Date:         Sun, 23 Apr 95 14:57:43 PDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         smaher@ball.com (Steve Maher)
Subject:      Importing brand-new VWs to US


> Does anyone know how to make contacts necessary to purchase VW's being made
> out of the country? Particularly the Bettle.
> Thanks
> Larry Holland

It's REAL tough to bring in VWs made recently in, say, Brazil or Mexico.
Emissions eqpt. non-compliance is only part of the problem. There are also
requirements (Either 50-state or Federal, I'm not sure) for a host of other
things, such as taillight size/shape, bumpers, crash beams in doors, airbags/
seat belts, trans locks for automatics, bigger brakes, etc., etc.

All of these things can be put on modern VWs, of course, but there are so
many requirements that aren't met by these VWs in their factory condition,
that it takes incredible amounts of time and money to buy, fabricate, figure
out, design, and install all that stuff, after half-disassembling the car.

I heard rumors many years ago, about a company called "People's Car Co." in
Southern California, which bought new beetles made in Mexico. They brought them
to a bonded warehouse near the border, and did all of the above to make them
legal in all 50 states. They then sold them legitimately to U.S. customers for
about (then) the price of a new Toyota Corolla, which wasn't cheap.

I can't recall where I heard about this company-- might have been Car and
Driver or some other such mag. Anybody out there know anything about this?

-Steve Maher        smaher@ball.com                  '71 VW Transporter