Hi everyone! My FD is in the Port of Long Beach, CA in customs right now so I should have her in my possession with a few weeks. I'm new to the rotary scene but have been a huge fan of the engine ever since I was a kid helping my uncle build engines in his garage. I hope to learn a lot from everyone on this forum. Cheers!

 

Welcome to the forum! Any photos?

Out of curiosity - how are you getting it through customs as a 1994? or was the chassis production date late 1993?

 

Thanks for the warm welcome! Unfortunately, I dont have pics just yet. But the minutes I get her home and in my driveway and I'm done drooling and staring like a kid in a candy store, I'll post pics! To be honest, I don't have the specifics on the registration stuff. But I think it is a 94 originally. I also bought an 1999 R34 Skyline GTE 4 door through the same guy for cheap as well and will arrive Spring 2019. The guy I bought them off of works for the US Government in the Customs Dept. and imports cars from Japan as a hobby. I've done some work for him in the past helping bring in some other customer cars since I have a TWIC card and he's based in Hawaii. But since I've worked with him, we've brought in numerous R32s, R33s, R34s, RX7s, NSXs, S2000s, etc. He does all the paperwork and whatnot while I just helped store them. And they are all completely legal in CA. But he only gets about 10-15 cars a year. I know he doesnt do it the old way by chopping the cars up and shipping them over here, since we always open the container and theres a fresh car just sitting there. Unfortunately, I cant give out personal information about him but if you need parts or are looking for a car, I'll ask him and get you a quote. Shipping rates are usually $1500 a car or $2000 for 2 cars in one container. Hope this helps!

 

Thanks for the offer but being in Canada I can import anything 15 years or older

From my understanding if it is under 25 years then even if you get it in as a track only or show car, it will never be road legal in the USA. It sounds a bit sketchy to me and I would be concerned, but if it is a 1994 with a chassis manufacture date Oct 1993 or older you will be fine.

However - That 1999 skyline..... I think you will hit major issues on that one.

Anyway - I am not trying to panic you, just make sure it is all legit so as not to get burned!

 

I understand. And no worries. I know he is legit. A lot of people keep telling me "no way you're going to get that car here unless you have a ton of money" but if you meet the right people, it's possible. I have a ton of pictures from importing stuff on my old phone but I only have one picture on my new phone. It's a 2001 R34 GT-R V-Spec, one of less than 20 from the factory in Midnight Purple, I believe, and we sold it for $110k here. The one in the back is a 1998 R34 GT-T with an RB26DETT engine, instead of the RB25DET, and a Nismo GT-R body kit. Basically a RWD GT-R. That one sold for about $40k. Both were fully registered and street legal here. I dont know how he does the paperwork but not one of the cars he's sold here has been impounded, crushed, etc. I guess being someone pretty high up in the US Government has its perks. Either that or he found a loophole that no one knows about. Haha.

 

the 25 year old rule is just the easiest way to get in a car to the usa. its not the only way. its just the easiest. there are other legal ways that you can import a car. Also there are ways to get it in illegally federally but you can register it and get a title locally depend on your local state laws. People have been doing it for years. The 25 year rule is just so you have a free pass and dont have to go through hoops

 

Can you ask him if he could get an S15 with the manual and the turbo SR20? I don't care about what kind of mileage it got or if it got mismatching body panels or dings/giant scratches as long as it is mechanically sound and has no rust
I'm very much interested in FD RX-7s, specifically the 99 spec ones with the facelift, but I doubt I can get those for cheap... or can I? Would be great if you could get me a quote from him, as I'm currently searching for a new car after my 240sx was stolen

I'm serious about this so if you are willing to help I'd give you my phone number so we can communicate easier.. I am located in Illinois but doesn't mind a drive

 

Heyyyyy! 240 gang! Lol. I could ask him for you and get quotes. What state do you live in? Depending on state, depends how much itll cost for registration. As for the 99 spec FD, good luck. Haven't seen one for sale in so long and when I did, it was upward of $40k. I used to have a 240. 89 coupe w/ Silvia front end and an RB20DET. Wrapped her around a tree when I was up in the canyons. But yeah. I'll ask about that S15 for you.

 

I'll take any FD RX-7, especially if it has the 99 spec bumper on it, but not a deal breaker if it doesn't. I live in Illinois.

And yeah I bought my 240 with a RB25DET swap and it was one of the cleanest 240 I've seen, although it did have some electrical issue due to bad grounding but got that fixed and it ran like a champ, it was on 13psi of boost on a stock engine, had about 45k miles on the RB and it was swapped just the year before I bought it as well. I've seen a couple actual S15 for sale here in the States but they all ask 20k+ for them, even the NA and auto ones which are ridiculous in my opinion lol..

And thanks a lot for the help!

 

Just got off the phone with him. No S15s in his stock, he can find one in auction but itll be pricey. There is a company we do business with a lot and they have 2 S15s for sale that are Manual and have SR20DET. They are going for $8910 and $10k. They both have less than 100k miles. Being in Illinois, you will have to pay extra for land freight and also a customs broker to which port you plan to ship to as well as have someone with a TWIC card at the port to get the car out of the port and to the freighter. Aaaaaannnnnddddd, depending which port you bring it in from, be prepared for a mean customs inspector, who will make you pay for an inspection but that's like a 30/70 chance. So be prepared to pay anywhere between $2400-6000 on top of the $8000-10000 for the car. Also for FD RX7s, there are only a couple. They are in low supply/high demand, aka expensive. The cheapest he has right now is $19k, 1996, auto, 33k miles. If you do bring it into the Port of Long Beach, CA where I am, I can help transfer the car from the port to the freight company, since I've done it many times as well as have a TWIC card. And I can tell you also, from LA, CA to Illinois is roughly $750-900 by freighter.