Importing a Japanese Show/Track Car

[firefighter81]

I'm going into the USAF and will be stationed outside of Tokyo for about 2 years (it's gonna be AWESOME!) :ylsuper

I've been looking around alot, and it seems that Skyline R33 GT-S and 3rd Gen RX-7's and Silvias and 180sx and alot of other sweet cars can be had for around $3000. Also nicer ones like GT-R's etc for $10k. When I come back to the states I can have a vehicle flown back with me for free. So I figure I'll do it with a car I purchase over there.

I know getting those cars legalized for street use is difficult and sometimes impossible, but what about for track/show use? What are the regulations on that? I'd be more than willing to have a completely pimped out trailer queen Skyline or RX-7 or Supra to take to shows and track days.

If anyone has done this or has more info please let me know! Thanks,Jason GarrettA1C USAF

[EZcheese15]

http://www.nissaninfiniticlub....26235

[firefighter81]

None of those links work, they all say the page does not exist.

[EZcheese15]

Thanks for pointing that out, I'll fix them....

In the mean time, go here http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import/

[Cold_Zero]

A buddy of Repoman and I is currently stationed in Germany. He found an ad for a Skyline in the Stars & Stripes.

"Nissan Skyline R33 GT-R '95, 80k km, FSH, 400k hp, many extras, $25k obo"

We keep telling him to buy a BMW over there and ship it over. Dealerships have programs for the G.I.'s to arrange shipment to a dealership and to have the conversion work done to it to make it street legal here in the states. Of course he is flying out to Iraq right now, so he really has no need for a car since he will be pimping in his 70 ton tank in the streets of Baghdad with his 120mm smoothbore main gun. No offense, but I think that ride kicks the crap out of any Japanese car.

[EZcheese15]

You can legally import nearly all current model BMW's because they have a US counterpart. They Skyline does not have a US counterpart, which is why it is so hard to legalize one.

However, if you are going for race/exhibition, it is relatively easy to import one. Read some of those rules in the link I posted and it will explain. You still have to declare it as a race car, or show car, and present a list of races or shows in which the car will be in. However, that is easy compared to legalizing it through Motorex.

[SWIFT_DRIFT]

Ahh nice to know NHTSA finally updated their links.

[94teggy]

That's pretty awesome. So you're allowed to bring back any car from the country you're stationed in?

If you bring something back with you, make sure to till the interior and trunk with all the mods you want for it

-Jon-