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please read carefully what I have written below it will give you a idea of what is and is not legal, and how in my opinion to comply with the US laws, it might save you a lot of time and money. I am not an attorney and do not give legal advise.
Right now there is a lot of illegal Defenders coming into the united States direct from England and also through Canada, These people say that they rebuild Series into Defenders, but really they just put some parts together or transfer the vehicle Serial number from a series to a Defender and tell customs that it is over 25 years old. US Customs has caught on to people doing this and they are inspecting and impounding these vehicles and requiring the importer to produce records, which they can't. I know of a 110" defender sitting 1 mile on the other side of the Canadian border, the guy in the US paid $18,700 for it and there it sits, it has been there for 5 years not, US customs says it will be impounded if an attempt to import it.
When you see a Defender on Ebay or on the internet with no roll cage or it is Ex-military, you can bet that it is illegal, most often it was brought into the united states by a foreign national and attached to their passport, these vehicles MUST Leave the United States each year and then be re-imported, these foreigners drive the Defender to Canada or Mexico each year and then import it again and again it is attached to their passport, they have to title it in the state that they live in in order to pay state taxes, so they have a state title, However if they sell it on Ebay and take a plane out of the country, the defender then must also be exported and if it is not, The US Government will come pick it up and cut it into many small pieces.
I get called or hear about someone who has had their vehicle impounded and facing criminal charges for buying a illegal Rover, this is on the increase. The people trying to sell you a illegal Rover do not care what happens to you once you buy it, and they will also lie to you about the vehicle. Lastly US customs now knows the difference between a Series and Defender and will impound a defender that has a series title.
You can import a vehicle into the US over 25 years old, I am working with a man in California that has two 5 door one is a 1980 and the other is a 1982, However he can not title them or drive them on the highway since the EPA will not certify them as meeting smog regs, To meet US EPA emissions controls, they will have to be sent to a EPA certified test facility and they may or may not meet, but the cost will be over $80,000 either way.
This will be the same process in 2009 when the first Defenders reach 25 years of age and can enter the US legally, you will be able to import them and pay duty but without the EPA emissions certification they will never be titled and driven on any road. However they will make nice lawn ornaments for you residence,
ALSO MOST IMPORTANT the US department of Transportation is informing US insurance companies that these imported Land Rovers do not meet SAFETY Specifications and therefore they DO NOT have to cover them, so if you are involved in an accident you insurance company will not have pay, there is a man in Atlanta GA, that lost 2 million dollars in a judgment against , when his 110" got into a accident and the US DOT on their own contacted the attorneys.
You can import a pre 1993 Land Rover defender 5 door 110" into the United States and drive it on road, if you send it to a bonded auto shop in the US who will change out the engine add all the emissions controls and then find a complete roll cage and other safety equipment, they have to warrantee the smog equipment for 13 years, they then will certify that it meets US regs, last I heard they charge over $25000+ for this service and the English company that was making the roll cages for the US defenders is no longer making them, which is now making it a tricky to obtain certification for safety. Then you will have to pay 25% duty to US customs when the Defender is released , over the years I have had several of these defenders, they usually cost $80,000 or more when done than the NAS ( North American spec, legally imported ones). Really there is only two ways to "rebuild " a Defender here they are;
IN order to re build a Defender 90", 110" or 130" legally, first you can buy a wrecked or non wrecked legally imported Defender 90" or 110" ( called NAS) and rebuild it into a 90, 110" or 130" using a new frame and parts from at least 14 different Defenders , If you go this route, you will have to make sure it has all the original safety roll cage and it must meet smog regs, which means it will only get at best 12-14 mpg and you can not put a turbo diesel engine or any other engine in a NAS defender 90" or 110", it will not meet smog regs. However you may put a diesel in a 1993 NAS 110" and have it tested in most states it will meet emissions, the reason is that in 1993 Rover tested and certified a turbo diesel engine for the 110" but choose not to bring any in.
The second and only other legal way is to buy and then rebuild an older Series rover into a Defender 90", 110" or 130", By first purchasing a older Series Land Rover (1960-1974) and then by re-framing it with a 90", 110" or 130" rolling chassis and putting a New Defender body, (5 door or 4 door pickup ect). on it and using parts from many different Defenders, right now the DOT says you must use parts from 14 different vehicles, you do not have to keep any of the older parts if you do not want, every part can be from a new Land Rover stock or from used defenders, they just have to be from many ( over 14) different defenders. It will always be registered as the Series Rover you started with. If you do chose this path some of the benefits are that you can have any engine and transmission combination you like a 300 turbo diesel, since you are rebuilding an pre-1974 vehicle you do not have to meet smog regs,
There is no such thing as registering a Defender as a "KIT CAR" this has been tried and is not legal.
CALL 406-965-3266
Big Sky Rover
Box 1542 Great Falls, Montana 59403
Tel: 406-590-4259
FAX: 406-965-3266
Internet:
roverguy@montana.com
EMAIL:
ROVERGUY@MONTANA.COM
