The First Year in the Life of a Philippines Car Spotter

[davocano]

The "Asian Utility Vehicle" (AUV) is a segment catered to by most of the Japanese manufacturers and they are sold throughout Southeast Asia. Rugged, versatile and easy to maintain, they're totally ideal for the environments they are used in. Examples of the AUV are...

Mitsubishi Adventure

Isuzu Hi-Lander

Toyota Tamaraw

Then you've got the FB (Family Business) versions of various vehicles; a box van that's usually fitted with longitudinal bench seats.

Tamaraw FB

[davocano]

Still in production after x-amount of years, this Mitsubishi L300 is nearly brand-new.

Check out the '80s-tastic interior. Want Level: 1985/10

Price is one million Pesos which converts to 15,000 of your UK pounds.

[Asimo]

1 hour ago, davocano said:

Toyota Tamaraw

 

I first encountered these whilst working in Taiwan in mid ‘90s, where they were badged “Toyota Zace”. If I could buy a new one here in Britain then I would, today. 

[mk2_craig]

5 hours ago, davocano said:

Mitsubishi L300

They’ve had their moneys worth out of that tooling! You would have thought there was still a market in Europe for something like that if pitched in the right price bracket. Unless it no longer meets regulations?

[davocano]

Minivans are very popular due to the amount of people and stuff they can carry. For instance:

Mitsubishi L300 (so ubiquitous are they, the locals often refer to ANY minivan as "L3" or "L300")

 

[davocano]

There's still a lot of Toyota LiteAces around.

[davocano]

Not so common is the Nissan Vanette.

[davocano]

Further down the scale, the kei commercial is also very popular. Not sure if they're Japanese-spec 660cc as there's no equivalent to the DVLA lookup service or cazana etc.

Apparently, there was one as recently as last year but the database got hacked so the government pulled it. Bummer.

 

[DirtyDaily]

Don't know how I've only just come across this. I have just come back from the Philippines after a month out there. My fascination is with the Jeepneys. I visited Manila, Biñan, Batangas and Boracay.

[davocano]

19 hours ago, DirtyDaily said:

I visited Manila, Biñan, Batangas and Boracay.

Biñan is a few miles southeast from where I live. Small world etc.

[davocano]

Of the surviving '80s and '90s cars, the three most plentiful models are...

Toyota Corolla

[davocano]

Nissan Sentra

(this one has been re-purposed as a cat shelter)

[davocano]

Mitsubishi Lancer

[davocano]

Taking a brief intermission from Japanese chod; the VW Beetle can still be spotted. Is there a single country in the world that doesn't have at least one within it's borders?

[DirtyDaily]

3 hours ago, davocano said:

Biñan is a few miles southeast from where I live. Small world etc.

Very small world... 

[davocano]

Now for some of the rarer stuff.

There's a bit of confusion on my part coming up; I think the Sunny name was the predecessor of Sentra here.

... and I think this is an earlier Sentra but I don't know for sure.

[davocano]

'80s Mitsubishi Lancer...

... apart from this one which is definitely a Galant.

[davocano]

I took a drive around my local area when I first got here and went past this (unidentified at the time) '70s motor. A few weeks later I was out strolling and stumbled across it again. Fortune was on my side and the owner was standing in the road along with other members of his family and we got chatting.

It's a 1973 Dodge Colt; a captive import built by Mitsubishi. The young chap who owns it plans to transfer all the running gear from this one to a second bodyshell that is currently under restoration.

While I was cooing over this he said "Would you like to see my Opel Manta?"

My reply was something along the lines of

and blimey, it was indeed a 1980 Opel Manta.

Fitted with a 2.0L Toyota engine for ease of spares availability. Still needs some work as you can see; the rear light clusters are being fabricated locally using photos and measurements taken from the internets.

Oh yeah, and his Dad owns this 1993 Toyota Crown Super Saloon that's also in 2.0L flavour.

[Conan]

Might be different in the Philippines, but the Sentra name started in Thailand due to B11 Sunny production continued after the B12 (as pictured) introduction. B13 above is also Sentra. After the B11 production ended in 1995 the name Sunny went back on the B14.

[davocano]

16 hours ago, Conan said:

Might be different in the Philippines, but the Sentra name started in Thailand due to B11 Sunny production continued after the B12 (as pictured) introduction. B13 above is also Sentra. After the B11 production ended in 1995 the name Sunny went back on the B14.

Got to admit that I'm finding the whole Sunny/Sentra thing quite confusing.

I've also seen a B12 Sunny wagon wearing a Stanza badge.

[davocano]

Probably the best spots so far: circa 1980 Corolla Coupe

... and this similar era Corona Coupe that recently appeared in my subdivision.

[junkyarddog]

9 hours ago, davocano said:

Corolla Coupe

I think I got some parts for mine from the Philippines,new number plate lights and a carb rebuild kit!

[davocano]

There's quite a few Kia Prides still around.

Nice alloys on this one.

 

[davocano]

Likewise, the Mazda 323.

Also available in black.

... and red.

[davocano]

Toyota Carine E Corona

[davocano]

So I took a trip down to Panay recently and the Jeepneys are quite different down there.

The "traditional" style of Jeepney isn't so common there but they ARE there. Just not so many of them.

No longer a PUJ (Public Utility Jeep), this one has been converted by a trader to haul something or other. With bonus "Matchbox" photobomb.

[davocano]

Most of them look like this and they're called "passad" according to Wikipedia.

Car front ends are tacked on to locally built bodies. I think I'm only partially informed.

Trying to find comprehensive and definitive information about Philippine Jeeps is frustratingly hard I tells thee.

This one is blatantly a Mitsubishi Delica Space Gear.

Pretty sure this is partly a Toyota Vios.

Hmm. Looks a bit Nissan Primera. Which I don't believe was sold here.

It says FORD so it must be a FORD

[davocano]

Nissan Sentra front end that looks like (with a bit of anthropomorphising) a Photoshop of a small face on a big person.

[5speedracer]

I take it there is absolutely no roadworthiness test over there?

[scooobydont]

1 hour ago, 5speedracer said:

I take it there is absolutely no roadworthiness test over there?

After flicking through the pics I was just about to post the same questions, I suspect we already know the answer though!

Thanks for posting though OP, some of them are fascinating.