<VV> Smart Car

[Bill Elliott]

On Mon, 10 Oct 2005 12:28:27 -0500, Les wrote:

>Why not bring one in from Canada? They've been selling them here for a year.... starting at $16,500 Canadian apparently. Not sure what mods would 
have to be made for the US market.
>==========


Neither ZAP nor the other company have been able to get the necessary approvals to bring the cars in. 
Some folks are having a difficult time getting deposit returned. Be VERY careful when dealing with 
either company.

Some substantial changes have to be made for the over-regulated US market, but the actual changes 
are minimal in comparison to the necessary certifications. It's not practical for an individual to attempt to 
Federalize any car that was never sold here. In a previous post, these were the certification I 
recoemended be waived for cars under a certain displacement and/or weight.

The ones that you DO see here are either on foreign tags, a limited time VISA, are here and registered 
illegally, or have been registered quasi-legally (I'll use the term quasi-legally though it's actually illegally) 
as a homebuilt/kit car.

I'll be glad to help anyone offline with the particulars about importing cars... including from Canada. 
However, you ALSO have to understand that importing is a Federal thing while getting the car registered 
and smogged is a State thing... and many states don't even recognize the automatic waivers the feds 
give you for cars over 25 years old.

Despite my earlier post that they wouldn't sell well (long term) due to their impracticality and high cost 
(versus the competition) they would indeed sell well initially (maybe 5000 cars?) as there is a pent-up 
demand. (I'd buy one in an instant if it was US-certified and under $20,000... I've driven one and enjoyed 
it immensely... but I'd really rather have the little roadster version...) 

Bill