Bongo Fury

Hey all. Just imported my 96 Bongo to Canada and loving every minute of it so far! Any other Canadian members on the boards ? I thing there would be a few if that as they just became eligible for import.

Anyhow here are a few pics of my machine:

Looking good and welcome on board

maxheadroom wrote:Looking good and welcome on board

Thanks and pictures of the Bongo in the rocky mountains for ya'll soon

Hi, where in Canada are you? Have you waxoiled your new pride and joy yet? Knowing the Toronto area and Ontario the Canadains use vast amounts of salt on their roads in those long winter months. My daughter has lived there for 8 years and is married to a local, she hates the winter, but love conquers all.
Oh! by the way, nice looking Bongo, I bet it's a croud puller. I can imagine all the questions, you'll have to get a sign writter to do what's on theside of my Bongo. Then they will know what vehicle it is.


g


I've tried to encourage my son in law to import one for his family, now that my daughter is not far from giving birth to their third child. He's not into cars, they just get him from a to b. And being a typicle Americian he has to have it from new. Americian as of the continent. Don't want to offend any Canadians.

all the best in your quest for parts

Whilst I accept that Bongos are special, I would have to be very dedicated to the cause to import something so perfectly designed for driving on the wrong side of the road. Especially with regard to the sliding door in a country where parking the wrong way round is, quite properly, a big NO NO.

Whenever I see long wheelbase T4s or T5s I say to myself "If I lived in Canada or New Zealand I'd have one those".


Frank

I think there is a member on here by the name of progroup who is in your neck of the woods. Look him up

Germarchip wrote:I think there is a member on here by the name of progroup who is in your neck of the woods. Look him up

Yes, thanks Germarchip!
For Mr. William's sake; here are a few pics this last weekend in Central BC close to Merritt, BC

http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/11334027 ... 7?h=18f5c8

My BongoBonnie is stable to drive/tow w/Air Lift 1000 [a must!]; but Mr. William's appears in much finer shape w/alloy wheels and all!
Hey, Mr. William; we should start an extension of this 'club' here. We are probably fairly close... Want to meet in the middle somewhere in the big back yard?

Cheers, Dave @ ProGroup

the janner vanner wrote:Hi, where in Canada are you? Have you waxoiled your new pride and joy yet? Knowing the Toronto area and Ontario the Canadains use fast amounts of salt on their roads in those long winter months. My daughter has lived there for 8 years and is married to a local, she hates the winter, but love conquers all.
Oh! by the way, nice looking Bongo, I bet it's a croud puller. I can imagine all the questions, you'll have to get a sign writter to do what's on theside of my Bongo. Then they will know what vehicle it is.





I've tried to encourage my son in law to import one for his family, now that my daughter is not far from giving birth to their third child. He's not into cars, they just get him from a to b. And being a typicle Americian he has to have it from new. Americian as of the continent. Don't want to offend any Canadians.

all the best in your quest for parts

I'm west in Alberta actually. Once winter hits, I'll do some paint and undercarriage protection. We don;t get it as bad as Ontario though...

Diplomat wrote:Whilst I accept that Bongos are special, I would have to be very dedicated to the cause to import something so perfectly designed for driving on the wrong side of the road. Especially with regard to the sliding door in a country where parking the wrong way round is, quite properly, a big NO NO.

Whenever I see long wheelbase T4s or T5s I say to myself "If I lived in Canada or New Zealand I'd have one those".


Frank

Hey Frank. RHD and LHD traffic is becoming more common here now. I have been driving RHD in our environment for about 7 years without issue. It's actually what I do for a living ( importing these vehicles from Japan ).

progroup wrote:

Germarchip wrote:I think there is a member on here by the name of progroup who is in your neck of the woods. Look him up

Yes, thanks Germarchip!
For Mr. William's sake; here are a few pics this last weekend in Central BC close to Merritt, BC

http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/11334027 ... 7?h=18f5c8

My BongoBonnie is stable to drive/tow w/Air Lift 1000 [a must!]; but Mr. William's appears in much finer shape w/alloy wheels and all!
Hey, Mr. William; we should start an extension of this 'club' here. We are probably fairly close... Want to meet in the middle somewhere in the big back yard?

Cheers, Dave @ ProGroup

Nice pictures Dave! Your in Merritt ? My sister is in Kamloops and we go back and forth a few times a year. I'm just outside of Edmonton, Alberta. That would be great to meet up with you sometime and check out each others rigs! I'm curious to know your impressions of it. How long has it been in Canada for ? Who did you get it off of ?

Another Delica forum I'm on, a member spotted you and mentioned it to me because i was looking to see if anyone else had one in Canada. I guess I found the other owner

Mr.William wrote:

progroup wrote:

Germarchip wrote:I think there is a member on here by the name of progroup who is in your neck of the woods. Look him up

Yes, thanks Germarchip!
For Mr. William's sake; here are a few pics this last weekend in Central BC close to Merritt, BC

http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/11334027 ... 7?h=18f5c8

My BongoBonnie is stable to drive/tow w/Air Lift 1000 [a must!]; but Mr. William's appears in much finer shape w/alloy wheels and all!
Hey, Mr. William; we should start an extension of this 'club' here. We are probably fairly close... Want to meet in the middle somewhere in the big back yard?

Cheers, Dave @ ProGroup

Nice pictures Dave! Your in Merritt ? My sister is in Kamloops and we go back and forth a few times a year. I'm just outside of Edmonton, Alberta. That would be great to meet up with you sometime and check out each others rigs! I'm curious to know your impressions of it. How long has it been in Canada for ? Who did you get it off of ?

Another Delica forum I'm on, a member spotted you and mentioned it to me because i was looking to see if anyone else had one in Canada. I guess I found the other owner

Mr. William; I am located in Surrey, BC a mere 25k from Vancouver. Here is the link to the very YouTube [still up!] ad. I bought Rob's Bongo for $5,250 down from the $7,900 he advertized for on Craigslist. I did a 3 hour test drive which sold me on the van given the negotiated price. One week later after selling my 2007 Wrangler Sahara for $21k, the Bongo's head was cracked upon deeper inspection. The Bongo Fury forum and website I reviewed just prior to buying this only vehicle.

Here is Rob Link's YouTube link or search 'robsweblinks' or 'Mazda Bongo Friendee'
http://youtu.be/y_pR3IHP5ic


At $5k, I wasn't concerned much, but after TWO head re&re's, plus a complete overhaul of the cooling system, etc, etc, this van is finally nice to drive. I want another one - either far better condition and diesel a must; or import one or more wrecks to draw from. Thirty years ago I had an Auto Shop business w/paint detail and full mechanical. I once put a Nissan 2.2L non-turbo diesel into a 1990 GMC Safari Van replacing the low torquing 4.3L stock gas engine. I ran this to/from work for over a year. Okay until a hill, and realized around 40mpg when diesel was $.50 per litre.

My wife thinks I gone Bonkers! I think I have a mental health issue! I think we should meet up because misery loves company!

I would very much like to meet up with you for business and pleasure purposes. As I am approaching semi-retirement sooner than expected [not to blame the Bongo!]; I have some time to tour around a bit. Are you interested? do you have some time this summer? I have some time before the kids are back in school.

Do you have an ATV? Do you enjoy camping a bit? Do I sound desparate for a Bongo Buddy?

The Bongo's will eventually sunset due to age, the last in 2005 right? Well, for the next little while, RHD sales look good here on the coast especially the Pajero, Delica, Hilux. But the Bongo might be a good bet too!

I have a 30x44' steel shop on .3 hectare. I can put a hoist into it! I bought the steel shop kit a year ago awaiting erection. There are a few other importers here in Vancouver, namely Japanoid, Rising Sun Auto, and Silk motors. They compete for the Delica/Pajero/Hiance market.

Do you Skype? We could carry this further on Skype if you like!

Cheers,
Dave

Mr.William wrote:

progroup wrote:

Germarchip wrote:I think there is a member on here by the name of progroup who is in your neck of the woods. Look him up

Yes, thanks Germarchip!
For Mr. William's sake; here are a few pics this last weekend in Central BC close to Merritt, BC

http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/11334027 ... 7?h=18f5c8

My BongoBonnie is stable to drive/tow w/Air Lift 1000 [a must!]; but Mr. William's appears in much finer shape w/alloy wheels and all!
Hey, Mr. William; we should start an extension of this 'club' here. We are probably fairly close... Want to meet in the middle somewhere in the big back yard?

Cheers, Dave @ ProGroup

Nice pictures Dave! Your in Merritt ? My sister is in Kamloops and we go back and forth a few times a year. I'm just outside of Edmonton, Alberta. That would be great to meet up with you sometime and check out each others rigs! I'm curious to know your impressions of it. How long has it been in Canada for ? Who did you get it off of ?

Another Delica forum I'm on, a member spotted you and mentioned it to me because i was looking to see if anyone else had one in Canada. I guess I found the other owner

This is indeed a small world. By brother is a heli pilot, now resident in Campbell River, but Kamloops before that. He has an old VW Westie, but I kept urging him to get a Bongo (but there were none in Cda back then).

Seems to me the LHD / RHD need not be such a big issue, since anyway you should have plenty of poortunity to drive on remote roads where it matters little where you are sat. Its only overtaking where it really can be a handicap (and even that could be overcome with some clever mirror/bongocam arrangement).

A 4WD Bongo should be great for Cda. I'd love the Delica if it came to more off-roading, but then I doubt its as nice to cruise in as the Bongo (though could be wrong), plus they don't do an electric roof model (though I think I have heard of just one that had an e-roof), plus they are juicier.

Wish I cold be in Cda in my Bongo.

Diplomat wrote:Whenever I see long wheelbase T4s or T5s I say to myself "If I lived in Canada or New Zealand I'd have one those".

VW T4 in New Zealand ?? Why not a Bongo there?
The first thing I saw as I walked out of arrivals at Auckland was a Bongo and I hardly recall seeing any VWs.

scanner wrote:

Diplomat wrote:Whenever I see long wheelbase T4s or T5s I say to myself "If I lived in Canada or New Zealand I'd have one those".

VW T4 in New Zealand ?? Why not a Bongo there?
The first thing I saw as I walked out of arrivals at Auckland was a Bongo and I hardly recall seeing any VWs.

Except for the very late model VW Westvalias; I personally don't like their looks, layout, or ride in comparison to the Bongo/Freda design having driven both. I also didn't like the driving agility with older type 1 Bongos, Delicas, etc. The later Delica design is an improvement for sure coupled with a 2.8 Intercooled Diesel, but I found them very 'pitchy' by direct comparison to the Bongo's ride. I did like all other aspects of the Delica, more off road than a Bongo, but I spend more time on paved roads then out-back gravel.

From a maintenance or working on perspective; the Bongo is great! I like the running gear design on the Bongo too! Whereas the VW [in my humble opinion] is boxy. tinny, and boring to look at.

Dave

Welcome Mr William. Can I ask is that the campsite at Jasper that you are parked up in?

Chrissy