Re: Importing

["David B. Serafini" <dbs@domain.elided>]

> Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2001 17:55:20 EST
> From: Rosso75@domain.elided
> 
>   Gotta be a way around that too.  The few times I was at SIR there was a guy 
> with a Lotus Elise.  There are probably a few people here that know more 
> about that car than I do, but the story I got was that it's a nonconforming 
> vehicle that is used almost exclusively on the track.  He just gets a 3 day 
> trip permit on Friday, drives the car to the track on the weekend, then puts 
> the car back in the garage when the trip permit expires.  If it was 
> compliant, I would imagine he would have registered it, and obviously it 
> wasn't crushed.  Anybody know how that car found its way here?
> 
> Bryan Carter
> Olympia, WA

I saw one of these at a car show a few years ago, and the guy there told
me that a fair number of Elises were imported strictly as race cars.
My understanding from him and other sources is that this is quite legal.
There's a direct exemption in DOT/EPA regs for cars that aren't going
to be driven on the street.  The model doesn't have to be approved by
DOT or EPA, no crash tests, doesn't have to meet any US regulations.
As a result, the car can't be titled or registered for street use.

I think this is pretty accurate (although the Lotus guy also told me
he'd have street-legal Elises for sale a couple years ago, which we know
hasn't happened), so I won't claim it's the last word on the subject.

-david
86 GTV6, San Jose, CA

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