964s spotted in Tokyo !

[oldtimer]

Been here in Tokyo for 5 days now visiting my son who lives in Setagaya-ku . There is a Porsche dealership further down the main avenue here, so you see more Porsches than you would in the city hotspots like Roppongi where the rich kids hang out.

In amongst the usual upmarket mix of Cayenne , Panamera and 997/991 Carreras , I spotted a 964 Turbo and next day a 964C4 , both were slate grey , both were heard before they were seen [8D]

I think that cup pipes and J pipes must be popular here......

Had dinner with a small group of early 911 enthusiasts , their pre-74 cars are referred to as "narrow bodies" here , they said that Porsche buyers of 964 want 4wd and LHD , there is a definite snob factor of wanting to stand out and in having the classic vertical headlight / straight wing look of the 1963-1993 911 models .

I told them that 964C2 were now much more appreciated in UK than say 5 years back......I was very happy to own both an early 911 and a 964.... the 964 being significant as maybe the last of the truly engineer driven projects before the bean counters got going [8|]

 

[RSGulp]

Are they allowed LHD cars in Tokyo? I always thought they were not allowed to import LHD.

 

[oldtimer]

ORIGINAL: RSGulp

Are they allowed LHD cars in Tokyo? I always thought they were not allowed to import LHD.

Not a problem in Japan , you are probably confusing it with Hong Kong , Rich.

I`m not sure how good the independent Porsche garage network is . I have met up with the Tokyo equivalent of Bob Watson (!) , he does not have a rolling road but seems handy with the spanners as is entrusted with looking after some proper RSs (2.7 that is ) . Unfortunately the 2.7RSs are as expensive as elsewhere in the world.

 

[Melv]

So are you going to reverse the trend and bring a 964 back with you??? []

 

[Steve Brookes]

How's the sapporo? []

 

[Talat]

Funnily enough my 964 which was bought from around the Tokyo area was 4wd, LHD and Slate Grey

 

[Gimme Shelter]

My 996T is a C08 car - LHD Japanese market - (4wd, LHD, Seal Grey ... there's a pattern here). First owner was an Italian fund manager in Tokyo.

It used to be the case that almost all upmarket European cars in Japan were LHD, chosen by the owners as a status symbol, to differentiate them from 'ordinary' cars.

 

[oldtimer]

ORIGINAL: Talat

Funnily enough my 964 which was bought from around the Tokyo area was 4wd, LHD and Slate Grey

Spooky ! I will be going back there next year so will do a bit more investigation , the climate over there seems to be a bit kinder for the early cars , and no one mentioned any salt being put down on the road []