just 2 minis for auction tomorrow..both 1300 ECU jobs ,green one 96 black 94..60,000Ks and 57,000ks. green one starts at 100,000 yen ($1,230) approx. black one no reserve.
gives you an idea

judging by the suave asian guy in the yellow skin tight long sleeve, i'd say this pic was taken in japan?


i dont know why its come up so late,
but there are certain importers, especially in Japan that import cars here for unbelievably low prices.

my friend was thinking of selling his skyline
and getting a toyota something for about $10K that otherwise wouldve cost him $20K to search for here in australia.
even after papers it wouldve been $12000.

he showed me a jap mini, $4000, $5000 on the doorstep.
i believe these are legit, and possible
importing is just new practice and idea that turns people off
and may be risky cost you're dealing with so much money and a dodgy asian overseas!
its much harder work as well.

i am not sure if im allowed to disclose the persons and their car but a certain friend had to go through alot of papers, registrations, phone calls, approvals, crap to get a car that wouldve cost them three times as much to buy in aus.
all because of its rarity here. they were being exported at a rate of 3-4 cars/week there.

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it gives you an idea of how much the places here (eg ozcooper) are making
all because of demand and the price people are willing to pay

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an old school mate of mine who was also into minis at the same time we were last, sent me these... he is an automotive machinist (motor reconditioner) by trade and has lived in Japan for the last 7 years.. he was the PDi manager of rover japan for several of those years. Now exporting cars... he,s looking into front cuts for me.. just emailed these tonight to give me an idea of prices over there.

and with their disposable lifestyles there
(eg buy new heaters every year because keeping them would just make clutter)
i wouldnt expect these old 6 yrold minis to be in high demand
i reckon its a goldmine

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Appreciation without Depreciation
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Its not a question of disposable lifestyle but Japans tough anti polution laws. Cars above a certain mileage \ age or those that exceed set polution quotas are heavily taxed so as to make them uneconomical.

I know that these cars are really cheap, but the australians standards say that you can't import cars that are 15 years and older.

Just ship them in and use all the parts....everything except the shell

Jeff, imagine your clubby shell with full Jap spec running gear and trim

If you can ship them in and use them for parts I think I might buy a couple next year when my uncle heads over to Japan for business. Dani's Dad is there any chance that there will be more mini's in the future at this auction place or is this a one off thing. Cheers

I thought you could but you had to import under SEVS scheme, which make it harder and cost more or something.

INIM (adam) has a 98 mayfair
cost him a pretty penny too (ive been told)
not just a pretty penny, a beautiful bianca, mesmerising monica, gorgeous georgia, darling debbie...

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my wife is Japanese and we go over there a bit. First time I went I got a set of disks of the front of a '96 mayfair for $50 per wheel - I pulled them off the car myself. I was trying to undo the brake lines and the guy came over with some side cutters and chopped them, gave me some brand new brake lines and callipers for nothing to go with the brakes - it's the disposable lifestyle, they aren't interested in anything second hand, so getting parts off old cars is dead cheap - they also gave me a set of twin SU's for $10, turns out they're 1 1/8" off a bugeye.

Second hand cars are worth nothing those mini auction prices are almost expensive - my brother in law has a '96 toyota wagon (called an Ipsum, like a baby tarago, it's a nice car - 7 seats, AWD, parking sensors standard etc.) that he paid $19K for new, it's now worth $450. It is actually very common to see cars dumped and derilict by the side of the road - imagine a break in the barrier next to a freeway with a bit of grass behind it, and you'll see 8 or 10 cars in there going rusty - I've seen some nice donor vehicles like that... We were there in August this year, and there were hardly any minis around compared to previous visits - I actually saw a mini left by the road growing grass around it, but it was too late to stop - it'll still be there next time we go over. Contrary to popular belief, Japan is a pretty messy place, you've just gotta know where to look. I've gotta learn more of the language so I can go hunting myself - I could easily fill a container for a couple of grand - for some reason my wife isn't interested in helping me spend money on mini stuff - my brother in law is, but he doesn't speak english!

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

hmmm is your wife willing to give you japanese lessons?
dont tell her what you want to use it for though

_________________
Inconspicuously Conspicuous
Appreciation without Depreciation
forever chasing clearer skies...

15 years or older is exempt from SEVS and there is very little restriction. Minis less than 15 years cannot be imported under SEVS, but can be imported as personal imports if you used them overseas for 12months.

I wonder if the ERA turbo Mini qualifies for SEVS?

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Brett Nicholson
Greendale (near Ballan) VIC.
1971 Morris Mini Moke
1966 Austin Mini
1965 Morris Mini Traveller
1973 LR Series 3 88
2007 LR Freelander 2

I've seen late model EFI minis registered here as '72 australian models. The owner just claims that during the restoration, every component was replaced except the petrol cap.