Joe,
For the official guide to auto importation, see:
http://www.customs.ustreas.gov/imp-exp2/informal/car.htm#CONT
The two cuttoffs seem to be pre-68 and 25 years old. The way I read
it, they allow pretty much anything older than 25 years to come in now
where it used to be pre-68 only.
I just went through this with a 58 XK150 project. At the border, their
only concern was whether or not I had paid enough import tax. When I
explained that the car and all of the parts were pre-68 the customs
official said that this was between me and our state's licencing office.
I had a notarized bill of sale including the price and, for him, that
was enough.
Getting a state title was a little trickier. Canada, it seems, does
not issue "titles" per se. Since the auto insurance is nationalized,
the ownership papers are also the "proof of insurance" papers. It took
about an hour for the very nice license bureau employee to review all of
the rule books and agree with the paperwork presented. Having purchased
my pile of parts from a barrister, I also had a title search back to new
and that helped. On the other hand, the car hadn't been on the road for
over 20 years and that hurt.
So, to summarize, the customs people didn't seem to care about safety
and emissions standards. They just wanted their tax. The state office
was interested in establishing ownership and collecting their tax.
About four weeks after applying, I got a letter from the state asking
for pictures of my car since there was no way I could buy such a
"classic" for so little money. After sending pictures, I got the title.
See for yourself at:
http://www.jag-lovers.org/xk-lovers/gifs/eastman/eastman.htm
As always, my experience, YMMV, your customs agent may be Ollie North's
cousin and require a full cavity search. BTW- While waiting my turn at
the border, I saw too young, poorly groomed men accompanied by a rather
burly lady with rubber gloves. Needles to say I kept my distance.
Regards,
Bill Eastman
Maple Grove, MN
61 MGA
58 XK150 fhc project
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