I don't know about Canada but the US import laws are very stringent.  Basically it can only be imported if the vehicle was sold in the US for the same year of production.  For example, you could import a 1990 BMW 5 series but you would need to convert it to 1990 US specifications.  You cannot do the work yourself either.  The work must be completed by a government certified conversion shop.  I've heard that the conversion work (change out glass for DOT glass etc) can easiliy run past $7000.  I'm not sure if this applies to vehicles from Canada but this is the rule for vehicles coming from Europe.

For something like the Jimny, you could never import into the US until it was basically 25 years or older.  Then all the DOT requirments can be waivered.  That's how I got my Beetle in.  Since it was nearly 50 years old at the time, it went right through customs despite the fact that it is euro-spec (no turn signals etc)

There are some shady ways of getting vehicles in (VIN swaps) for LWB Samurais and that works because most people don't recognize the difference between the SWB and LWB versions.  However, if you have something that was never sold in the US and does not meet US DOT/EPA standards...well you can pretty much forget it until it is 25 year old.

Actually, it's probably about crashworthiness.  I doubt most of those Jimnys have dual air bags, side impact beams, and are made to USA impact standards.

Most auto makers, world wide, use US/Cali emissions standards and the OBD-II computer system in their modern cars.  I doubt emissions is the problem.

I can't make a comparison between Euopean crash standars (ENCAP) and uS standars but the Jimnys sold over here do have side impact bars and dual airbags. They are most certainly OBDII and I too doubt if they would have any problems meeting the emissions standards.

I can't say either on the Euro vs US crash standards.  I do know that when GM brought the Holden Monaro over as the Pontiac GTO a few years back the crashworthiness stuff was the major obstacle.  Although they sell those in Pom, don't they.

If a S.M.ART car can be made street legal in the us....anything can.

Bring it over the canadian border in two peices, take the body off and unplug all conectors then make a trip for the frame and runing gear, then it turns into a parts car. i dont know if it would work but then you would prob have to do some kit car title or old vin swap. I was trying to figure out the process and i quit after i got a head ache from sitting on hold with different agencies. you have to first get a letter from the manufacturer saying it meets all standarts for the U.S. then if anything needs to be changed, it has to be done at a custom shop. i called suzuki but never accually got ahold of the import person. i talked to a few reps but gave up after i began to realize the only way is the illegal way.

yea, I would like to import one of those someday as well. that or a coil sami

wicked stuff

The Jimny was kind of the continuation of the Samurai, theyve always been called Jimnys in Japan...... WHy the hell Jimny, I dunno.   If Samurais never left the market, thats what they would look like.   That video is nuts, It looks modified, but not super modifed and it went through all that shit!   Id love to have one too, they look like Mini Hummer H2s....... but arent for grocery getting and rap videos.

i like it too, did you look at this page? http://www.suzuki4x4products.com/nl/monsterjimny.htm

here you can see what they did, just look at the pictures like i did -i don't understand much of it

Quote from: Tracker_Camps96 on April 20, 2006, 02:48:42 AM

The Jimny was kind of the continuation of the Samurai, theyve always been called Jimnys in Japan...... WHy the hell Jimny, I dunno.   If Samurais never left the market, thats what they would look like.   That video is nuts, It looks modified, but not super modifed and it went through all that shit!   Id love to have one too, they look like Mini Hummer H2s....... but arent for grocery getting and rap videos.

i like it too, did you look at this page? http://www.suzuki4x4products.com/nl/monsterjimny.htm

here you can see what they did, just look at the pictures like i did -i don't understand much of it

that is an interesting 3 link those have, 2 solid links on the bottom with a panhard bar instead of having 2 fully free moving links on the bottom and a 3rd link that's A arm like up top... very interesting, that thing looks super easy to lift

but also expensive, those modifications done on that car boost expenses with 1/3 on a new car

Quote from: Tracker_Camps96 on April 20, 2006, 02:48:42 AM

The Jimny was kind of the continuation of the Samurai, theyve always been called Jimnys in Japan...... WHy the hell Jimny, I dunno.   If Samurais never left the market, thats what they would look like.   That video is nuts, It looks modified, but not super modifed and it went through all that shit!   Id love to have one too, they look like Mini Hummer H2s....... but arent for grocery getting and rap videos.

i like it too, did you look at this page? http://www.suzuki4x4products.com/nl/monsterjimny.htm

here you can see what they did, just look at the pictures like i did -i don't understand much of it

I do, because I'm Dutch 8-). Dieter is a nice guy to do business with ( sadly his father - the other half of D&G - died last week, so work has no priority for now ). Great stuff, these Jimny's, theye are still on the "expensive" side of "wannahave" for now, better wait a coupe of years

hello Nitromax!
sorry to hear about dieter's father.

i must say that i'm a big fan of you'r FunZilla, really like that car!
nice informative website you got there, been regularily checking in to see what's new.
any news/upgrades after the flipover?

If you want a cheap Jimny you can buy my mates one, he did this on the weekend.

Wow .  Any story behind that?

Sucks for him, hope he made it out alright.

He came up to a hard left downhill corner too fast cliped the inside of the corner got it sideways rolled the front drivers side tyre off the rim then crossed it up again rolled the rear passenger tyre off the rim then speared into the dirt wall spun around and hit the back.
"NO INSURANCE"

The ARB bar looks alright but it seems to be sitting to one side a bit. No insurance    that's got to hurt.