Awesome, man! Glad to see other communities getting involved!SpawnedX wrote:SAN & DSMer here just wanting you to know we support you guys and think this is a bunch of bureaucratic BS. I am posting a link to the article up in a few places as well as on my Facebook. I wish you guys the best of luck in your fight and I will do my part at my local level of SAN and get the word out.
Paul Walker's white R34 was a Motorex car from what I have seen online, thus, it was "grandfathered in".d!ck wrote:I have a big important question: What are the feds doing with Paul Walker's R34? Doesn't he still personally own that car? I heard it was being used in the new movie they filmed recently...
If someone with a high profile was caught in this bullsh*t, it would help the case for everyone else.
I agree, I for one would be willing to donate to the cause. I would just have to know that it isn't going into someone's pocket.JOSHMELE wrote:I posted the link on Facebook and joined SAN...I would also like to do my part to help too.
Unfortunately Sean is right, qualified attorneys aren't cheap...and it's going to take a lot of cash to fight to fight for the right to own these vehicles.
I also despise the fatalistic attitudes toward the gov't and other agencies. Problem is, none of us are in a hurry to throw large sums of hard-earned cash into the 'fight the man' pot (Sean included). Yes, I know time IS money...but maybe another solution is to set up a "FREE THE SKYLINE" Paypal link at the bottom of that article that everyone is virally posting to FB. Even if we can't all contribute $3k each, there has always been power in numbers and people DO want to help.
(BTW $15k is a conservative estimate...much more has been spent to fight this fight by Kaizo owners).
No isn't the final answer people, you DO have a choice...we don't always have to roll over and say "that's the way it is".
Thank you HITMAN, Vandrel, Tyndago and the rest of you for your help and support.
Good point but this shouldn't stop us from fighting for our rights to modify cars. It doesn't matter what type of vehicle we have, we should be on top of new and bogus laws that threaten our way of life and hobbies...OriginalWheelman wrote:First of all, NTRacing, I'm not even going to get into what's wrong with your post. Read the import guidelines and you can see that the Skylines CAN be legally imported for race and show. Your ignorance to the situation is what is causing your confusion.
Secondly, what a lot of people seem to be missing is that this guy was not simply target for owning a skyline. He was accused of owning a black market import business. In the process of that investigation the feds researched the origin of his skyline, and determined it was illegal. He had two other cars that were legally imported that were also investigated and NOT seized.
Lastly, the guy goes on and on about how not everyone can be expected to know all the import laws. While this is understandable and true, there are two things about this. First of all, ignorance of the law is NEVER an acceptable excuse in the US. Also, this guy obviously knew the import law quite well as he had arrangements made for the legal exportation and sale of the car as the law allows. He didn't really lose anything here, as he sold the car, it was not seized.
This guy can claim the victim as much as he wants, but I'll bet he knew what he was getting into. In the end, they are all just machines. No matter how much someone may want one, the car was not conformed to US requirements, and is not legal for road use in the US. Period. The legal importation requires modifying the car to MAKE IT CONFORM. This is what the registered importers do, and this is why they must be used. They are held liable for the car being legalized. It is not simply a matter of the RI doing some paperwork. I can't feel sorry for someone who bought an illegal car and got it seized. If you choose to not play by the rules, you choose to accept the consequences.
http://www.clc34.blogspot.com/the_garynator wrote:I agree, I for one would be willing to donate to the cause. I would just have to know that it isn't going into someone's pocket.JOSHMELE wrote:I posted the link on Facebook and joined SAN...I would also like to do my part to help too.
Unfortunately Sean is right, qualified attorneys aren't cheap...and it's going to take a lot of cash to fight to fight for the right to own these vehicles.
I also despise the fatalistic attitudes toward the gov't and other agencies. Problem is, none of us are in a hurry to throw large sums of hard-earned cash into the 'fight the man' pot (Sean included). Yes, I know time IS money...but maybe another solution is to set up a "FREE THE SKYLINE" Paypal link at the bottom of that article that everyone is virally posting to FB. Even if we can't all contribute $3k each, there has always been power in numbers and people DO want to help.
(BTW $15k is a conservative estimate...much more has been spent to fight this fight by Kaizo owners).
No isn't the final answer people, you DO have a choice...we don't always have to roll over and say "that's the way it is".
Thank you HITMAN, Vandrel, Tyndago and the rest of you for your help and support.
I know a lot of people who would also be willing to help.
-Gary
Actually no, I didn't jump into the Skyline business as a expert from day 1. I was a regular person just like everyone else on the outside. My car carried a valid U.S. title. As a average joe American obtaining a new vehicle...what's the first thing you look for? Valid title and if it requires a notary public to be transfered in your state. Like I said, my car carried a very extensive history that I did not find out until later. I could only personally account for 4 years of the car's existance in the country, the other 4 I could not because it was owned by other people in various states, all titled of course. I know the previous 2 owners of the car very well but again, on day 1 I didn't know anything other then hey it's a car with a valid title.OriginalWheelman wrote:This guy can claim the victim as much as he wants, but I'll bet he knew what he was getting into.
I can't feel sorry for someone who bought an illegal car and got it seized. If you choose to not play by the rules, you choose to accept the consequences.
OriginalWheelman, thank you for your kind words and your accurate regurgitation of Vandrel's situation. I am well aware of the facts surrounding what transpired. My post was directed at comments made by Encryptshun earlier in the thread. Perhaps I should have quoted it directly in order to help you understand that. I, for one, thought I was quite clear on that point.OriginalWheelman wrote:First of all, NTRacing, I'm not even going to get into what's wrong with your post. Read the import guidelines and you can see that the Skylines CAN be legally imported for race and show. Your ignorance to the situation is what is causing your confusion.
Secondly, what a lot of people seem to be missing is that this guy was not simply target for owning a skyline. He was accused of owning a black market import business. In the process of that investigation the feds researched the origin of his skyline, and determined it was illegal. He had two other cars that were legally imported that were also investigated and NOT seized.
Lastly, the guy goes on and on about how not everyone can be expected to know all the import laws. While this is understandable and true, there are two things about this. First of all, ignorance of the law is NEVER an acceptable excuse in the US. Also, this guy obviously knew the import law quite well as he had arrangements made for the legal exportation and sale of the car as the law allows. He didn't really lose anything here, as he sold the car, it was not seized.
This guy can claim the victim as much as he wants, but I'll bet he knew what he was getting into. In the end, they are all just machines. No matter how much someone may want one, the car was not conformed to US requirements, and is not legal for road use in the US. Period. The legal importation requires modifying the car to MAKE IT CONFORM. This is what the registered importers do, and this is why they must be used. They are held liable for the car being legalized. It is not simply a matter of the RI doing some paperwork. I can't feel sorry for someone who bought an illegal car and got it seized. If you choose to not play by the rules, you choose to accept the consequences.
Reply:Hey guys,
Saw this on my local forum and the link sent me to nicoclub, seems as if the govt is trying to crack down harder on skylines than ever before, and that costs alot of money. Just trying to get this out there because it needs to be known that the govt is wasting money for no reason, lets see if you guys can help this guy out like you did with my Mazda friends and the unknownpowdercoating guy.
This is a sad thing for all in the car enthusiast community to see when one of these precious cars gets seized and crushed/sold to someone in the govt. Let's just say that the DOD spending $600+ on a toilet seat leads one to wonder how much their spending on taking these beautiful cars. They must be stopped and the only way to make a change is to get the word out!
Link: http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/breaki ... wners.html
Link to nicoclub discussion : breaking-news-nissan-skyline-seized-t525694.html
Link to my local forum discussion where I first heard (tristatetuners) : http:// http://www.tristatetuners.com/forum/sho ... p?t=111490
Hopefully you can put this up, im sure you've already gotten some tips about this anyway, but I figured it couldn't hurt.
Thanks,
Max
Posted:Thanks Max, we're working on it.
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Justin Hyde
Features Editor
http://www.jalopnik.com