Anyone know these guys?

[Darkartist]

Morning -

I have been a long-time lurker and through my current research, I decided to get myself more aquatinted with this forum. I am looking for a LHD Diesel 70 Series, preferably a pickup, but those seem pretty rare. In my searches, I have stumbled upon many importers like Land Cruiser Direct, CCC and some other guys on MUD. I also found another outfit called NicaNorth - has anyone heard of these guys? They seem to have more LHD stuff compared to all the RHD options currently out there...

Like most, I don't want to pull the trigger until I get more info. I will send them an email/phone call, but wanted to see if anyone knows how legit they are. Again. there seems to be a handful of importers, I just want to choose the right one!

Thanks in advance.

 

[redthies]

There isn't a ton of info on their website, but it at least looks to be legit. I'd give them a call and see what they have to say.

 

[Darkartist]

Thanks for the quick reply. I sent an email as there's no phone number on the site. Also, being Sunday, I am sure they're closed anyway.

I'll let you know what I find out.

 

[redthies]

Yeah, the site isn't overly informative, but it seems they are importing out of Central America. It is hard to find clean vehicles down there as the roads are horrible for the most part, and people use the trucks for their intended purpose.

 

[Nicaragüense]

Toyota had Ads running in central america, the catch phrase was, "No lo Maneje, Maltratelo". That translates to, "Don't drive it, Mistreat it"

The roads are rough, and in some places what we might consider off road here in the US is just a daily commute for many there. Things get welded, mended, rebuilt over and over again. There are good vehicles there too, but I would go over anything from there very carefully to make sure you dont overlook anything.

https://youtu.be/cPF3a3WZ8Hs

 

[lugueto]

It will depend on where and who the vehicle was bought from. You can find vehicles in really good condition, but bear in mind a 75 series from the 80s was inevitably used as a workhorse sometime in its life and will have multiple owners. Inspect them thoroughly.

I can testify for what Nicaraguense says, the ads are true. And the mentality created by this ad is real, people do mistreat them, thinking they won't break down eventually.

 

[redthies]

The Japanese Classics guys are very car oriented, but wow are their prices low! We've had JDM stuff flooding my area for 15 years plus so I've seen the local (Vancouver BC) pricing on Skylines etc. I'd buy one in Va and ship to Seattle fir those prices.

 

[Darkartist]

Update:

They did respond to my email and I just talked with the owner yesterday. They currently only have three in the U.S., but have imported about a dozen or so since 2015. Not sure how much I want to share (because I want it!), but they do have a HJ75 pickup that arrived last fall and the owner stated that they are doing quite a bit of work to get it back to where it should be (new steering, adding power steering, front disc conversion, strip off the graphics etc). Looks clean, but does have 315,000KMs or so on the clock. They said they weren't listing it until they did a compression test and drove it a few hundred miles.

Anyway, the owner seemed like a decent guy and loved talking about these things, which is comforting. I was on the phone for a good 30+ minutes with him. I also asked him about that Troop he had - it looked decent and I haven't really thought about Troops before now. They seem to be more rare from what I've seen on the market recently.

Again, being new to this particular forum, has anyone owned or driven a Troop? His had the 2H Diesel, but only a 4 Speed. I'd like something that can at least get to 60mph! I am not expecting these things to be quick as I have looked into horsepower ratings and overall vehicles weights. I guess I just like the sound of a diesel over a gasser, haha.

Thanks for all the insight so far.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

What elevation are you at? Do you plan to add load and accessories?

 

[redthies]

I've driven Troopies and other 70 series diesels in Oz, (as well as 80 series diesel manuals) and owned a few diesel 60s. They are not fast by any means, but they do put a smile on your face! You just have to be in the right mindset to drive one. I took a non-turbo BJ60 from Canada to southern Mexico and back over a 5 month period. The only time I noticed it being "slow" was going from Cortez up to Telluride. The rest of the time I just had some a Bob Marley or David Gray in the CD player and chilled. You see more of the world that way!

 

[rickerman]

Contact Information


Try this.

Name: Joseph Turcotte
Organization: Love Cupcakes, LLC
Mailing Address: 511 Stevens Ave, Portland Maine 04103 US
Phone: +1.2077495723

josephdturcotte gmail com