What Makes Rare Parts, Rare? - EP.47

In this episode, Aaron and Bobby discuss what makes a rare part, rare.  How to avoid fakes, and where to find rare parts.


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Welcome to episode 47 of the right-hand drive guys podcast. I'm Bobby. This is Aaron. And if you're watching on YouTube, you'll notice we switched up the studio a little bit. We brought the R33 down on the lift, trying to get the battery charged up on it. So we figured we'd just have a little different scenery for this episode. And this episode, what is it, 47 rare parts? Rare parts. And what makes them so rare? Yeah. Yeah. And so, you know, most of you guys listening to this, most of us car guys, we've always seen, you know, or owned these elusive rare parts. Yeah. And so what would you say, what is the basis of a rare part? Like, what even makes them rare? Yeah. I mean, I think it could be one of two things, right? Like, either it's a new part they're making nowadays and the production numbers are so limited that it sells out before anyone can get it. Right. Or a lot of people can get it. And then on the flip side, could be a part that were an accessory or whatever it might be. It could be something that they made long, long time ago. And, you know, over the years, they've just been destroyed thrown away, junk to whatever. Yeah, it could have been something that their production numbers were 100. It could have been something that the production numbers were 10,000. And just really the criteria to create a rare part is really kind of like unique. It's like sliding. Yeah. And from the same era as a really desirable part could be considered trash. It just really depends on kind of, you know, those different things that make up the part, right? Right, right. And it kind of, I don't know, comes and goes or not comes and goes. But the times can make these parts rare because at some point, like, say, let's say fender liners, right, for, you know, NES chassis or R chassis, the fender liners. Yeah. And many sets of those have been just tossed thrown away. I mean, yeah, I think they like reproduce them now, but they're still expensive. Right. Right. So, you know, if you just can't really find them other than getting them from Nissan, I guess. Right. Or maybe used, but that's still not really what you want unless they're men. Yeah. So, a lot of people threw away some of these parts. Yeah. Because they just think that they're picking them rare now is because they're kind of sought after because people are looking for that old school flavor and whatnot. So, right. And even something as simple as what you're saying, the fender liner that is really in some cases aware and tear apart that they just get thrown away because they get burned through or whatever. And so, yeah, like, it doesn't have to be this crazy brand name part that is on like the dopest builds. It can be something as simple as fender liners or, you know, even little interior pieces. Yeah. The fact that it's rare, we all know what rare means. But it also has to be desirable. That's the thing. Something can be rare, but that's because nobody wants it. Yeah. Well, I don't know. I feel like there's a buyer forever every part out there. Yeah. Yeah. No, I'm sure. But right now, I get what you're saying. I was trying to think of an example of that. Like, APC parts. Like, maybe they're not for me, but there's a rare one out there for a guy. But, yeah. For sure. Yeah. I mean, and of course, everybody wants what they can't have, right? That's something that I feel like, you know, as we're getting older, you notice a lot more of, and it's used as bait and new marketing schemes and-- I fall for it. Right. And some of these older parts that are in limited numbers now, people want those because they can't have them, right? And yeah, sure. They are on the dopest builds because those guys found a way to source them. And that's probably what gave you the inspiration to even look for it in the first place, right? Yeah. For sure. 100%. Like, one thing lately that I've been kind of stuck on is some of these like rear deck speakers. Yeah. From Japan, you know, like the ones with the big. I don't even know what it's called exactly yet. The only thing I could think of is like a console type speaker where it has these huge grills and whatever. It just looks cool. I mean, really, it's kind of goofy, but if you're trying to build a car from a certain era, like I was trying-- I'm trying to go for that certain look. Yeah. So I thought it would be cool to have one of those. Yeah, they're like bubbles, right? Like bubble, like grill type. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They just look like external speakers. Like-- Yeah. They look like some-- and they have like a nice enclosure. And like they usually say whatever cares area or-- Yeah, I think the DBA has like a mild version of those and they are that brand. Yeah. So, right. That's the thing. You know, it goes-- it's from everything from the dopest wheels or valve cover, the rarest, you know, items to speaker grills and-- Yeah, yeah. And a lot of people throw those away because like once the speaker is junk like-- Right. They just toss it. So-- And I'm sure I've been guilty of that too, you know, you threw something away because at the time there was no value. There was no demand. But fast forward 12 years and you're like two-- Two things are on crew for two, three hundred bucks. And the speakers are blown out like-- Yeah. They don't even make any noise. But-- Yeah, yeah. It's just the-- the rarity of it. And-- So, that's across all platforms, you know, Mazda Toyota and Nissan Honda. They all have their kind of niche like rare part sections. Yeah. And then there's stuff that kind of crosses over a lot of more culture stuff, you know, gear, stuff like that. Right. But, yeah, I mean, each manufacturer has their rare parts to them. Right, right. And it's usually like their motor sports type things too, right? Or like-- Yeah. Sport your thing because these are sport cars. Right. So-- Yeah. Like a dealer option that, you know, there was only like what the ice box for the glove box. Yes. Yeah, that's one of my favorite, dude. For the-- I know it's for the S chassis, and it might be for the R chassis too. I haven't seen it. I only saw it when I started looking for S chassis stuff. I was like, are you hitting me? Dude, I remember coming across those like way back in the day on the forums. Yeah. Just, you know, going through whatever rare parts thread or whatever it was. And I was just like, that's the coolest thing, dude. I got to get one of the-- but like, come on. I'm not going to ever use that. Yeah, no. That would be-- Dude, keep it drinks in your glove box. What are you doing? Yeah, you got two Kansas soda three minis, say if you're lucky. Yeah, it's just like-- no, but it is stuff like that. That was really unique. And, you know, maybe when that was a factory option that was like, you know-- Right. Dude is going to get the car and start modifying it. He probably thinks it's lame. Yeah. And I want to get the HKS, DIN. Yes, exactly. glove box gauge holder thing. Yeah, those things are sick. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So, you know, when I was always-- because I originally was super Honda guy. And everybody knows. If you know anything about Honda's, you know they got their whole bunch of rare parts to them. And that was kind of-- and it's almost like a game, right? Like, it's like the thrill of the hunt for those pieces. Yes. Because you can hit like an extreme low when you can't find it in the sense of like, oh, dude, this stinks. Like, I've looked everywhere. I've searched everything. I have translated 10,000 pages. I cannot find this part. But then you get a glimpse of hope. You find a link from 2020, whatever it may be. And you're like, wait, they had-- you know. And so that thrill of the hunt, I feel like, is it's part of the whole thing, you know? Yeah, for sure. Yeah, for sure. The car thing, the whole obsession that people like us go through, that hunt is like a big part of it because it keeps you stimulated. Yeah. Yeah, that's part of the fun of it. Like, 100%. Yeah. You know, like, I love just wasting time. You know, on eBay, just scrolling for hours on, you know, super vague, you know, search words, just so everything pops up. Oh, yeah. Just in case there is that one thing, dude, that I forgot to search for. Oh, you know what I mean? Like, yeah, yeah. And it's kind of crazy because, you know, our buddy Adam Hopkins, that's how he's found some of his best deals is just cruising through and then using different search terms and sometimes different, uh, misspelled letter. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because somebody will do that in their eBay listing and then all of a sudden you're finding something nobody else had exposure to. Right. And nobody is interested. Never looked at his title. Yeah. That's like, you know, really quite the thing. But yeah, the hunt, man, I'm like, I love the hunt. I'm sure like so many guys listening are saying, yeah, dude, the friggin hunt, dude. But it's also sucks. Like, it sucks so bad while you're doing it. Like, because all you want to do is just find it and like, dude, just sin over the PayPal. Yes, or whatever. Yes. Yeah, like all you want to do is find this thing and like no one, I don't know, I feel like no one outside of car culture would really even understand that. Like, unless they collected in that, like, I guess some of those like intense collectors would. But this is such a like smaller community in the sense of where these parts ever even went. Yeah. You know, compared to let's just say Pokemon cards or something, right? Like those were distributed worldwide. These parts mostly were distributed in Japan, right? Dude, yeah, I've been in that situation where you're like sweating because you're like looking so hard and you know you've wasted time. The battery's going down on the phone. Dude, you finally find it. You're thinking she's going down? Yes. You finally find it. You don't even switch the currency to dollars. You just paying. Yeah, yeah, you're just running it, dude. Yeah, I definitely, I definitely feel that it's a love or hate thing with the hunt. Like, you hate to do it, but you love to find it. Right. Yeah. And so, of course, you know, whether there were parts or regular parts ordering, you know, these parts and seeing the whole project come together is always super rewarding. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Like whenever you can like take those parts out of your spare bedroom and put them on the car. Like, dude, it's so cool. Like, you see your vision kind of like just on the floor for the first time. And you're flooring your spare bedroom for the first time in a while, but for sure, dude. You know, and it's great. Like, just the feeling you get whenever you see your vision, just like that actually, yeah, come to fruition. Right. And you have these, you know, sought after whatever rare parts on here that, you know, not only did you have to put them on the car, but you had to just do all the legwork to find some of these things. Yeah. And you got more to you because of the fact that you did have to go through the hunt. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. So, yeah, I mean, I don't know a guy that doesn't like rare parts. I mean, like, I think every, every car person, you know, can appreciate the rare parts, whether that's what they choose to hunt or not. Right. Because some people that doesn't matter. Right. Right. Some people will just buy, you know, whatever, a set of RPF ones. Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. That because that part is an important to them, you know, whatever is important to them is where they're focusing. So, dude, they're like, what? This isn't in stock. Yeah, exactly. Like, what do you mean? Like, no, not in stock. Give me out of here. I know. And those are the type of things where it's like not in stock. Well, that's for a reason. Right. You know, that means there's a dope part. And so, all right. So, what are some of your favorite rare parts for the Nissan? Like, whatever, you know, just the hype ones, the ones that you know, like, are desirable, whatever, something that you've had, whatever, what do you got? Well, let's just say one that I do have is the Kill Switch cigarette lighter. Oh wow. Oh wow. Yeah. That's a favorite. Yeah, that's a good one. That's definitely a cool one because, I don't know, you would always see those back in the day and it was kind of like a goofy thing. Right. But like, I don't know, there's one of those things that always stuck with me. Like I always remembered those, seeing those like in the catalog and stuff. Like way back. Yeah, yeah. Very unique item to them. Yeah, it's like, that's kind of weird. It's like a Kill Switch, but like, it's a cigarette lighter. Right. And I mean, it looks pretty legit and you know that those are popular because now you see these guys making the 3D printed little covers for your cigarette lighter. Dude, yeah. I got, and they look pretty legit. They do look legit. Yeah, but it ain't the real thing. It's not the real thing. And like, yeah, I can look just like it, but you know, it's not. You know, I don't know. I can't take pride in that. Yeah. I mean, yeah. If you're going for just a look and that's all that matters for you is just a look, but like, I like everything else behind it. Right. Exactly. Like that cigarette lighter in your car is a story. Yeah. It really does. I don't know how many times that dude must have cranked on that. You know, if you just think about it, but no, there is a level of pride in having those parts that, hey, you waited, you saved up, you know, the extra money you got the legit part that was produced for the legit car that you have. Yeah. You know, but teach their own. All right. What else you, you must have a few other parts in mind that. Oh, yeah. Another one. Nissan kind of, whether it was OEM optional aftermarket. Well, another one I always think of is Ganador mirrors. That's kind of one for like, you know, a lot of makes it. Yeah. Yeah. But specifically for the R chassis, S chassis. Dude, they are like so expensive nowadays. Oh, for sure. They are in demand. Yo, back in the day, you could get a brand new like for nothing compared like maybe 300 bucks. Yeah. They like not expensive. There's no way you're spending less than a thousand bucks to find these mirrors for these chassis. However, other chassis like, you know, whatever, some Subaru's or you can find affordable ones. Yeah, even the RX-7s, those are still sub-500. Yeah. So it is interesting the different models and how they kind of, you know, demand certain parts, right? Yeah, yeah. And, you know, I mean, of course, if you get like the full carbon fiber ones, they're always going to be more expensive. But the FRP ones, yeah, you can get them cheaper for other models for sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, there was always like one of the Nissan kind of parts that were really rare was an Nismo Coolin cap that had the RPM gauge on it, like not a legit one, but a picture of it. And they only made like a few of those. And it was the old logo. It was like, it just looks really sweet, but just something as small as the Coolin cap. Right. And it's like, I think I've seen one of those pop up and it was like super crusty and like, just beat, they wanted like $5,000 for it. Oh, yeah. What is this even off of? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Is this off like a, whatever, can marry or something? Something because it was the old logo. But that's just one of those parts that's like, just rare. Same with anything off from a 400R or any of those higher model cars, those parts, I saw the oil cooler from a 400R selling for $1,600. And that was like decent change for just the core for the oil cooler. I was just like, whoa, some of these parts, especially for these cars that are now in more demand. They can really command some like serious change. Like what RB26 is even right now, the price on them is sky high. Yeah. I mean, you can't find one for under 10K. Yeah. Literally. And 10K is going to be like just the motor. Yeah. And beat like nothing attached like cut harness. It's insane. And so even some of these parts that were standard are now becoming rare, which is crazy to think about because generally, generally as a car gets older, the parts become less rare in the sense of used parts. Because they're going to the junkyard. The parts are getting extracted. So it is wild with these type of cars and how that's really a change in how things go. I feel like there's probably like a lot of hoarders. Like a lot of parts hoarders that are just holding stock. Probably somebody listening to this right now. Yeah. And also people like V-Spec performance, I believe it is. They have just stacks and stacks and stacks of just insane stacks and Nizmo boxes, dude. And it's all the rarest R34 body parts brand new in box, R33, 400 R stuff. That's crazy. It's just all this crazy insane stuff. And Nizmo does releases ever once in a while. But you have to be on the list and you got the request, however many. And you usually don't get it from filled. In places like Global Auto, they have that hook up. And they're the same way, dude. I wonder how much stuff is being hoarded from people like that. Yeah, in a warehouse. Just in a warehouse chilling. And that's kind of pushing the rarity on some of these parts as well. Because all of them are being just hoarded and stowed away. Well, see, that's a strategy too, right? They're controlling the market by keeping the supply away from the people that are creating the demand. And then at that point, they drive up the prices. And then they're like, oh, hey, look what we got. Boom. Now they just doubled their money. Yeah. And that's in any market. There are people who are driving and stuff. So give me one more, Nissan, Rare Nissan, OEM aftermarket don't matter. Something that you know generally sells. I'm going to say the LMGT-2s. The LMGT-2s. Yeah, those are rare. You see the fours all the time. You see the threes. Yeah. These are definitely something that just aren't. Yeah, and they're old logo. Yeah. They are sweet. I have seen a lot of them, not a lot of them, but I guess it's quite a few that pop up kind of refreshed. And I'm always like, how do they? This must be like a weaker spec with it. It's been rebarralled because they are like a three piece wheel. So you can't do that. But yeah, those are pretty rare. And they've had a decent price. Yeah, I would love a set of those. Those are really cool on the 32s, right? Yeah. Yeah, I'd be paranoid. Like I'd do that. Yeah, of course. I mean, they'd be over back on the wall. Yeah, yeah, which I bet there's a lot. There's a lot of guys like that that just have some of these like ultra rare wheels just on the wall, right? Because he curbed those things once. I mean, you're getting them rebuilt and reed done and yeah. So I was going to spit a few of the Honda parts. And it's Honda is synonymous with Spoon Immugin. Like between Spoon Immugin, of course, as Jay's racing is too much respect. And a lot of others. But Spoon Immugin is definitely synonymous with Honda. And I feel like Honda's have a lot more companies that provide. These rare parts. Yeah, for sure. Like that. For like three parts at the beginning. Yeah. And created that demand. So when it comes to Immugin, I remember. And Honda also had a lot more copycat, like kind of Chinese or whatever companies trying to create the parts for Honda's. And so one of the biggest ones was always, and I know a lot of guys will remember this, was the Immugin valve cover. Oh, yeah. Immugin valve cover, dude. And it was hard. It wasn't impossible. Like obviously we're all car guys. We can sniff out the fakes. We don't want the fakes because it dilutes the real stuff. But these suckers were good, dude. They did a good job. Those Chinese people did a great job, dude, mimicking this valve cover because they were fooling some big names with those things. But the Immugin valve cover was a super limited item that got put out in the 90s and they didn't come out with more. So there was some guys that got them, of course. There were some of probably on walls and wherever somewhere. But then a flood of those Chinese versions came out. Yes. I remember seeing them all over you, baby. Back in the day. Yeah. Anytime you typed in any B series Honda, those popped up for sale. For sure. Yeah. It was one of those parts that you're like, oh my gosh, dude. And it devalues that original part. Yes, of course, it makes it more desirable because it's copied, but it makes it harder to tell what's real and what's fake. It's right. Right. I think even Sticky Dildo did a whole article on that. How to tell the reals and the fakes and all the little things that are just a little bit off. And that's all it is. It's just a little bit off. Yeah. The tiniest bit. They just didn't get their measurement or their centering. Yeah. And so that's definitely the downside to rare parts is the copycat. Yeah. You get burned. You definitely can, dude. And that's, it's, and some people do that for a living. So they know how to burn you. So following right along with Mugen was, of course, like almost everything that they put out was like rare. It was always in limited quantities. It was always only available like two certain distributors. And so, but one thing I always found crazy was the Mugen intake for the B series. And a lot of different companies did this, but it was just wild, you know, that Mugen would put out an intake that was just like the cone. Like it wasn't the intake neck. It was just the cone. Right. They probably had something to do with them, you know, being so close to the OEM like Honda. Right. Yeah. They probably knew that they didn't need to replace that. Right. They really, because I mean, if it doesn't collapse, it's going to be the same size as like the aluminum tube that would replace it with. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah. And so it was just like interesting because you have this completely done up car. Yeah. You know, because we're using it as this rare part cloud thing, right? Yeah. This totally done up car with the Insta got that stock intake too. Yeah. Yeah. And then, you know, there was a bunch of like I said, Mugen rare parts and the spoon stuff was, you know, really cool. And again, super limited only certain distributors. And so you have those carbon Kevlar intake tubes and the spark plug covers, you know, the just the iconic spoon yellow valve cover. Like all those things, the genuine things are all still expensive. You know, they're still rare. You still can't find them. And you can't even find them in their store. Yeah. Literally, it's almost. It can be good to stick or type one, dude. Yeah. You literally can't. You go into spoon type one and you want anything. No t-shirt, no sticker. Dude. Shoot, man. You can sign a wall. Yeah. You can look at some cool cars. You're lucky to walk out of the bathroom with toilet paper on your back. And you're like, "Oh, man, they only let you get away with that." They don't sell nothing. They don't sell nothing. Speaking of from experience, dude. But, you know, I kind of get it, right? Like they don't want to be a retail store. They're garage. Like, if you want work done, then let's get it. If you want all of that stuff, you can find it somewhere, I guess. I mean, I don't know where necessarily, but I'm sure somewhere. So, but yeah, I always found it interesting how things like, you know, the backyard special spoilers for the Honda's. Those are sick. You know, just these other little limited run, you know, the walker from bumpers, like these just different items that were super low run that aren't really high to man. And like these Honda guys will find a way to get them, too. Yeah. It's pretty wild. But yeah, I always, always love that about Honda's. And so, do you think that rare parts, if there were no like rare parts, let's just say, let's just go to a world where you can get every part for the cars, you order it, it's in stock, like we said. Do you think that that drops the drive for these cars? Like does it drop the sum of that like, I don't know what to do. It would make things easier, that's for sure. Yeah, it would make things easier. It would definitely make things easier because yeah, it wouldn't be this huge big search and fight to find this thing and then scrounge in the dollars up to get it and like, and then like people offering to pay more than you. So then you lose it. Like, getting taxed on it, like all that. So it would definitely make things easier in that sense, but like, like, I think, you would definitely get what you wanted and I don't know, like I said before, I think that's half the fun is sitting down and searching for these things. That's like half, that's half the fun of it. Yeah, literally. I mean, like that's, I agree. That's what drives me to do it. And, I don't know, it is like the chase. And then it's a story. You know, it just adds to the story of the car. Right. It does. Like, I absolutely agree. Like, right, we take your car, we take my 33 or whatever and all the parts have a story that create the car story, right? Right. You know, because everything you did to it, all of those late nights looking for those parts that all adds into the completion of the car. You know, it wasn't just a one click you're done. So I agree, but I think if there weren't rare parts and you couldn't be individual like that, like you couldn't have that super kind of, I don't know, really desirable part, no desire for it, right? Like because you can just get it, I think that would change everything. I don't think it would, it wouldn't be like it is, let's just say. Yeah, yeah, 100%. And another, you know, another little piece of this, these companies weren't just putting out parts. They were putting out really cool gear, really cool accessories, like lifestyle, culture stuff, zippos, sunglasses, Cassio G-Shock collapse. Like, they were, they were doing it, you know, like, and those things are rare too. And very desirable. There's one guy we mentioned on the podcast in the past called, uh, Jaren, and he always gets these ultra rare, like culture things. Yeah, yeah. Like Lexus watches. Yeah, like HKS, uh, building signs, his mobile, building signs, uh, like Jack, like any sort of clothing gear, like he's, he's posted some Nismo gear that like, I don't even make sense. Like he has one like, it's like a sweater, but it's, dude, the print on it. It just does not look like anything that you would ever think would be a Nismo shirt. Yeah, it's pretty wild. It's like all gold and has these crazy patterns. And it's just like, what even is that? And he had, like he has the, the work suits, like the Mazda, Fini, like work suits, like just a bunch of, a bunch of cool stuff. So like the rarity and the desire goes far beyond the parts, you know, the Nabori flags that were from the original events back in the day. Right. Like, you know, there's whole Facebook groups just dedicated to this stuff where people are just posting those rare parts. And, you know, it's really cool to see. And we could, I'm sure, go on all day about different manufacturers and the rare parts associated. Yeah. I'm sure if you, whether you got a Mazda Toyota, I'm sure you know in your lane where, where those kind of rare parts lie. So we don't, we don't want to go too far on it, but I'm definitely looking forward to the next hunt. What about you? Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's like a never ending hunt. It's kind of crazy. Yeah, just added to the save list, that, you know, whatever, maybe the wish list. Oh, yeah. So for today, this is episode 47, all about the rare parts. Make sure you hit us in the DM with any question, suggestions, whatever it may be. You can subscribe to us on YouTube. That'd be dope. And you can find the merch and the rest of the podcast on our HD, qis.com. I'm Bobby. This is Aaron. See ya. Peace.[BLANK_AUDIO]