if you want it all and you want it now you're gonna need a summer house abroad
because there are some cars that you can't get in america
the porsche 959 is the grail of banned cars and the product of a unique set of circumstances and
bill gates efforts to get his 1 million 959 into the u.s to find how the law treats banned cars
money makes the rules the world rally championship introduced a no-holds-barred category called group
b that produced insane cars like the audi sport quattro s1 turns out 500 horsepower cars that
can hit a buck 25 in around 10 seconds rushing down forest roads was uh yeah insanely dangerous
who knew it ended quickly had it gone on any longer it would have gotten even crazier porsche
and ferrari were busy developing their own group b rally cars porsche asked its engineers if they
were allowed to do whatever they wanted with the 911 what would that look like it would look like
the 444 horsepower all-wheel drive twin-turbo 959 that wasn't ready for group b before group
b was ended for being too dangerous so the 959 ran the grueling paris dakar rally in one
automotive magazines of 1987 had nothing but praise for the machine and went beyond bench
racing numbers there was also lament since porsche was unwilling to sacrifice four examples for crash
testing and a new law regarding the import of cars not meant for the us market had just taken effect
this didn't deter porsche fan bill gates who bought one anyway only to have it held in
customs for 10 years finally gates and a porsche importer from santa cruz california were able to
get the show and display exemption pass that allowed cars of technological significance
with under 500 examples to be imported for limited use less than 2500 miles a year this circumvented
the crash safety rule but the engine derived from the all-conquering porsche 962 still couldn't pass
smog so it had to be detuned the 959 had a sticker price of three hundred thousand dollars in 1987
but examples these days trade hands for one to two million bucks not all cool cars have cool sounding
names meet the 230 thousand dollar donker vort d8 gto blisterberg edition i'm sorry what donker vort
is a specialty manufacturer from the netherlands founded by jupiter donkerbord they had humble
beginnings continuing production of lotus's first commercial car the super 7. the super 7 was the
personification of lotus founder colin chapman's design philosophy simplify and add lightness it
was a little more than a cosworth engine and a chassis since then companies like donkervord had
added complexity to the formula for donkervorts the end product is the monument to mechanical grip
and horsepower to weight ratio the d8 gto the d8 gto is powered by a turbocharged 5-cylinder
audi engine putting out 375 horsepower enough to rocket the lightweight car to 6d from a standstill
in under three seconds and twice that in just over eight seconds rodentrak's road tester became
convinced that donkerborg translated to grab your gouda because i'm going to murder you in the face
the blisterburg edition was created to set the track record at the blisterberg racetrack
for street legal cars at 1 minute 46 seconds and 12 milliseconds well street legal in
the netherlands and germany none of the 14 examples were available in the united states
owing to its lack of concern for safety comfort or emissions released in 2015 the initial asking
price was around 230 thousand dollars pagani might be considered patient zero for the modern boutique
hyper car makers with their first offering the one million dollar pagani zonda and that's just
for starters the barchetta version of the zonda held the record for most expensive car
with a price tag of 17.5 million dollars before bugatti and rolls-royce said hold my dom perignon
pagani put an exotic wrapper around a well-tuned amg v12 with pagani signature center cluster of
exhaust pipes for the zonda that results in a car that can make it to 100 miles per hour in
and a half seconds the zonda was made with zero consideration for america's strict requirements
down to where the lights have to be subsequent paganis tried to satisfy america's requirements
but are still held up by safety issues this didn't deter wyclef jean who bought one under
the show and display exemption the first aston martin to wear the laganda was under a luxury
sedan from a sports car manufacturer that had a distinct look the very 70s impression of what
the future might look like turns out no there's nothing like the laganda aston martin had revived
the laganda badge to go on a special edition of their 1 million dollar teraf sedan rather than
the elegant drivers cars worthy of a super spy the lagunded tariff is built for people who pay people
to do the driving for them but it's still an aston martin so the chauffeur gets a 540 horsepower v12
under his foot that'll hurdle the giant beast to 195 miles per hour the lagonda tariff is designed
for an exclusive clientele ones who can afford the car's 1 million dollar price tag it was designed
for a market with lots of millionaires who were all in on the conspicuous consumption dubai
aston martin figured that they'd find at least 200 takers but in the end only 120 were made a
total of one has made its way to california under the show and display exemption at lamborghini
of newport beach in 2019 but they wouldn't say where the low mileage example came from
most modern hyper cars are monuments to excess while they boast big horsepower and other
impressive states there's also a focus on exotic materials and luxury touches that are more about
exclusivity than they are usable performance as a result these cars are bought as investments as
most spend their days in air-conditioned garages at roughly 300 000 price tag for a car assembled
by 20 people in a small workshop in england could easily be mistaken for one of these cars that's
more bling than go but that's not the noble m600 it's 650 horsepower comes from volvo and yamaha
its most exotic material is now standard carbon fiber what it does bring is pure race
car performance in a car that can wear license plates as long as they aren't plates from the
united states noble has made no effort to build the car to u.s specs in the states the tbr brand
isn't that well known mostly because the brand itself hasn't sold cars there for a few decades
when they did they joined the ranks of ac and sunbeam by having one of their lightweight sports
cars become a host to a mustang engine resulting in the tbr griffith but since they left the states
they haven't slept british enthusiasts have been treated to increasingly insane offerings
like the 400 horsepower sigaris noted for its wild driving nature while it demands a relatively
modest 100 000 pounds or so the entire tbr brand remains elusive to american buyers tvr flirted
with a return to american markets by placing their flagship tucson in the john travolta computer
heist film swordfish but the exotic sports car was not what people remembered about that film
lamborghini is arguably the parent of supercars in excess when they mounted their v12 sideways
behind the driver in the gorgeous muria but it was the countach that really set the stage it
also made the countach a very hard act to follow but the diablo was up to the task at least when
it came to its 550 horsepower v12 and four and a half second hustle to 60 from nothing but the
diablo attained some of countach's wild looks literally smoothing over the sharp edges porsche
tuner strosek decided what the diablo really needed was a wilder look so the headlights were
changed and the side mirrors positioned higher on the car these cosmetic changes were enough to get
to 202 mile per hour beast banned from american chores for not conforming to safety standards
diablos change hands for up to four hundred thousand dollars today but finding someone selling
a stro sack is a trickier proposition german carl benz invented the internal combustion engine for
cars and since then they've been doing their best to perfect it one of these efforts is another
boutique car maker wiseman who were in the habit of taking already powerful bmw engines and wrapped
them up in attractive sports gt packages with the king of the hill being the gt mf5 sporting a v10
from the bmw m5 good for just over 500 horsepower and the 0-60 dance in just under 4 seconds
that's fast founder wiseman explored the notion of bringing his cars to the united states in
2010 but the expense of modifying the cars to meet us regulations proved too expensive then
producing the cars that all became too expensive when the company went into solvency in 2014.
the brand has been revived in recent years with a new slate of cars including an electric powered
one no word on if these new models under new owners will make the trip across the atlantic
jaguar has established a reputation for gorgeous luxury and sports cars but not so much for luxury
and sports cars that are terribly reliable in the supercar wars that the 959 sparked in the
late 80s and early 90s jaguar didn't want to be left out they had partnered with tom wilkinson
racing to create an imsa gtp car that might be able to dethrone the then king of the le mans at
the porsche 962 as the gtp category began to get phased out jaguar took that partnership with twr
and focused it on a supercar capable of 220 miles per hour just to make sure everyone knew that was
the case they put it in the name hearkening back to their iconic xk 120 and xk150 with so many
supercars vying for attention at the time and the mclaren f1 about to steal everyone's thunder the
xj 220 wasn't the success that jaguar had hoped for but collectors have started to come around
to the combination of luxury and crazy speed even if the 220 miles per hour claim was a bit dubious
jaguar still produced a competition model the xj220c and to meet production requirements
they made a street legal version producing 690 horsepower called the xj220s this was enough to
earn the distinction of the fastest production car in the world with a top speed clocked at 217 miles
per hour only six were made with one making it to u.s shores under the show and display exemption
the regular model had a cameo as one of the cars memphis's crew had to steal and gone in 60 seconds
under the code name bernadine the porsche 959 might be the white whale of the banned cars in
the u.s for collectors of exotic european fare but for those who like their cars with more of
a jdm or japanese domestic market flavor nothing tops the nissan skyline r34 gtr v spec skylines
are legends in the gdm crowd considered by some the best japan has to offer as long as you're in
japan until recently the all-wheel drive beast of a car nicknamed godzilla was never spec for
the us market they couldn't meet smog or safety standards and nissan didn't have enough fate
that americans would buy a six-figure nissan as a hyper performance car so skyline fans had to rely
on show and display exemptions and waiting for the 25-year rule to allow the r-34 to be imported to
the u.s one of the r34's biggest fans was fast and furious actor paul walker who had one of his own
that car has changed hands a few times since then but is estimated to be worth around four hundred
thousand dollars in 2024 the 25-year world kicks in and well-heeled import tuner fans will be able
to begin the process of federalizing the r-34 before there was ferrari there was alfa romeo
in fact enzo ferrari started his racing obsession with alfa romeo before founding his own company
clarkson mayon hammond of top gear and the grand tour figure that everyone should own an alfa
romeo at least once now under the fiat and ferrari banner alfa romeo has been returning to prominence
offering a sports sedan and suv in the us as well as the compact mid-engine two-seater the 4c
the 4c is the little brother of the 8c with the ferrari sourced 440 horsepower v8
introduced in 2010 it was meant for the us market but getting the 8c spider to pass u.s regulations
proved not worth the hassle for the low volume car the 400 000 exotic did make an appearance as
matt leblanc's car in the series episodes british sports car manufacturer morgan has taken the adage
if it ain't broke don't fix it to new heights up until last year their roadsters were built
on the same chassis as they were dating back to the middle of last century the car on top of that
chassis hasn't changed much either looking for all the world like a car that was made in the
30s this reluctance to change has kept the 4-4 roadster from meeting modern safety standards
like its total lack of airbags morgan does have some more modern offerings like the aero 8 that
can be sold in the us the traditional model cannot though morgan has come up with a rather unique
work around rather than updating their updated verse model they started selling them with some
assembly required as a kit car they fall under special construction rules which are more lacks
than those for production cars sneaky there are two different land rovers quite literally actually
the first land rover is the go anywhere off-road british answer to the jeep that fought world
war ii and became the flagship for african safaris the brand changed hands forever and
formed a new identity including inventing the luxury suv market with the range rover
land rover and range rover have been selling those luxury suvs in the states since the 80s
land rover never forgot its go anywhere rugged series roots though that torch was carried by
the land rover discovery and extension of the original land rover go anywhere except
the united states that is from 1993 to 1997 the defender was perfectly legal in the u.s
but changes in regulations became too much for the slab-sided adventurer taking the car from the u.s
until this year when a newly compliant defender once again can be sold in the u.s folks trying to
get around the band were disappointed when customs seized and crushed 40 examples that were illegally
imported with the scarce defenders demanding 100 000 dollars in some cases it must have been hard
to watch renault had less than spectacular relationship with the american car buyer
last seen on the shores selling the quirky and odd renault lakar what american buyers didn't
get to see is renault's crazy side like when they took the lakar the r5 in france and put a
turbocharged engine in the middle where the rear seat used to be to create the r5 turbo that held
up renault's racing efforts in the 80s the r5 le car gave way to renault's next compact economy car
the clio while the clio might not be anything to write home about renault remembered its crazy gene
and went to tom wilkinshaw racing the people from the jaguar supercar and put a 247 horsepower v6
where the rear seats used to be for the clio now driving the rear wheels the v6 cleo sport never
made it to the us for a relatively boring reason reno does not sell any car in the u.s exactly one
did manage to make its way to the states with the more lenient florida registration imported in 2010
and going on sale again in 2017 for around seventy thousand dollars fans of top gear with clarkson
may and hammond might remember their obsession with the toyota hilux namely their theory that
it is the world's most unkillable vehicle the trio subjected their example to increasingly
brutal attempts to end their truck only for it to stubbornly start no matter what they threw
at it with that kind of endorsement you'd think that the helix would be toyota's flagship pickup
and it is everywhere except the united states this time by design at least on the us's part
via something called the chicken tax a 25 percent tariff on various goods including like trucks the
tacoma and tundra get around this by being built in the u.s subaru got around it by putting jump
seats in their brat to sell it as a passenger car thanks to their indestructible nature free chicken
tax models are probably still running somewhere the biggest problem with gray market imports from
japan and the uk is the steering wheel is on the wrong side in order to pass on two lane roads you
have to peek out and then see if your passenger is terrified to know if the coast is clear