College towns are a magnet for strange and wonderful vehicles. I shot this early-’80s Volkswagen LT 31 (full write-up here) near Western Washington University, in Bellingham. Though it shares some styling cues with the Vanagon, these were never sold in America. The largest of Volkswagen’s light commercial panel vans, the LT 31 was favored by members of the German fire service, or “Feuerwehr.” Signage on the front doors suggest this LT 31 helped save lives in the village of Weiskirchen, near Germany’s border with Luxembourg.
Since this van was never meant to be here, it begs the question: which foreign vehicle would you go to the trouble of importing?
I have seen a few vehicles from Deutschland here in Oregon as well and they are always enjoyable to look at.
If money was no issue I would like to import a few vehicles older than the 25 year rule we have in the United States. A 1989 Honda Accord Shooting Brake, an early 1990s Nissan Pao, one of those 1990s VW Kombis from Brasil, and a diesel stick shift 1995 Chrysler Voyager. I still have to wait for a Renault Avantime to be old enough.
Not yet eligible for any kind of age-based exemption, but I find the VW Amarok pickup very appealing. At a more CC-like level, a first generation Ford Escort in RS trim, as long as it had left hand drive. Or almost any V8 Australian car-based ute.
An Edsel, preferably a convertible.
Black rims and hubcaps seems very useful for fire department, since you need not clean them from ashes.
Fiat Coupe. I guess the early ones have been able to import for the last couple of years, but naturally, I want to get the newest one I can…
RS2 Avant.
Very cool. I would wade through some paperwork for this thing.
VW Horminga
Now there’s a VW I’ve never seen before, but would definitely import. For that imaginary hauling I do.
Everything here except for the Trekka is foreign and theres almost nothing not on the road or being readied for the road over here, but being so far away from everywhere else postage will kill you getting it here and then you have compliance, its far safer to buy locally and get something that has already got over the hurdles that you can actually drive.
Toyota Century from the East.
Lancia Fulvia Coupe from the West.
Cool find. No question for me, I’d import a Falcon XB GT hardtop, with a 351C of course. If I were lucky enough to find one (and flush with cash), I’d get a Falcon GT-HO Phase III.
yes indeed top of my list too!
Something over 25 years old, that wasn’t imported to the US. It might be interesting to have a Ford Corcel wagon. Even more interesting to pull out the calipers and see if a Renaut 18 powertrain with more beans would fit.
If I could get a waiver from the 25 year rule, a Skoda Rapid Spaceback would be fun to knock around town, and flummox the VW dealer with.
As far as I know, Renault 12’s powertrains would fit the Corcel with little problem. As Renault 18’s powertrains also fit the 12 (many Corcels around here received Renault 18 diesel sets), I’d say you could do that. Then again, there were 1.8 VW engines in later Del Rey cars (the Corcel 2 looked like a coupe or a wagon named “Belina”, which is the one in the picture; 2 and 4 door notchbacks were called Del Rey and were upmarket). Those were relatively peppy for the times. Oh, VW 1.6 Diesels also were installed in Corcels. The Corcel sold very well in Uruguay, each of my brothers had a brand new one, my FIL had a new Belina and a used 2 door coupe. Very nice cars, though the gearbox gave many problems and the steering was really heavy, and they rotted to death in 5 or 7 years or so, in no-salt roads. The cars I mention were 1980/82 models, just like the pictured one, a ’80 LDO Belina (top trim)
BTW, if you want one, I’d be glad to help
>>BTW, if you want one, I’d be glad to help<<
Thanks for the offer, and the extra information about the Corcel, but my interest is purely a flight of fancy. Can't help but wonder if the trans problems were a matter of the VW 1.8's torque fed through a Renault trans designed for the much smaller engines the Corcel originally had?
I envy Brazil some of the cars it has had. We got the wagon and sedan versions of the Gol here in the late 80s, but we never got this hatchback. Quite handsome.
A Meteor or Monarch from the 1950s or a Tatra 603.
A guy with a lot more ambition than I do imported this ex-Germany army van. He brings it to the VW show in Ypsilani from time to time.
He has even rounded up the proper equipment to replace what the army yanked before they sold it.
I like Jim’s idea above of choosing separate vehicles from East and West.
I’d join Jim in importing a Toyota Century from Japan. My “West” car would be a Citroën CX Estate (yes, there were sold here briefly on the quasi-grey market, but I think it would still fit the definition here).
Found this T3 in Calgary last October. Owner imported it sans fire equipment, then retrofitted Westfalia camping equipment.
Van was from Lűneburg near Hamburg. Owner said engine is a carburated 1.9 L Wasserboxer. North American versions were fuel injected at this time, but municipal vans in Germany got cheaper carburetors.
Well any of the odd Canadian FoMoCo products would be cool to have, a Mercury Pickup, Monarch, or Meteor would be cool. Ditto for some of the FoMoCo products from down under, probably a Ute or van.
As far as Japanese products go a Cappuccino, Autozam or Figaro would be cool. I wouldn’t mind one of the Kei trucks or vans preferably one that has been outfitted as a Fire Truck. Finally the Pajero Mini is very interesting. Being in the Seattle area there are a lot of importers of vehicles under the 25 year rule so I see these on the roads from time to time.
I’ll play – make mine a Toyota Century and a JDM Honda Odyssey from before they abandoned the hinged rear doors around 2014.
I might also like one of those Brazilian Ford Galaxies that was the variation on the 1966 US cars produced into the 80s, and also an Argentine Kaiser Carabela. And an Israeli 1967 Studebaker, just to mess with people’s heads.
The Brazilian Galaxy was an imposing car. I saw in the late 70s and early 80s many more LTDs, Galaxies and Landau (the top model) than I saw the real, original car. They weren’t sold in Uruguay, but rich Brazilians vacationing here would bring them in summer. I always wondered why they’d keep the old style steering column with the spigot like chrome lever, and the ignition switch in the dashboard, far away from what would be comfortable for the driver. On the other hand, it wasn’t uncommon for some models to be fitted with side lights, which of course weren’t mandatory in Brazil. Another interesting fact is that those cars, like the Corcel, Chevette, Opala and Maverick had rear red turning lights, just like American models. I guess it was just a styling gimmick, as the Chevette was a copy of the European Opel Kadett, which had amber turning rear lights…
I’m originally Canuck, but live in England. I have a VW LT31 camper, a diesel stick shift Chrysler Grand Voyager (somebody mentioned in the comments), a Ford B-Max Titanium pan roof, and a pre-facelift Holden (Vauxhall) Monaro. I wish I could bring the whole fleet with me. Somebody also mentioned the VW Amorok, a buddy of mine had one and got rid of it, they are pretty underpowered. Also the Skoda Rapid Spaceback has a lot of annoying road noise. I did have a Skoda Octavia Lauren + Klement which was a pretty nice car, not sure if they still offer that trim level. I wouldn’t be surprised if Canada starts seeing an influx of VW T5’s with their 15 year import rule.
Brazilian Willys, or Brazilian VW type 4.
East and West – good idea, Jim.
East – next year when it becomes legal, a 1996 Nissan Stagea wagon.
West – first edition 1993 Renault Twingo.
How about a Citroen BX.
I have a very long list of stuff I want from overseas. I’m a sucker for for forward control crew cabs so a VW LT45 Syncro Doka or a Mercedes T2 in Technical Rescue Service blue would a cool way to flex on the diesel crew cab bro dozers. I’ve also had a yen fo ra Citroen CX Loadrunner for years, some oddball kei cars and Smart Roadster. Plus a TVR Sagaris, a Landrover and a Bond Bug.
As an aside the gasoline engined VW LT series used the same engine as the Porsche 924 so it should possible to build an LT-31 Turbo and maybe even a 944/968 engine swap. In addition the diesel LT series donated it’s turbocharged I-6 to the Volvo 240 diesel and late model Puch Pinzgauers