Skyline GTRs For Sale

[johnc]

Be careful:

 

http://jalopnik.com/5371967/feds-seize-illegal-nissan-skyline-gt+rs-in-cali

 

After warning letters were sent to owners 60 days ago (below) [August 9, 2009], teams of Kevlar-armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers are seizing grey market Nissan Skyline GT-Rs imported by Kaizo according to GTR USA Blog. Below, why it happened.

 

Last August the letter below was sent from the Southern California United States Attorney's office stating that "the referenced Nissan Skyline automobile... is not in compliance with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Transportation requirements." The letter goes on to state that the vehicles can't be operated and the feds are coming for them within 60 days. They weren't lying.

 

According to GTR USA, two R34s and an R32 have already been seized and, if the letter above is an indication, an R33 is on the list.

 

Importing vehicles without the appropriate credentialing from the appropriate U.S. agencies almost always ends up with cars being seized by the government, especially Skylines, and people getting fined or jail time. In this case, the cars were imported by Kaizo under a special exemption for automotive parts. They brought over the shells and drivetrains separately and then reassembled them. They were then, apparently, registered under the law as SB 100, which is for kit/show cars. This exemption allows vehicles not driven frequently to be registered without smog checks.

 

We have a feeling these cars are being driven frequently.

 

The U.S. Attorney ended his letter "Very Truly Yours" but it looks like those Nissans are now "Very Truly His."

[johnc]

And again:

 

http://frank4carsfrank.blogspot.com/2010/11/daryl-alison-pleads-guilty-to-illegal.html

 

***CORRECTION: We just heard from Mr. Alison's attorney, Kate Corrigan, and she corrected us on a few facts. The OC Register article we were basing this post on was incorrect. According to Ms. Corrigan, "Mr. Alison has not plead guilty. He was arraigned yesterday on a misdemeanor. He has not pleaded guilty to illegal importation of vehicles. He looks forward to putting this chapter of his life behind him."

 

A few years ago I met a man at a local car meet who was driving an R34 GT-R. He was a tall guy with a bald head and a great story. His name was Daryl Alison and he had started a company called Kaizo Industries that had worked with the government to find a way to legally import the non-U.S. approved R32, R33 and R34 Nissans. He would disassemble the cars in Japan and reassemble them in the States with a unique Kaizo VIN. It was a pretty sweet deal.

 

After selling a few dozen of them for anywhere between $50,000 and $100,000, he had built enough of a reputation for himself that he attracted a few celebrity clients. Among them was Paul Walker who used his own blue R34 in one of the Fast and the Furious movies. In fact, Daryl was gaining enough of a reputation that he was supplying cars to several production companies and his tale was picked up by Edmund's Inside Line. After the IL story ran, a curious thing happened.

 

The Feds sent out letters to all of Daryl's customers telling them that their cars were in fact illegally imported and that they would be seized if they weren't exported immediately. As you can imagine, Alison's phone was ringing off the hook, customers calling to find out WTF was going on and many of them demanding their money back. Well, that wasn't going to be possible, but Daryl tried to work with the authorities and his clients to resolve the issue.

 

Flash forward more than a year and Alison was just arraigned on a misdemeanor charge of removing a data plate of one Nissan that showed Japan was the country of origin, according to the court records. Although it's a misdemeanor, it could still land Alison a year in prison and a $100,000 fine, although the sentencing phase has yet to commence.

 

There's surely a whole lot more to the story and we hope to talk with Daryl soon to hear all about it. We hope for the best for Daryl and hope that the GT-Rs find their way back into enthusiast garages soon

[johnc]

And more from 2012...

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/05/29/wisconsin-man-avoids-jail-by-agreeing-to-have-his-nissan-skyline/
 

Authorities in Wisconsin are bound and determined to crack down on gray market vehicles. According to Stevens Point Journal, In 2010, the state government orchestrated a sting to catch Justin Beno selling two Nissan Skyline models, one of which played a role in the Fast and Furious franchise. A Wisconsin Department of Transportation investigator spotted both a 1995 and a 1996 Skyline up for sale and pretended to be a buyer. The investigator asked if it were possible to get the cars titled, and Beno said he believed the vehicles could be titled in Florida, then retitled in Wisconsin.

This was not the correct answer. The government seized both cars and charged Beno with a spate of offenses, including two felony counts of conspiracy to commit fraud, one felony count of owning a vehicle without a vehicle identification number tag and two misdemeanors tied to those missing VIN tags. Beno said he had originally purchased the cars as bare shells without the tags and that the seller later mailed them along. He also says he didn't know it was a crime to simply own a car without its VIN tag attached.

Brown County Deputy District Attorney Dana Johnson offered Beno a plea deal wherein he would accept the misdemeanor charges and give up both fully restored Skylines. After offering to pay the fines and help the authorities find buyers for both machines overseas, the prosecutor declined. Instead, both cars will be crushed and sold for scrap. That's particularly heartbreaking after Beno spent years assembling both from parts bought from all over the world. It's made worse by the fact that in just a few short years, both cars will be exempt from federal safety and emissions standards for vehicles over 25 years old. Head over to Beno's site to see the Big Bird Skyline that's headed for the reaper.