At 05:00 PM 8/16/2010 -0400, PJ McGarvey wrote:
>Has anyone done this?
I imported, built, and registered an English kit car in 1984
I titled and registered a 1965 Lotus7 in 1990. It had been imported but
hadn't gone
through US Customs at an unknown date. It had been flown across the
Atlantic in
a military cargo plane as the personal property of the pilot.
>I'm toying with the idea of buying a 79 VW Rabbit, Engine has been swapped,
>speedo is in km, not mph, but otherwise it's a solid car, clear title, etc.
My experience and others experience might not apply. This is a YMMV situation.
This car is 31 years old. I'm under the impression that the rules change
when the
car turns 25.
But YOU need to research the laws that apply to your situation. There are laws
and there are the people who enforce the laws. My guess is that US Customs
is going to look at the car where and when it comes across the border. Your
state DMV is going to title and register it. Depending on their rules you may
have to pass emissions.
In my case, US Customs were more concerned with collecting money than
enforcing safety and/or emissions. My troubles involved my state DMV.
Both cars eventually passed but I had to explain why they complied. The
state inspectors were sticklers about lighting. I had to swap the clearance
lights for legal turn signal lenses, for example.
So research ahead of time with the goal that the car that you import is in
total compliance with the agency which is going to determine whether it
is legal. And be prepared to have your car examined with a fine tooth comb.
Or ignored totally. I think the laws are pretty clear, my experience is
that the
enforcement is variable. I had to discuss the wall thickness of steel tubing
with a state trooper! Like either one of us knows enough to rationally
determine what makes a Lotus 7 strong enough for a US road.
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