I've given serious thought to purchasing a Canadian car and driving it here. (That's the easy part. Nobody is going to stop you from driving across the border. It's just a car not a tank.) I own an RX7 currently. Swap some parts from current car over to new car and continue on with registration as if it was just a rebuilt original US car.. I mean... I crashed the US reg FD and all I could save was the floor mats... However I also feel this is pretty grey and would ultimately be a pretty bad thing if it was ever inspected. So... we wait.

Donovan,

Do I understand you correctly? You want to:
1. Import an '02 Spirit R from Canada
2. Swap some parts from your current FD to the Spirit R chassis
3. Register the Spirit R, assuming this is done in CA

That appears to oppose the recommendations by neit_jnf.

Hypothetically, swapping parts are not an issue. The issue would really be at the title & registration step. The VIN of a proper Spirit R is 10 characters and the VIN on all vehicles sold in the US market must have 17 digits. Moreover, the 17-character VINs have a check digit to prove to a consumer that a vehicle is authentic. Since there is a fundamental difference between VIN digits that may be cause for the DMV not issue a title and/or cause additional scrutiny from other federal agencies. That all depends if a car would be used on the roads or whether it would be used off-road, like a race track.

Again, that was all hypothetical. I would recommend doing more research on grey market cars and other import restrictions.

I want to:
1. Purchase a 1996+ car from Canada.
2. Swap some parts from my current FD to the new chassis.
3. Drive new Franken FD under the current registration of currently owned FD.
4 This would in theory require no inspection or otherwise.
5 Register 25+ year old car when that date approaches.
6 While logistically feasible, probably illegal as hell, and requires owning a US FD and the new Canadian car.
7 Would have to be something nice like a 99+ with low miles, or something special to make it worth it.

Donovan,

What you are suggesting is not probably illegal...it is illegal. I would advise to wait until that car you want to import is 25+years old. Or you could research buying a car for dedicated off-road use.

Like Narfle posted, this is a bad thread topic.

there is a 98 RX7 for sale in texas right now on Cars.com (has an ls swap but that is irrelevant to this topic). I am curious how this car was imported and is for sale currently. https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/d...5098/overview/

Regardless of how it is listed for sale, it was imported illegally.

yes, but now its legal?? Or is this just one of those waiting to be crushed if the government decides to do so?

No, its not legal and never will be. It can be titled and insured by the state but the federal government doesn't care about that. Listen, you guys can buy whatever you want, its your money. Few of us here are just telling you the letter of the law. Whether somebody comes knocking on your door to take the car or not isn't certain. I don't have that kind of money to throw away so personally I wouldn't chance it.

I guess that explains why they have reduced the price on that car from $69k to $28k. If they keep dropping the price would be a good parts car haha

Yeah, that Canadian car I'm looking at is not moving either. I guess it's an "old" car in Canada and illegal here still so it's not moving. I've considered buying it and having the owner keep the title until I can bring it here but then you get into another whole liability thing too. Damn Feds!!!

I wonder what the actual guidelines are for a "rebuilt" car. That's the angle I'm looking at. I know cars are chopped in 1/2 and glued together and registered all the time. How much of the original car is mandated to still be original in the case of a rebuilt title or just keep the original registration. Motor? Body? I don't know. I'd imaging by the time this all gets figured out the car would actually be legal to import by then though.... :/

I think the way to go if you really really wanted to have a later MY FD would be to buy one from a Canadian owner, get the owner to drive it over the boarder (no way will Customs let a US citizen drive it across), and transfer all the parts over to a US VIN shell. I think all the hard points are the same so you could probably do a full RHD swap of the Spirit-R to the US shell (please correct me if I'm wrong on this). You would need to add a dash VIN plate, but these can be made up to order and riveted on just like OEM. And the firewall would have the proper VIN stamping. Now you have a RHD conversion of a USDM car, with a bunch of newer parts. The emissions would not be so much of an issue, unless in a state that performs exhaust testing like California although an OEM 99-spec ECM with a good US main catalyst might even pass in CA.

What a huge job that would be, and it would require paintwork of the shell, but if you had the garage space and time/dedication it could be done. I might do it myself in a few years if I get the bigger garage I have in mind...

A point to consider about this and also the Florida titling of illegal cars, is insurance and liability. If you have an illegal car that is involved in an accident, even if your insurance company had provided coverage based on a nonstandard VIN it gives them an out to deny coverage since the car is technically not up to US standards. Way to much risk IMO.

Bought this one:
 

I'm going the legal route and purchased one last night and am storing it in Canada for about 8 years until I can legally bring into the US. Here's pics of my gunmetal gray bone stock with 24k km (14,900 miles). Not really doing this for profit, so if this ends up losing money who cares - My wife's SUV is worth a lot less than what we paid for it.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...4fbb28ca0b.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...ed53673e06.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...f0e8d628c6.jpg
Bone stock
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...1d3f7d40dd.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...d09a1e3c89.jpg

Wow.. incredible decision. For starters, you found a spirit r lol. Second, i hope whoever you have in Canada holding on to it is trustworthy. If you get it registered and plated in Canada, you can drive it here. I see Ontario license plates all the time in my area. Not sure what condition allow it to be so but they're here.

congratulations on your car

Not exactly bone stock, it's missing the OEM Spirit R floor mats, those in the pic are are not even close to original, additionally what's that doohicky mounted on the side of the centre console on the passenger side? If you need the OEM mats I can source them for you. Good luck with your new baby! 😊

the doohicky is a japanese electronic toll receiver, you stick a card in it.

looks like there is a mat of some kind below the one you see on the passenger side, driver side looks turned upside down. im guessing those are the originals.

Floor mats
 

Thats definitely an ETC reader on the passenger side, you can see ETC on it. My car had one when it came over. When you turn the key on its gonna talk to you in Japanese and be really annoying. I removed mine. What is this box, card reader in my Japanese import car? - Andrew's Japanese Cars

Etc
 

Ah - ETC. Being talked to in Japanese at start-up will be fun for the first 2x, then super annoying / will remove it. Thanks AE!

This question is not rhetorical, please walk me through the logic of not storing it in Japan? Seems ludacris to me.

Seeing that you're in Japan, I get where you're coming from. I live in the US, and my cousin lives within driving distance of the storage facility in Canada which lets me visit it once a year when I visit family. Doesn't really cost me much more to have it make an 8 year pit stop in Canada (Canadian customs on top of US customs), and I have relatively inexpensive storage in Canada. Flights to Japan from Dallas are far more expensive than the trips I already take to Detroit.

If you have family in the area that makes total sense then. Also sure being able to visit your new mistress once a year is worth whatever the cost offset might be.