Hello, Kansas City. Welcome back to the Bespoke Automotive Refinement Podcast, your number one go-to podcast for all Kansas City car detailing services, all Kansas City car detailing information, and truly Kansas City’s number one car detailing expert, Thomas Thill. Thank you so much for joining us and for sharing with us your infinite wisdom.
Gesundheit. Today we’re going to be talking about 12 beloved cars that are or were actually banned in the United States. Oh, I think I know all of these.
Yeah, Kilo stuff. We’ll be watching a movie and Thomas will be like, oh that one’s banned in the United States. Okay, the Pagani Zonda, the Porsche 959, the… I don’t know if it’ll be in there, but it’ll be the Nissan Skyline GTR, the R32 through R34.
The… I’m trying to think. How many are there? 12. There’s 12, okay.
The Pagani… or no, the Koenigsegg CCX or CCR. Uh, and then the Noble… the Noble MT900 or MT600? That’s the only ones I can think of. Okay, well number one on this list from Slash Gear is the Porsche 959.
I knew it! Yep. Um, why is that one banned, do you know? You know, I never really understood why they banned these cars. I don’t think it had to do with their horsepower or, you know, I think it had a lot to do with just federal regulation in the United States.
Why? It says that car enthusiasts worked to find ways to get cars into the United States. They passed a new law called show or display. Yep, I know that law very well.
So they’re allowed to show it, but can’t be driven more than 2,500 miles. 2,500 miles a year. Yep, um, but it doesn’t tell you why.
Number two is a Nissan Skyline R34, baby. R34 GTR. One of… okay, so that car was like my all-time dream car for most of my life.
Wow. And then, you know how they say don’t ever meet your heroes? Yep. Okay, well that happened to me.
So I have a friend who ended up with one and he let me drive it and it was so underwhelming. I was like, this is slow. So, and I know with that car, like every Skyline until the R35 was banned in the United States.
And I just, I think it had to do with the windshield or something with the EPA. But I did have friends that brought those cars in and they were driving way more than 2,500 miles a year. Well, as of January 2024, um, some of the models are able to actually be imported into the United States.
That’s pretty cool. That car before it was able to come into the U.S. was like 60 grand and now they’re like a quarter of a million. Yeah.
Because everyone wants them. Number three on the list is a Volkswagen Type 1 Beetle. Never heard of it.
It’s a normal Beetle. What about a supercar? Oh, it’s not, it doesn’t have to be a supercar. It’s just a car that’s been banned.
Well, then there’s way more that I can think of. Yep. I don’t think the list is just beloved cars that are banned.
Okay. Well, one of them would probably be the, um, the Ford Focus RS Cosworth and the, uh, Escort RS 1000 or RS 2000 Cosworth, I think. Next up on the list, we have a Jaguar XJ220.
Do you remember that car when we first started dating? And I was like, look at this. And I sent it to you as that silver car that I was working on at Vincent’s shop. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
That’s what that was. Oh, cool. So that guy brought that in under the show and display law, but I can guarantee you, uh, he is driving that thing way more than 2,500 miles a year.
Yeah. Next up on the list, we have a Lamborghini Diablo Strosek. Okay.
I don’t know anything about the Strosek, but I have a couple of friends and I have a Kansas City car detailing client who has a Diablo and actually did a Kansas City car paint correction service on it, but I’ve never heard of that model before. Yeah. It looks like it was made especially for somebody.
Next on the list, we have a Fiat 126P. So cute. When Fiat bought in the, um, the 500 Abarth, like they made it for the United States, that was kind of like their version of like a modernized version of one of those.
I really like them and I know they look kind of gay, but I still want one. Mm-hmm. You’d enjoy it? I would.
Next up, we have a BMW M3 Sport Evolution 3. I don’t know why I forgot that one. It’s interesting that these cars are banned. There’s a lot of really cool cars that you can’t own in the United States.
Like a lot, unfortunately. There’s the Holdens, um, there’s actually a lot of Fords that made, like Ford made a few really cool sports cars that you can’t own in the U.S. Wow. Stupid.
Next up, we have a Mazda Cosmo. That makes sense. So I have a friend who’s a total weirdo and he’s a big Mazda guy and he named his dog Cosmo and I was like, why would you name your dog Cosmo? And that makes sense now.
Okay, after the car. Uh, next up is a Rover Mini. Never heard of it.
Oh, well those aren’t, those- It’s a cute little Italian car. They’re legal now after the 25 year ban because there’s a lot of those running around now. Yep.
These, uh, only as they hit the 25 mark can they be bought over. I see the next one you’re about to say and I don’t know how I forgot it because it’s one of my favorite cars. But like, I can’t get too excited about it because- Can’t have it here? No, but I know someone who got one.
That’s pretty cool. It’s Chris. He has, he has a white one.
Uh, it’s an Alfa Romeo 8C Spider. That’s pretty cool. So it doesn’t have a convertible.
Okay, maybe just the Spider isn’t available in the U.S. because he has a coupe. Okay, yep. Next up we have a Porsche 964 Carrera SRS.
That makes sense. I did not know that the RS wasn’t legal in the U.S. but you never see 964 RSs. You see 964s, very rare, very rare.
Those cars have gone up in value so much. Next is a Pagani Zonda. That was one of the first ones I listed.
It’s also one of my dream cars. Really? What makes it a dream car? Well, you can’t own it in the U.S. There’s actually a guy in Kansas City that has one, supposedly. Allegedly, no one’s seen it.
I saw a picture of it on 435. Um, but they’re just, they’re one of the most beautiful cars ever built, ever. So if somebody is wanting you to work on one of their, one of these cars, whether it’s an old Beetle or maybe a brand new Pagani, what are some things that you could do to make the car its absolute best? What are some things that Bespoke Automotive Refinement services in the way of Kansas City car detailing packages? Tell you what, if you have a brand new Pagani, you’ve got a Utopia, I’ll do it for free.
Wow, that’s a big statement. I’ll do it for free. Because you can get paid upwards of 10 grand to work on a car.
I know, but I would do one of those for free because I want to touch it with my hands. Um, so the best way to get a hold of us is to contact us at 620-282-0402. That’s the best way to reach me.
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Kansas City Car Detailing: 12 Iconic Cars Banned in the U.S.
