Several years ago Integralingham featured an article about Lancia Deltas from Japan.
The cars bought then at a fast paced Japanese car auction were sometimes quite expensive, and sometimes of doubtful quality. The pic above is a car advertised in 2015, shown at the famous auction area.
Below is an interesting car, this yellow Evo2 came up for auction.
It looks nice, but it was listed as condition 2.
My contact told me it had rear floor, rear panel and rear support rust holes, the roof lining was saggy, a seat was ripped and the wheels were scratched. But with all this information the Delta still sold for 3,825,000 yen. This is a shipped to Europe price of 44400 euros taxes paid at LeHavre, £33795.00.
Back to today, and always hoping to spot a bargain, this black Evo1 on TokyoCarz caught
my eye, so all information here is now up to date. This car was advertised on TC's website at 6.079,450yen, which is £40397.00 delivered to Southampton UK.
You will notice non standard wheels. Some paintwork damage and a broken headlight were reported. They sent me an interior pic which is interesting, but not terminal, as both front seats are Delta and not Civic Type R replacements, as is common. On enquiry the price had risen to 6,400,000yen. With some whatsapping to Tokyo this was lowered back to 6,100,000.
I asked for engine pics but none were available, with Evo1 prices as they are this car could maybe turn a profit. I've had Japanese imports before, and in my price range at least, they are poorly finished, with odd replacement parts and generally disrespected.

With this handsome Evo1 on the left just selling at auction for £55000, plus an amazing 14% added charges, I thought the Tokyo car might turn a profit, so I sent a 100,000yen deposit, this was returned as only full payment was accepted before any discussion or shipment date.
With further info and requested engine pics not forthcoming, I was beginning to feel uncertain about this black car. The risk of a major problem was too great, the cars from Japan enjoy a reputation for having no rust, but the country is an island surrounded by the salty sea, and many cars live near the coast. I get the feeling that most of the top quality Deltas have now left Japan, and what's left is not in the best condition.
I don't know if TC owns the car and it's on their physical site, or they want my money so they can bid on it, but you can guess my response to full payment up front, the black car won't be coming to our yard!
The full Integralingham website is available on a desktop computer.
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