‘Let’s go out to lunch and don’t worry about it.’ We went in to talk to the sales manager, and he immediately said: ‘This is not allowed! We can’t do this!’ My customer was getting red in the face, saying, ‘You’re wasting my time.’ ‘Hold on,’ I said. One of his earliest transactions involved buying 10 W123 sedans for an American client from Munich’s well-known Arnulfstrasse Mercedes dealer. Bypassing the local dealer and ordering a gray market car from overseas was a deal too good to resist for savvy American enthusiasts-and for European dealers.ĭe Board advertised gray market Mercedes in Autoweek in the early 1980s. As a result, the dollar appreciated nearly 50 percent against the yen, deutsche mark and other European currencies. By March 1980, the federal funds rate was 20 percent. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker to dramatically raise interest rates. The stagflation crisis of the 1970s pushed U.S. Unlike today, there was no prohibition on importing a new Euro-Benz.īetter yet, they were cheap. They kept coming because German-spec Mercedes offered horsepower and features not available in American-market Mercedes. I had a good reputation, and they kept coming.” “I was selling high-dollar cars to people paying in advance. “I had so many orders to fill, I couldn’t keep up,” he says. The romance of being a young American expatriate living in Southern Germany was enriched by the lucrative automotive gray market.Īs the decade began, Americans were avidly seeking out German-market Mercedes 500SELs and 280s, and de Board was selling them as fast as he could. The early 1980s were a golden time for Douglas de Board. Proposed automotive tariff would slap a 25 percent import duty on classic cars.America once enjoyed a thriving automotive gray market. Often lost in the argument: It wasn’t always this way. Opponents note it was largely automakers, not consumer advocates, lobbying in the law’s favor. Proponents of the legislation claim the IVSCA keeps American drivers safe. It prevents individuals from importing new foreign-market vehicles without undertaking a lengthy-and costly-testing and federalization process. The basis for this enforcement? The Imported Vehicle Safety Compliance Act, commonly known as the 25-year import rule. Clearly someone thinks this is a matter of national security-or acts that way for the cameras. Dramatic photos of the carnage were then shared, as if to serve as a warning for would-be automotive bootleggers. In two memorable instances, the agency crushed an illicit late-model Land Rover Defender (in 2013) and 2000 Mini Cooper (in 2014)-never mind that these were newer, arguably safer and more efficient versions of cars once legally sold here without issue. Sidestep the rules and you’re liable to have your car seized, and even destroyed, by United States Customs and Border Protection. All you have to do is sign on the dotted line before you take ownership of your new right hand drive JDM sports car or daily driver.įrom the initial search to the financing process, JDM Sport Classics has got you covered.It’s true that Americans can legally import, own and drive any foreign-market car they want-so long as it is more than 25 years old. We make sure we know every last detail of each JDM vehicle we import, and we handle all the necessary paperwork. At JDM Sport Classics, we understand the difficulties involved with purchasing and importing a vehicle from outside the US, which is why we’ve dedicated ourselves to making it easier.
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