The best classics you can finally import to America in 2020

These 1990s cars will soon be legal on US roads

From the late 1960s to the early 2000s American car fans missed out on hundreds of great cars sold elsewhere due to strict emissions and safety regulations that banned their sale in the USA.

However those regulations don’t apply to vehicles that are at least 25 years old – which means that each year a new batch of previously unavailable cars becomes eligible for legal import.

Assuming we’ve got our sums right, that means cars built in 1995 will be available from January 2020 – although the rule is month-specific, so some of these examples won’t be importable until later in the year. 

Either way, there are some great models in the forthcoming batch, so here’s our pick of the ’90s classics that you’ll be able to get your hands on soon.

1. Nissan Skyline R33 GT-R

Sandwiched between the original, lightweight R32 GT-R and the final R34 GT-R, the bigger, heavier, R33 ought to be less desirable – but that reckons without the influence of the Sony PlayStation.

The R33 was one of the stars of the original Gran Turismo game back in the late 1990s and earned a special place in many US fans’ hearts as a result.

And it’ll soon be able to take a special place in their garage, too.

2. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III

The Evo III is another Japanese giant that gets its papers in 2020. The last of the Evos to use the chassis that had kicked the whole Evo phenomenon off in 1992, it gained a bigger turbocharger for its 4G63T engine, boosting output from 252bhp to 270bhp.

Tempted? It’s worth remembering that, like the GT-R, the Evo III only came in right-hand drive.

3. Fiat Barchetta

Fiat’s answer to Mazda’s MX-5 was front-wheel drive, not rear-, like the Mazda. But it handled sweetly, the 1.8 twin cam offered almost enough go, and the delicate pop-out door handles were exquisite.

Fiat only built them in left-hand drive, so curious US fans can grab a bargain by taking advantage of the pathetically weak GBP and importing from Britain, rather than mainland Europe.

4. Ferrari F50

True, the F50 was available to US fans when new, but with only 55 of the 349 produced crossing the Atlantic, opportunities to own one have always been limited.

Now the only thing limiting your ability to bring one of these 512bhp V12 roadsters to the US is the price: expect to pay upwards of $2m (£1.5m).

5. MGF

MG’s triumphant return to the sports car scene (we’ll ignore the divisive RV8) was a big deal in 1995, but not in the US, where MG sales ceased in 1980.

The combination of a lightweight aluminium K-series engine mounted behind the seats and interconnected Hydragas suspension gives it a very different feel to an MX-5, and their almost total lack of cool means prices are on the floor.

Then again, you could just wait a year, save up your money and bring in an S1 Elise in 2021 instead.

6. Caterham 21

Speaking of the Elise, meet the car it helped kill off: the Caterham 21. Looking for a way to offer customers a more practical alternative to the 7, Caterham used the same chassis, covering it in a voluptuous plastic bodywork.

Unfortunately for Caterham, by the time it had started production in 1995, Lotus was well on the way to bringing the Elise to market and just 49 21s were built.

7. BMW M3 Evolution

Having missed out altogether on the 1992-1995 E36 M3, US BMW fans were dismayed to find they were being short-changed when the updated Evolution M3 did make it across.

Instead of the mighty 321bhp 3.2 straight-six Europeans enjoyed, US cars got a weedy 240bhp version – but 25 years on, you can right BMW’s wrong.

8. BMW M3 GT

For even more kudos, you could search out one of the 356 green M3 GTs built to homologate BMWs racing efforts.

Each features bespoke suspension parts and spikier camshafts that lifted the original non-Evo 3-litre engine from 286bhp to 295bhp.

9. Alpina B8 4.6/Alpina B12

For even more kudos though, you need an Alpina B8 – which is an E36 3 Series stuffed full of the 4.6-litre V8 normally found in high-end 5 Series and 7 Series cars.

Alternatively, there’s the car pictured: an Alpina B12, Buchloe’s 12-cylinder answer to the M7 BMW never got round to building. Neither was available in the US in period.

10. Alfa Romeo Spider/GTV

Talk about bad timing. Alfa Romeo withdrew from the US market in 1995, the same year it began offering a new pair of sports cars to the rest of the world.

The two-seat Spider and its closed-roof 2+2 GTV brother launched with 2-litre Twin Spark power, but soon gave customers the option to step up to the famous Busso V6, an engine so handsome it's even better-looking than the controversial wedge-shaped Pininfarina body.

11. Alfa Romeo 145 Cloverleaf

Alfa’s forgotten 1990s hot hatch was fashioned from the same Fiat Tipo platform and 2-litre Twin Spark mechanicals as the GTV/Spider, but wrapped in more practical – and equally arresting – Chris Bangle-designed bodywork.

Earlier 145s suffered with Alfa’s by-then outdated Boxer 1.7, but the Twin Spark transformed the car into a credible GTi – much more credible than VW’s contemporary Golf GTI, in fact.

12. Lancia Delta HF HPE

Here’s another forgotten Italian hot hatch begging to be shipped across the sea to draw a crowd at the next Cars and Coffee or Radwood show.

Lancia abandoned four-wheel drive and the Integral name when it switched to the second-generation Delta in 1993, but it didn’t abandon performance altogether.

The HF offered 190bhp of turbocharged go, and from ’95 you could get it in sporty three-door HPE guise.

13. Honda Integra Type R (DC2)

Honda did sell a version of the DC2 Type R in the US wearing an Acura badge, but it wasn't quite the same spec as the cars sold in Europe (pictured), or better yet, Japan.

Apart from the Honda badge, JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) cars weighed slightly less, made fractionally more power and came fitted with a pair of Recaro RSX seats that gripped almost as hard as the limited-slip-equipped front-end.

14. Porsche 993 Carrera RS

A true homologation special in the mould of the legendary 2.7 Carrera RS and built to legalise Porsche’s racing efforts, the 993 RS was, like its 2.7 grandpa, another top-class Porsche not available in the firm’s biggest market when new.

Just over 1000 were sold in other countries, each featuring a 300bhp 3.8 flat-six, seam-welded body shell, Turbo brakes, thinner glass and aluminium panels. Want one? You could be looking at shelling out $330k (£250k).

15. Maserati Ghibli Cup

Cursed by reliability problems, Maserati withdrew from the US market at the start of the 1990s and didn’t return for almost a decade, meaning the few marque fans left in the Clinton years missed out on the fantastic Ghibli Cup.

Evolved from the boxy Biturbo and powered by a 2-litre V6 pushing out a monstrous 325bhp thanks to its twin roller-bearing turbos, it had the highest specific output of any car on sale at the time.

16. Skoda Felicia estate

Yep, the wait is finally over. Twenty-five years after Skoda first released the sensational Felicia estate on to European roads, it’s finally eligible for US highways.

We’re kidding, obviously. The chances of anyone importing a competent, scrupulously honest, but entirely undesirable Felicia wagon to the US from Europe is nil, which is a timely reminder that the grass isn’t always greener, even if it’s watered more frequently.