"This giant post was typed, simply because it will answer all the questions everyone seems to ask me about Skylines in the US. If you have any additional questions, inquire below please. It will save me time and hopefully you'll learn something!



Im going to start this off very blunt; Skylines are illegal. Period.



There are 3 types of Skyline legal-wise; MotoRex cars (Legal-ish), Kaizo cars/Kit cars and State-Legal cars (Gray-market). There is also swapped-VIN cars but thats nowhere close to being legal.



After 25-years past production date, any car is legal for US Importation. The older of the 'Modern GTR' is the R32, which was earliest produced in '89. Older R30s/R31s and the popular Hakosuka ('67-'70), Kenmeri ('71-'74) and Skyline Japan ('75-'79) can be imported without an issue.



R33s of the '96-'98 model years are the only ones legal, this excludes late '94 and '95 R33s because they didnt have a passengers side airbag. Those were the ones crashed tested by MotoRex. On top of aquiring the car, you must install internal door-door bars (No typo) and a under-dash crash bar along with 2 additional catylitic converters to have the car 'legal'. The internal chassis work must be done by JK Technologies located in Baltimore, MD and only touch the specific legal R33s and charge $26,000 for the conversion alone. It is a monopoly because they are the only company issued by the Federal goverment to do these conversion on the R33s. Even then, the RB26 was never equipt with OBD2 (And since only the '96-'98s are legal, and '96 was the first year for federal mandatory OBD2 use in all NTSHA approved vehicles) it still isnt 100% legal.



Most Skylines are 'State Legal' cars, meaning they will comply with Maryland ect. laws but not Federal laws or Cali laws because the NTSHA + CARB (National Transportation Highway Safety Administation) never crash tested, never smog tested and never had restraint systems tested to pass as a production car for road use in the US. These cars are usually brought in via Canada, and are in the worse condition simply due to the fact that any car can be imported into Canada after 15 years and the younger crowd is trying to bring in the cheapest Skylines possible from Japan so they can own there dream cars for as cheap as possible. It is up to the Customs at the border to allow the car to pass through or not, so it is at risk of the buyer to get the car across without seizure.



MotoRex was the first to attempt to import Skylines between '03 and '05. MotoRex brought in 15 R33s from Japan to crash test them and find out what improvments were needed and where. They really started on the wrong foot with the NTSHA because they were sneeking uncrash-tested R32s and R34s into the US and calling them R33s. (Not too mention that they got lazy and stopped 'converting' the cars for legal road use anyways). Luckily, those R32s and R34s that MotoRex brought in were US Bonded dispite not being crash tested, and are Federal legal and 49 state-legal (Yes, Cali denied the provisions to regester the MotoRex Fed Bonded 32s and 34s). Ofcourse, they go for a healthy sum of money and are the MOST LEGAL (Not 100% legal) of Skylines.




Kaizo Ltd. imports Skylines as 'kit cars' because the federal goverment cant stop a vehicle coming into a port without a engine (Its considered a parts car). They reassemble the car and sell it under a new VIN and model name like: Kaizo 32GT-R, which is obviously just a Nissan Skyline GT-R R32 chassis. Due to its popularity, its thrown a GIANT red flag up for the Feds and a letter was sent out to every Kaizo car owner saying they must turn their car within 60-days, before it is confiscated and crushed. The letter contains the name and VIN number of each Skyline imported by Kaizo and contact info to the person sending out this letter if needed to be reached. Because of this, despite Kaizo cars being technically more legal then a State-Legal car it is easier to own a state-legal car due to the lack of headache with the lawsuit and the confiscation letters.





Link to letter: http://vehicleimport.blogspot.com/20...r-60-days.html



There is also the 'Off-Road use or Show' car route, but these cars can only see 2,500 miles a year or less. One problem is, that the engine still has to meet EPA requirements, which the RB26 doesnt and must have the original engine that was equipt in the car from the factory with matching numbers. So that rules out kit-cars being regestered as show cars, and if the slim change of being granted one, they are strictly monitored.




This is because of some Ferrari-collecting asshat on the CARB (Cali Air Research Board) is leading the entire "anti-Skyline" movement, and stops every one possible at the California ports. Its has been documented that he lets grey-market Ferraris and other Super Cars go through.



There is a lawsuit going on, Kaizo vs. CARB filed by Kaizo in defense to the owners of Kaizo cars, but this is a looong drawn out process that has been going on for almost 2-years and there is no say in who is going to win. This lawsuit will decide the future of all Skylines being imported, or the end of it all.




There are MANY horror stories about Federal agent knocking on peoples doors and confiscating cars on the spot. No Skyline has been crushed, they all sit in a holding yard on US Goverment property until the desicion is made on what to do with them.




Obviously, swapped VIN cars is a Federal offense and stupid illegal. These owners own what is simply called a 'Black-market Skyline'.



To insure one of these cars, many insurance powerhouses like State Farm, Gieco, Progressive ask for DOT-papers stating the car is Federal legal. Insurance would have to be based upon stated/agreed value, which can still be denied. These is the other issue that the car was never approved by the NTSHA, so you were were hit, or hit by someone else, that driver can sue you for driving a car that was never NTSHA crash-safety tested (This applies to the R32 and R34). So insurance companies try to avoid these cars, but there are cases where gray-market cars do recieve a policy.



So yeah, legal Skyline?...never going to happen.

Mike"