Importing vehicles into the US.

May 8, 2006 11:34 AM

What does it take to import an older vehicle into the US?

My brother is interested in importing a Land Rover from the UK to the US. The ones he is looking at were made in the early 1970s and were used mainly by the British Military. The impression I get is that if the vehicle is older than 25 years it no longer has to meet appropriate to year federal crash standards but anything newer would have to. Has anyone actually gone through this? I imagine there must be some paperwork to complete for customs. Any information would be appreciated.

posted by 6550 to travel & transportation (4 comments total)

This might be a good starting point
posted by buggzzee23 at 12:12 PM on May 8, 2006

There are plenty of Series III Land Rovers in the US already, your brother may want to investigate buying one that has already been imported. Regardless of where he buys it, he should check into Land Rover owner's groups and shops in the area he plans to drive it. They should be able to help out with some of the logistics, plus they will be useful for obtaining service and parts.
posted by b1tr0t at 1:06 PM on May 8, 2006

I think that this is correct. I don't know the exact age and I don't know the specifics of which laws do or don't apply.

I have a friend who used to ship crates (shipping containers) of Vespa and Lambretta scooters to the U.S. This was because the US Division of Vespa was pretty much shut down by the stringent emission requirements in California. But yeah, all of these scooters, as well as a bunch of Vespa "Apes" and Fiat 500s all cleared customs fine, even though none of them would pass any crash test.
posted by zpousman at 2:51 PM on May 8, 2006

Thanks for the answers. The particular Land Rover he wants isn't common in the States which is why he's considering importing one.
posted by 6550 at 2:55 PM on May 8, 2006