WWW: Fresh Off the Boat

Being the guy behind the camera, I’ve acquired a taste for people’s general disinterest in what I drive. This is, of course, with good reason; the interest should be in what’s happening in front of the lens and not behind it. However, seeing as how I was into cars long before I picked up a camera, it can be disheartening to always play second fiddle to your friend’s cars.

Occasionally I do the most egotistical thing imaginable and snap some pictures of my car and put some words to it. I also do it when things are a bit slower on the site and to switch things up a bit. Last week I took possession of this 1997 Toyota Aristo and the first thing I did when I got home was get a few photos of it.

I always considered myself a Nissan guy. I would swear up and down about my love for S-Chassis’. But what you say and what you do are two different things, because I’ve now owned two Toyotas and only one Nissan. I’ve always loved the JZS161’s from afar, but after driving the Celsior I had sworn off automatics. Luckily, this Aristo didn’t make me compromise on my new vow that I actually planned to keep. That’s right, this 2JZ GTE-powered chassis came with a 5-speed swap that had been completed professionally by a shop in Japan. After reading that sentence and seeing the price, I knew that I had to own it. So a few months back I sent a bunch of money to Japan and a few months later this sedan showed up in Vancouver.

Buying a car from Japan isn’t really as tricky as you might think, as long as you use a reputable source. But once you get the car, it’s a bit of lottery as to what you’ll find in it. I, for example, knew the car came with HKS coils and Wald wheels, but didn’t realize it had a dual RS-R exhaust until I got down on my hands and knees and looked. I won’t know what else I’ll find underneath until I lift it up.

I also knew the car came with these awful tail lights, but I figured the 5-speed outweighed the taillights. Don’t worry, the tail lights will be changed eventually. I won’t really know more about the car until I spend some time driving it, since I’ve spent the last week making it road legal. It can be a stressful process, and surprisingly even more so here in B.C. as opposed to Saskatchewan. But to quote Tom Petty, “The waiting is the hardest part,” and it’s worth it in the end.