LENSPEED

Here we are again indulging in one of our hobbies – an intense session of car window shopping, this time focusing on “JDMs” in Thailand. The reason why JDM is in inverted commas is because most examples in Thailand are not JDM thoroughbreds, if their “skeletal structures” can be sourced locally. For example, a Mitsubishi Lancer can be sourced for cheap, then modified from ground up to look like a full-fat Evo with proper internals, just like the Evo 6 we test drove late last year. It took me a while to comprehend how all these could pan out…

It was tough at first for one that was brought up in a Singapore-centric car culture / climate where full imports are the way to go, for now at least until Hyundai sets up shop. But it actually makes plenty of sense in Thailand especially for “JDMs” that are now more than two decades old. Just swap out bodykits and internals for JDM parts (which by the way are also taxed 300%, but still way cheaper than a full import when looked in its entirety), and there you have a fully restored, super desirable JDM.

We spent quite a bit of time poking around in Facebook Marketplace the past couple of months, and realised that it is a platform that Thais use pretty often, given the frequency of posts. Special thanks to the owner of the Evo 6 who also purchased his car via this method, I stayed clear of other online marketplaces / search engines like Cars24 (TH), which has a wide range of vehicles, but they lean towards the more mainstream offerings. Now let’s take a closer look at some examples we found via Facebook Marketplace…

One of the more expensive Evos on sale in Thailand’s pre-owned marketplace today, regardless of generation. This Evo 8 ranks way up in terms of desirability. Looks as good as stock, and particularly digging the OEM Enkei-branded 17-inch rims. At S$65k, it’s big money. But given the JDM hype nowadays, is it worth it? There’s another yellow unit listed at a couple of grand dearer, and also comes with stock 10 spoke OEM rims.

A 100k km unit GC6 registered in 1995, with 18-inch CE28 rims and PS4 rubbers. Sounds like it’s ready to tackle tricky B-roads of Northern Thailand. I’ll need to consult my co-founder (who had a S204 in Singapore) if I ever lay my hands on one in the future.

Was quite excited to see the Airtrek Turbo listed in Thailand, even though by the time I post this it might have been taken down as there is only one available unit at time of writing. It brought back good old memories, as it was one of the first cars in the #LenspeedOwned fleet. This pre-facelift unit has done 180k km, pushes 500bhp, and has an interior that looks as good as new. Quite a steal at S$25k, in my opinion. I might be biased, but can I live with 5.5km/l again? Unlike the Evo and WRX, the Airtrek Turbo would have been a full import as the base-spec, non 4G63-equipped Airtreks were likely not made in Thailand. We reckon this unit might be snapped up, soon!

We suspected that prices of the previous-gen Toyota 86 / Subaru BRZ would fall, given the launch of the second-gen Subaru BRZ at the Bangkok International Motor Show last month. But we were wrong! Prices maintained at the S$60k – S$65k for a 10-year old unit, which is good news if you own one. This BRZ is rare as it comes with a stick shift. Most units in Thailand are automatics – a trend that we will continue to see given that sales for automatic BRZs outsold the manual variant at a ratio of 4.4 to 1 at the Motor Show. We couldn’t locate a pre-owned manual 86 for sale! And like the Airtrek Turbo, these are full imports so we should not expect prices to dip any time in the near future…