1990 Mini Cooper RSP

[mmalleck]

I have a friend working in the UK. He found a 1990 Mini Cooper RSP he'd like to bring to the USA.

Any ideas on how this can be done? The age is okay for the EPA, but too new for the DOT. Can he bring it over and put it in storage until it's 25 years old?

Thanks

Mark

[Cheleker]

When I first started investigating in depth the laws applying to importation, there were exceptions to what we commonly called the 25 year rule. One of them would allow a car into the U.S. for various reasons as long as it would not be licensed for the road -- and without the proper import paperwork that couldn't happen legally anyway. The catch was that a bond had to be posted (I don't remember the amount) which was only returned once the car was exported. We had one car in the club that was imported under that rule.
Laws/rules change over time so you'll need to contact the proper authorities to see what is current.
It's likely to be easier to buy the car and store it in the U.K. until it becomes legally eligible for importation based on its build date.

[mmalleck]

Thanks Chuck. Storage in the UK might be an option. I'm trying to nudge him towards finding an older Mini already in the US.