Son going to bring another vehicle home

[vavavroom]

Two months ago he sold the souped-up 1981 Rabbit GTI that he had bee working on for a year. He spent much of the proceeds on a new project. It's a 1994 Mitsubishi Delica Spacegear 4x4 with a 2.8 liter intercooled diesel engine. Left-hand steering, three rows od seats, only 47,000 miles on it. No rust. It looks like this one:

 

[Mainia]

Butt-Ugly

 

[Rand]

diesel minivan with plastic offroad bumper?

 

[NormanBuntz]

Never heard of it. Must be a Japanese version. Gray market vehicle?

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted by NormanBuntz
Never heard of it. Must be a Japanese version. Gray market vehicle?

And cant be registered.

 

[atikovi]

Originally Posted by Chris142
And cant be registered.


Maybe not in Cali, but most anywhere else.

 

[aquariuscsm]

People bring JDM Z32's here all the time.

 

[earlyre]

Originally Posted by Chris142
Originally Posted by NormanBuntz
Never heard of it. Must be a Japanese version. Gray market vehicle?

And cant be registered.

as long as it's 25 yrs old it can.... I think...

 

[cpayne5]

Originally Posted by earlyre
Originally Posted by Chris142
Originally Posted by NormanBuntz
Never heard of it. Must be a Japanese version. Gray market vehicle?

And cant be registered.

as long as it's 25 yrs old it can.... I think...


That's what I was thinking, too. But, California plays by its own rules.

Looks like these vans were sold in Canada, so I bet that's where this one originated.

 

[wings&wheels]

Great vehicle! Capable enough for most reasonable off-roading and beyond that. They have a big RoW following.

I believe you may have some difficulty registering that I CA, at least from the horror stories I hear from folks who have attempted to register imported diesel Rovers.

For reference, here is a long series of posts from Defender Source on the subject;
California Diesels

Good luck!

 

[ecotourist]

Originally Posted by cpayne5
Looks like these vans were sold in Canada, so I bet that's where this one originated.

I saw one of these the other day - the first one ever. That name "Delica Space Gear" is memorable. If they were sold in Canada, there weren't many of them.

 

[AZjeff]

Those are interesting. Does dad have any worries of teenage son driving around in 25 year old safety technology? Probably better than the 81 Rabbit..

 

[DuckRyder]

That GTI will probably be a car he will forever regret letting go...

 

[Snagglefoot]

They import them to Canada from Japan on a regular basis. There's a few specialty importers on the west coast. Yep, right hand steering and all.

 

[vavavroom]

Originally Posted by Mainia
Butt-Ugly


Not everyone needs a pretty car to make themselves look better.

 

[vavavroom]

The Delica is actually a popular model among off-roaders pretty much anywhere in the world but in the States. There are many RV and true explorer conversions. I drove a Delica mostly off-road in Patagonia in 1999. It was great. Durable, reliable, very capable off-road with a solid rear axle with locking center diff, the 2.8 liter turbo diesel was very torquey, it did not handle badly on proper streets. Lots of utility. By the way, I misspoke, it does have right-hand steering. The sliding door is on the left. I see Delicas fairly frequently in California. They are popular with surfers and outdoorsy people. Most are dark green, my son's is dark grey. He sent me this picture. The second oicture shows what he has in mind. He's already looking into portal axles. Registration is no problem. It has already been registered here.

This the vehicle my son bought:

This is what he'd like to do with it:

 

[vavavroom]

Originally Posted by AZjeff
Those are interesting. Does dad have any worries of teenage son driving around in 25 year old safety technology? Probably better than the 81 Rabbit..


Surprisingly dad knows more about where his son drives than AZJeff. AZ jeff does not know that my son has been driving our old Cherokee on my brother's land since he was 11. AZjeff probably envisions my son driving on I-680 in rush hour traffic. AZjeff probaly loves jumping from unfounded assumptions to foregone conclusions. As for the 1981 Rabbit GTI, yes that had to go. It was just another project car. The Delcia is his third summer project car in as many years. What's your kid doing?

 

[wings&wheels]

Great that he was able to register it. Nice truck.

 

[maxdustington]

Originally Posted by DuckRyder
That GTI will probably be a car he will forever regret letting go...
Upped MK1 GTI for a 4x4 minivan? Depends if the van is an auto trans or not. I've never seen a manual one, all of the ones imported here through the BCs are slush boxes. Also, I've also never seen one as a LHD. Getting one of those weird Japanese vehicles as a LHD is pretty cool.

Certainly will attract fewer girls!

 

[AZjeff]

Originally Posted by vavavroom
Originally Posted by AZjeff
Those are interesting. Does dad have any worries of teenage son driving around in 25 year old safety technology? Probably better than the 81 Rabbit..


Surprisingly dad knows more about where his son drives than AZJeff. AZ jeff does not know that my son has been driving our old Cherokee on my brother's land since he was 11. AZjeff probably envisions my son driving on I-680 in rush hour traffic. AZjeff probaly loves jumping from unfounded assumptions to foregone conclusions. As for the 1981 Rabbit GTI, yes that had to go. It was just another project car. The Delcia is his third summer project car in as many years. What's your kid doing?


Azjeff isn't jumping to any unfounded conclusions or questions your son's driving ability. You can't control others and I've been on Cali roads and seen the traffic and crazies. Even a 10 year old car protects the occupants better than a 25 year old car. I lost my son to the negligence of another person so my POV about things we can control is different.