Mazda Bongos everywhere!

[Quhet]

Cool story bro etc but on my lunchtime walk just now, I saw 6 Mazda Bongos/Ford Fredas in the space of half a mile or so. A few years ago, there seemed to be only a few around but they are popping up all over the place now. Every day I seem to spot more and more. Appreciate that they are probably a fair bit cheaper than the ubiquitous T5/T6s (saw loads of these too) but there can't be hundreds being imported from Japan each year can there? The youngest I've seen are on 02 reg, so 20 years old - where have they all come from?

[Krikkit]

Quhet said:

Where have they all come from?

Japan, hope that helps

Not really a surprise when you can get a clean one from Japan for 1/10th the cost of a T6.

[Countdown]

Haven't seen one for years but always thought they had the best model name evah (Mazda Bongo Friendee)

As a vehicle though I thought the Mitsubishi Delica was better overall.

[mikeyr]

Sold our Ford Freda last week (same as a Bongo) and we were counting Bongos on the dog walk locally just yesterday - there are two within a few hundred metres of our house and another two within half a mile radius. Prior to selling then that was five of the things within a few minutes walk so yep, seem v popular. For us it was the price and the size (still usable as a car but with the awesome pop up roof). Ours was about 23 years old and the equivalent VW was way out of budget.

[mikeyr]

(we also spotted a Freda driving down the motorway yesterday - as there are only about 1,000 of those in the UK that was quite the spot!)

[mikeyr]

The Bongo round the corner from us is a 55 plate, think that's as recent as they get?

[Baldchap]

Countdown said:

Haven't seen one for years but always thought they had the best model name evah (Mazda Bongo Friendee)

Absolutely love the name Mazda Bongo Friendee.

My all time favourite is the Isuzu Mysterious Utility Wizard.

[Dynion Araf Uchaf]

I had a Ford Friendee Bongo camper in 2009/10 imported for me from Japan. Sold it for more than I bought it. Mine was really clean and I spent a bit of money on it getting a kitchen fitted, bed mats, and general servicing. Fuel economy was horrendous though, 20 mpg on a run. Also it did a weird thing in that if got progressively less powerful the older the oil in it. I think the oil just filled with soot. Went like a rocket ( incomparison) after an oil change. Approx 125hp IIRC and I used it to tow my race car around.

Not a bad bit of kit, but the engine could do with an update.

[Quhet]

mikeyr said:

(we also spotted a Freda driving down the motorway yesterday - as there are only about 1,000 of those in the UK that was quite the spot!)

Both of those in the picture I posted are Fredas!

[Pablo16v]

They are very popular with the MTB community around here for the reason posted above by krikkit.

[AJB88]

Hell of a lot of Japanese imports on eBay right now, a lot of them seem to be Ulez compliant where as the UK models aren't.

I was looking at Volvo XC90's and one seller was selling his to buy the same one but a Jap import to get round Ulez.

[Challo]

Quhet said:

Cool story bro etc but on my lunchtime walk just now, I saw 6 Mazda Bongos/Ford Fredas in the space of half a mile or so. A few years ago, there seemed to be only a few around but they are popping up all over the place now. Every day I seem to spot more and more. Appreciate that they are probably a fair bit cheaper than the ubiquitous T5/T6s (saw loads of these too) but there can't be hundreds being imported from Japan each year can there? The youngest I've seen are on 02 reg, so 20 years old - where have they all come from?

There has no doubt been lots imported over the years, especially as they are so cheap compared to overpriced VW's. Plus they tend to come fully equipped as campers ideal for surfers or people that want the odd night away and dont fancy a full scale camper van.

Check out Alphards, Elgrands, Stepwagon for other JDM options.

[mikeyr]

Quhet said:

Both of those in the picture I posted are Fredas!

Damn - what's the collective noun for that? A Kahlo of Fredas?

[bristolracer]

Quhet said:

Bristol?
Bongo central(until October when the clean air zone will kill them off)

[Lifeisalemon]

Love our Bongo



Slower than a slow thing when it sees a hill but great fun and so much less common than the 'other' one

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Baldchap said:

Countdown said:

Haven't seen one for years but always thought they had the best model name evah (Mazda Bongo Friendee)

Absolutely love the name Mazda Bongo Friendee.

My all time favourite is the Isuzu Mysterious Utility Wizard.

I also liked the Nissan Cedric.

[Quhet]

bristolracer said:

Bristol?
Bongo central(until October when the clean air zone will kill them off)

Well identified. Not sure the CAZ will kill them off tbh. In my part of Bristol, most of these would be heading south away from the CAZ down to Devon and Cornwall. Can't really think why they'd be impacted at all, especially as (I assume) they are second, or even third cars and not used for daily runs

[JimbobVFR]

Quhet said:

.Can't really think why they'd be impacted at all, especially as (I assume) they are second, or even third cars and not used for daily runs

In my experience one of the attractions is their convenience as a daily driver. Compared to a van conversion they still have the footprint of a car being relatively narrow, they are designed for Japanese cities after all.

The only downside (other than the fondness to gulp petrol is possibly the height with the lifting roof, at 2.1 metres it's marginal or too high for quite a few car parks with barriers or multistory car parks.

[Mercury00]

Baldchap said:

Absolutely love the name Mazda Bongo Friendee.

My all time favourite is the Isuzu Mysterious Utility Wizard.

We used to get these in at work, the Pony Fantasy Magic Sleep Box. It's like they dropped a dictionary five times and picked the first word on the page.