^ before I got my GTI I was really looking into the Renault Clio V6, too bad its not available in the states...

 

Make no mistake, there are enough "state legal" MR Clios out there. But they're not bonded so it's a gamble, and on a 25-30k USED tuner, that's a bit hot for most rational people. That said I haven't heard of any of these on ICE's bullseye.

Get an R5 Turbo..... assuming you're good for 15k on a 30 year old car.

 

Here in Canada (Ontario anyway), seeing a RHD Japanese import is pretty common. So common in fact I changed my mind about wanting one. When I get my Isuzu Impulse on the road, it will be more rare than a RHD anything where I live.



We have this place - http://www.japanpowerinc.com/home and a few others that will order you a car in, they actually have a lot and you can buy one off the lot already imported. I tried to make a deal a few years back on a Nissan Pulsar GTIR hatchback. I wanted to trade my Accent for the car. The guys response was "WTF am I going to do with an 04 Accent?" lol. I went back with cash a few weeks later and the car was gone.



edit - and 25K - 30K!? You can buy a Skyline for under 20K here.

 

I can have a state legal R32 GTR V spec within 24 hours circa 18k any day of the week. Georgia has (in comparison) a lot of Skylines of all sorts! But a Clio v6 is a very special car. Not a lot of people (again, in comparison) know about them, and maybe a fraction of a percent of those will ever see one. Id be willing to wager there are more Hakosukas in the states than Clio V6s, and I know damn well there are more Kenmaris, I almost came into ownership of one of those many a moon ago. A state legal Clio V6 can command 30k WITH EASE! I know of a pair flat illegal (as in undeclared, no bond in sight) CV6s that can be had for 25k; but that's white hot, damn near begging to be seized if you're luck enough to get off that easy. But even those will sell fairly quickly. The US grey-market is a glorious bastard, and to the enthusiast, one hell of a money sink.



Coming from someone who once grey-marketed an AE101 Levin....







So far off topic at this point

 

That does suck. Are there loopholes for club-only cars, rally licensed cars, partial racing/targa licences etc? Sometimes you can register targa rally BEASTS on these stodgy semi-racing licences that allow you to drive the car on the road - on your way to a racing event. Or is the NHTSA too buttmad for that one? IIRC you can't even get some of these cars off the wharf.



These cars would be fun, weekend cars anyway right?

 

Basically there are 2 ways to declare a car: street and track/show. If a car is declared as track/show it cannot EVER be used as a road car. Even after EPA (21 years) and NHTSA (25 years) limitations expired, the car is still considered "null and void" for street use. Plus there is a TON of paperwork to involved in this process, and even after all of the red tape and bureaucracy the NHTSA, which is the gubmint body you have to file with, can still come back and say no. And in almost all cases of Skylines its an instant "no way in hell." Now in filing for street use the paperwork is much less intrusive but the laws are very straightforward, and I do believe after the 2007 revision anything RDH (right-hand drive) that is not intended for government (could also include military personnel...) or agricultural work is an instant "no way in hell" as well. There is a very specific list of requirements and actually a blackout list, on which all R32s and R34s are in big bold print. And I mean that literally. R33s interestingly enough ARE legal for importation as there is a documented NHTSA crash test on file and notations of the necessary mods needed. True story, and if you search hard enough a PDF copy of the full 200 page form is available on the web.



Now after 25 years, they have NO say at all. You simply file the approporate paperwork, pay dock fees and tell them you bringing over a car made out of razor blades, power by a RR rocket engine and has killed 47,000 baby seals last year alone, not a damn thing they can do legally. But it has to be 25 years or greater from the manufacture date.



... in a nutshell. Not exactly how its worded on the NHTSA website, but close enough.











edit: I rechecked the blackout and much to my surprise, the list has been modified and now excludes the lower end R32. (GTR still there)

It still includes the R34, and funny enough the 2009 Mercedes SLR McLaren Stirling Moss.



Interesting goodies on the list:

Aston Martin DB7 Zagato Coupe

Bugatti EB110

Ford RS200 Cosworth

Ford RS200 Evolution

Honda Civic Type-R

Holden GTS-R

Italdesign Aztec

Jaguar XJ220

Lamborghini Diablo GT

Lotus 340R

Mazda Eunos JCES Cosmo Series II

McLaren F-1

Morgan Aeromax

Porsche GT1

TVR Sagaris

Zastava Fica





Now mind you, after the late 90s they can only outlaw them as a "track/show" car. ANY car in limited production is eligible to be used on the road so long as its used less than 5000 miles/year and maintained annually by a fed approved RI (registered importer.)

 

Bloody hell! I guess these are mostly low volume cars that would have been sketchy in terms of emissions. I bet the morgan, RS200 and Civic Type R would all be heinously unsafe even if you ignore the fact that it'll be driven by spanners.



For a blackout list that specific and incomplete, is that because individual people have tried to import them and failed? I wonder.

 

In some cases yes, (specifically speaking the skyline and the cosmo) idiocy during the initial 3rd party import process cause the NHTSA to just close off that loophole. In cases like the CTR and RS200... because racecar. They are viewed like a tuned version of the original so it's not low volume exempt and like you said, death traps far too tempting to run around town illegally.