Up next Under the Spell of The West Published on November 07, 2017 Author Tread Staff Tags driver airbags, East Coast Rover, Land Rover, North American Spec, Share article Facebook 0 Twitter 0 Mail 0 Importing Dreams The Land Rover Defender is both myth and legend to those of us in the States. Tales from far away lands tell the history of these aluminum boxes traveling to the edges of the map and coming back again with a few more beauty marks.These vehicles were only briefly imported into the U.S. during 1995, 1996 and 1997. In 1998, the U.S. government handed down a mandate that all vehicles needed to have passenger and driver airbags and meet certain new crash test ratings. Unfortunately for us, Land Rover wasn’t interested in making changes to the Defender to keep it on U.S. soil. Because of this, the Defender became a distant dream for the Average Joe as prices for the few thousand NAS (North American Spec) Defenders that were imported climbed and they became collectors items. They slowly faded away as they were replaced by the new Jeep TJ Wrangler model and Jeep solidified its foothold as owner of the U.S. market. But, all is not lost. These oil-leaking electrical nightmares can still be yours if you have the know-how or know someone that does. The U.S. Government allows amnesty of vehicles 25 years or older to be imported onto U.S. land. That means as of 1 Jan 2018, global vehicles manufactured for the ’93 model year can be imported. While the idea of importing a 25-year-old—already notoriously quirky—vehicle doesn’t sound like the best idea to the meek, if you are wanting to get your hands on one of these timeless classics , that is the way to do it. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter If you are interested in the process for importation of said vehicles, check out East Coast Rover.
Camping Outdoor Adventures End of the Trail: Kayaking Through the Grand Canyon River A friend messaged me with an exciting announcement. He had just won a noncommercial river-trip permit down the Grand Canyon in the annual National Park […] Bryon Dorr January 05, 2017
Trails & Tales Trucks Desert to SEMA in a 2016 Toyota Tacoma From the Desert to the Show in a 2016 Quicksand Tacoma We believe that there’s little reason that something can’t be designed and built to function […] Jerry Tsai October 13, 2017
Features Hiking Hiking the Grand Canyon With Dad The Gift of Time One month after Father’s Day I received a text message from my dad: “Finished The Emerald Mile last night. Great read. […] Hemant Tiwari August 28, 2020
Trails & Tales Vans & Campers Travel-All The 4WD panel van is not a new concept. In World War II, the grand-daddy of factory 4WD trucks—The Dodge Power Wagon—was available in a […] Tread Staff December 12, 2017