- The US has the thing called the 25 year rule
which means that cars that weren't previously meant
for the US market can be imported after 25 years.
Well, it's 2021, which means
that we can now import cars from 1996.
So we got out a little bit of everything,
a little bit of JDM flair, European cars, Australia.
We've put together a list of the most exciting cars
that you are able to import, today.
I'm James, and this is the D-List.
Before we get into the list,
I just want to say that importing a car
is always gonna be very, very complicated.
It's a messy process,
and each state has their own regulations
that can make registration that much more difficult.
The easiest way to do it is to find a broker
that you can trust.
I'm gonna put the link to a couple of guys
who helped us make this episode
down in the description below.
Also, 1996 was the first year that OBD2
was required in US vehicles
which can make passing emissions even harder.
Okay, so with that out of the way.
- [Announcer] Let's get into it.
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV.
- The Evo has always been a tuner darling
and a favorite among enthusiasts.
We didn't get them in the states until 2003 with the Evo 8.
So the older non US spec models
just had that little sprinkle of fairy dust
that made them just a little bit more special.
Forbidden fruit tastes that much more delicious.
Mitsubishi gave the fourth gen Evo an updated aero package
with sick, huge old, big old rally fog lights
in the front bumper and also got a brand new, bigger turbo
which means a MO POwA BABEH!
First one of the year.
This was also the first Evo
to have something called active yaw control
that controls torque to each individual wheel.
The Evo IV was also the first of the breed
to really lock in some W's on the world rally stage.
So racing heritage, the first three Evos
are already old enough to import,
and we did a bumper to bumper on one a while ago.
But now it's the Evo IV's turn starting
in August of this year.
But James, it's 2021.
I want my Evo now!
It's been 25 years!
Well, you got to slow your roll, boss.
Let me explain something about the 25 year import rule.
It's not as simple as you think.
That's just how laws work.
It's why you have to have a degree to be a lawyer.
This particular law says that the VIN
actually has to be 25 years old, not just the model year.
So even though the car is technically a 1996,
each individual car has to be 25 years old
before you can bring it in.
And the Evo IV didn't start getting built
until August of '96.
So if you have a car from November of '96,
you can't bring it over here 'till November.
- [Announcer] Nissan Stagea.
- In September of '96, Nissan introduced the Stagea
to compete with the Subaru Legacy.
It's kind of like an R33 Skyline station wagon,
which is tight AF.
Subaru came out with the SCI,
so Nissan gave us the Stagea RS Four.
The RS Four was a performance version of this wagon.
And this thing is practically a full-on blastoid, okay.
We're talking all wheel drive.
We're talking turbo.
We're talking RB25.
This is starting to sound like the sickest wagon ever,
except it's not, because there's an even sicker Stagea
called the Autech 260RS.
It's got numbers and letters in it, which means it's sick.
And it came with the RB26DETT,
the same engine from the Nissan GT-R!
It's like Godzilla with a backpack!
- [Announcer] Renault Sport Spider.
- The Renault Sport Spider
is everything you want from a sports car.
And by that, no features at all.
It's got no power steering, no radio, no AC, no trunk.
It doesn't even come with a fricking roof.
The Sport Spider was directly inspired
by Renault's Alpine A110 sports car
from the sixties and seventies
and was a track ready road car.
January of '96 was the first year that the Sport Spider
was made, and it's actually the only year
that this car came with a (beeping) windshield.
It's got butterfly doors, just like a McLaren Senna.
Also, just like a Senna the Sport Spider starts with an S.
It only has 150 horsepower,
but it also weighs only 2000 pounds.
So just make sure that you measure your legs
before you order one of these,
because it looks very small, and there's nothing worse
than ordering a pair of pants that don't fit,
except for ordering a car that doesn't fit.
Next up we have one of the grosser names of any car ever.
The Toyota--
- That's not gross. - Starlet--
- That one actually sounds pretty cool.
- Glanza.
That's right, this car is named the Glanza.
The Glaza V to be more specific,
and it's a bad-ass version of one of my favorite cars,
Toyota's compact city car, the Starlet,
one of the best names ever.
The Glanza came out in January of '96,
so you can get one today.
And it checked every box that you'd want to check
if you're looking for a fun little hatchback.
It's got turbo.
It's got an LSD.
It's got a really fun body kit.
It's like a smaller, hotter hatchier version
of an old Civic.
The chassis of this car did come to the US in 1997,
but it didn't have a turbo,
and it was called the Toyota Echo.
You may remember him.
It's the total opposite of a hot hatchback.
It's a cold hunchback.
The next car is a mouthful of Vegemite.
The HSV VS GTS-R, again, bunch of letters, bunch of numbers,
it means it's gonna be sick.
And it's an even more jacked up version
of the Holden Commodore V6,
and it was only made for year.
This thing, it's like ugly hot.
Under the hood is a beefy 5.7 liter LS1
that the Australians call, The Stroker. (whistling)
And it came with a huge rear wing
and some seriously period-correct, three-spoke wheels.
And most importantly, you could only get it in yellow,
more specifically, XU-3 Yellah!
Holden only made 85 of these buff joeys,
so if you're gonna import one,
you're looking at close to a $200,000 price tag.
All of a sudden doesn't really seem worth it
for a 1996 car with an LS1.
For that price, I think you buy 10 catfish Camaros
and still have enough money for 30 more Camaros.
In 1996, TVR made a beautiful VA powered sports car
called, the Cerbera.
This was the very first car
that TVR put their own V8 engine into.
But, even though you can import a Cerbera
starting this year, it's not the car in this list,
'cause they're actually talking about
a bizarre Swedish copycat
literally called the Jösse Car Indigo 3000.
So basically, there's this dude, let's call him Jösse,
and he looked at what TVR was doing and said,
"Ya, that's what I want to do!"
So Jösse basically went down the Swedish car aisle
in the parts supermarket
and grabbed all of his favorite bits.
He got a 6-cylinder, 24 valve Volvo engine, Volvo seats,
Volvo rear suspension, Volvo transmission,
and a gas tank from (drumming) Saab.
This thing looks like the sports car
for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
And starting in March, my birthday's in March, by the way,
you can snag one of only 44 of these bad boys
that were ever built.
So if you could find one and afford it, get me it...
for my birthday.
(soft music) I wreally, wreally want it. (fake crying)
What do you think was the most expensive Japanese car
that was made in 1996?
Dead wrong!
It was a huge, four cylinder, diesel powered,
military inspired SUV that at the time was $100,000.
It's basically a Hummer H1 for the Japanese military,
and it's called, (electric guitar solo) the Mega Cruiser!
It's got six seats,
which is two more than a wimpy ass Hummer H1.
It's got full-time four wheel drive and four wheel steering.
But even though it's about as bare bones as it gets,
you're gonna have to drop some serious kwan
if you want one today,
like $100,000 worth of kwan.
Toyota technically started making them in 1995
for the military but didn't start selling them
to the public until 1996.
And they only made 133 for civilians.
And you're gonna have to wait 'til October
to bring one here.
I've seen one in person, they're nuts.
- [Announcer] The Lotus Elise.
- The Lotus Elise has been on sale in the US since 2005,
but we never got the first version
that came out in August of 1996.
This teeny tiny, wittle baby car redefine
what a sports car could be.
It was the epitome of the Lotus mentality
of simplify and add lightness.
The Elise was designed to be a four-wheeled version
of the Ducati sport bikes of the day.
It's 25 centimeters shorter than a Miyata, but it's wider,
which made this car one of the best handling cars
in the world.
This is another one that you're gonna want to make sure
to make sure to take butt measurements before buying,
because it's a small boy.
In general, you should just know how wide your butt is
in case you have to escape.
- [Announcer] Mitsubishi Legnum VR-4.
- This one has a gross name too.
I don't get it, Legnum.
But this is another awesome JDM party dad wagon.
And it's a bit of part spin special,
so station wagon version of the Galant.
It shares the same all wheel drive platform
that's in the Evo that I mentioned earlier,
and it's got the twin turbo V6 from the 3000 GT.
Yeah, you can start buying these bad boys in June,
just in time for summer and surprisingly,
it's one of the cheaper cars on this list.
There's a guy in Canada
that imported his for like eight grand.
And just for your info, Canada doesn't have a 25 year rule.
They have a 15 year rule
- [Announcer] But of course, the Toyota Classic.
- I know what you're saying.
This thing isn't 25 years old!
It's like a hundred years old!
Dead wrong, muchacho, Toyota made the classic in 1996
to celebrate the 60th anniversary
of its first passenger car, the AA.
It is, it is, it is, it is in essence a luxury Toyota
built on the chassis of a Tacoma.
(gasping)
Only 100 of these cars were built,
and the original sale price for the car was $75,000,
which seems really expensive for a joke.
And somehow they can be found for around $30,000 today.
I don't know.
The biggest benefit of buying one of these things
is that no one will be driving what you're driving,
except maybe in my favorite show, Downtown Abbey,
where the, which is about a guy
who has a guy dress him three times a day,
so he can eat food with his daughters.
(chuckling)
You know, me, you know, I love me a Golf,
great sport, great car, and to celebrate all of us dubbers,
those wacky Germanites came out with a celebratory model
for their most celebrated car.
I'm talking about the 20th anniversary GTI.
The anniversary special came with red accents,
inherited inspired design elements like red seat belts,
red and gray checkered upholstery,
bigger 16 inch BBS wheels
and a two liter 16 valve, four banger,
also a little red button on the e-brake
that looks exactly like a dog's peepee.
(laughing)
It's a little confusing because the US
also got a 20th anniversary version
of the Mark 4 GTI in 2003,
but that was to celebrate 20 years
of being in the US market.
The one I'm talking about today is a Mark 3, the best gen,
and it was made to celebrate the original 1976 GTI
that wasn't sold in America.
It's very confusing.
Them is German cars for you, boy.
Never seen so many plastic screws in my life.
We have reached the end of the list,
and we've got a real banger for you babies.
It's a Nissan, it's a Skyline.
It's a GTR, aka is the best man in my wedding,
Larry, the cable guy, calls it, the gitter done!
But on top of that, it's a very, very special one
that was only produced in May of 1996.
- [Announcer] The Nissan Skyline R33 GT-R LM Limited.
- In 1996, Nissan entered the GT1 class
at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
with the bad-ass wide body, R33 race car.
It wasn't able to compete with the Ferrari F40s
and McLaren F1s, so Nissan withdrew from the season.
But to celebrate the fact that they tried
at Le Mans, Nissan built 188 LM Limited GTRs
for the public that were directly inspired
by the Le Mans race cars.
They had a vented hood, upgraded front lip,
carbon fiber wing with that gurney flap.
And they only came in championship blue,
even though they quit.
And if you're one of those haters
that says the R33 is just the fat middle child
of the Skyline family, I've got news for you, pal!
The fat middle child is the best child.
They're funnier, and they're more reliable,
because they learn from their big brothers and sisters.
They're wider, which makes them more stable
and better to handle, and because of their shape,
they're more aerodynamic,
and I think they're better looking,
all of which is true in the R33.
I love an R33 Skyline.
I would love one!
I want to give a huge thanks to Jamie Orr and Sean Morris
for really helping us in the research of this video.
We couldn't have done it without you guys.
I'm gonna put the link to both of their websites
in the description below.
Both of them are great.
I actually got my Golf from Orchid Euro.
To find out more about cars we never got,
check out this episode of the D-list.
I love you!