Moon Shot: The Race To Legally Import R34 Skylines To The US
Image credits: Rivsu Imports |
Back in 1962 when a lot of us were
still dirty thoughts in our parents' minds, President John F. Kennedy
stood in the middle of Rice Stadium in Texas and spoke those
now-immortal words: “We choose to import Skylines in this decade
and a few other cars, not because it is easy, but because it is hard,
because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our
energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are
willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we
intend to win!”
Well, maybe I
misquoted that speech a tad but hey like I said, I wasn't around
then. Anyway, just like the race to put the first man on the moon
back in the sixties, importing Skylines and other JDM cars has been
an effort that's seen many difficulties. Only now, with R32's turning
25 years of age is it becoming easier. Just like the launch of
Sputnik in 1957 fueled the dreams of space amongst the common man,
the first legal Skylines in the US in over a decade have ignited a
frenetic interest in JDM cars among gearheads of all walks of life.
As I posted about a few weeks ago International Vehicle Importers is trying to bring in
what's often considered the Holy Grail of JDM hardware, an R34
Skyline GT-R, and the lucky buyer will have to fork up a pretty penny
for it. Just a smidge under fifteen million pretty pennies in fact.
That's a huge sum by most any measure but one that may not seem
unreasonable for a car that was the first and only one to be
available in over a decade.
Having mentioned JK Technologies, please don't bombard them with calls trying to get more info about these cars. Due to the hush-hush nature of their importation business they won't comment on any cars they're legalizing without the express consent of the owners. Take it from me 'cause I called myself and was met with that response.
IVI will be trying
to make their car California-legal, which will be an advantage to the
right buyer with money to spare. On the other hand Rivsu won't have CARB certification on
their cars but in exchange the costs and complexity of legalization
should be much lower and an R34 imported through them will still be
available to buyers in 48 out of 50 of these United States (Hawaiians
are likely to still be left out in the cold – or heat – as well
because of their crazy local laws).
Also to reiterate what I've mentioned before but some people still seem to be confused by: all these Midnight Purple II R34s will be street- legal, they'll just be limited to 2500 miles a year due to the Show or Display limitations. If you're reading this and happen to not be up to speed on the ins-and-outs of JDM car importation I'll refer you to my importation guide linked here: One Shade of Grey
Also to reiterate what I've mentioned before but some people still seem to be confused by: all these Midnight Purple II R34s will be street- legal, they'll just be limited to 2500 miles a year due to the Show or Display limitations. If you're reading this and happen to not be up to speed on the ins-and-outs of JDM car importation I'll refer you to my importation guide linked here: One Shade of Grey
Who'll be the first
of these two experienced groups to fully legalize an R34 remains to
be seen. But just like the moon landings of the sixties the race will
be one for the history books. Ultimately the victors will be the Skyline and GT-R fan community at large because this means that one of the greatest performance car creations ever cooked up in the Far East will finally return to our shores as a legal immigrant. Rejoice everybody, because it's happening!
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Here are some additional photos Rivsu provided to me of the first two cars they're bringing in for y'all to drool over (I've already done more than my share of that). Since they first informed me of these cars they've also found another one to import so at least three fully-legal R34s will be making their way to the States through their efforts.
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