Re: Importing an Alfa to the U.S. anybody tried this?

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Jerry,

It *_could_* be done, but at tremendous expense.  Since these would be 
totally nonconforming cars....

Put it this way.  MotoRex in LA is charging $90,000+ for a new Skyline GTR.

That's a $40-45K or so car in Japan.  And I hear they're only making $5-6,000 
per car net profit if that puts it into perspective...

You're talking an investment of roughly $2,000,000 to do it right.

Bill Weismann
Who is working on Bringing LHD COmmodore SSs over.

> I'm curious to hear if any listers have attempted to
> import a modern Alfa or other "non-conforming" car to
> the U.S.  I'm talking about models that have never
> been sold new here.  I see occasionally there are cars
> that somehow get through the system.  One example is
> the Alfa 155 that's listed on Autotrader.com.
> 
> From what I've managed to find on the web the only way
> to do this is to petition the secretary of
> transportation for some kind of waiver.  The NHTSA
> website also states you must obtain a bond for one and
> one half of the vehicles value.
> 
> It sounds like quite a difficult and expensive
> procedure in addition to shipping, smog compliance,
> safety issues and labeling requirements.
> 
> Has anyone ever gone through this with any success?
> 
> Jerry Ecklund, San Francisco

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