[AndrewIndy]

The Series 1 Elise and Lotus 340R can not be imported to the USA. Both are on The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA) has a list of banned cars.

16 Cars That Are Banned In The US

These awesome cars were banned from American roads.

www.hotcars.com

Kiyoshi

That article is misleading. That list of cars is just one that have been rejected as not being eligible for the show and display exemption. Someone applied to bring those on via the show and display exemption, they said that it doesn’t meet the criteria, and put all of the rejects on a list so people don’t keep asking. Once they are 25 years old, they are eligible.

From the article: “The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA) has a list of banned cars that isn't exhaustive, but is extensive and lists 18 pages of foreign cars which either aren't old enough to be imported, or don't pass requirements for some other reason.”

 

[AndrewIndy]

Another couple of shots. Not sure why I don't have a full exterior shot in that album. But anyway, it has been, an can be done, way before the 25 year thing.

Interesting. I was aware of the Sun International cars, which aren't technically Lotus, and was aware of cars brought over for racing which can't be street registered (not Federally legal even if you find some DMV willing to give you a title). So definitely agreed that they have been here previously, but at least now they can be brought over and registered for the street totally legally.

 

[AndrewIndy]

There are some in the US that were imported by LCU and sold as track cars. I owned a Elise Sport 190 (190hp rover motor) and the Exige S1. They were basically German spec cars that had rollbars, fire systems etc in them. Funnest cars I've ever owned and I've owned everything... Here's pics:

Awesome! The S1 Exige is sweet. Even better once those ones can be imported legally and driven on the road. I haven't owned a track-only car, but it seems that unless you can make it to the track a lot, that being able to enjoy the car on the street sometimes allows you to get much more enjoyment out of the car. Assuming it's not miserable on the road...

 

[AndrewIndy]

Hmmm. How do you attach a US license plate? The mounting area is sized for the long, thin UK/European plates.

 

[AndrewIndy]

Does anyone know for sure if importing a car with significant performance mods or an engine swap is problematic for a 25 year old car? To Indiana, not California, that is. E.g., if wanted an S1 Elise that already had a bunch of performance mods or an engine swap to a higher performance Rover engine or Honda swap. I think the answer is that it’s not a problem (except maybe for California) if the car is 25 years old, but if someone else has looked into this I’d love to hear the answer.
Thanks!

 

[AndrewIndy]

As a pricing data point: I got a detailed quote from Schumacher Logistics (just found on a google search, no experience with them) in Sep 2021 that was $6350 plus 6% of declared value, all in, picked up in the UK, transported to Indiana. ($1250 of that was from US port to Indiana). I got another rough estimate that was around $7k USD to import a 22k GBP car (to a US port).

I didn’t end up doing it, but the pricing was definitely higher than I expected.

 

[AndrewIndy]

I wonder why they base part of the price on value. Maybe insurance.

Some parts are a fixed cost and others are percentages. This is a breakdown of the 6% mentioned above:
Duty: 2.5% of declared value
Harbor Maintenance Fee (HMF): 0.125% of declared value
Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF): 0.3465% of declared value
Single Transaction Customs Bond: 0.4% of 3 x declared value
(Optional) Marine Insurance 1.85% of Declared Value

 

[AndrewIndy]

I think that's a great idea, some will inevitably come from over here (UK) and there are a couple of dubious sellers of Lotus cars that buyers should beware. Perhaps prospective buyers could ask about UK sourced cars they are interested in to check out their histories?

If you ask around on SELOC, there are some folks in the UK that would be willing to help identify a suitable car for you. One of the moderators over there offered to connect me with members who could help me with some track-related upgrades for an S1 Elise, though I didn’t end up going that route.

 

[AndrewIndy]

Darn you, Gran Turismo for making me
question my decision to keep my 05 Elise instead of importing an S1!

 

[AndrewIndy]

Does everyone think there's a good reason to get an S1 over an S2? In a few years more S2s will also be importable, perhaps alleviating the shortage a bit.

I kind of like that the S1 is lighter and more simple, but the S2 has existing aftermarket support and ABS really only adds to performance. I saw some review saying the S2 had better steering and handling, not sure how true that is.

It’s the original Elise, the one that took the world by storm. Lighter weight. Different styling. And because we can finally import it.

But, 120hp Rover K-series engine vs 190hp Toyota, no airbags, ac or abs.

 

[AndrewIndy]

Wirewheel has had this one listed as “coming soon” for months.

1997 Lotus Elise S1 | Wire Wheel of Vero Beach, FL

We Buy & Sell Classic Sports Cars & Race Cars like the 1997 Lotus Elise S1 for sale, Call Us for More Information.

www.wirewheel.com

Edit: never mind, it’s marked as sold.