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Interesting!
My uncle used to be a grey import dealer 15 years ago, I've mentioned it enough times in the past, and given the resurgence in people buying imported Japanese cars, I'm really tempted to explore getting involved. If only to fund me making trips to Japan a couple of times a year (or more), and getting to drive all those cars again.
He would buy the cars in Japan, sort everything out, then a bunch of us, him, a couple of other uncles, my dad, and sometimes me, would go overnight to Hook of Holland, meet the cars, then put them on the ferry and drive them back from Harwich.
From Harwich I remember some ridiculous midnight runs in all the Japanese supercars, on Dutch plates, zero fucks given. Standing - triple figures side by side twin turbo Supra and RX7 was one of the highlights.
NurseHolliday-
There use too be an auction of imported cars here, that sold cars and bikes straight out of the crate.
Needs someone you trust at the auctions to buy the cars and then know which ones sell.
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Same with my old man. He dabbled in importing and selling a few WRX STI Type 5's and Evo 5's & 6's when they were brand new. Fun times when you didn't see a lot on the road.
Up until recently one of his long standing customers still had his Evo 6 that he bought from us from new. It had a FSH, 50k on the clock and it was completely standard. He hadn't even fitted a stereo/headunit to it - it still had the blanking plate in the dash. Wish we'd bought it back off him.
lynx
ricky2slicky
Yeah. I guess I was a semi-pro. I bought cars, mostly Porsches, I liked and wanted to own but that had a potential margin in them, then sold them within a few months via a mate with a showroom, he took a cut and covered me on his insurance.
It worked ok and was fun times in some ways but it sort of spoiled my hobby a bit as after a while even pretty special cars start to feel run of the mill. I collected a brand new GT3 RS 3.8 in 2010 to sell it on immediately to a bloke in HK. He said it must have under 200 miles when it got to him, but I only bothered driving it the 30 miles from the Porsche centre to the storage place, I wasn't that interested, it was just a car. :(