My grandson just called me to tell me he and his brother are importing a Honda Beat from Japan (it's already on the boat, should arrive end of May) I think it's pretty ambitious of them, doing it all by themselves like this. I'm a little surprised at this choice since I'm not sure either of them can fit in it as they're both 6'5' or so!
It's the only one I've seen that's not red, yellow or silver - this one is blue and has a hardtop - again, something I haven't seen on one yet.
I'm excited for them and can't wait to see it....I'll message him for some pics. This is a trial balloon for them, they'll shine it all up and put it up for sale this summer after they've had some fun with it.
Very cool of them. Which port are them using? I took car of everything myself on the first Mini I imported, including collecting it on the dock in Galveston. But that was before 9/11 and it was a different world back then. Now it's more complicated. On my current Mini, I completed all the importation forms and other paperwork stuff myself, but I also used a broker and I found a driver with a TWIC card for port access to assist with the pickup process. Well worth the money IMO.
As to the Beat, I think it they are very cool cars. I'd love to have one myself, and I've gone as far as purusing the Japanese auction sites looking for them. They are plenty big inside. I sat one the Lane Museum had back when we did the rally back in 2011 (?), and just a couple of months ago I was able to sit in a Beat at Cars & Coffee to confirm it again.
The car is coming into Savannah, Ga......that's where my daughter and her husband went to college for 5 years, so it will be old home week when they go down to get it!
MiniD..
not to hijack the thread but...Did they go to SCAD? I use to teach there. What did they major in?
MikeB
Yes, actually. He is an architect and she got her degree in painting......what did you teach?
They graduated in 93/94......
In fact, after graduating they lived in Decatur for a couple of years!
Got some pics of the Honda Beat to post......
Mini D...
Awesome little car. Just saw a yellow one on the streets here in Atlanta last week. 77.gif
..as for SCAD I teach painting. I was in Savannah from 98-03 and then came up to the Atlanta campus in 05 til now.
Small world!
The car should be in Savannah by the end of the month, but the boys are leaving for Japan for two weeks about a week later so they won't have a lot of time to play with it before they go.
More as it happens!
It's here! The boys picked the car up today at the port in Savannah, Ga and drove back home to North Carolina. Just in time too, as they leave tomorrow for Japan!
Sure looks like some fun ahead.
Their plan is to keep it for a couple of months then sell it on.....
Quote from: MiniDave on June 08, 2017, 07:53:53 PM
Their plan is to keep it for a couple of months then sell it on.....
Very cool. I'd think I be interested in doing a Japanese import like that and selling it later on. I guess the parts supply thing is the big unknown. We are very spoiled having virtually any part we need or want for our Minis available from so many sources.
The boys are listing the Honda Beat on BaT, I'll be interested to see how it does. I'll post it up when it lists, the reserve BaT insisted on is pretty low......
My buddy had a VERY nice Jap Import in his Yard this morning. I've never seen one of these before, and Boy was I impressed. A 2006 Honda Civic Mugen RR...absolutely gorgeous car.
Bit the Bullet last Thursday and bought one of my Favourite wee JDM cars...a 1997 Toyota GlanzaV.
Love these little Pocket Rockets. Only a 1333cc engine, but boy, are they fast. Torque Steers everywhere when you drop the hammer. Age means nothing with Jap Imports as they don't rot in the Honshu climate.
When Guido stayed at my place in 2009, before his first IMM, he drove the Glanza I had then. He begged me to send him one to USA, after doing doughnuts round my local roundabout.
Am bidding on a Figaro tomorrow at Shizuoka...if I get it, then it's a Xmas present for my GF in Florida.
They only made them for one year...1991... so shouldn't be any problems at US port.
This was a trial idea for my two grandsons, if it sells OK they may try and import something else.....
That Glanza is pretty cool, a real pocket hatch......
(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gVfxP1GJE14/maxresdefault.jpg)
My grandson sent me the draft of his ad for BaT and I advised him not to put it up for sale there....
After watching what has happened to a few people trying to sell Minis and such, I think they'll rip him and the car to bits, and he thinks he has a local buyer who will get him out of the car - I told him to sell it and move on.
Here's why.....I wondered why the car was blue as I'd never seen another one, and I spotted bits of red in some of the pics of the front trunk and such - the car was color changed from red. Also, the soft top was removed and the aftermarket hard top installed. The car was also tricked out with a complex high end Sony sound system but the wiring is a jumbled mess under the dash, it has two dents that the PDR guy wouldn't touch, larger wheels than OEM and a broken right side mirror that happened in transit - he has a replacement but it would need to be painted as it's currently red.
Bottom line, BaT would rip this car apart, and he doesn't have a good "story" to back up why the color change, why it doesn't have a soft top and so on.
What do you guys think, should he take a chance anyway and see what happens?
The purists seem to swarm on BaT. I saw an auction for a late 70's to early 80's chevy C10 and half the comments were why'd you modify this why lower it wheres the original engine ...... OMG it's an old farm truck that no one cares about.
Knowledge is power, with power comes responsibility.... Not to be a know it all ass.
If they have a buyer for a profitable price I'd sell and move on. Use it as lessons learned. I've joked about putting my mini up on BaT just for the commentary and maybe to learn more but it seems they have gotten more strict on reserve prices.
Looks like his local guy flaked on him, so off to BaT it goes, we'll see what happens.
Are people really expecting pristine originality when shopping for a Honda Beat? I would think the bigger draw would be to own something totally different to what is typically available in the US, no matter if it left the Honda factory that way or not.
I gave him some pointers on how to make his description more interesting to a potential buyer, by pointing up the uniqueness and fun to drive factors....so we're on the same page.
I'm just going by the way they've honed in on other non-original cars on BaT....sometimes they were pretty vicious.
I also told him to answer every concern as best he could, absentee owners are the kiss of death to a good auction.
And don't get defensive or take it personal. Seen that blow up auctions too.
The Beat is now Live on BaT!
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1991-honda-beat-7/ (https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1991-honda-beat-7/)
Well, he got his first bid at least, and he seems to be handling the comments well......I hope the car does well for him, or at least breaks him out.
I read through the comments last night and the typical internet idiots appeared. Comment: Looks like the car was originally red, was it painted? Seriously, read the damn description. Typical. Headline. Pics. Shoot off mouth. MERICA!!
Not only that but he mentions that it was repainted in his reply to a previous post......I'll go get caught up this morning, but as long as there are some people reading and looking, I guess that's a good thing. The guy that posted the first bid does that a lot, I don't know if that's just his "thing" or what, but he has bought at least one car and was actively bidding on several others.
Well, I'm going to find out how the bidding process works on BaT, I registered to bid and did so on the Beat....we'll see what happens.
One of the posters pretty well trashed the car but I think Reece handled him OK......
Bruce - I went online to look for parts, I found one supplier in Japan that ships regularly to the US and even posts his prices in $$ rather than yen, his descriptions were a little light and no pics, but the prices seem pretty reasonable - valve cover gasket was $9, timing belt $14 and so on......
I hope it sells for a profit. It's difficult when you have armchair experts spouting their opinions – and these are people who've almost certainly never owned that model car - perhaps have never even seen one in person.
Good to know there are parts suppliers stepping in.
Yeah, I loved it when he said "mediocre paint job".....but all he's seen are the pics. How can you tell from a pic? I certainly couldn't....his reply was that you can see the old color under the hood and under the bottom of the car and such.
I told Reece to talk up the exclusivity and fun to drive factors....that's all you can do with guys like this......
I think Reece will be happy if he can break even plus a bit.
Well, the Beat is not attracting a lot of attention these days......tomorrow is DDay, I hope things ramp up a bit as it closes out, I'll miss the action as I'll be working and unable to watch it on my phone while driving.
The beat was one of the first JDM cars I ever saw in person, imported into Canada, back in 2006 (15 year law vs US 25 year law).
It was amazing, blew my mind. I really want an Autozam AZ-1 one day, specifically with the Mazdaspeed F50 bodykit
The bid is up to $4750, so it's getting a little action at last, about an hour and a half to go.......Smurf, it would be great if you went and posted that in the comments section - or better yet - buy the car! ;D
The Beat sold for $5500, that didn't quite break them out of the car, but it sold and that's that. The buyer was a serious bidder on another Beat that sold for $7700 that he didn't win, so I guess it went to the right buyer.
Edit: Just found out the car was bought by Chris Bebe, friend and neighbor of Peter Egan......he's coming to get it and drive it the 800 miles back to his home in Wisconsin.
Chris is coming this weekend to pick up the Honda Beat and drive it home to Wisconsin....there was some talk of Egan coming with him and writing a story for R&T, but he's not coming after all. I hope Chris at least writes up a story for BaT about the trip home, I think those are fun to read.
Glad they didn't loose their shirt on the Beat. I'm sure when you factor in the fun and adventure they had with it, it was worth it.