Do your dreams run to that red-over-black '83 Skyline RS Turbo you saw in Tokyo Drift? You're in luck. Likewise if you've ever spent a quiet evening fawning over pictures of a Mk1 Lotus Cortina. Any car that's been on the road for 25 years is a collectors' toy in the eyes of the government, and the Feds will let it slip into the country without so much as a batted eye. It doesn't matter if it's right-hand drive or left-hand drive, has the crash survivability of a riding lawnmower, and smokes like a mosquito fogger; if the car has passed that magic quarter-century mark, it's welcomed with open arms. Arbitrary and exclusive, the twenty-five-year cutoff makes getting old cars into the country so easy that it masks a deeper truth: Bringing in anything newer than that is a cast-iron bitch...

FULL STORY...

- The vast majority of obviously-imported cars you see on the roads near military bases and major cities are here under a rule that allows permanent residents of a country other than the US to bring their personal cars here for a period of up to one year. There are similar rules for members of the US military. These cars end up back in their country of origin, or crushed, after one year, unless they're eligible to be imported via the process described in the article.

- If the internet is any indication, out of the rest of the late-model imported cars in this country, the majority of those are illegal. They seem to come into the country mostly through Puerto Rico, and usually end up in Florida or some other southeastern state where vehicle inspections are cursory or nonexistent. I don't have a moral problem with this, since I think the laws are bullcrap, but it does bother me when the people who do it think they've discovered some new legal process and we're all suckers for doing it the right way.

In theory. There are lots of ways to get around the import laws that I encountered when I was researching the legalities of bringing cars into the U.S. Chief among them are:

- Mexican-market cars that get impounded by the border patrol, sheriff's office, or DEA when drugs are discovered tucked away in them. These are issued a clean title by the impounding agency and are sold at auction to help recoup some operating costs. I ran across at least one pristine 207 that had been imported this way.

- Vehicle fifteen years and older can be imported into Canada, so anything 1993 on down is fair game there. Someone then registers it, drives it over the border, has it "break down" and leaves it at a shop for repairs. After six months, the shop owner files for a lien against the vehicle to recoup his costs, and the state issues the shop a title for the car and VIN. This is not only expensive but time-consuming, as many people across multiple disciplines have to be in on the scam.

- Import a body shell in one container and the parts removed from it in another, and swap VIN tags with a US-spec car of similar size and weight.

Except for the first option, these are all either stretching the laws or outright in violation of them. That's not to say you can't get away with it, but good luck dealing with the consequences should you be caught.

Depending on where you go from Canada, you don't need a mechanic's lien to get a title issued for it. It's not too unusual to see Canada-only cars with US plates further north.

Hell, nobody thought a damn thing of it when I registered my 745i.

Probably not but then the seven series has been crash tested for the US and the engine in the 745 probably appears in at least one other model in the US so it's probably clear as well.

That's because your 745i is on the list of approved vehicles already.

The E23 745i was never sold with US bumpers and lighting, and the turbocharged M30 was never sold here in any car. A LOT of 745is were brought into the US in the '80s, though, before the current laws were put into place.

That way we can avoid the retarded bi-weekly threads about importing Mexican S3's.

For all practical purposes, the Irizar Century Plus was ready for importation to the US.

It's interesting because Irizar only built buses for importation to the US for a couple of years (imported by a company called Metrotrans that went under) and that was in the late 90's.

I didn't see that it was an 84 745 and as a result I was wrong on both accounts. Thanks for correcting.

That only applies to DOT rules. The EPA is another story apparently.

So you can't just bring in that 1983 Euro-spec Porsche 930 Turbo without going through the same federalization process that someone had to go through back in 1983.

TOUAREG HOW TO INFO: MP3, XM, CELL or VIDEO, KEYLESS START, PADDLE SHIFT.

You mean Vadim's (VadGTI)?

Modified by Chapel at 11:50 AM 3-13-2008

I can see your confusion. Here's the skinny:

The DOT doesn't care what you bring in if it's 25 years old, or older.

The EPA doesn't care what you bring in if it's 21 years old, or older.

Thus, it's possible to have a 23-year-old car that no longer requires EPA approval, but would still need to meet DOT standards. By the time the car is old enough to meet DOT exemption rules, it also meets EPA exemption rules. It's doubtful there's a 22-to-24-year-old car out there worth importing right now that couldn't wait until the 25-year exemption kicked in, so I didn't bother cluttering up the verbiage to lay it all out.

Was that really his in the movie? I know his looks like that, but I thought he was joking.

There are two types of people in the world, those who need closure

Quote, originally posted by Chapel »

You mean Vadim's (VadGTI)?

That, too. I was looking at this Nissan PR photo when I thought about it.

Attachment: skyline.jpg (80760 bytes, downloaded 1842 times)

So you mean I could buy, easily import and register this nice 1976 Lancia beta Montecarlo (Scorpion) Spider without all the DOT and EPA crap? Too bad the Euro is so high right now.

TOUAREG HOW TO INFO: MP3, XM, CELL or VIDEO, KEYLESS START, PADDLE SHIFT.

In fact the Vermont DMV and the liable insurance company from the snowplow incident both used a 733i from the same year to determine its value. Double-edged sword I guess.

But I don't think an unfamiliar/unapproved vehicle would have too much trouble flying under the radar out here.

man that's cool!

"Right. As anyone with a background in biology knows, a human zygote is a dolphin." zukiphile

Lancia sold over 1800 Scorpions in the us in 76 and 77. Sure they had smaller motors, smog controls and made only 81 hp but you can get one already that's DOT EPA compliant.

If you look at hemmings there is a 77, turbo 5 speed for sale for $5500 in RI.

Modified by CBJ at 12:51 PM 3-13-2008

The first option isn't necessarily legal, either. Don't make the mistake of assuming you're legit just because one government agency says it's okay to do something when they a) don't have the legal authority to give permission in the first place or b)don't have the resources to do their job properly. Government is full of law breakers. Many people falsely believe that if you have a "clean" title and can register the car that you're legal. This is not always true. A car can both have a "clean" title, license plates, pass multiple state government inspections, etc. and still be illegal. One hand doesn't know what the other is doing.

your statement is also not entirely accurate.

Hah, yes that was my car. Now, the question is, did you really see it in Tokyo Drift? I only saw the movie once, but I didn't see the car at all. It was used somewhere in the movie (they actually rented it for an entire month), but I didn't catch it. What part of the movie was it? Do you have a screen capture by any chance?

Modified by VadGTI at 8:33 PM 3-13-2008

Quote, originally posted by Slonie »

VadGTI: The best cars, in the worst shape™.

SchrickVR6: Canadians aren't real. They're like the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, and Condoleeza Rice.

At the border, yes, it's CBP's game... once it's in they have ZERO authority - it's ICE at that point. I really doubt the Marshals could care about an illegally imported vehicle. They're mainly concerned with Federal warrants, JPATS, deserters, Indians, felon apprehension, etc. They'd laugh at a Customs issue. If anyone is seizing vehicles within the US it's going to be ICE.