Sorry to be the one to have to tell you, but you're wasting your time. Can't be done. Or, more correctly, it's not
reasonable to do it
legally (but it is, technically, not impossible).
The
Legal option:
Modify the vehicle to meet all relevant FMVSS (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards) in effect as of the vehicle's manufacture date. That's crash safety, bumpers, lights, passenger restraints, airbags, side impact protection, and on and on and on.......70-series Landcruisers manufactured for overseas markets don't meet many of the FMVSS, and it would involve major modification (read: expensive) to bring them into compliance, if it were even possible (which it may not be). All of the relevant FMVSS are published by the NHTSA. There are thousands of them for a 2020 model year car. Then supply a few of these modified vehicles to the US Government for crash testing, etc. They will be destroyed in the process. Now, assuming that after your modifications and testing you can get the car certified by the US DOT, then you move on to the EPA.
To make the EPA happy, you'll need to have the motor certified, which involves supplying a few of those for testing, and modifying them to meet US emissions regulations. Again, might not even be possible for a foreign-market motor, but if it is, it's going to be expensive. The EPA publishes the requirements.
Is there any way that a brand new 70 series would pass DOT and EPA requirements?
No
Or is there another way to get a brand new street-able 70 series into the USA?
Smuggle it in. That's really the only way. Highly illegal of course, but if you wanna take the risk, that's up to you.
I am not sure if it helps, but I am located in Florida, no emissions or inspections here. Lol. I see a number of R34 Skylines driving around.
Many cars in the US illegally have state license plates and registrations. Those functions are administered by the
States, whereas it's the
Federal government that determines which vehicles are allowed to legally enter the US.
Import a pre 1995 70 series for the vin and title then move all the 2020 parts over to that chassis. That’s about the only legal way.
Not legal. Sorry. Over 25 year-old cars are allowed to be imported because they're granted an
exemption. They only get the exemption if they're in "original, unmodified condition". Besides, any part you swap over needs to meet the relevant FMVSS as of it's date of manufacture. Most won't.
Is it legally possible to take the vin number dash plate, and swap literally everything from the 2020 model on to it? Can I legally get an fully intact 2020 into my possession to do this swap? Or would I need to import it in pieces?
No. VIN swapping is the worst of the worst as far as Customs is concerned. Don't do it.
No. The only ways that allow you to get a fully intact 2020 into the US involve you documenting when it leaves the US a short time later.
No. Importing the pieces is only legal if you don't use them on a vehicle. Yard art? Sure. Coffee table? Fine. Car? Nope.
Has anyone gone this route of DOT and EPA certification? link:
Auto Imports They say it costs about $6000.
That
might apply to vehicles with a "substantially similar" US variant that can be readily modified to meet US FMVSS and EPA requirements, but not to something like a 70-series, for which there's no US equivalent. Honestly, $6k might get a car imported, but I doubt it would get it Federalized, too.
Is it easier to import to Canada before bringing it to the USA? Thoughts?
Irrelevant and expensive. Canada has, what, about 12% import duty? And they won't let you import a car that's less than 15 years old anyway. Even if you could bring it into Canada, you'd then pay the US import duty when you bring it to the US. Why pay twice? Dead end.
If we can get this process figured out, I am sure there will be a number of people utilizing it.
No doubt!
Sorry, I hate to be Mr. Buzzkill, but I've imported (I think) 8 cars so far and have become very familiar with the laws. You may say that you've seen cars in the USA that shouldn't be here, for example, Skylines. Well, yeah, there are newer than 25 year old Landcruisers here, too. There's virtually no chance they're here legally (there are some exceptions, but that's not what you're talking about here). The people who own them and drive them have (wittingly or not) accepted the risk that comes with doing an illegal thing. We all do. We drive 5 over the limit. We roll through stop signs. Meh, big deal. We risk a traffic ticket. Small potatoes.
Smuggling a car into the USA the risks are much greater. It's a "pretty small chance of getting caught but really, really big penalty if you do" kind of crime.
So, do you feel lucky?
Thanks for your help.
