fairlady: a Tale of Pain and Suffering
Published: 25/08/2009
This isn’t the actual car, but pretty close! Going back nearly 12 months ago, I received a lovely phone call from a lady I’d pegged to be in her mid-50s. Given that she didn’t fit my normal customer demographic, I very politely listened to her inquiry, whilst preparing to give her the 30-second introduction […]
The Life of a Japanese Motorist – Part 2
Published: 23/07/2009
Didn’t catch part 1? See here. So, is it blue or green?? You were set the task of uncovering why traffic lights, in rural Japan in particular, have a blue light for “go” instead of green. The answer lies in the ambiguities of the Japanese language: believe it or not, the word “ao” […]
The Life of a Japanese Motorist
Published: 28/05/2009
Visiting Japan is one thing, but driving there makes the experience so much more interesting. When my wife and I moved to inner Osaka in 1999, we went without a owning or driving a car for the first 9 months of our time there. While this situation might be inconceivable in Australia, Japan’s […]
Dealing with KANACs
Published: 17/04/2009
Yes I actually had to sell one of these for a friend – it still haunts me to this day. First published in ‘High Performance Imports’ magazine, 2009. One of the downsides to being a “motoring enthusiast” is that you instantly become a magnet for family and friends who I like to classify […]
Hybrids and Politics: vested interests trump common sense
Published: 18/03/2009
First published in ‘High Performance Imports’ magazine, 2009. For as long as I’ve been working in the import industry, there has been one hard-and-fast rule – if a car is imported to Australia by the manufacturer under full volume regulations, then it (and variants of it) cannot be imported as a used car under […]
A Day in the Life of a Buying Agent in Japan
Published: 11/03/2009
Have you ever gone to sleep wishing you could move to Japan to work at the car auctions as a buyer for customers in Australia and around the world? You picture yourself drooling over some of the hottest cars known to humankind, nabbing that winning bid at the last second to secure the perfect […]
Buying Trip Blog – January 2008
Published: 24/02/2008
For a trip down memory lane, here is my blog from a trip to Japan buying cars at auction back in 2008. Days 1 & 2: Blast Furnace to Refrigerator On a 39-degree day, leaving Adelaide wearing tracksuit pants and clutching a thick jacket earnt me a number of sideways glances, particularly as I was […]
Cars available
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1999 Suzuki Jimny Wide
View DetailsAuction Grade 4B Odometer 63,000 Colour White Car Location QLD - Brisbane Est. Price (AUD) $16,400 -
1997 Toyota Crown Royal Saloon G
View DetailsAuction Grade 4B Odometer 53,000 Colour Grey Car Location QLD - Brisbane Est. Price (AUD) $14,200