Quick question in Reality
- Thread starter PeterF
- 14 comments
- 699 views
- 24,439
- United States
- GTP_Jordan
- GTP_Jordan
Hey Peter, welcome to GTPlanet! 
I remember hearing something like that not too long ago, but I can't be for sure, maybe someone else can confirm or deny it. That must be pretty cool to live that close to their official headquarters - do they offer tours of their facilities?
I remember hearing something like that not too long ago, but I can't be for sure, maybe someone else can confirm or deny it. That must be pretty cool to live that close to their official headquarters - do they offer tours of their facilities?
TVRs dont have any airbags or side impact bars. This means they may fail any US safety laws that exist too.
TVR in Blackpool may well offer tours. I will find out today. If they do I might even go.........
I just looked at www.tvr.co.uk
They don't mention tours. Check the site out for yourself. TVR Power seems to be based in Central England, as does it's racing establishments.
TVR in Blackpool may well offer tours. I will find out today. If they do I might even go.........
I just looked at www.tvr.co.uk
They don't mention tours. Check the site out for yourself. TVR Power seems to be based in Central England, as does it's racing establishments.
- 223
yeah wtf is that
- 209
CARB stands for California Air Resources Board. They make stupid decisions that affect how cars are sold in the US and how they are made. For exmaple,m they almost banned Deisel engine VW's in NY and CA.
Anyway, If the TVR's are banned anywhere it's probably NY and CA. There are safety requirements in the whole of the US but I don't think airbags are included. The bumpers and impact ratings are. You could probably import a TVR and get it road level in any state apart from NY and CA, again because of emissions. It would be a lengthy process, however.
Anyway, If the TVR's are banned anywhere it's probably NY and CA. There are safety requirements in the whole of the US but I don't think airbags are included. The bumpers and impact ratings are. You could probably import a TVR and get it road level in any state apart from NY and CA, again because of emissions. It would be a lengthy process, however.
- 19
They're not legal in the USA for several reasons.
First among them being that TVR hasn't certified them for sale with the Federal Government because it has no interest in selling them here.
But beyond that there are a number of other things that keep the TVR's out - lack of side impact beams, bumper and light height not in line with federal regulations, lack of air bags, lack of On-board Diagnostics III systems, and other things that new cars are required to have.
You could get a TVR and privately import it to the United States, but the cost of making it legal would be astronomical. More than a Skyline GTR, which already costs around $40,000 to "federalize."
First among them being that TVR hasn't certified them for sale with the Federal Government because it has no interest in selling them here.
But beyond that there are a number of other things that keep the TVR's out - lack of side impact beams, bumper and light height not in line with federal regulations, lack of air bags, lack of On-board Diagnostics III systems, and other things that new cars are required to have.
You could get a TVR and privately import it to the United States, but the cost of making it legal would be astronomical. More than a Skyline GTR, which already costs around $40,000 to "federalize."
- 173
hey man...thats a possibilty ....emmissions laws are different from other countries
- 19
Well, actually, they will let you - but you have to do it on the Government's terms.
If you wanted to import a car, this is what you'd do -
Purchase the car and have it shipped to the port closest to the nearest Registered Importer.
When the car landed, EPA, DOT, and customs bonds would be issued for the car. If the car was not made compliant, the bonds would be revoked and the car would have to be deported or crushed.
RI's are shops that are licensed by the Government to modify and inspect non-conforming cars and turn them into federally-compliant cars.
Now - the RI's can charge you as much as they want - the Government doesn't prevent them from price fixing because they want to keep personal imports out. For a brand new car, the RI's job might cost $20,000 or more. For an older car, it'd be less - as the engineering and modification required will be less.
A 1979 Citroën GSA or a 1980 AlfaSud might only cost a couple thousand dollars to import.
A New VW Lupo GTI or a five-year-old Nissan Pulsar SSS is big bucks territory due to the complexity and the stringency of the requirements.
The RI would do their thing and demonstrate compliance to the Government, at which time they'd let you have the title and the bonds on the car would be lifted. Then you would be free to go register it.
The things that really put an end to personal imports were the repealing of the personal import exemption (one person was free to bring in one car and that's it, with no regulation, one time) and the adaption of the On-board-diagnostics laws. OBD-II and OBD-III are very expensive systems to engineer onto a car not designed for them.
Even before OBD-II, it wasn't cheap to import a car. A company called CXA imported Citroëns to the USA in the late eighties and early 90's - and when the Citroën XM came along, they had to add around $18-22,000 to the price of the car to cover the cost of certifying it - meaning that what was really a $30,000 Citroën became a $58,000 Citroën - and the market appeal was much less. They sold fewer than 25 of them.
This brings me to my last point - manufacturers and their north American representatives are unlikely to be helpful. CXA had to fight Automobiles Citroën in France and Peugeot Motors of America every step of the way and their efforts were done in the face of objections from the factory. The manufacturers don't want to be involved with what could be costly long-term parts and liability questions.
People have gotten around this through shady methods, but this is the legal way.
If you wanted to import a car, this is what you'd do -
Purchase the car and have it shipped to the port closest to the nearest Registered Importer.
When the car landed, EPA, DOT, and customs bonds would be issued for the car. If the car was not made compliant, the bonds would be revoked and the car would have to be deported or crushed.
RI's are shops that are licensed by the Government to modify and inspect non-conforming cars and turn them into federally-compliant cars.
Now - the RI's can charge you as much as they want - the Government doesn't prevent them from price fixing because they want to keep personal imports out. For a brand new car, the RI's job might cost $20,000 or more. For an older car, it'd be less - as the engineering and modification required will be less.
A 1979 Citroën GSA or a 1980 AlfaSud might only cost a couple thousand dollars to import.
A New VW Lupo GTI or a five-year-old Nissan Pulsar SSS is big bucks territory due to the complexity and the stringency of the requirements.
The RI would do their thing and demonstrate compliance to the Government, at which time they'd let you have the title and the bonds on the car would be lifted. Then you would be free to go register it.
The things that really put an end to personal imports were the repealing of the personal import exemption (one person was free to bring in one car and that's it, with no regulation, one time) and the adaption of the On-board-diagnostics laws. OBD-II and OBD-III are very expensive systems to engineer onto a car not designed for them.
Even before OBD-II, it wasn't cheap to import a car. A company called CXA imported Citroëns to the USA in the late eighties and early 90's - and when the Citroën XM came along, they had to add around $18-22,000 to the price of the car to cover the cost of certifying it - meaning that what was really a $30,000 Citroën became a $58,000 Citroën - and the market appeal was much less. They sold fewer than 25 of them.
This brings me to my last point - manufacturers and their north American representatives are unlikely to be helpful. CXA had to fight Automobiles Citroën in France and Peugeot Motors of America every step of the way and their efforts were done in the face of objections from the factory. The manufacturers don't want to be involved with what could be costly long-term parts and liability questions.
People have gotten around this through shady methods, but this is the legal way.
- 747
Wow, I didn't know those stations would do that much to a car, IE OBII to somthing without etc. Interesting stuff to know, thanks..
