As Mother’s Day rolls on by (Hi, mom!) we take time to say thanks to the one that helped raise us to upstanding citizen and avid JNC fan. I wonder, does dear ol’ mom share the same understanding and admiration for J-tin as you do? Share your story with us.
In my case, my mother didn’t see my AE86 until several months after purchase. I was in college at the time and though I had owned several cars in the past, this was the first one that I would update her on the progress of fixing up. Those repairs and upgrades were also the reason I had to skip out on making the trek back home for a family visit. So, when I finally took the GT-S back home to show my pride and joy, I was greeted with a, “So… that’s it?” rather than a “Wow, so that’s it!”. To my mom, it was an old car with chipped paint and dirty wheels. It wasn’t until I painted the car (self taught) that she started to see the value. That grew as people would stop and ask to buy it during weekends I was at the house.
Now, I think she sees it as just a part of me and not a mistake on four wheels. The car is in mid-refresh now and even though I am an ocean away, she took the time to still look after it. Even steam cleaned the seats! That’s progress. Thanks, mom! So how about our readers?
What does your mom think of your JNC?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s your best ‘3-digit purchase price’ car story?”
Comments this week seemed to fall into two categories. Some lucky bastards like ol shel scored great deals back in the day. Most of you, however, have made some brave purchasing decisions over the years. CLShifter told a heartwarming tale of 200SX love. Speedie‘s experience with a Celica Liftback steered him towards a lifetime of manual transmissions. Jason Marah nearly took the prize with his hilarious tale driving across Ireland in a sketchy RX-7. The winner, however, is Evan P and his truly epic tale of how he scored an A60 Supra for about 1/10th the cost.
So….
I have a pretty interesting story about getting my 85 Celica Supra. So this is 1999 when initial D and drifting was just becoming a thing in the US. I was always a fan of the AE86 and the Supra’s from seeing them on the streets when I lived in Va Beach, Va, a lot of military guys and old school heads had them from the Air Force and Navy Base out there. So it’s 1997 I’m in The Air Force stationed in Oklahoma, “BFE Oklahoma” at that…. A pilot I worked with had this super clean 85 Supra, it’s the Terra Cotta Brown, even more rare than the white, silver, red ones. He drove it on Fridays around base and I would see him and his wife in it around town on weekends for “ date night”. It was immaculate. I would always ask him about it at work and he let me sit in it one day at the base gas station. So clean you could eat off of it. So I drooled over it for a few years. So in 1999 I started looking for an AE86 because well I figured it was a cheap alternative to the Supra since they were going for 8 thousand in some areas and the AE86 had now shot up to 5-6K in certain parts of Dallas FW area so I was screwed. I’m 21, E-3 in the Air Force so you know I have deep pockets right?!!
Well I could never get my hands on a AE86 so I bought a 1990 honda accord. So the summer of 2000 I noticed the Supra sitting in the parking lot of the Squadron I was in. It had been there for months and had not moved. I asked around and asked why this pilots car was in the parking lot. I was told he got stationed out of the country and couldn’t take the car so he was going to leave it there and deal with it when he had time. So I emailed him and told him I would take care of it until he returned and would even put it in storage if he wanted to. He told me “I’ll do you one better, I’ll sell it to you if you want it” , the phone went silent.. as I didn’t think he was talking to me…. In disbelieve I stuttered sure “I would love to by your car, but sir I can’t afford it, these are worth well into 8,000 range especially in the condition it is in, its mint”!! He replied. “Oh I know it’s okay. I know how much you enjoy the car and I would love for you to have it. I know you will take good care of it.” “ So how does $750.00 Sound?”… pause..……….. hello, Evan, Hello you there?……Me: “Sorry sir I dropped the phone, you are kidding right?”, he said “ if that’s too much at once I can work with you on payments”. Me: “No sir the price is fine ( jumping up and down silently screaming on the phone) but I can only send you $100-200 a month until I pay it off, then you can send me the keys and title.” He replied: ‘No need I’ll mail all of that to you now and you just send me the money orders when you can, hope you enjoy it”!!
And that is what I did for 7 months I sent him 100 bucks in money orders from the post office until I paid it off. I have owned it for the last 17 years. I’m the second owner, no rust, no accidents, everything still works and it has spent its life in various countries around the world and after getting it repainted its original color in 2010 it’s got a full JDM 2JZ GTE /single turbo swap and other goodies. I showed it at JCCS last year and took 3rd place for Best Celica.. you can check it out on my IG @ tokenblkguy78
“ Cool story bro”…. lol yeah yeah I know… ?
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
My Mom owned a Japanese car before I did, so I guess she was the trendsetter for me.
Dad was a Ford man. We always had Ford/Mercury cars growing up. Dad’s eyesight started failing in his late 30’s and Mom became the family taxi driver. She liked smaller cars and opted for a 1976 Dodge Colt Wagon and then a 1978 Toyota Corolla Wagon.
The Corolla she loved and drove all over the countryside for work. When she finally let it go it had the typical rust-belt issues but with nothing more that routine service the driveline was still going strong at 278K miles.
My Mom was actually the person who drove me into Daihatsu. The first car i owned i’ve bought from my class teacher. I wasn’t convinced to it, because it was “some odd Korean” – i tought. But my Mom insistet ’cause she liked the look of that car. So i made some research i found out that Daihatsu Applause is actualy Japanese to the bones. I was so lame at car knowlege back then… I dreamed to get a Nissan RS13 as my 1st car. But instead i stepped into the wheeled world in a Daihatsu. And i’ve felt in love with it. About one year later i’ve bought a second Applause – the one that is with me till now. It’s over 10 years. During that time i owned two more Daihatsu’s, and now i use a Legacy BH as daily driver. The Grey Applause become a classic, and i’m trying to preserve Him for next generations. All that thanks to my Mom’s aesthetics feel…
I brought my AE86 home almost seven years ago, when my mom saw it she thought I was joking about it being “special”.
All she saw was a high mileage 80’s economy car that was going to end up leaving me stranded or spend too much time fixing.
She even told me to “take it back to where it came from.”
I let her drive it and I still remember her telling me “it’s way too loud, why is it so low to the ground.. just why did you buy this thing?”
Seven years later she still doesn’t get why I spent so much money playing with this car, and she doesn’t under why I brought home an even older Toyota Pickup.
But at least she seems to enjoy the Corolla since it’s no longer taking up space at her house!
My mother had a Datsun 260 when she was around my age. So of course with my celica she considers us sworn enemies
My mom refers to all my cars as her “grand-cars,” and has never owned an automatic. Because she always gets updated on everything that happens, she has grown to absolutely hate the A70-series Supra. My brother and I have had 4 between the two of us, and their constant engine failures are probably responsible for the vast majority of my mom’s grey hairs.
She has also grown to love Mazda, based on the reliability of my previous Miatas.
Although she’s always supportive of my S30, AE86, and S13, she never hesitates to rag on my dad, and his pride and joy, a 2017 Subaru BRZ Edition-Yellow. “It’s too slow” in her opinion.
Of course she would say that. Her daily driver is a 2010 Celestial-blue mica Mazdaspeed3.
Well my mom drove me to buy my Cordia off of my stepbrother as she really liked the little old hatch as she nearly bought one back in the 80s but alas they had no stock left of the car in late 84(only one batch of 700 were ever sent to Malaysia in early January of 84) and she specifically wanted to get one in a S paint job(red and black two tone). after about a week and a half of saving and a little begging from my mom for 500 bucks as someone wanted to purchase it and I only had 1500 bucks while the car costed 2 grand, she gladly gave the money as she wanted to support my passion while my dad was pretty hateful on it calling it a waste of time and sees old cars as just junk but would gladly buy one if he could sell it on for a profit. It was the 24th of February of the year 2004, I just bought my first car and it was the best day of my whole life and it was all thanks to my mom.
Well, after just a single drive, my mother began referring to my FC3S RX-7 as “The Vomitron” and she hasn’t been in any of my modified vehicles since!
When I told first told my mom I was importing an AE86 from Japan.
Mom: “You bought ANOTHER car?!? How much?!”
Me: “13.5k … ”
Mom: “WHAT?!? YOU PAID HOW MUCH?!?” YOU NEED TO BE SAVING YOUR MONEY!!” (Im still in college)
*Turns to my dad*
Mom: “Why did you let him do this? I can’t believe this.”
Dad: “Well, its his money. This is the car he’s been working towards buying. He’s wanted this one ever since he was a little kid.”
Me: “Mom, technically I didn’t spend any money on it. I only spent what I made off of the RX7. No fresh income … This is like, a $20,000 car mom.” (I had just sold a RHD FC RX7 to a guy in California)
Mom: “Well you need to sell it when it gets here and keep the money … I can’t believe you. Stupid, absolutely stupid.”
*dad gives me a subtle wink*
A few weeks later the car arrives.
Mom: “So … When are you going to sell it?”
Now she doesn’t really think anything of it. Both me and my Dad are big car guys so its just another toy in her eyes. I think she somewhat-kind-of stopped resenting the decision after she started noticing the attention it brought with my friends and the internet.
If you’re not first, you’re last, I guess :-p
I wanted to say something funny like My Mom does not like it but your Mom does… but i quickly realised how I outgrew those silly comments.
Seriously My Mom loves the Sunny Truck, she turned 50 not too long ago and I truly appreciate my Mom’s love for Japanese cars. She not once complained about the shakotan style or the screaming carburettors or the popping noises from the exhaust.
I hardly have my Mom passenger as she is very capable of driving and still loves to drive their (Mom and Dad’s) Honda CRX (which she loves), but on the odd occasion she needs to go somewhere I happily insist on taking her and she really does not mind.
She is a cool Mom, and when I was growing up and seeing kids being dropped off in their moms german luxury vehicles and my Mom dropping me off in a Japanese (jap scrap as it was known back then) car I always wondered why we never bought a “fancy” (what media said was fancy) car until now when I see my Mom looking out of the Sunny Trucks window and enjoying the simple life… When the kids driving their moms fancy car look at me driving with my Mom in the passenger seat wishing their moms were as cool as mine and just that little smirk my Mom gives when the carbs start screaming at wide open throttle i know she is thinking, i raised my kids right… this is the simple, humble life that needs no validation from others… and when I bring my Mom home safely and she takes out the sun shade to place it over the dash, she jumps out of the Kameari low backs with no complaints whatsoever and neatly closes the door with her gentle touch. Says nothing more than Thank You.
She doesn’t like it at all, but she says it does suit me, because it’s obnoxious. That’s going in the book as a W
Mom wasn’t exactly a fan of older cars when i was getting into them at 16 and 17, but truth be told i caught the JNC bug from her; I remember fondly riding in her 91 Prelude SI in 2000 when i was only 5 years old, plus our next orders took us to Japan! there, She drove an R33 Skyline GT, which was bought for mere pennies off the lemon lot in Yokohama. If only either of those cars had been manual!