HOW LONG HAVE YOU OWNED IT?
I bought it from the Royal Trading Co, in Japan in August 2016 for £4500 including transport to the docks, shipping and insurance. I was looking at importing a rare and unusual classic Japanese car and researched many models before I came upon this. At the time it was the cheapest R30 Skyline for sale in Japan. There were several high-quality photos of the car as well as a walk-around video.
HOW MUCH HISTORY DOES IT HAVE?
As with most Japanese imports, little of the car’s history is known. However, I have found a list of the previous owners and when the car changed hands. Current mileage is 133,000km, and this can be loosely supported by the owners’ history as well as the Shaken (inspection) history file.
HAS IT BEEN MODIFIED?
Yes. It has a three-in cat-back exhaust, coil-overs, aftermarket boost controller and steering wheel. These are typical for a car of this age from Japan and I’ve updated them myself since.
WHAT’S LEFT TO DO ON IT?
I’ve carried out general maintainance, replaced the old unbranded coil-overs with new BC Racing units together with suspension bushes and ball-joints and CV boots, fitted interior sound deadening and replaced the fuel pump and alternator. Jobs left to do include new vacuum pipes, tidying the engine bay and a re-spray. The car is currently insured with for £6000, which covered the purchase cost as well as import and registration taxes to get the car on the road. Similar cars are still being sold in Japan, mostly for more than £14,000.
WHAT WE THINK IT’S WORTH - £7500
Russ Smith, CCW’s price expert: ‘This car truly is a rarity over here, which makes it very difficult to put a value on it. The market for early Skylines is strong, though, and this car is definitely worth more than your current insurance valuation. That value will also increase markedly once you get the body tidied up and re-sprayed, too – I think you’ll be looking at a five-figure sum at that point, which is a pretty good return.’
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