Re: importing

[George Graves <gmgraves@domain.elided>]

The short answer is you can't.

The long answer is that MOST recent Alfas one sees in this country 
since Alfa left in 1995, and older Alfas one sees here occasionally 
which were never imported even when Alfa did sell to these shores come 
from people who have emigrated to this country and who owned said Alfas 
as their private property when they came here. These cars are exempt 
from complying with anything save individual state smog laws. Some 
belong to diplomats, of course, and they too are exempt from US safety 
regulations AND local smog laws.

Other than that, there are two ways to for an American citizen to bring 
the cars in:

1) Import it yourself, pay the importation bond to US Customs at the 
car's port of entry (100% of the car's worth -as THEY calculate it, not 
what you paid for it), and sign the paper agreeing to bring the car up 
to full US specs in 180 days from the signing. Failure to do so will 
have Customs officials on your doorstep in 181 days to confiscate said 
car to have it crushed. Oh, yes, need I mention that you forfeit your 
bond under this circumstance? I thought not.

At any rate you CAN'T make it comply, so don't even bother to try. Why? 
Because Alfa Romeo has never made US approved glass, running lights, or 
impact absorbing bumpers for these cars and having these things 
fabricated is simply out of the question.

2) Go to a professional gray-market importer. They MIGHT be able to 
find a way to bring the car in. But be prepared for disappointment 
-modern cars are notoriously difficult to bring into compliance due to 
their complexity. If they do find a way to get around this stuff (they 
know loopholes in the laws that you and I don't), be prepared to pay a 
50-100% premium over the FOB selling price of the car for the privilege.

There is one other way..... If AutoDelta USA EVER gets their act 
together and starts selling some Alfa models under their name, you will 
be able to buy a current model V-6  Spider, a V-6 GTV-6 Coupe, or a 166 
sedan but without the name Alfa Romeo on it anywhere. Be prepared to 
pay about US$45,000 for the Spider, US$50,000 for the Coupe, and 
US$60,000 for the 166 sedan. This is about 30-40% MORE than these cars 
cost as Alfa Romeo's in the EU. Then you have the enthralling project 
of buying badges and logos and door sills etc. from European sources to 
turn your US legal beauty BACK into an Alfa Romeo.

I hope this answers your questions.

George Graves
'86 GTV-6


On Saturday, Jan 4, 2003, at 17:44 US/Pacific, alfa-digest wrote:


> Date: Sat, 04 Jan 2003 13:15:30 -0500
> From: "Ryan Kundrat" <ryankundrat@domain.elided>
> Subject: importing
>
> So I'm sure this has been beaten to death, but can anyone point me in 
> the
> direction of some information regarding importing non-us spec cars (ie 
> a
> 156 sport wagon...)  I saw that white 155 in New Jersey listed on eBay 
> a
> few weeks back. How did that get here?  How is it legal? Thank you. 
> -Ryan '92
> 164S 74k
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