How is this car legal?

With all the BS in the last several years about importing Skylines, you can finally import first year R32s legally. However, I was going through my Instagram feed and there is one fellow Corvair owner that I follow and he is a big stance guy. I guess he does alignments on a lot of the stance cars and he posts them on his feed. It's the usual VWs, Civics, etc.

Then this pops up today:

So how is this R33 legal? When I asked, I was told it's one of the only legal R33s in the US, but that's all I was told. How is that possible? How are people getting around the laws, while many of us can't have cars we want?

Maybe it was retitled as an older car?

i thought the r33 was the only one that the bonehead import company actually got legal via the crash testing and stuff. so it might be one of the ones they legally imported before the SHTF

r32's are vw's correct?

plance1 wrote: r32's are vw's correct?

In this case r32 is a JDM Nissan.

In reply to plance1:
If you're a VW guy, sure.
For everyone in the Japanese import scene it's a Skyline.
(Specifically 89-94)

Here's how it works. MotoRex- The dopes that got busted and got all the skylines squished- actually Federalized several r33s. The reason they got BUSTED is they started fudging a lot of paperwork and didn't fed them all. Likely that car has either been blue vinned in MN, or it came in from florida as parts. I think Montana could do it at one point too. I almost bought one out of Vancouver the same way.

I like that license plate

HappyAndy wrote:

plance1 wrote: r32's are vw's correct?

In this case r32 is a JDM Nissan.

Actually, that's an R33, this is an R32 GT-R:

Isn't it technically a BNR33?

Because technically correct is the best kind of correct.

In reply to mndsm: According to local gearhead lore, some r33s also came into PA as "parts" too. There is a local dyno shop that has a pic of one on their dyno from sometime in the early 2000s. The dyno guys said everything about that car, and its owner was extra sketchy.

There was a company that pushed a few R33s through due to a loophole before the loophole was plugged. That was the rumor at least.

mndsm wrote: Here's how it works. MotoRex- The dopes that got busted and got all the skylines squished- actually Federalized several r33s. The reason they got BUSTED is they started fudging a lot of paperwork and didn't fed them all. Likely that car has either been blue vinned in MN, or it came in from florida as parts. I think Montana could do it at one point too. I almost bought one out of Vancouver the same way.

Was that the one at Weissach? The dealership bought it in parts and reassembled it. It was a lot of money for not much I thought.

So wait..

They align Stance cars?

mndsm wrote: Here's how it works. MotoRex- The dopes that got busted and got all the skylines squished- actually Federalized several r33s. The reason they got BUSTED is they started fudging a lot of paperwork and didn't fed them all. Likely that car has either been blue vinned in MN, or it came in from florida as parts. I think Montana could do it at one point too. I almost bought one out of Vancouver the same way.

Close, but no cigar. We've been over this before with links to the DMV And NHTSA sites. MotoRex fully and legally got the R33 GT-R Skyline Federalized for importation. The bust, shut down, and car crushings were because they imported R32 and R34's as well, with no federalization, claiming that they were essentially identical, which they are not.

Any importer can bring in an R33 free and clear.

These two are my buddy's. I think he drove 'em in from Canada. I am pretty sure they are illegal, and yet they are registered, and none of the police around here seem to care.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: With all the BS in the last several years about importing Skylines, you can finally import first year R32s legally. However, I was going through my Instagram feed and there is one fellow Corvair owner that I follow and he is a big stance guy. I guess he does alignments on a lot of the stance cars and he posts them on his feed. It's the usual VWs, Civics, etc. Then this pops up today: So how is this R33 legal? When I asked, I was told it's one of the only legal R33s in the US, but that's all I was told. How is that possible? How are people getting around the laws, while many of us can't have cars we want?

In the 90s there was a company that imported them "legally". They did the same thing with a handful of Escort Cosworths. They totally redid them for US legality, supposedly. I say supposedly because their company was shut down by the government and the majority of the cars were seized and destroyed and i believe the owners were in jail. They are incredibly dangerous to own because the government can come at any time and destroy the cars and people are usually warned not to buy them.

The really crazy thing about them is that they are stupid expensive. Like i've seen them sell for as high as $80,000.... for a GTS-T! Meanwhile in Japan you can get a R33 GTR for like $10k.

Any importer can bring in an R33 free and clear.

This is not the case. The car would need to be converted which isn't "free and clear" as it would require a lot of money to convert it.

I dont get it though. Why does the government make it such a big deal? You can build a car to this level easily enough. The biggest reason they weren't allowed here was for emissions, I thought, which can easily be made to comply to our standards. I guess the fact that they are RHD too. But still, whats the big hubbub about?

In reply to Desmond:

I've seen this before as well. There used to be a really nice R32 Skyline GTS-T I would see a lot just over the state line in New Hampshire. It had NH plates, a good inspection sticker, etc.

I once almost bought an engineless JDM Galant VR-4 with the intention of swapping my rustbucket Eclipse's engine in it, but I was concerned about the practicality of RHD for everyday use. The VR-4 was imported from Japan to Canada, then imported into Wyoming before making its way to Massachusetts. There was no VIN trickery but the title was still with the old owner in WY, which seemed odd to me. MA registry and inspection laws are much stricter than NH which finally scared me off for good.

Desmond wrote: I dont get it though. Why does the government make it such a big deal? You can build a car to this level easily enough. The biggest reason they weren't allowed here was for emissions, I thought, which can easily be made to comply to our standards. I guess the fact that they are RHD too. But still, whats the big hubbub about?

Well it has to do with the 80s. Back then people would buy a EUDM Porsche or Mercedes because the foreign cars were far superior to what was sold here. It's been called the "mercedes rule" because it was made to benefit domestic sales of euro cars.

Also Canada and the USA both use the US's standards for cars where most of the rest of the world, including Japan, uses Europe's which is why they can import freely between the countries.

There used to be a really nice R32 Skyline GTS-T I would see a lot just over the state line in New Hampshire. It had NH plates, a good inspection sticker, etc.

The car was either cut and rebuilt or registered in a way that defrauded the US government taking advantage of people at the DMV who don't know wtf they are doing.

I find that of people who've I asked that the 2nd case is ALMOST ALWAYS the case. Like someone registered a Pulsar GTIR who I finally made contact with and he said they just registered in, in Nevada, as a "1991 Nissan" leaving model blank. I ask any competent DMV worker here, I called Carson City asking about it, and they all say that would be illegal. The Jalopnik GTR guy did the same E36 M3. Both bought the car on this side of the border from Canada. Both are illegal.

kanaric wrote: In the 90s there was a company that imported them "legally". They did the same thing with a handful of Escort Cosworths. They totally redid them for US legality, supposedly. I say supposedly because their company was shut down by the government and the majority of the cars were seized and destroyed and i believe the owners were in jail. They are incredibly dangerous to own because the government can come at any time and destroy the cars and people are usually warned not to buy them. The really crazy thing about them is that they are stupid expensive. Like i've seen them sell for as high as $80,000.... for a GTS-T! Meanwhile in Japan you can get a R33 GTR for like $10k.

There was another company in the US that tried importing Alfa Romeos in the late 90s - early 2000s that got busted hard for that. Autodelta was its name, and I think a few of the cars they sold slipped through the cracks (one 166 appeared on Bring A Trailer). The rest were seized. The owners moved back to Italy and are considered fugitives.

IDK the story behind the Escort Cosworths but I do know all the imported ones were LHD models and none of them were crushed and you see them for sale occasionally for exorbitant sums. Like $20k-$30k. In a couple years you could buy one from the UK for like $8k and have it imported lol.

Sun International is the importer for them, different company than the Skylines. I HEARD because of Sun you could import an Escort Cosworth and have it be legal but I also heard most people register them as a USDM Escort GT which is illegal.

The safest thing to do is import cars that you KNOW are legal. 25 years and older. Plenty of good stuff is legal now, or VERY soon to be, so no reason to import cars where the legality is questionable.

IIRC you can import Sierra Cosworth 4WDs now. R32 GTR is has legal dates starting in August. R32 GTS-T has legal dates starting this month. Mazda Familia GTR has legal dates this year. Pulsar GTIR next year. Audi Urquattro has had legal days for years now, same for Delta Integrale. No reason to pursue an illegal car.

edit: As far as the OP. If you like the R33 GTR, if that's what you want and not the RWD GTS-T, most people agree the R32 is better anyways and they will be legal and 10s of thousands cheaper than these cars that were imported in the 90s. If you like the GTS-T you can do a RB30DET build in a R32 GTS-T, have money left over, and destroy that car for what you would pay.

nocones wrote: So wait.. They align Stance cars?

lolol

Well it has to do with the 80s. Back then people would buy a EUDM Porsche or Mercedes because the foreign cars were far superior to what was sold here. It's been called the "mercedes rule" because it was made to benefit domestic sales of euro cars.

It was cheaper to buy a Mercedes in Europe and ship it here than it was to buy the same model from the US dealer. The law was designed to protect Mercedes USA and their dealer network.

That is also why Mercedes in particular, for a VERY long time, would not sell parts or service for grey-market cars. They wanted to discourage the hell out of the practice.

The grey-market cars I've seen were not particularly superior. They were pretty much the same except for the bumpers and lights. And you could get engine combinations that you couldn't get here, like six cylinder SLs. (And yes it is even slower than a 450SL)

Knurled wrote:

Well it has to do with the 80s. Back then people would buy a EUDM Porsche or Mercedes because the foreign cars were far superior to what was sold here. It's been called the "mercedes rule" because it was made to benefit domestic sales of euro cars.

It was cheaper to buy a Mercedes in Europe and ship it here than it was to buy the same model from the US dealer. The law was designed to protect Mercedes USA and their dealer network. That is also why Mercedes in particular, for a VERY long time, would not sell parts or service for grey-market cars. They wanted to discourage the hell out of the practice. The grey-market cars I've seen were not particularly superior. They were pretty much the same except for the bumpers and lights. And you could get engine combinations that you couldn't get here, like six cylinder SLs. (And yes it is even slower than a 450SL)

Well in the number of cases the bumpers were considered better looking and the cars could have significantly more power than the USDM version as well as not having things like 85mph gauges and could have aerodynamic or shaped headlights.

Porsche 928 is a big example I can think of. Early 80s EUDM 928 could have 300hp. In the US it was only 2/3 of that. It goes from being overpriced boat to a respectable car. Then there's examples like the 500SEL.

Sometimes the weigh differences could be well over 100lbs as well. In the E28 this is a seirous difference as well as the >30hp difference in the M30 and M88

As far as engine choices that was a serious difference, like you said. If people imported 80s Japanese cars there would be some VERY serious differences in choice.

On top of that you could get Hartge BMWs and all sorts of things.