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Foreign cars spotted in USA/Canada

Started by jakeroot, July 05, 2017, 01:47:29 AM

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jakeroot

Quote from: formulanone on December 01, 2020, 06:50:36 AM
Quote from: jakeroot on November 30, 2020, 11:59:46 PM
Quote from: Takumi on November 27, 2020, 09:06:34 PM
Now that's an oddball. From the one angle it almost looks like it's an R33 front clip put on an R32, something I've seen before with the next-gen R34. Also odd that it has a Euro plate.

As far as the plate, it's the original number plate from its registration in the UK. First registered in the UK in January 1995, according to the DVLA. You can look up the plate here.

Closest guess would be someone visiting and training at nearby Maxwell Air Force Base...

I'm not sure your point. The number plate on the front of that R33 is simply vanity: it was left as a tribute to the car's past life in the UK. You can search up the plate as I mentioned; it has not been taxed and its MOT expired several years ago. But that was, in fact, the original plate for that R33.

I suspect Japanese plates are more common on R33's, but this particular R33's connection to Japan is limited to manufacturing only: it spent its whole life in the UK, so the plate is from the UK instead.


formulanone

#76
Quote from: jakeroot on December 01, 2020, 05:57:09 PM
Quote from: formulanone on December 01, 2020, 06:50:36 AM
Quote from: jakeroot on November 30, 2020, 11:59:46 PM
Quote from: Takumi on November 27, 2020, 09:06:34 PM
Now that's an oddball. From the one angle it almost looks like it's an R33 front clip put on an R32, something I've seen before with the next-gen R34. Also odd that it has a Euro plate.

As far as the plate, it's the original number plate from its registration in the UK. First registered in the UK in January 1995, according to the DVLA. You can look up the plate here.

Closest guess would be someone visiting and training at nearby Maxwell Air Force Base...

I'm not sure your point. The number plate on the front of that R33 is simply vanity: it was left as a tribute to the car's past life in the UK. You can search up the plate as I mentioned; it has not been taxed and its MOT expired several years ago. But that was, in fact, the original plate for that R33.

I suspect Japanese plates are more common on R33's, but this particular R33's connection to Japan is limited to manufacturing only: it spent its whole life in the UK, so the plate is from the UK instead.

Ah, I see.

Just saw "1995 Nissan Purple" but didn't look further to see that it was an expired registration.

Maxwell AFB actually does training for some international visitors' pilots. So I figured they get to export them, similar to how NATO-plated vehicles can be applied on service members' US vehicles which are shipped abroad...then winding up back in the US:


Takumi

Well, I knocked something off my bucket list: I bought a foreign market car today. Say hello to my 1992 Toyota Aristo twin turbo. This was sold in the US, sans turbos, as the Lexus GS300 from 1993 to 1997, but this particular example lived in Japan until early this year. I bought it from a local dealer that specializes in bringing in imported vehicles from Japan, and saw quite a bit of their eye candy today. While it looks as plain as can be, it shares a drivetrain with the 1993-98 Supra.



Quote from: Rothman on July 15, 2021, 07:52:59 AM
Olive Garden must be stopped.  I must stop them.

Don't @ me. Seriously.

GCrites

#78
Well, that's definitely cool! I remember when most people didn't care about Lexus SC 300s. Just some boring rich guy's car. Then about 10 years after they came out people were like, "Uhh, you know that's a Supra?" Which means the SC 400 is a V8 Supra!

There's a guy that drives an R32 Nissan Skyline who works at the military recruitment office next door to where I work. I first saw the car about 5 years ago driving around town and was floored considering it's in a town of 40,000 in a border county to Appalachian Ohio. The only other one I've seen was in Haarlem, Holland.

Takumi

Thanks. I'm having fun with it. It's very fast, though I haven't pushed it all the way yet...too much traffic at the moment.

Another interesting tidbit I found out today: the Japanese-market 1994-97 Honda Accord wagons were built in Ohio and exported to Japan, and carry these Honda of America and US Wagon badges on them.
Quote from: Rothman on July 15, 2021, 07:52:59 AM
Olive Garden must be stopped.  I must stop them.

Don't @ me. Seriously.

jakeroot

I love a good sleeper! Very nice purchase.

I'm guessing "U.S. WAGON" would have been a mark of shame in 1990s Japan.

Takumi

Quote from: jakeroot on December 30, 2020, 10:47:59 PM
I love a good sleeper! Very nice purchase.

I'm guessing "U.S. WAGON" would have been a mark of shame in 1990s Japan.
I always thought it was an odd choice to delegate JDM Accord production to Ohio for that generation, but oddly enough they sold decently. One of the wagons there inexplicably had Acura badges on it. I know there's a USDM subculture in Japan like there's a JDM subculture in North America, but there was no Acura equivalent of that particular Accord. The TSX didn't show up for almost a decade.
Quote from: Rothman on July 15, 2021, 07:52:59 AM
Olive Garden must be stopped.  I must stop them.

Don't @ me. Seriously.

GCrites

I guess that Accord would be JIM (Japanese Import Market) then, wouldn't it?

NJRoadfan

The general term for those vehicles is a "captive import". Ford tried it with the Sierra here in the USA in the 80's, but branded them Merkurs.

The later "bigger" USDM Honda Accord/Acura TL was sold in Japan as the Honda Inspire, while the smaller Asian/European market Accord was sold as the Acura TSX here. Honda has since realigned the Accord to be the same car worldwide.

briantroutman

Quote from: NJRoadfan on January 01, 2021, 03:18:55 PM
The general term for those vehicles is a "captive import". Ford tried it with the Sierra here in the USA in the 80's, but branded them Merkurs.

I've always taken the term "captive import"  to mean something slightly different than that.

Staying within the Ford universe, a more apt example would be the 1970s Ford Courier compact pickup, a Mazda B-series truck designed and built by Mazda in Hiroshima but sold at Ford dealers in the U.S. with Ford badges and an F-100-like grille. The premise is for Ford to plug a gap in its product lineup with a foreign-made product–and ideally, Clem and Bubba won't even realize that their new "Ford"  pickups are Japanese.

Merkur was arguably the opposite. Yes, the cars were foreign-built and filled gaps in Ford's U.S. model lineup (i.e. sporty European sedan/coupe), but they actually were Fords. And Ford contrived the name "Merkur"  in the hopes that yuppies who preferred BMWs–and wouldn't be caught dead in a Mercury (let alone a Ford)–might not realize that their XR4Ti or Scorpio was a Ford.

formulanone

Quote from: Takumi on December 30, 2020, 09:18:57 PM
Well, I knocked something off my bucket list: I bought a foreign market car today. Say hello to my 1992 Toyota Aristo twin turbo. This was sold in the US, sans turbos, as the Lexus GS300 from 1993 to 1997, but this particular example lived in Japan until early this year.

I used to have a '94 GS 300 (I swapped out the wheels when the paint flaked off):



The 2JZ inline-6 motor had a nice torque bump at around 3000 RPM. I miss this car sometimes, but it was getting expensive to maintain on a budget and was offered good money for it.

jakeroot


formulanone


jakeroot


Takumi

Quote from: jakeroot on January 03, 2021, 12:45:43 PM
Quote from: formulanone on January 03, 2021, 11:25:58 AM
Quote from: jakeroot on January 02, 2021, 10:46:43 PM
Quote from: formulanone on January 02, 2021, 08:34:03 PM
2JZ

Is there a more beloved three-character combination?

911, for various reasons.

true.
Both are great. I missed the boat on relatively affordable 911s, but this was probably my last chance to get a relatively affordable turbo 2J. Everything 90s and JDM has been skyrocketing the past year or two. 4-5 years ago, you could get a decent Skyline GT-R for around 20-25 grand. Now, that money gets you the lesser GTS-T.
Quote from: Rothman on July 15, 2021, 07:52:59 AM
Olive Garden must be stopped.  I must stop them.

Don't @ me. Seriously.

Takumi

Quote from: formulanone on January 02, 2021, 08:34:03 PM
Quote from: Takumi on December 30, 2020, 09:18:57 PM
Well, I knocked something off my bucket list: I bought a foreign market car today. Say hello to my 1992 Toyota Aristo twin turbo. This was sold in the US, sans turbos, as the Lexus GS300 from 1993 to 1997, but this particular example lived in Japan until early this year.

I used to have a '94 GS 300 (I swapped out the wheels when the paint flaked off):



The 2JZ inline-6 motor had a nice torque bump at around 3000 RPM. I miss this car sometimes, but it was getting expensive to maintain on a budget and was offered good money for it.
My 2004 GS300 has a normally asipirated 2J. It's a solid engine.
Quote from: Rothman on July 15, 2021, 07:52:59 AM
Olive Garden must be stopped.  I must stop them.

Don't @ me. Seriously.

GCrites


andrepoiy

I have seen a Mexico City plated Nissan Rogue in Niagara Falls. It was a surprise to see a MX City plate all the way in Niagara, but unfortunately, the vehicle is a vehicle that is sold in Canada and the US.

formulanone

Mazda 2 (DY) spotted around Huntsvile...these weren't sold in the US (we received the DE starting in the 2008 model year).

I don't think I've seen them around in Canada, so I wonder if it came in as a gray-market import from Mexico?


Takumi

Quote from: formulanone on January 25, 2021, 10:42:20 PM
Mazda 2 (DY) spotted around Huntsvile...these weren't sold in the US (we received the DE starting in the 2008 model year).

I don't think I've seen them around in Canada, so I wonder if it came in as a gray-market import from Mexico?
Looks like it's old enough to have been able to be imported to Canada via their 15-year exemption, so it could have crossed from up north.
Quote from: Rothman on July 15, 2021, 07:52:59 AM
Olive Garden must be stopped.  I must stop them.

Don't @ me. Seriously.

kphoger

How about a domestic car spotted in the USA with foreign plates?   :crazy:   Yes, you read that correctly.

On June 22, I spotted a LHD Honda Pilot in the parking lot of this Jimmy John's in Wichita Falls, TX.  It had license plates from East Anglia, UK.

This means that–assuming it wasn't originally from the UAE or some crazy scenario like that–the owner had the vehicle shipped overseas, registered it in England, and then later had it shipped back to the USA.

I'm assuming the owner is in the military–Wichita Falls having an Air Force base and all.  But that still seems kind of odd.  When servicemen have their vehicles shipped overseas, don't they typically keep them registered in the States?  Why would someone register it in the foreign country?  Really unexpected...
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

TheHighwayMan3561

I saw a European-licensed vehicle in downtown Minneapolis once, where the longer and narrower plates stuck out from behind their Minnesota plates.
self-certified as the dumbest person on this board for 5 years running

Takumi

Quote from: Rothman on July 15, 2021, 07:52:59 AM
Olive Garden must be stopped.  I must stop them.

Don't @ me. Seriously.

kphoger

On I-135 in Wichita (the Canal Route), I just spotted an older model RHD Honda sedan with pre-2001 UK number plates from Liverpool.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

1995hoo

It's not unusual to see Mexican plates in states along the Mexican border, but it is where I live. For at least the past month, there's been a suburban with Mexican plates ("EDOMEX," which I understand is the area around Mexico City) parked at the condos near my neighborhood. I assume someone drove a long way for a visit and is in no hurry to leave. Only the second time I've ever seen a Mexican-plated vehicle in the DC area.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.



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