Found these in Japan but it says there's no runabout stamp up top. Everything else looks the same though. Anyone know what the deal is ?
Found these in Japan but it says there's no runabout stamp up top. Everything else looks the same though. Anyone know what the deal is ?
Rare pre-production trial set? Looks identical in every other way, interesting.
~ 1994 Mazda MX-5 Laguna Blue ~ 1964 Beechcraft 35 - B33 Debonair ~ 2002 Mazda Protegι5 ~
Yeah I'm stumped.
Bear in mind, Runabout don't actually make mirrors. They sell them. The mirrors are actually made by Tex Automotive in the UK; Runabout commissioned them to make a modified version of a mirror they make for Austin Minis. The original Tex mirror is engraved. The M2 mirror is stamped on the underside (and is aluminium), and the Runabout is stamped topside (sometimes a bit wonky).
M2 1001 mirror showing engraving/stamping
Runabout and Tex compared
Runabout also sell the same mirror for Minis; some are engraved, but recently, others have been popping up unengraved, with the same Tex fitting system
I'll tell you now, the mirror you have appears to be quite new; the rubber gasket doesn't last that long before splitting. Its not an early "prototype" (Tex would have sent Runabout some samples, and these might have been unmarked, but this was 20 years ago. And 20 year old samples would look like 20 year samples). Notable that your mirror has plain glass, rather than the anti-glare glass Runabout supplies; the Tex Evolution mirrors come with plain glass, but with an optional anti-glare (blue) glass.
Runabout did a very similar Type II mirror, with plain glass, but the gasket was completely different. In addition, early Runabout arms were different from later ones, and the one you have appears similar to the later type.
I'd say either Runabout has quit stamping the mirrors or this is a knock-off.
The original Tex mirrors sell for about $70-80 a pair.
Dandy (03-07-2015),Hammerhead (03-07-2015)
the newer Runabouts that come from Japan have a black rigid plastic piece that acts a gasket between the Mirror and the door. Same as what Bo shows in his photo, that is how mine arrived new from Japan, however I bought mine back in 2005 ish ???
When I get my car back on Monday I'll try and compare these to my runabouts. They are identical in every single way. Glass is the same as my runabouts (blue tint). Gasket is the same, spring mechanism, casting as well. Same polished stainless finish. I'm really stumped here. I almost prefer the ones with no stamp though, nice clean look. Thanks roadsternut for the very detailed response.
They've always had that, but they go missing with second hand sets. I wasn't prepared to pay the JDM tax for skanky 25 year old parts, so just made custom aluminium adapters.Originally Posted by Phatmiata
i got these unstamped ones from japan for really cheap, so im pretty excited.
Happy hunting! It always feels better when you bag a bargain.
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