Iron Chef Imports

Blog

Diana and her Fairlady: a Tale of Pain and Suffering

Published: 25/08/2009

This isn’t the actual car, but pretty close!   Going back nearly 12 months ago, I received a lovely phone call from a lady I’d pegged to be in her mid-50s. Given that she didn’t fit my normal customer demographic, I very politely listened to her inquiry, whilst preparing to give her the 30-second introduction […]

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The Life of a Japanese Motorist – Part 2

Published: 23/07/2009

Didn’t catch part 1? See here.   So, is it blue or green??   You were set the task of uncovering why traffic lights, in rural Japan in particular, have a blue light for “go” instead of green. The answer lies in the ambiguities of the Japanese language: believe it or not, the word “ao” […]

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The Life of a Japanese Motorist

Published: 28/05/2009

    Visiting Japan is one thing, but driving there makes the experience so much more interesting. When my wife and I moved to inner Osaka in 1999, we went without a owning or driving a car for the first 9 months of our time there. While this situation might be inconceivable in Australia, Japan’s […]

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Dealing with KANACs

Published: 17/04/2009

Yes I actually had to sell one of these for a friend – it still haunts me to this day.   First published in ‘High Performance Imports’ magazine, 2009.   One of the downsides to being a “motoring enthusiast” is that you instantly become a magnet for family and friends who I like to classify […]

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Hybrids and Politics: vested interests trump common sense

Published: 18/03/2009

First published in ‘High Performance Imports’ magazine, 2009.   For as long as I’ve been working in the import industry, there has been one hard-and-fast rule – if a car is imported to Australia by the manufacturer under full volume regulations, then it (and variants of it) cannot be imported as a used car under […]

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A Day in the Life of a Buying Agent in Japan

Published: 11/03/2009

  Have you ever gone to sleep wishing you could move to Japan to work at the car auctions as a buyer for customers in Australia and around the world? You picture yourself drooling over some of the hottest cars known to humankind, nabbing that winning bid at the last second to secure the perfect […]

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Buying Trip Blog – January 2008

Published: 24/02/2008

For a trip down memory lane, here is my blog from a trip to Japan buying cars at auction back in 2008. Days 1 & 2: Blast Furnace to Refrigerator On a 39-degree day, leaving Adelaide wearing tracksuit pants and clutching a thick jacket earnt me a number of sideways glances, particularly as I was […]

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Cars available

  • 2014 Mercedes Benz E350 Avantgarde wagon
    Auction Grade 4.5B
    Odometer 59,000
    Colour White
    Car Location Adelaide
     
    Est. Price (AUD) $33,000
    View Details