6G Celicas Forums

stupid question, why wont the gov. let gt-four's in without getting the panties in a bundle?

Because they haven't been built to conform to US DOT laws.

IE: Headlight alignment. Just ask anyone who has bought JDM projectors. They should be adjusted for LHD use as to not blind oncoming drivers.

oo ok, sounds like a bunch of crap if you ask me

From what I've heard is in order for any car to be registered in the US the chassis (or a North American equivalent chassis) has to have gone through certain crash/safety testing in North America.

At the time, Toyota didn't have a comparable base chassis stateside for the DOT to have already passed...and they certainly aren't going to go through the money and trouble now 15 years later.

All other RHD cars that have been legally imported have an equivalent North American counterpart chassis that has been tested (so I've been told)

hmm i hate it, i would love to have a gt-four sitting in my drive right now.

I read a HUGE write up on a company in California that were importing R33's legally. Then they got busted for importing R34s and registering them as R33s and R32s. I think because of them thats one of the main reason cars are hard to import legally. I know there are still long ways around it like buying from Canada and all that. Or doing the kit car and saying you made it yourself as a replica, but that will still take forever to do. And i think in my own opinion that by the time you imported one legit and paid customs and all that to get it registered you could have just converted the GT to AWD and just slapped on the GT4 front end and a nice paintjob. Wouldnt be quite the same but it would still look and preform about the same.

Me and my wife bought our old 5th gen Celica from a dealer who bought it at auction in Canada. On the Carfax it showed up as being totaled in Canada. there wasn't a single scratch on the car though, I looked everywhere.

your guys best bet is for someone to create and sell a kit with templates and everything needed to make ur self a gt4, then buy a front clip ur awd parts and astank and trunk floor and go to town. ther was a build on here a guy was in the middle of doing this building cross members and he quit. he was on to something...be a good cash cow for someone for sure if they took the time and money to do it, then for about the right price you could have your gt4. or suck it up and move to canada, it aint bad we have sweet bacon, maple syrup, great tasting beer and all the jdm cars you can shake a stick at

You can already modify your car to look like a gt-four with genuine parts - the awd engine swap is the hard part, and costly part if you don't do it yourself.

Or, there's jmeyer's method.

The beer and the cars are enough to convince me! Isn't the drinking age 18?

? i know u can modify your car to look like one? im taking about if someone came up with a kit with templates of what to cut and to mark out were to weld ect ect along with a detailed step by step and a parts list and you would be set.
and yes legal age is 18 or 19 depending on location, we start early

pss early try Ecuador ur legal as soon as u can walk to the store and buy it

now back on topic this is what is happening to some skylines that were brought as kit cars http://jalopnik.com/5371967/feds-seize-ill...e-gt+rs-in-cali
being impounded and sold export only

I contacted a company that goes through importing cars and this is what the head of their department sent me.

Mr. Guiffredo

Unfortunately, with regards to this vehicle, the US Department of Transportation has a firm position on the requirements for importing RHD vehicles.



Per DOT, "The DOT has determined that there are differences between right hand drive (RHD) vehicles and left hand drive (LHD) vehicles. The fact that most manufacturers do not manufacture right hand drive vehicles for the U.S. market means that the manufacturer has not performed U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) certification testing for a RHD vehicle. We recommend that any individual interested in importing a RHD vehicle into the U.S., request information from the U.S. manufacturer's representative that specifically identifies that the RHD version of the non-U.S. vehicle would meet the same Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards as the LHD version of the vehicle." This letter must be on Manufacturer letterhead and refer to your vehicle directly by VIN number. However, it is highly unlikely that the manufacturer will be willing to provide such a letter if they have not made a vehicle of this model for sale here in the states.



Without this documentation, we will be unable to do the conversion work on your vehicle without crash testing.



US DOT will require that at least one additional identical vehicle be imported for the purposes of crash testing. There is no guarantee that the crash test data will meet the standards of DOT.



Sorry I do not have more positive information.



Thank you,

Gina Benitez



Wallace Environmental Testing Laboratories, Inc.

2140 Wirtcrest

Houston, TX 77055

Phone: 713-956-7705

Fax: 713-956-0104

so basically if you want to import a rhd celica, you would also have to import a second one for crash testing which you would also have to pay for. It's a pretty penny, and it would have to pass the crash test in order to get one here. It's an extremely pricey process. Your best bet would do an awd conversion and 3s swap.

yep, it's all been said and done. just not worth it. unless youre loaded.