I agree. The Shamal is the better GT car.Had the choice and went for the Cup. Better driveability, less made and to be honest bump into one which I couldn’t let go. Don’t get me wrong, Shamal is the Uber biturbo in looks and hope to have one at some stage but for sure not the better car out of the Biturbo era. Obviously biased view.
Where abouts do you live Ewan?The Shamal exhaust does ground out. But not particularly worse than the Cup. Both were pretty useless on the bumpy and undulating rural roads around me, and that definitely played a part in me selling them.
The Strad, with its stiff suspension, gets thrown off line on the same roads, but doesn't ground out.
Of my recent Masers, I'd say the GS makes the best fist of attacking my local roads.
North DorsetWhere abouts do you live Ewan?
Well, it’s all relative these prices but 60-70K Euros for a LHD Cup with good specs isnt that unreasonable. Real good LHD GT’s sell for 30K these days (real paid price if you are not in a hurry) if it isn’t an ex Japan car. It will be more difficult overtime to find a standard Cup with low mileage and history and sure it will go further up as we have seen with limited editions Integrales etc. Matter of time imo
It can be difficult to track precisely what’s been done in the service history.Why the lack of love for cars formerly from Japan? Aesthetic differences are just a matter of a headlight swap if you really want to, and the Japanese are typically very fastidious about maintaining their cars. So they’ve often been pampered. Plus of course the benefits of no salt on the roads making UK levels of rot almost unheard of in Japan.
I know when the guys at Emblem checked mine over 5 years ago when I first got her they were amazed not to find any rust anywhere, and couldn’t believe how clean the car was underneath.
I agree there are some very well maintained and corrosion free cars from Japan, my 1986 Ferrari Testarossa was imported from Japan and thankfully with full maintenance records. In very good condition and thankfully no strange electrical mods or immobilisers which I saw on a few 512TRs also imported from Japan. I searched long and hard for the right car, many of the cars missing maintenance records are pretty much impossible to obtain histories from Japan due to the very strict data privacy laws... also had a Japanese friend make enquiries and calls on various Ferrari’s on my behalf with no success. The Japanese also have much stricter emissions and road testing laws, so hence why you often see low mileage cars being exported - similar to Singapore....Why the lack of love for cars formerly from Japan? Aesthetic differences are just a matter of a headlight swap if you really want to, and the Japanese are typically very fastidious about maintaining their cars. So they’ve often been pampered. Plus of course the benefits of no salt on the roads making UK levels of rot almost unheard of in Japan.
I know when the guys at Emblem checked mine over 5 years ago when I first got her they were amazed not to find any rust anywhere, and couldn’t believe how clean the car was underneath.