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Originally Posted by tvacc
...but I have not been able to find a law written anywhere that really says that if you import parts...that you cannot assemble those parts with a US legal engine and tranny and get it licensed
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There are a lot of relevant regulations that I've found. Most of them I've lost the links to but here are the results of a quick search. The is from the EPA, but DOT has similar language as well.
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4.The production, sale and importation of vehicle parts (engines, transmissions, chassis, vehicle bodies, etc.) are not regulated by EPA because parts are not considered motor vehicles under the Clean Air Act. However if the parts constitute a disassembled vehicle or an approximate disassembled vehicle, the combination is considered a motor vehicle under the Clean Air Act. Any attempt to use this policy to circumvent the Clean Air Act or the Imports regulations will be considered a violation of the Clean Air Act and will be strictly enforced. An example of such circumvention is:A kit car maker who also provides the engine and transmission before or after production/importation of the body/chassis.
5."Motor vehicles" must comply with the Clean Air Act and may not be disassembled nor purchased in a disassembled form for the purposes of evading the Clean Air Act or the Imports regulations. In these situations the kit car body/chassis combination must be certified by the manufacturer, must be in a configuration which was previously certified by EPA subject to the guidelines discussed at "2" above or, in the case of an importation, an EPA form 3520-1 must be filed at the port of entry and the vehicle imported by an eligible ICI who must ensure that the kit car body/chassis complies with all applicable emission requirements. At the present time, there are no ICIs eligible to import kit cars.
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Basically, if you are claiming that a car is a kit, you better be able to prove to the Feds that you've made something substantially different than any particular car manufactured for sale. And/or the manufacturer must provide documentation that the car was meant to be sold as a kit. Caterham and others like that will provide that documentation. Lotus will not.