We get a thousand Skyline questions here, most of which are some form of:

a) I have a fat savings account, I want a Skyline. Where can I get one?
b) I found an auction for a Skyline - Can I buy it and register it?
c) My friend's brother's cousin has a Skyline, and it's registered in Florida!
d) This shop says their Skylines are registered and titled in the US, so how is that a problem?

From - http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/....html

I. Importing a Nissan Skyline.

The Nissan Skyline was not originally manufactured to comply with all applicable FMVSS. Such a vehicle that is less than 25 years old can only be lawfully imported into the U.S. if (1) it is determined eligible for importation by NHTSA and (2) it is imported by an RI or by a person who has a contract with an RI to bring the vehicle into compliance with all applicable FMVSS within 120 days of entry.

Import eligibility decisions are made on a make, model, and model year basis. NHTSA has determined that the 1990-1999 versions of the RHD Nissan GTS and GTR (“Skyline”) are eligible for importation and has assigned vehicle eligibility number VCP-17 to those vehicles. (The import eligibility number is to be entered on the HS-7 Declaration form that is to be given to Customs at the time of entry, and alerts Customs that the vehicle may be lawfully imported by an RI or by a person who has a contract with an RI, even though the vehicle is not certified by its manufacturer as complying with all applicable FMVSS.)

To learn the modifications the petitioner stated were needed to conform to the 1990-1999 Skyline to the FMVSS, you should go to the DOT Docket website at http://dms.dot.gov and enter docket number 5507 in the appropriate block on the simple search screen. A list of RIs can be found on our website at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import. You should consult the importers on that list to see whether any are willing to conform the vehicle that you seek to import to all applicable safety and bumper standards, and if so, what they would charge for that work.

If you decide to import the vehicle, one potential complicating factor is that the RI who petitioned NHTSA to determine the 1990-1999 model Skyline eligible for importation requested, and was granted, confidentiality with respect to the modifications needed to conform to the vehicle to certain of the standards. As a consequence, that importer (Motorex of Gardena, CA) has claimed a proprietary interest in the modifications covered by the confidentiality grant. This does not preclude other RIs from attempting to modify the vehicle. However, should those importers not gain access to the modifications covered by the grant confidentiality, they will have to demonstrate to the agency, at the time they submit a conformity certification package for a Skyline, that they have made equivalent modifications that permit the vehicle to comply with the standards covered by the confidentiality grant.

Please note that we determined the vehicle eligible for importation based on its capability of being modified to comply with all applicable standards. We did not approve Motorex, or any other RI as the “exclusive” importer of the vehicle. As previously indicated, another RI is free to import the vehicle, but will have to demonstrate in the conformity package submitted to the agency to obtain release of the conformance bond furnished at the time of importation that the vehicle has been brought into conformity with all applicable standards, including those covered by the grant of confidentiality to Motorex.

You should note that if you were to import the vehicle, the necessary modifications would have to be made by an RI, and that importer would have to certify to us that the vehicle conforms to all applicable FMVSS in effect on its date of manufacture before the vehicle could be released to be licensed or registered for on-road use. One of the reasons that an RI is required to import and modify a vehicle that was not originally manufactured to comply with all applicable FMVSS is because the RI stands in the stead of the vehicle’s original manufacturer to provide the vehicle’s owner with notification and remedy in the event that the vehicle is determined to contain a safety-related defect or a noncompliance with an applicable safety standard. Because the original manufacturer would not be responsible for the vehicle being in the U.S., it would have no legal obligation to perform this import safety responsibility.

Questions regarding modifications to conform the vehicle to applicable emissions standards should be directed to the EPA.

More good reading:

http://nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/ELIG010906.html

AND, the #1 article on the web regarding importing a Nissan Skyline: Nissan Skyline Importation.

Enjoy!

is there a list of mods needed to make legal or does motorex only know

What if I wanted to import one older than 25? Impossible to find maybe, but it would be good info to know if I ever got the opportunity.

cvcdvr wrote:is there a list of mods needed to make legal or does motorex only know

You can certainly GUESS, but if you get it wrong, you're in danger of losing the car.

Besides, where are you gonna get bumper reinforcements for an R32?

Vkoslak wrote:What if I wanted to import one older than 25? Impossible to find maybe, but it would be good info to know if I ever got the opportunity.

Shouldn't be an issue then.

Keep in mind, you're talking about a pre-80 Skyline. Not only are these undesireable, but remember that the chances of getting one cheap are nearly nil - The registration costs in Japan to keep one would be astronomical. Might find one in Australia or the UK, but still unlikely.

I was considering an early 70's model, until I found a few. $35K BEFORE importation / transport / Customs / etc. No thanks.

since its 2006, an early r30 might be possible. But as you said, finding one that is worth importing and wont break the bank would be damn hard.

I also ran across this:5. Importing a Canadian-certified vehicle; need for automatic restraints.

Before it can be lawfully imported into the U.S., a vehicle that was not originally manufactured to comply with all applicable FMVSS, and/or was not so certified by its original manufacturer, must first be determined eligible for importation by NHTSA. The agency has determined that Canadian-certified passenger cars manufactured on or after September 1, 1989, are eligible for importation, provided those vehicles are equipped with automatic restraints that meet the requirements of FMVSS No. 208, “Occupant Crash Protection.� If a vehicle manufactured on or after that date is not equipped with automatic restraints, it has not been determined eligible for importation. Without this determination, the vehicle cannot lawfully be imported into the U.S.

So if someone gets a skyline certified in canada, then gets whatever seatbelt requirements are needed and the kph changed to mph, it should be legally importable? Guess I would have to call a RI that imports from canada to find out for sure.

nice try Vk...

That clause has been tested from what I recall... and failed.

The issue is that the car has to have been manufactured for Canadian sale. The car had to be sold originally in Canada.

Wouldn't it be nice though...

R30 is the sex but not 25 yet.

AZhitman wrote:
Shouldn't be an issue then.

Keep in mind, you're talking about a pre-80 Skyline. Not only are these undesireable, but remember that the chances of getting one cheap are nearly nil- The registration costs in Japan to keep one would be astronomical. Might find one in Australia or the UK, but still unlikely.

I was considering an early 70's model, until I found a few. $35K BEFORE importation / transport / Customs / etc. No thanks.

Early 70's Skyline, good luck Greg. They are hard to find for sale. If you can find one, be ready to pay at a minimum 25K easy. Ones in excellent condition I have seen sell for about 65K. I saw one in a Goo magazine when I was looking for a car when I first got here. MINT ALL ORIGINAL no mods Hakosuka (KPGC10) 4DR that went for, and I am not exagerating at all, 12,500,000 yen. Which converts to around 105K give or take a few hundred.

Also, keeping cars registered in Japan isn't the expensive part. It's keeping its bi-annual inspections up to date and the taxes. You are taxed on the engine size of a car. If it were a S20, 2.0L 2000cc engine, it would be resonable. But if it were say an RB26 under there, you would have to pay to get the registration changed to reflect that. And your taxes would go up because you now have a larger engine in the car, which also means you need new plates, and now have to do another sha-ken (the inspection I mentioned earlier.)

The sha-ken is the most expensive part of owning a car in Japan. Parking if you live in an apartment is usually around $50, and if you have a house, with a "driveway", you are G2G. But paying around $3000 every two years just to be able to drive your car can get a little pricey.

And you people complain about smog checks. Try owning a car here, then tell me you hate paying to get your car smogged.

Live in a village baby, I got ywenty parking spots around my house and no parking sticker required! I don't like the way they increase the tax as the car gets older. I tried to reason with them that older cars have more rust and therefore are lighter and cause less wear on the road but they were not buying it.

After looking at the NHSTA pages AZHitman listed, I got into contact with one of the companies that is listed as an RI, and also has petitioned them about importing Skylines. The man I spoke with through E-Mail has claimed that they can legalize the Skylines and that the easiest to do are 93-95s with two airbags, and should cost from $18,000 to $30,000. I'm still keeping in touch with him about his company and their procedures, but I'd like to know what you guys think about them. I mean they sound pretty legit, but its hard to tell for sure, and maybe some of you would also be interested in getting in touch with them, so I thought I'd let you all know.

If they are an RI, approved to import and legalize Skylines, and are in compliance will all NHTSA guidelines, then you're set.

AZhitman wrote:If they are an RI, approved to import and legalize Skylines, and are in compliance will all NHTSA guidelines, then you're set.

But isn't Motorex the only one that has ever fully complied with all that? I see lots of web sites for companies that claim to be able to do all that. Then they mysteriously disappear after a little while....

Hmm I don't know if "Motorex" and "fully comply" should be in the same sentence.

no motorex cheated and were taken off cause they only did the r33 crash testing 95-98 gtrs and they were badging r32's as 33's and such

DJO_MD wrote:The man I spoke with through E-Mail has claimed that they can legalize the Skylines and that the easiest to do are 93-95s with two airbags

.[/QUOTE]

sounds like hes a crock of **** and just wants your money, if he knew anything hed know the 96-98 GTRs were the first with dual airbags.

the 93-95 would be an R32, it most certainly did not have dual airbags, not even 1 airbag for that matter.

i own an R32 GTR, the only active-saftey feature it has is locking seatbelts.

Good info - Thanks impreziv!!!

p.s. Welcome aboard - Pics of the 32? Please?

well the 1995 is when the went to r33 gtr and it did have the option for dual air bags but not many came with it. My 1995 doesn't have it.

acctually now the only federal Legal skylines are from 1/1/96 to 6/30/98 R33 GTS and GTR this is because motorex cheated on there documentation to the federal govermant and said that the R33 was produced from 1990-99 and now we all have to suffer cause of that. so if you want a R32 you must buy 2 cars and have them crash tested first by NHTSA and then you must be a importer able to conform to the fedral chrash test standards of 1989-1994. same is true for a R34 also the laws states that cars over 25 years can be brought in with out any problem

Sean, in that case, I will keep my eyes open for some Hokosuka and Kenmari's for ya!!! I'll take a 10% cut on what you sell them for if you buy one or three...lol

Thank you for not just saying, "if you want a skyline buy a G35"... I hate it when people call the G35 a Skyline. IT'S NOT A SKYLINE. Just a Skyline Body. R34 for life.

l31nismo wrote:Thank you for not just saying, "if you want a skyline buy a G35"... I hate it when people call the G35 a Skyline. IT'S NOT A SKYLINE. Just a Skyline Body. R34 for life.

Last I check the G35 has a chassis code of V35, as does the Japanese Skyline...so that makes the G35 a "Skyline".

You people and your theory's of the Skyline dying with the R34.

I would take a Hokosuka over a 34 any day of the week. Resale on those is, at times, twice that of an R34.

You just validated my point. They share a chassis. The Maxima and Altima share a chassis, are they the same car.....NO! The 350 has the same chassis as the G35, Is the 350 also a Skyline then? Is a 1.8S Sentra the same as an SER Spec-V? Is a Sylvia the same as an American 240SX? Is a Mustang LX the same as a Saleen S281 just because the bodies are similar? NO!!! But by your reasoning my 02 Altima is actually a Maxima, which would actually be an Infiniti I35, so I should stop telling people I own a Altima and call it an I35 instead. Maybe I can sell it for more when I'm ready to by my G35, which according to you is actually a Skyline so then my dream car would actually be that much closer to reality, Gee thanks for clearing that up for me.The skyline has the RB25DETT and the G35 has the VQ35DE. Two different motors. ie...It's not a skyline. There are major differences between the cars. Any purist would know that the G35 is not a damn Skyline. You wanna argue with that? I've got all night, let's see who runs out of facts first..........

P.S. I'm now Selling my 2002 Nissan Infiniti AltiMaxI35 for any form of 350 Z35 Skyline.......... Note the hostile sarcasm.Modified by l31nismo at 7:03 PM 3/11/2006
Modified by l31nismo at 7:09 PM 3/11/2006

Dude - Settle down.

The fact that the same identical car is badged a Skyline in the Japanese market is what makes the difference.

Just like a J30 is a Leopard J Ferie, a Q is a Cima, and an M is a Fuga.

Don't ***** at us, ***** at Nissan.

l31nismo wrote:You just validated my point. They share a chassis. The Maxima and Altima share a chassis, are they the same car.....NO! The 350 has the same chassis as the G35, Is the 350 also a Skyline then? Is a 1.8S Sentra the same as an SER Spec-V? Is a Sylvia the same as an American 240SX? Is a Mustang LX the same as a Saleen S281 just because the bodies are similar? NO!!! But by your reasoning my 02 Altima is actually a Maxima, which would actually be an Infiniti I35, so I should stop telling people I own a Altima and call it an I35 instead. Maybe I can sell it for more when I'm ready to by my G35, which according to you is actually a Skyline so then my dream car would actually be that much closer to reality, Gee thanks for clearing that up for me.The skyline has the RB25DETT and the G35 has the VQ35DE. Two different motors. ie...It's not a skyline. There are major differences between the cars. Any purist would know that the G35 is not a damn Skyline. You wanna argue with that? I've got all night, let's see who runs out of facts first..........

P.S. I'm now Selling my 2002 Nissan Infiniti AltiMaxI35 for any form of 350 Z35 Skyline.......... Note the hostile sarcasm.Modified by l31nismo at 7:03 PM 3/11/2006

Modified by l31nismo at 7:09 PM 3/11/2006

Oh, just for clarification, the 350Z is a Z33, not a V35, so it does not chare the same chassis as the current Skyline and G35 coupe. And the Max is an A33, and the Altima is an L31.

You're facts aren't accurate at all .

Are you just rambling magazine facts. The Altima and Maxima Sub-frames are identical. You can swap suspension components between the 2. I know this because I work on these cars all day long. Unless you've dropped the front cradle on any of these cars your opinions are not valid to me. Maybe to someone else but I know the fact, and that fact is despite the chassis codes these cars are similar but in fact NOT the same which is the point I was trying to make in the first place so instead of trying to critique my writing why don't you analyze the entire point of my senseless rambling. The G35 is not a Skyline.......

The 2003-2006 G35 shares 99% of its components with the JDM "Skyline". Period.

Just because you don't WANT it to be the same car, doesn't make it so.

It's not a GT-R. We understand. We got it. But it IS the identical car to the 2003-2006 SKYLINE. Period.

Quit being rude.

By the way, YOU'RE wrong.

The Altima and Maxima DO NOT share a common front subframe.

The LCA from each car is more than $100 difference in price. They're different parts. That's just the FIRST part I checked.

I apologize if I came across as rude, Sometimes my sarcasm gets the best of me.

Even though it shares components, fact is, it's still not the same. It's not that I don't want it to be, it's just not. Like the Saleen and the Mustang LX. They share alot of the same components but the LX is not a Saleen. And I think the difference is a little less than 98%. Engine and Tranny makes less of a percentage than that. Regardless both vehicles are badass. I just wanted to make my point. Once again sorry for being rude. You guys all rock.

It's all good.

The Skyline and G35 share engine and drivetrain. The emblems, emissions controls, and right-hand-drive are the ONLY differences.

Glad to have you aboard. For what it's worth, I have a G35 Coupe and I ain't putting Skyline badges on it.

Once again I apologize for being a d!ck. Like I said both cars are badass it's just I get frustrated when I hear from customers, "my friends dad has an Infiniti Skyline... bla bla bla." Anyway I still am getting a G35 as soon as my Altima is paid off. Which will be very very soon.