Just for the sake of argument. Do the company's that replicate the Cobras do crash testing?

I realize that this wouldn't be fully legal, but a way to get to plate a car that would normally take a while or impossible to get plates for.

My car is only legal on the road because it is licensed some were that doesn't have emissions. So were does that put me?

 

I allways wondered if you could strip everything off of it and then assemble it on a 94 and then reregister it as a 2000 (some kind of loophole). This way there is no safety conversion needed and it has a US VIN#. I know the frame is what makes the year but if it still titled as a 94 then the insurance would not cover it as new even though it would be brand new. I wouldn't consider the chasis as a wearable part.

 

Did you receive my pm?

 

Cobras are a totally different scenario. They're actual kit cars, and the chassis they use has it's own unique MSO # issued to it by the federal government. The Skyline thing is someone trying to pass off an already manufactured car as a different car altogether (fraud).

And yes, tampering with emissions is a serious offense, but it's not fraud, and it sure isn't as noticeable as say, a RHD car on the road

 

This guy should be locked up for running a Spirit R down the track in the 16's.

That's a felony where I'm from!!

 

Ramy
which models can be brought in legally. IIRC the R32 and R33 can, but not the R34. For some reason they have been revoked. Which is weird as motrex crashed them and every thing. Also what is the price range on those these day I looked into them 3 or 4 years ago but havent sence

 

Alright you win

But seriously, when are you coming back to chicago?

 

From when? Today? If today, no I didn't get it let me look back in my PM box though.

Send it again if you don't mind.

 

If it's legal to drive a motorcycle (how do those hold up in a crash test) or legal to drive a classic car on the public streets, I don't see why it shouldn't be legal to drive a modern car on the streets that hasn't undergone US crash testing, provided that car isn't being sold to the mass market. I, being the driver of said car, should be able to assume full resonsibility for my own person. Who are they trying to protect exactly? Their own financial interests?

 

I am into Ultimas and I know that if I wanted to import the car directly I could not as it would be seen as importing an entire vehicule which hasn't met crash testing approval in N/A.

However, If I import certain parts and build it here than there is no problem and it is registered as a kit car.

There is a sop here in Montreal that have an R34 which runs on the street but I beleive the car is registered as being a promotional vehicule. Also, if anyone can shed light on how to register a Spirit R here I am all ears.

Alex

 

It should be legal, so why not try to get the law changed? Or could it be there are already enough loopholes for individuals?

How would you feel if the law allowed individuals to import cars for personal use, but did not allow the vehicles to be sold to anyone else? Would that be more or less desirable than the existing loopholes?

If there were no restrictions whatsoever, the danger is too many shady unscrupulous people who would take advantage of the situation. For example, importers acting as "facilitators" could flood the country with cheap, pollution-spewing, unsafe junk. There are also potential conflicts with manufacturers about their own grey market cars as was the case in the past.

 

So far this discussion has been about bringing into the US. Bringing into Canada is a wholly separate set of regulations.

Dave

 

Actually, similar import restrictions apply to motorcycles, just not with the crash testing requirement, obviously. If the motorcycle was not manufactured with the express intent for legal street use in the U.S., you are required to take it to the EPA for emissions testing, which is pretty damn expensive, and hugely time-consuming. You also have to meet the usual DOT requirements as well (lights, signals, etc.).

 

When did you start bringing in Skylines?? Geez Ramy! You are now all out importer

 

Motorcycles and cars are apples and oranges. It rankles me to no end that pollution and sound requirements for cars are so strict while motorcycles and trucks can shatter windows and cloud the sky and nobody seems to care about the hypocrisy.

I firmly believe that no driver on public roads can say they assume full responsibility for themselves. Just some examples of how it affects others:
- accident crashes into another vehicle or pedestrian.
- accident crashes and requires ambulance, fire dept, police, damage to the civil works, creates traffic jam. These all cost the public money or time or personal risk.

 

http://www.4500x.com/RX7/pictures11.htm

Look at some of the other pictures they have of crashed spirit-r's, hit next page down at the bottom a few times.

 

Assuming you're insured, registered, inspected, etc., how are these examples any different from what happens when you crash any other "legal" car? Especially if that car is 20 years old and only adheres to the safety standards of the day and performs significantly worse than the 2002 model car in question that hasn't undergone testing. I think the law is a little too broad in scope.

Well, the country is already flooded with cheap, pollution-spewing, unsafe junk. They're called old cars ;P I'm not saying the car you import is going to be exempt from any of the safety or emissions inspections required for registration. But simply banning the import and use of a single car for private use because it hasn't been crash tested seems unnecessary. It seems hypocritical to say that some 1950's hunk of steel with no passenger protection whatsoever is perfectly safe but a modern 2002 car designed with the latest safety features in mind isn't simply because the latter hasn't been smashed up in a lab in this country.

 

/\
i'm with armitage

 

Whoa, Dave, I'm not sure where you're coming from with regards to pollution and sound requirements on motorcycles allowing them to "shatter windows and cloud the sky" compared to cars. The emissions and sound requirements are for all practical purposes just as strict, if not more so in many instances (for instance, motorcycle engines don't have the advantage of metal bodywork to shield mechanical engine noise, and considering the rpm most motorcycle engines turn compared to cars-- as well as the comparative numbers out on the road-- their total real-world emissions are easily comparable).

If you want to talk "hypocrisy", the motorcycle industry doesn't have the huge advantage of powerful political lobbies that enable the car and truck industry numerous emission and sound loopholes (for example, categorizing SUVs as a truck, which enabled them to adhere to far more lax emissions/sound standards) in the name of "business market health."

 

^ Kento, I think the point he was trying to make is that most every Harley I ever hear going down the road is not merely loud, it's downright obtrusive. If ricers can get pulled over for fart cannons and teens can get tickets for loud stereos, how can literally EVERY Harley rider I hear on a daily basis not be ticketed every single time he's on the road? How can the things even get registered?

 

I hear you, but there are a number of complications that would need to be addressed including but not limited to: How would you define "a single car"? What models would you apply this to, particularly when a similar US-spec model exists? How would manufacturer's liability and warranty issues be addressed? What would be the insurance implications for anyone injured by a non-US-spec vehicle? How would resale be controlled and/or restricted (disclosure, etc)? How would you stop abuse, for example a Chinese manufacturer selling directly or indirectly to individuals in the US without any crash testing or other controls? Most importantly, how would a change affect the manufacturers and what would their position be? There seem to be more than a few individuals who would like the law changed so if someone were to research the issues and draft a proposal... Otherwise just use the existing loopholes.

 

All good points, which is probably why the law in its current form is so broad in the first place. I don't know anything about any of these loopholes of which you speak, since I've never looked into importing a car. I guess to make it work the law would have to be changed such that only individuals and not corporations could import models from an approved list, not more than once a year for example. In order to complete the process some sort of waiver would have to be signed by the purchaser regarding liability, etc. And a special title could be issued, that when transfered would require the purchaser to sign the waiver. Of course this is getting real complicated real fast and only addresses a handful of the issues

 

Well, I hate that too, but that's a matter of selective enforcement on the part of the local law officials. If you're on their radar screen for whatever reason, you get targeted. Once those bikes are sold from the dealership floor, the owners can do any modifications they want (there's also the issue of Harley being allowed a lot of leeway by the EPA because they're an "American" company, but that's another story). There's no bi-annual smog check for motorcycles (yet...) because their respective numbers compared to cars on the road are so miniscule.

It's the reason that I stopped going to Daytona for the Bike Week races. You can't sleep wiith all the open-piped Harleys running around at all hours of the night.

 

So how many different subjects is this thread going to have in it?

 

To each his own, but I can't imagine what the motivation to import a Spirit R would be... unless it's purely to lock it away in a climate-controlled environment and roll it out to concours events.

There's nothing special on the car that you can't get and put right on your U.S. spec car fairly reasonably (except the seats)... in fact in most case you can do alot better.

For a car that wasn't made here in the first place, like a Skyline, or formerly the Elise, that's a different story... but what is the net gain with this car? You've got a mostly stock RX7.