Particularly for those with any awareness of foreign cars for instance, the typical Road & Track reader. Newly enacted U.S. emissions and safety regulations choked the performance of cars sold here, while shrinking R&D budgets limited consumer choice as big manufacturers certified fewer models and engine families for sale. Meanwhile, several smaller foreign brands bowed out of the U.S. market entirely.
For many years, those who wished to partake in tasty automotive hardware sold elsewhere had three basic choices. They could (1) expend considerable effort and sums "federalizing" noncompliant cars from abroad, (2) emigrate, or (3) lump it.
Then, in 1988, came a quiet thunderbolt: the Imported Vehicle Safety Compliance Act, also known as the 25-year rule. An amendment to the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, it “exempts non-conforming foreign motor vehicles that are 25 years old or older (‘classic or antique’) from the restrictions imposed by this Act.” It was accompanied in due course by a maddeningly non-harmonizing regulatory amendment from the EPA that permitted the entry of non-emissions-compliant machinery at least 21 years old.
The effect of the rules would not be realized for some years, but beginning in the late Nineties, the amendment’s impact became apparent. Forbidden fruit—Alfa Romeo Montreals, late-model Fiat Dinos, MGB GT V8s from the early Seventies— could be imported to America for nothing more than the price of purchase, applicable duties, and shipping fees.
この記事は Road & Track の August - September 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Road & Track の August - September 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
REMADE IN JAPAN
ON A MISSION TO HIGHLIGHT THE COUNTRY'S FINEST ARTISANS, BUILT BY LEGENDS PIECES TOGETHER THE GREATEST-AND MOST EXPENSIVE-SKYLINE RESTOMODS EVER BUILT.
CREASE MONKEY
HOW GIORGETTO GIUGIARO'S FOLDED-PAPER ERA DEFINED THE SEVENTIES AND BEYOND.
WOULD THE REAL INTEGRA PLEASE STEP FORWARD?
A comparison between a 2001 Type R and the all-new Type S reveals much about motoring, then and now.
HUMMER. REBORN
After more than a decade, General Motors' profligate son returns.
THE V-8 BENCHMARK
The E39-generation BMW M5 has been the sport-sedan icon for over 20 years. Can Cadillac's CT5-V Blackwing measure up?
BABY BLUE
The Mazda Miata gets better without changing much at all.
INSANE BROTHERS.FROM OTHER MOTHERS
The Lamborghini Urus Performante presents with symptoms of Completely Bonkers first seen in the Nineties GMC Typhoon.
NO RESERVE
BRING A TRAILER'S ONLINE AUCTIONS ARE TRANSFORMING HOW COLLECTOR CARS ARE SOLD.
Going, Going, Gone
The generational shift that's redefining what a collector car is.
LET'S GET DIGITAL
TO EVOKE PROTOTYPE RACING'S RADDEST ERA, A CLASSICALLY STYLED CHRONOGRAPH WON'T DO