RE: Size of FIAT

["Shorey, Brian P." <ShoreyB@domain.elided>]

	<snip>
> >Everybody is waiting on "FIAT" to bring their cars back into the US.
> If it
> >were not for our strict importation laws, there would be private
> companies
> >(or individuals) bringing these cars in left and right. Bill Gates
> tried to
> >import a *limited* production Porsche into the United States a few
> years ago
> >and failed. The reason was because the US DOT (or whoever has control
> over
> >this) said that an identical car must be crashed tested to prove it
> was
> >safe. The trouble was there were only 2 cars built! I never heard the
> >outcome of this story so I don't know what ever happened.
> 
> actually, there were 200 of the porsche 959's built.  bill gates and
> another ms founder bought three of them, one for each and one to
> crash.  then they got into a mode of not wanting to crash such a rare
> car, and were trying to convince dot to allow the cars based on
> computer crash modelling.  i don't know what the outcome was, however
> i remember that the two 'keepers' were in neutral territory storage
> off san diego, and the crash car was driven in the seattle area while
> it was waiting to see what would become of it (i actually saw it once,
> or a really good replica).
> 
> >Most people in other countries don't realize this. We don't have the
> luxury
> >of bringing non-certified cars into the country even if we can modify
> them
> >to meet US requirements.
> 
> yes we do, it's just not worth it.  plus, you can pretty much import
> anything you want, you just can't register and drive it on public
> roads.
> 
> <snip>
> 
> >So there is hope yet. Maybe if the U.S. government relaxes the laws
> on
> >importing autombiles, maybe someone will decide to become the next
> FDR jr
> >and bring FIATs back to the US.
> 
> i think it will get interesting 3-5 years from now when the europeans
> and americans have the same crash and emissions standards.  with no
> extra expense to certify a car for sale in the us, new channels should
> open up for importation, including private individuals who aren't
> afraid of dealing with their own parts acquisition.
> 
> 
> just as a sidebar, i always wondered what the big deal was wrt crash
> testing.  i can understand requiring strict adherence to emissions
> laws, but if bill gates wants a porsche 959 with 2.5 mph bumpers
> instead of 5 mph bumpers, and fully understands the implications, and
> is willing to assume the personal risk, and can afford the extra
> insurance premium, then why can't he have one?  yes, certain aspects
> of safety are important, such as bumper height to ensure that it won't
> cause undue damage to another party involved in a crash, but who cares
> how the car itself holds up?
> 
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> 
> James Seabolt -----> mailto:jseabolt@domain.elided
> Webpage: http://pages.preferred.com/~jseabolt
> ICQ # : 7344463
> 
> United States
> 
> 1980 FIAT 2000 Spider (injected)
> 1981 FIAT X 1/9 (Injected)
> 1994 JEEP Wrangler (2.5l )
> 1976 Chevrolet Pickup (454 Big Block)
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