# Could I Import/Register/Drive a Hindustan Motors "Ambassador"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 2, 2010, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-import-register-drive-a-hindustan-motors-ambassador/538014 "2010-05-02T09:53:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Throatwarbler_Mangrove)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-import-register-drive-a-hindustan-motors-ambassador/538014/21 "2010-05-05T04:50:54Z")
> [@](#): > > It looks like that practice is more to save on shipping cost though, not that there’s any particular change in the legal status of the car just by sawing it in half. According to this site: [http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/impo...l#Anchor-13029](http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/impo...l#Anchor-13029) > just removing the engine is enough to make the car an “assemblage of auto parts” instead of a motor vehicle. Even a dissasembled car counts as just a bunch of parts. > > I agree that if you just pull the engine out to bamboozle customs and then plop it back in and drive the car around as-is that’s clearly illegal. However, there is absolutely nothing illegal about importing a car as a parts car, then putting 95% of those parts on a car (or remnants of a car) which is allowed to be in this country. It’s perhaps against the spirit of these laws, but not the letter. This is what the Nissan Skyline guy thought. While you are correct up to this point, what you and he missed is that your “assemblage of parts” cannot ever be a motor vehicle. It is definitely against the letter of the law. [http://www.epa.gov/otaq/imports/kitcar.htm](http://www.epa.gov/otaq/imports/kitcar.htm) > [@](#): > > # The production, sale and importation of vehicle parts (engines, transmissions, chassis, vehicle bodies, etc.) are not regulated by EPA because parts are not considered motor vehicles under the Clean Air Act. However if the parts constitute a disassembled vehicle or an approximate disassembled vehicle, the combination is considered a motor vehicle under the Clean Air Act. Any attempt to use this policy to circumvent the Clean Air Act or the Imports regulations will be considered a violation of the Clean Air Act and will be strictly enforced. An example of such circumvention is: > > ``` > * A kit car maker who also provides the engine and transmission before or after production/importation of the body/chassis. > > ``` This is what the letter you get from the DOJ looks like: > **[Feds Seize Illegal Nissan Skyline GT-Rs In Cali - Jalopnik](https://www.jalopnik.com/5371967/feds-seize-illegal-nissan-skyline-gt+rs-in-cali/)** > > After warning letters were sent to owners 60 days ago (below), teams of Kevlar-armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers are seizing grey market Nissan Skyline GT-Rs imported by Kaizo according to GTR USA Blog. Below, why it happened. > [@](#): > > (Note that you can also import cars for display or racing or off-road use, so again, it is not an absolute fact that you cannot set foot in this country with a non-EPA/DOT compliant vehicle) Sure, but hopefully you understand that when they say “for display or racing or off-road use”, that is literally what they mean. If you show up at the border with a detailed itinerary of what racing series your VW will be competing in, your documentation from the FIA or applicable motor sport sanctioning body, logbook for the car, support trailer, with the car fully stripped and caged, and are otherwise actually going to be racing, then yeah, you’ll probably be OK. Or if you represent a big car company like Volvo with all the documents and requirements **Rick** referrs to, you’ll be OK. It’s a little more involved than just promising the customs agent that you won’t drive it on the road. If you have to even ask then you probably aren’t eligible. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-import-register-drive-a-hindustan-motors-ambassador/538014/22 "2010-05-05T16:28:50Z")
> [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](#): > > This is what the Nissan Skyline guy thought. While you are correct up to this point, what you and he missed is that your “assemblage of parts” cannot ever be a motor vehicle. It is definitely against the letter of the law. The difference is that Skyline guy was actually assembling new cars, whereas what I’m describing is just massively updating an old car. Assuming it is legal to import parts for non-us spec vehicles (which it appears to be, although the NHTSA site does not make that clear), it would be no different than building a highly customized classic car with domestically-procured aftermarket parts. ---
**Author:** ![Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Throatwarbler_Mangrove)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-import-register-drive-a-hindustan-motors-ambassador/538014/23 "2010-05-05T16:59:19Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > The difference is that Skyline guy was actually assembling new cars, whereas what I’m describing is just massively updating an old car. Assuming it is legal to import parts for non-us spec vehicles (which it appears to be, although the NHTSA site does not make that clear), it would be no different than building a highly customized classic car with domestically-procured aftermarket parts. The fact that he was attempting to assemble a kit car is not the issue. Assembling kit cars is not against the law. There are companies like Noble that do this - import a car body from another country and then assemble it in the US as a kit car. The difference between them and you/the Skyline guy is that their car bodies were never cars and thus are legitimately car parts. Your car is a car and to turn it into car parts you would need to do something drastic enough to convince Customs that it will never be a car again, like cut it in half. What you do with the VW after it comes into the country is neither here nor there. You are still substantially going to be importing a motor vehicle and driving it in the US, which isn’t allowed. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-import-register-drive-a-hindustan-motors-ambassador/538014/24 "2010-05-06T01:03:49Z")
> [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](#): > > The difference between them and you/the Skyline guy is that their car bodies were never cars and thus are legitimately car parts. Your car is a car and to turn it into car parts you would need to do something drastic enough to convince Customs that it will never be a car again, like cut it in half. Except that presumably in Skyline guy’s case, assuming he didn’t smuggle them in, the Skylines with no drivetrain _were_ auto parts as far as customs was concerned. He evidently got them into the country with no problem, he only ran into troubles after they were reassembled into working cars. > [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](#): > > What you do with the VW after it comes into the country is neither here nor there. You are still substantially going to be importing a motor vehicle and driving it in the US, which isn’t allowed. No, you’re importing a bunch of auto parts and putting them on a car which is allowed in the US and only has to meet the regulations of its year of manufacture. Obviously there is some sort of limit to this (you probably couldn’t just put the valve stems from a Z-car on a Skyline and call it a Datsun for instance), but where you make the distinction between putting new parts on an old car and making a new car is definitely a gray area. For what it’s worth, the prevailing wisdom among the VW community that just driving up and registering a Mexi-Beetle leaves you at risk of having it seized by the feds (which does happen from time to time), whereas putting a Mexi-Beetle on an old VW pan is perfectly legal and I have never heard of one of these being seized. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-i-import-register-drive-a-hindustan-motors-ambassador/538014.md?page=1)