Challenge Competitor for sale: Lightning McQueen

Team Frozen Nuts Racing is going to have to part ways with Lightning McQueen, a 1989 Toyota Celica Alltrac. While the smart thing to do would be to rebuild the motor, clean up the engine bay and do something about the horrific paint job for the $2009 Challenge ... we've decided to go another route for next year.

If you are interested please be advised that it is currently located in the Toronto area, Canada. Importing it into the the US could be a real pain as 1989 was the first year of manditory passive restraint systems (air bags or those motorized shoulder belts) and Toyota didn't bother update the ST-165 for just one model year as they had the new generation (ST-185) coming out in 1990. I have no idea if you could even get it across the border as an off-road only vehicle.

Here is the posting that I have put on a local board:

Future Ice Racer For Sale: 1989 Toyota Celica Alltrac

Here is your chance to give one last shot at glory to a piece of 4WD / turbo-charged goodness.

It just came back from the GRM $2008 Challenge where it threw a rod bearing so the engine will need to be rebuilt. It runs, but with an audible knock. I am very negotiable on price: I am thinking $400 after I pull some of the nice bits off. I intend to leave the whiteline rear sway bar and racing beat endlinks on the car because they were such a PITA to install. Those two items are almost brand new and are worth $260 together. The scrap value of the car is probably more than $140 so I think the price is more than fair even with a thrashed motor.

For $400 I will be removing the kirkey style racing seats, cut off switch, switching back to the stock WTA I/C radiator, switching the r-compounds for the stock rubber, and replacing the aluminium battery box with a plastic marine style box.

Interior is gutted, but I still have all the plastic pieces that I will throw in. Sunroof has been deleted and replaced with an aluminium panel. There is a lot more to the car that I will be happy to go over with anyone interested in buying it.

Please note that if you are interested you will need to bring a trailer as it is not streetable, for starters the exhaust took one for the team during the battlefield replacement of the rod bearings.

While I would probably get more money by parting it out I would prefer to see it go to someone who is going to race it.

TIA, Thomas thomas p hinton yahoo com

Would you mind awfully checking about the import laws? I could have sworn we got the 89 ST165 over here, just not in a large number, because i don't think there's a large number of them in the first place.

How much would you be asking for for the car in it's entirety?

THe build date is the key. The passive restraint law took effect in Sept 1989, so if the car was built before that you're golden. Doesn't matter if the car was sold in the US or not - for example, a 1991 Canadian Miata without an airbag can't be brought into the US.

It's a fairly straightforward procedure: Just get the letter from Toyota. http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/CARS/RULES/IMPORT/VIG_Canada01192007.htm

Here's the basic poop. FMVSS is Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, and it's the passive restraint law that came into play in Sept 1989 that gives the headaches.

-If the manufacturer’s letter states that the vehicle complies with all applicable FMVSS except for those pertaining to the speedometer or headlights, the vehicle can still be imported as a conforming motor vehicle under Box 2B, provided the importer furnishes Customs with an invoice from a franchised dealer or repair facility authorized by the vehicle’s original manufacturer showing that the affected components have been replaced with U.S.-model parts.

-If the manufacturer’s letter states that the vehicle complies with all applicable FMVSS but does not comply with the parts marking requirements of the Theft Prevention Standard at 49 CFR Part 541, the vehicle can only be imported as a conforming motor vehicle under Box 2B if the importer furnishes Customs with an invoice from a franchised dealer or other commercial entity showing that the required theft prevention markings have been applied to the vehicle.

-If the manufacturer’s letter states that the vehicle complies with all applicable FMVSS except for the automatic restraint requirements of FMVSS No. 208 Occupant Crash Protection, the vehicle cannot be imported as a conforming vehicle under Box 2B. If the manufacturer furnishes a letter of this kind, or refuses to furnish a letter at all, the vehicle could only be imported into the United States on a permanent basis under Box 3 on the HS-7 Declaration form, as detailed below.

Box 3 involves a Registered Importer, bonds, etc. It's the same sort of thing you'd have to go though with, say, a modern TVR.

Keith wrote: THe build date is the key. The passive restraint law took effect in Sept 1989, so if the car was built before that you're golden. Doesn't matter if the car was sold in the US or not - for example, a 1991 Canadian Miata without an airbag can't be brought into the US.

So how do people get Skylines into the U.S.? And how would one get a Land Rover Defender into the country?

I really liked this car. I hope it goes to a good home...

Keep in mind that the rules are very different for Canadian-market cars (not cars that have been imported into Canada, that's different) and cars built for other markets, like the UK or Japan. A Toyota AllTrac that was built by Toyota for the Canadian market and sold in Canada is treated differently from a Toyota AllTrac that was built for the Japanese market and imported into Canada under the 15 year rule. Anything over 25 years gets a free ride into the US.

To bring in a Skyline - legally, which is not always the case - you need to go through the RI process. It's always the most expensive for the first car, then others can take advantage of the Import Eligibility Number created.

Land Rover Defender? Land Rover did it for you. Thanks to the 500 110's they brought in, the paperwork etc has been done for the 1993 110 and they can be imported. The 90 was brought in for a few years as well so it also has an IEN.

Going through an RI - read the link I posted earlier and the one below - is not worthwhile on a $400 car. It is on something worth as much as a Skyline, of course. That's the difference. I don't think there are a lot of Defender 90s being imported into the US given that it's probably easier to just pick up a US model, but the 110s are rare enough that I know of a few that were brought over privately and legally.

Naturally, there are always illegal ways of bringing cars in. Mini owners know all about it, and I've seen a few late-model Defenders being sold as 1967 Series IIa models. Sylvias tend to lead secret lives as 240SXs, and I expect there are a few Skylines pretending to be something else.

If you want to know the rules, check the NHSTA website. You'll find the Skyline and Defender listed in the vehicles eligible for import. http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/CARS/RULES/IMPORT/

In the case of Mr McQueen here, I suspect the car was made before September. Cars made that late in 1989 tend to be 1990 models. And it's a Canadian market car. So it will probably be fairly easy to bring into the US.

As for 1990-92 Canadian Miatas coming into the US, I shouldn't have said they couldn't be brought in. It's just that the car would have to have an airbag installed, and then tested destructively - according to what I was told when I was trying to bring my 1990 into the US.

My father's Canadian 1990 Miata - built in April 1989 - no problem.

A US model 1990 Miata with the airbags removed? Sure, it's legal.

My Canadian 1990 Miata - built in April 1990, right at the end of production - nope. Even with the complete wiring harness and airbags from a US model installed, according to what I was told. Although perhaps it would have been okay if the bags were installed by an RI and I posted the big bond. It simply wasn't worth it.

Have you seen the prices on a Land Rover Defender?!? They are ridiculous over here. By where my uncle lives in England, there is a place that sells ex-military vehicles including Defenders for cheap and there are some LHD usually so I might one day done the road try get one imported.

Keith,

This is all really good information. Maybe a future GRM article?

P71 wrote: Keith, This is all really good information. Maybe a future GRM article?

I second that.

I'll talk to David :)

I have seen the prices on Defenders. I've been a trail leader for the Land Rover national rally in Moab a couple of times, and while I'm not as active in the off-road world as I was I have been deep, deep into Rovers in the past.

...Looking at ebay, it appears I was wrong. Defenders are coming in, and the prices seem to have jumped in the last 5 years. Go figure. I'd be careful about picking up a D90 from the UK, though, as they're used as work trucks there. Frame rust is a big deal and they can get knackered. While there certainly are some for sale at the cheap end of the market, I think you'd want to start at a higher level.The ex-MOD stuff, of course, comes with its own set of gotchas. Might be worth doing some research though, I'd start by contacting the RI closest to you and see what they have to say. Or call Rovers North, they know this kind of thing and brought in a 110 of their own a few years back.

It might be easiest to simply buy a 1983 or 1984 Defender, though. I'm rusty on my coiler history, but I think the Defender was out by that point and not just the Series III Stage 1 or whatever the early V8s were called. 25-year-old vehicles get into the US with no hassles regardless of the original market, I've done it myself with my 1967 Land Rover Series IIa. California, of course, will probably cause problems. But that's California for you.

A "1959 Series II" Defender on eBay. While it would be technically possible to use major components from a Series II and build a modern Defender clone (it's been a matter of slow evolution), this conversion was obviously a matter of jacking up the VIN plate and driving a new truck underneath. Looks like not only the Mini guys have to worry about this now.

I recently sold a Miata that I flipped to a guy from Tampa that buys them, fixes problems and resells them for a profit. My miata was to be #35 or so. He mentioned that he sells primarily to retirees who want near perfect cars (and pay top dollar). He said there is a big market for 90-93 Miatas from the Canadian retirees that live their winters down in Florida and Summer back in Canada. They want the early Miatas to take advantage of the 15 year importation rule. It was news to me, but I'm glad to hear my 93 is a sought after model!

I live in middle of no-where KY. I can more then likely pull a fast one on someone at the DMV here if I need to.

Sorry I haven't replied back, I have a tentative offer on the car from a local (relatively speaking) ice-racer. I'm happy that McQueen is going to go to a good home and is going to take the fight to the Subarus in the Street Studs next winter.

I can't answer to any of the exact details around importing / exporting between Canada and the US, but I tried to sell this car two or three years ago and there was someone on the GRM board who was very interested. I gave him the VIN number so he could arrage the paperwork and he ended up having to walk away because he was being told that the car couldn't be imported or registered.

Keep in mind that Toyota changed body styles for the Celica starting with the 1990 model year. Does that imply that my 1989 Alltrac could have been built very late in the calendar year? I honestly don't know.

Thanks, Thomas

Car is sold to a local (relatively speaking) ice-racer. McQueen will have another shot at glory!

And now on to our next project for $2009!!!

Thanks for your interest, Thomas