I ask because of things like this: LHD Impreza for sale (http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/Forum5/HTML/003011.html) http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/frown.gif

-Mike.

Never. The Government is always going to keep us down.

At least we don't have heavy taxes on foriegn cars. How many non-Japanese cars do you see in Japan? Because they have a high tax on imports. We could have it a lot worse than we do. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[This message has been edited by Impreza Rider (edited April 05, 2001).]

i think Jp has more MiniCoopers than even the UK!,kinda like Sweden havin' so many old American classics,the Jp classic car collectors also love Fiats...Abarth has a strong following in Jp

Well if Clinton was still in office all you'd probably have to do is donate some cash to the bastard and he'd arrange for anything you wanted. Otherwise I'd say don't hold your breath. The gov seems to like building weaker powered car with 2mph impact improvements rather then doing it the old fashion way of just educating drivers. You know like the US Air Force's ideas of smarter jets for dumber pilots.

Buck-O:
Before I read your post I was going to say that the Big Three need to keep competition down, or how are they going to sell their sleds??????

<flamesuit>
They'll change when people stop voting for a bunch of goody-two-shoe tree huggers!
</flamesuit>

Or puppets, in the case of Bush.

But, would you have any num-nut be able to bring/build any car without safety inspections? Like following behind an auto smoke machine? I'm not defending the government's carte blanche restriction of anything non-US, but some regulations are a Good Idea.

Trabants for everyone!

Julian

There are standards which specify emissions, safety, and bumper requirements that apply to all cars manufactured for road use in the US, regardless of whether they are manufactured in the US or overseas. You want to call these standards import restrictions?
Whatever.

Yowza,only 15,000 USD(plus shipping & importation)...what MY is "Wreg"?...is there anywhere online to source info for special vehicle importation?...i wonder if you had a big aircargo plane if you could just smuggle it in,know any air pirates?...whats been the biggest LHD market for WRX before us?...sun international might be able to answer some questions,they import Renault R5's,Cossie Escorts etc. ...Do you know Paul Spruell AlfaRomeo in Chamblee,Ga.? he deal Lotus & Lambo,has 'em airlifted to Hartsfield,he may be of some assistance,he's a really really cool cat...

Check out my favorite dealership...a 22b, a P1, a couple of Evo's. They are an import/export dealer.
http://www.parklaneuk.net/

Actually, they are import restrictions. And if you look at a large majority of cars in the US, you will find that alot of them dont meet those impact safty, and emissions requirements, yet companies like Ford, Chevy, and especially Chrysler are allowed to build them.

Why?

Becuase the US automakers have most of the government in their pockets. So they can dictate how the market will flow, and what will be allowed in, by who they influence, in government.

Notice that companys like Mitsubishi, and Toyota, and others had alot of turbo powered cars in the US, all with alot of power, and alot of nice engenering. Then Chrysler had their little lets go bankrupt thing, got their government loan, bought part of mitsubishi, and then paid the load back from mini-van sales, and since then, becuase of their influencing and the money they spewed out, they got people to inact all these rediculas "safty" regulations, that basically banned the importation of every imported vehicle into the US. And by doing that they snuffed out, or at least tried to, the Japanese auto manufactures. Now that the laws are starting to change, and alot fothe stpid restrictions that where placed on the importation of cars is being lifted. We are starting to get some of the nicer cars, liek the WRX for example.

Do some looking into it. And watch how the pattern of import cars has gone, and how it revolves around Chryslers little mid 80's fiasco. Its rather interesting.

Jon [in CT], emissions can be fixed. It has been done numerous times with US cars that have had JDM engine swaps. As far as the other stuff goes... bumpers are a simple inner beam swap to bring them up to US standards and airbags, inner-door beams, etc. are all identical here and overseas. Import regulations are too strict IMO.

-Mike.

EDIT: Buck-O, I agree with you on this one.

EDIT again! The W registration means the car is a MY00!
[This message has been edited by mpaone (edited April 05, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by mpaone (edited April 05, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by mpaone (edited April 05, 2001).]

I think alot of it also has to do with the American public tastes. Ask yourself why there are so few cars with manual transmissions? Even so called "sporty" american cars such as the Grand-Prix GTP don't even offer manual as an option. American drivers don't want performance, they want convience and a soft cushy ride. If there were a market for small overpowered cars that handle like they were on rails, they'd be over here, how many big oafy SUV's or pickup trucks do you see in europe?
-Sean

the car in the ad is Wreg which is MY 00,so that's indeed a damn fine deal...wonder what LHD market it came from?

Oh,i looked at that thread again,it came from Holland...pass the dutchie on the laft hand side!

I was wondering what the emissions were for bikes like Harley and such. I'm not sure how even a stock Harley exhaust can pass legal noise limits. Or is this just another example of government loans gone bad? How can a bike be loud but my car can't?

Well D-Rock, the Yamahas and Hondas also have the same emissions to meet. http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/smile.gif

Good point http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/smile.gif At one time the imports had tougher standards. Well I would still like to know how they can be so loud and get away with it.

The import laws that NHTSA and EPA enforce are crap.

I can go and buy an old junker truck that pollutes more and is not as safe as a 22B, yet the old truck is totally legal.

I imported a 30 year old car that is an environmental disaster (twin Weber carbs) and probably isn't very safe, no scrutiny at all.

The laws should be changed to allow "personal imports" (like Australia and UK have) that you can import but cannot resell for a certain period, and you are limited to the number of cars you can buy.

Glenn