Fear of VR4 Popularity - just me?

[frozen]

I see so many people on these forums saying "i want to do this and do that to show everyone how GREAT these cars are" but im really not in the same mindset... i LOVE having a unique car, and im terrified that they will become as common as all the other turbo imports are...

I love driving down the road, seeing people look, filling up and the person next to me asking about the car, it feels great to have it unique, and sure, i dont lie and say "oh they are crap" but i really do have a fear of them becoming too popular...

Skylines are already common as dog shit... just really like being the 'special' car on the road that no one knows about

Lately i see more and more legnums, and the other day i even saw another galant... am i the only one with this fear? is it a silly fear? i know that the more popular it is the more mods are redily available, but id rather have to spend a bit extra on custom work than have every man and his dog having their vr4 crusing around with the 'standard' mods..

This might not have made any sense, just a bit of a rant i spose, typing as i think... and a question too i guess if im the only one thinking like this, seeing as alot of people want to 'put out the word'....

 

[SupremeMoFo]

It'll take quite a while before that happens. There's a lot of cars available to be imported, but how many do you see? Admittedly the Legnums are fairly popular on import sites at the moment but there's still nowhere near as many as Skylines. Caldinas, Aristos, Chasers, Stageas, series 7 and 8 RX-7s, etc etc... not many around.

 

[Guest]

I tend to agree with you Josh. Particularly in Qld. Everywhere you go now, there always seems to be one parked out front of a car yard, there isn't that many of the chaser's or caldinas or rx7's. I enjoy having most people have no clue what they're about to get beaten by when they pull up beside you at the lights, and it's a great talking point when someone takes interest. But unfortunately, just like anything good, it's eventually going to become popular. That's my take on it anyway

 

[weeaazz]

plus there werent a whole lot of legnums made,and theyre being imported to uk as well. they'll never be like the skyline(or i hope not)the best bit about them is their uniqueness, so hopefully they dont become common,its much more fun looking for mods rather than buying a hot 4's mag and reading all the things you could buy if u could afford it,knowing someone else's car will already have it and be wayyy better than yours

 

[frozen]

its just a shame... In the last week, or even few days, i have seen 3 different vr4s. 2 legnums and a galant. Thats just on the south side of brisbane.... And yeah the main reason is i love people not knowing whats about to flog their ss common-dore or whatever they may be in.

 

[bogan bob]

i think our 'magnas' will probably have that surprise factor at the lights for a while to come, but see the thread from iron chef - it looks like the initial boom is over and the number of cars coming in should slow down now.

i think its going to be a few years before you see a vr4 everytime you head down the shops

 

[SupremeMoFo]

Personally I've only ever seen 1 Legnum on the road in Australia - a prefacelift model, in Port Stephens (NSW), at least 4 years ago. White COTY special edition.

 

[SiliconAngel]

Yep I've only seen a grand total of one driving around so far Got me all excited too!

If it's any consolation to you, there's not much chance of people finding anything out from seeing my car (well, once it gets back on the road anyway). It's totally debadged except for the Diamond Triangle on the nose. Once repairs are complete it won't look too much like stock anyway

 

[Guest]

Lately i see more and more legnums, and the other day i even saw another galant... am i the only one with this fear? is it a silly fear? i know that the more popular it is the more mods are redily available, but id rather have to spend a bit extra on custom work than have every man and his dog having their vr4 crusing around with the 'standard' mods..

Welcome to New Zealand we have got probably half the friggin things ever made, including armies of non turbo models. A few years ago it was pretty rare to see a VR4 with wheels and exhaust, these days you barely turn your head... I have seen 60 year olds how use their VR-4 as a shopping cart.

Good supply of cheap wrecked parts is a plus though. But the value of them has plummeted.

Have a look on trademe, http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Cat...um&18=0&18=0&24=1996&24=2008&searchRegion=100

Over 350 listings for legnums for sale at the moment All for prices close to half what you guys are paying in AUS $

I think its a mixed blessing, but hey at least it gives you guys a head start on the rest of the country. Being the first to make a magazine or something, and that would be very cool.

 

[Guest]

to be truthfull i live in the caribbean (DOminica)
there are a few vr4s around here onb the island but they aint at all so popular..

you wud have an easier time to count many galants (NA) on the island thank VR4's if you got to do a count u may only find about 13 vr4s and a whole wack of NA galants..

so for here in Dominica its jus kicking up

we may even have a rebuilt galant on the road soon - owned by the Scientist....

 

[Peter_D]

There are benefits and drawbacks. The benefits are the wow and stealth factor. The drawbacks are the cost of parts and trying to get someone to fix these things.

 

[Guest]

I don't care how many poeple buy them / own them / are in the country, as long as we don't get as mang idiots driving them like ou get with skylines/silvias/supra's i know a few of us have all owned one of them once, and that is one of the reason's why i bought the wagon, so that i didn't get asked if i drift by everyone i see in my 180sx grrr

 

[VR-04-TT]

I'm not fussed about their popularity. If they do become hugely popular then it means more off the shelf goodies for us

 

[VR4Rocket]

Hmmmm 20million people....and how many VR4's? And most of those are owned by ex-kiwi's. Some how I dont think they will be 'that' popular but I have seen a few around but compared to Skylines etc I have hardly seen any VR4's.

 

[mallen]

I'm not fussed about their popularity. If they do become hugely popular then it means more off the shelf goodies for us

Yeah that's the catch isn't it? I'd prob prefer that that they were a little more popular and then wrecking yards will start bringing in half cuts and parts and stuff... Also the range of modding parts will be cheaper and more easily accessible...

I have only seen my VR4 in Adelaide so far, I'm eagerly waiting to see one but at least it won't be as common as a Commie or Falcon...

 

[RaZZa137]

ive seen legnums in car dealers only, only vr4 ive seen on the road was a silver galant n it was totally debadged except for mitsubishi, lol

 

[Guest]

I think maybe we should be asking "What makes Skylines so popular?"

1. There are alot of cheap aftermarket parts for them
2. They are still in production
3. Professional races/games/movies/magazines
Feel free to add anything else.

We dont have any of these things to back us up, bascily all we are talking about is people seeing our cars on the street or in the car yard and unless you have no idea what your looking for in a car your going to walk straight past it.

Also we are missing one other thing that the Skylines/Supras/WRX's have and thats a non-turbo version. While they are avaliable we dont have any in Australia (not enough to make it a common car anyway). Cause ive seen plenty of Skylines on the road but how many of them are GTR's, how many are GTS-t's and how many are non-turbos. So we have knocked out about 2 thirds of the market for grey imports.

Im not sure they will ever be anywhere near as popular as a Skyline, you just have to have a look at the other Mitsubishi Grey Imports that are avaliable (aka Lancer Evolution and the GTO)

 

[RaZZa137]

brocky makes a good point, there aren't even that many GTO's around and they are hot!! but also no one wants them caz they almost weigh 2 tonnes

 

[Leggs]

Has anyone on this site done a tally to find out roughly how many Gallants and Legnums we have in OZ??

 

[Guest]

Hmmmm 20million people....and how many VR4's? And most of those are owned by ex-kiwi's.

I ROFLed so hard when i read that!! (namely because it describes me to a tee)
Ive only seen one other here in WA (Hi Paul). I find it amusing when i see people virtually dislocating their necks to get a second look - more often than not they are regular people rather than car enthusiasts which is interesting.

I dont think the're will be a sudden saturation of the market - i hate to say it but regular Aussies will want to buy a falcodore or similar. Ive actually had some very negative response to my car when i tell people what it is..."why didnt you just buy a *insert commodore/falcon, instead of a 10year old japanese import that has probably been clocked....

...then i take them for a ride