** We do not provide import/export services. This guide is for information only. **
The R34 Nissan GT-R is a venerated sports car coveted by enthusiasts everywhere. We know that it’s currently illegal to own one in the United States until at least 2024, when the first R34s will be legal to import under the 25 Year Rule, but that doesn’t stop enthusiasts from looking for loopholes. It’s especially tempting to buy one just over the border in Canada any day of the week.
But can an R34 be imported legally? Are there any legal R34s in the United States? Why wasn’t it sold here in the first place? Can you just drive one over?
Incidentally, the answers apply to almost any car that is less than 25 years old but was never sold new in the United States.
Let’s find out more.
Why is the R34 Nissan Skyline Illegal in the United States?
For any vehicle to legally come to the U.S. it must first meet federal requirements regarding emissions and crash safety. That’s something Nissan never did with the Skyline until the R35 generation, and that means all variants of the R34 generation – including the venerated GT-R – will be illegal to drive in the United States until they are at least 25 years old.
Thanks to long-standing classic vehicle laws, cars that are ineligible for importation and registration in the United States remain so until they are 25 years old. Since the R34 was produced from 1999 to 2002, that means the first legal sales of R34 Nissan Skylines in the United States will occur in 2024. After that date passes, the process of importing the car from Canada is actually quite simple.
Why Can’t I Just Drive One Over From Canada?
You certainly can… if you're a Canadian resident. However, the car can only stay in the United States for one year and must enter the country when you do.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection:
Nonresidents may import a vehicle duty-free for personal use up to (1) one year if the vehicle is imported in conjunction with the owner's arrival. Vehicles imported under this provision that do not conform to U.S. safety and emission standards must be exported within one year and may not be sold in the U.S. There is no exemption or extension of the export requirements.
Because the R34 Nissan Skyline was never sold in the United States, it was never required to meet our safety and emission standards, so it cannot be imported by driving it across the border from Canada until it reaches 25 years old.
If you tried doing this with a car that was originally sold in both the United States and Canada, that limitation wouldn't apply and you would be able to import it simply by federalizing the car in any way necessary, even if the car wasn't yet 25 years old.
Can an R34 GT-R Be Imported Under Show and Display?
Very few can.
The only R34 GT-R variants eligible for importation before 2024 are 567 examples that were federally approved for importation through the Show and Display Rule. This exception only applies to the 1999 Nissan GT-R V-Spec painted in Midnight Purple II, of which 282 were produced, and the 2002 Nissan GT-R M-Spec Nur, of which 285 were produced.
These specific models were chosen by the U.S. government for their historical significance: the Midnight Purple V-Spec is a limited edition from the very first year of R34 production, while the 2002 M-Spec Nur is a limited edition from the very last year. No other road legal GT-R examples can be imported under Show and Display, and even those 567 cars would be severely limited on mileage and overall use cases until the 25-year window opens.
If you happen to have one of those cars, check out this guide on how to import and register them in the United States written by an R34 owner in the US.
Some Company Says They Can Import an R34 GT-R?
Many people think cars aren’t legal to import if they are right-hand drive, but that’s not what causes problems. In fact, Subaru sold a postal version of its Legacy in the United States that was RHD and other brands did too.
For a car younger than 25 years to come into the United States, the car must meet EPA, DOT and NHTSA guidelines – for all intents and purposes, have been sold new in the United States – unless it meets the conditions of the Show and Display Rule. Some companies advertise that they can get a regular R34 into the United States through this rule, but that’s not true and anyone advertising that is most likely a scammer.
What if I Import an R34 and Just Never Drive It?
Now you’re asking the right questions! Turns out that is not only legal, but it’s pretty common. There has long been a grey area for cars destined for track use or display and storage only.
According to NHTSA guidelines, it is legal to import an R34 into the United States before 2024 for track use only, meaning it can’t be registered or driven on public roads. Doing so requires express permission from the NHTSA and that the car be converted to track use only prior to importation. The car could then be converted and registered for road use as soon as it is 25 years old.
Of course, that doesn’t stop people from driving R34s on U.S. roads today. It features anywhere from 280 to 500 horsepower and can achieve power up to 1,000 BHP, which means this beauty can hit over 200 mph on the highway, something some rebellious drivers in Los Angeles, Miami, and rural Texas do on a regular basis while claiming to be in Mexico.
What if I Manage to Get Plates?
Okay, so let’s say someone didn’t read any of that, and they tried to import an R34 GT-R before 2024. What would happen?
It’s a common belief that if you can get a license plate for something that makes it legal. This simply isn’t true, even if you go about getting the plate and title through legal channels. You’ve still imported something that was illegal and you’re still breaking the law by driving it. If you got caught, the car would likely be confiscated and crushed.
What Happens if I Get Caught?
It might seem logical to drive one over the border and head to a state like Florida with less restrictive titling laws, except doing so is illegal. It could even be a felony, and even the intent of selling it could be illegal.
You might also think you can drive it late at night on secluded roads and never have a problem. Again, not true.
Bottom line: if a car doesn’t meet federal regulations, it will most likely get confiscated and crushed and the people who imported it could face jail and hefty fines. That’s right, crushed. And that doesn’t come with a refund.
How Did Some R34s Get Here Already?
One of the ways people have brought the R34 into the United States before 2024 is directly from Japan. They have them disassembled and shipped in a container, then they reassemble them stateside. Of course, this isn’t the only way they get into the country. Many shops also bring them in from Canada or Mexico through illicit means. Those means are rarely legal except for the aforementioned NHTSA track car clause.
An importer called Motorex used to help people import R34s by engineering them to meet federal guidelines, but as time went on the US Department of Transportation rescinded importation eligibility and the Motorex cars became the stuff of legend. Since then, there has been no official way to import a Nissan Skyline R34 for road use in the United States.
What About All These R34s on Craigslist?
Let’s pose a scenario. You illegally import your R34 into the United States. You want to get a plate on it, so you find some back-alley business that offers plates and commit a felony quicker than you can say “Too soon, Junior!”
Or maybe you actually walk into your local DMV and walk out with a plate. Rural DMV employees can’t be expected to know what an R34 is, right?
Those are some of the only ways an R34 GT-R can end up on Craigslist in the United States, and none of them come with guarantees of legality.
The important thing to remember is, just because you managed to register a car doesn’t make it legal according to the United States government. At any time, your beloved R34 Nissan GT-R could be crushed up into a cube if you drive it on the road. That’s right - that registration could be rescinded.
What’s the takeaway? Don’t illegally import cars from Canada, or Japan, or anywhere! You might not like the laws, but you don’t want to face the penalty for breaking it. You aren’t going to drive any fun cars behind bars – just wait until 2024.
What About GT-Rs That Are Already Here? Can They Be Resold?
After some shady practices from dealers helping customers modify their cars to conform to U.S. standards, the NHTSA revoked all importation certifications regarding the R32, pre-1996 R33, and R34 - including the ones allowing Motorex to thrive - and stopped considering any new requests for importation on a mass scale.
Every time a new company attempts to skirt around the laws, they just seem to anger the Feds more which leads to stricter regulations.
I Found One for Sale!
First off, you probably didn’t. Fake R34 ads are as old as time itself and are almost always scams. The rest of the time they are vehicles that can only be driven on the track.
If you find a car that was already imported by Motorex or another company using current or prior loopholes, the US government may have issued a bond release to legalize it. These cars aren’t entirely compliant with federal regulations, but the authorities seem to look the other way. Motorex GT-Rs are the only mass-imported legal roadgoing R34 Nissan GT-Rs in the United States besides the very few Show and Display cars.
You better do a ton of homework to make sure the car you found is actually road legal, because roadgoing GT-Rs are almost nonexistent in the US.
Can You Federalize an R34 GT-R?
The process of getting a car to pass United States emissions and safety standards is called federalization. But even if you could modify an R34 (or any other grey market import) to meet U.S. regulations, you would be looking at a hell of a lot of work, and the car would most likely still not be legal to import given the high-profile nature of the R34 in the eyes of the law.
The entire car would need an OBD-II system which is a huge challenge to retrofit. Furthermore, the pre-1996 R33 doesn’t have a passenger’s side airbag as standard while none of the R33s have a driver’s side airbag at all, and while that’s not true of the R34 it’s representative of the type of thinking that goes into federalizing a car.
Can some companies do it? Not that we know of, so you best have your guard up against scams. Plenty of people have had their money disappear while trying to import an R34.
Final Thoughts
Barring any change in the laws, you’ll be able to drive the first R34 Nissan GT-R on United States roads legally in 2024. Until then, it simply isn’t worth the risk to circumvent the government and smuggle one over the border. It’s going to do you no good once you’re sitting in a prison cell while your car is sitting in line to be crushed. Our opinion? Save yourself the hassle and get an Acura NSX in the meantime.
** We do not provide import/export services. This guide is for information only. **
If you find yourself in need of a title for an imported grey market vehicle, come to us at Dirt Legal. Dirt Legal provides titles, license plates, and registrations for legally imported vehicles through our Imported Vehicle Titling Service as well as domestic vehicles and just about anything else with wheels. Pair with our LLC Formation Service for a tax-free experience and add our Automatic Registration Renewal to keep things hassle-free and eliminate the DMV altogether. Click the button to learn more.
We are not attorneys. This article is not legal advice. Cover image source
If a car qualifies for the Show and Display Rule, it may be granted limited use on public roads of up to 2,500 miles per year. The NTHSA reserves the right to approve importation but disallow the car from being registered.