First Meeting

I had originally imagined that it might take about a month to get a car from Japan and put it on the road. However in reality, it took that long just to hook up with a supplier and wait for the right car to appear at auction. Then I waited some more for my car to be loaded onto a ship, and then a further long seven weeks for the ship to arrive in Southampton. So I was excited and nervous when the docks finally reopened after Christmas, allowing me to collect my long-awaited 180SX.

Now, when a car arrives from Japan it is unregistered, and has no MOT or Tax, so the official policy is that such cars should be “transported, not driven, from the port of landing”.

Fortunately there is an amusing loophole; since an MOT is a prerequisite to registering a car, an unregistered car may be driven to and from a pre-booked MOT appointment. I thus booked an appointment near my house, allowing me to drive home from Southampton perfectly legally, as long as I went via the MOT garage. Insurance was arranged on the chassis number, and I set off with a one-way train ticket.

I was somewhat nervous on arriving into Southampton station, wondering how I would find my car, and whether it would be fit to drive home. Fortunately the bus driver outside the station was most helpful, obviously being accustomed to random blokes turning up looking for their cars, and we found our way down to the docks. After wandering around in the cold for a while, we eventually found a hut with two men in, one of whom gave me the keys, and the other a lift to the compound.

I can’t say I was overwhelmed with the car at first sight; sat amongst aggressively wheeled and kitted Evos and Skylines, a bone stock 180SX looks rather underwhelming. Still, it had four wheels and seemed to be in good shape. The staff gave a jump-start from their pickup, obviously standard practice, and my girlfriend and I were off through the one-way system, as far as the nearest petrol station. I didn’t trust the battery, but fortunately the Texaco staff made no objection to my leaving the engine running while filling up with super unleaded. Pulling out of the services onto the M3 in the pouring rain, I carefully waited to get straightened up before accelerating - and promptly spun up the rears in third. Hmmm - add four new tyres to the new battery on the shopping list.

Driving the car was a strange mix of the new and the familiar; the basic driving position is identical to my old Silvia, but the over-the-shoulder view obviously different, and the turbo coming in made a difference, as I had discovered. Less encouragingly, the steering seemed both lighter and vaguer than I remembered. I could sense the potential, but the overall feel was a bit ‘loose’ and imprecise compared to my first S13. I made my first mod a solid steering column bush, which helped, but didn’t go far enough.

I used the excellent SXOC guide to wire up my rear foglights; the ‘chuki’ 180SX comes with all the foglight wiring, you just need a switch (easily sourced from a UK model) and then to wire the inner pair of brake lights up at the rear. I got it all wired up ok, however there was no power at the switch. Eventually I traced a non-functioning relay, hardwired it, and I had my rear fogs - next stop, the MOT.

I dropped my car off with my SX-friendly local MOT man, and awaited his verdict - this would be the first proper independent expert inspection of the car I’d just spent several thousand pounds on. I was not disappointed - he described it as very clean, and admitted that it tempted him to import a 180 of his own, having previously owned a UK car and had to deal with the rust. Objectively it was a winner too, passing with flying colours.

Unfortunately I had received neither the Japanese de-registration document nor the Customs form 386 (really a receipt for import duty), and so the DVLA refused my registration application. They also had the cheek to point out that the odometer reading on my MOT certificate was in kilometres, and to insist on proof of speedo conversion - which I have never heard of anyone else needing. Fortunately the documents turned out to have been filed by my customs agent, complete with post-it saying “Do not file - send to customer”. I sent them on, plus the receipt for a £20 speedo converter chip from eBay, and the DVLA were kind enough to issue my registration number, allowing me finally to hit the road.

Of course, as one journey ended, another began. I now had a bone-stock, 14-year-old car which could be nonetheless become perfect, with just a few little improvements… but that’s a story for another day.