Duncan Imports Brings The Cool JDM Rides We Never Got Here.
Sadly for car aficionados, the federal government’s regulations have kept us from enjoying the world’s coolest rides. A right-hand-drive car, or a vehicle too small to pass crash-safety tests, or one with an engine that would not pass emissions—all are viable reasons to not give a free pass for cars never meant to be sold here.
But time—enemy of yellow bananas and pop music stardom—is the friend of gray-market car enthusiasts with an appreciation for Japan’s coolest cars of the 1990s. Cars like the Nissan Figaro, Suzuki Cappuccino, and the head-turning gull-winged Autozam AZ-1 weren’t designed to meet U.S. government requirements, so they were never sold here. It wasn’t even legal to buy one in Japan and bring it home yourself.
However, after 25 years, it turns out there is now an end to the prejudice against these irresistible baubles—that’s when the U.S. government issues a pardon. All sins are forgiven, and for 2019, cars built in 1994 or earlier can be imported.
That’s where Gary Duncan comes in. He has navigated the inscrutable Japanese export bureaucracy and figured out the myriad U.S. government regulations nonetheless still in place to hinder importing a classic JDM vehicle into America. If you want a quirky old Japanese car, Duncan can get it for you. In fact, he likely already has one in stock.
His venture started in 2016, when the 1991 Nissan Figaro boutique car became eligible, and Duncan, a car dealer in Christiansburg, Virginia, became motivated to start bringing in the almost indescribably cute pastel-colored convertibles. Duncan fell in love with the little car at its 1989 Tokyo Motor Show introduction. He suffered more than two decades of unrequited love until today, when Duncan Imports & Classic Cars is a titan of Japanese Domestic Market right-hand-drive cars, trucks, and vans.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August 2019 من Motor Trend.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August 2019 من Motor Trend.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
2023 GMC Canyon
MC, the luxe-truck division of General Motors, has long struggled to differentiate its products from mechanically similar Chevrolets.
2023 Ford F-Series Super Duty
The heavy-duty truck world moves more slowly than other pickup classes, and progress comes in spurts. Take the Ford F-Series Super Duty, whose recent refresh included softer-edged styling, a new entry-level gas-fed V-8, a new high-output 6.7-liter turbodiesel V-8, and myriad small improvements like new bedside steps. Is it still basically the same truck as before? Absolutely, but it’s also a better Super Duty, however incrementally.
2024 Chevrolet Silverado HD
When Chevrolet unveiled its all-new 2020 Silverado HD lineup, it set the truck world ablaze, and not in a good way.
THE CHEVROLET COLORADO IS THE 2024 MOTORTREND TRUCK OF THE YEAR
A BROAD LINEUP DELIVERS AN IMPRESSIVE RANGE OF OFF-ROAD CAPABILITY WITHOUT COMPROMISE TO EVERYDAY LIVABILITY
HOW MUCH DO YOU LOVE THE 80?!
THE FIRST-GENERATION NISSAN PATHFINDER IS AN SUV THROWBACK TO A TOTALLY RAD TIME, FOR SURE
BAVARIAN ECONS 2002te
THIS ELECTRIC BMW RESTOMOD LOSES ITS ENGINE BUT NOT ITS SOUL
2023 PORSCHE 911 GT3 RS FIRST TEST
PORSCHE'S MOST FOCUSED 911 OF ALL TIME MUST BE EXPERIENCED AT ITS LIMITS TO BE UNDERSTOOD
2024 TRUCK OF THE YEAR MADE IN MICHIGAN
AFTER DECADES IN THE WEST, TRUCK OF THE YEAR MOVES TO MICHIGAN
YOUR ICON OF ICONS: CHEVROLET CORVETTE
Was there ever any doubt? MotorTrend readers are largely American, and as much as we love Jeeps, Mustangs, and F-150s in this country, the Corvette has been “America’s sports car” for nearly as long as this publication has existed. That’s why you chose it via our online vote as the most iconic car of the past 75 years.
MOTORTREND CELEBRATES 75 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE
The 10 Most Iconic Vehicles of Our Time and Much More