Thanks to the 25 year import rule, many cool cars that weren’t originally available in the US can finally be imported. This year, European and Japanese modern classics made in 1993 are ready to be imported and appreciated up close and personal on the streets of the USA.
Porsche 911 Carrera RS 3.8
Porsche 911 in all its versions is probably the most collectible classic car on the planet, and one of the cars North American enthusiasts will finally be able to import is the Carrera RS 3.8. It was the rarest and the fastest non-turbocharged Porsche, built in only 55 pieces as a homologation special. It is the complete opposite of a sleeper car with wide Turbo flares, 300 horses and lightened components to get the most out of it. This car is one of the ultimate modern classics and its rarity makes it stupendously expensive, but also sought after by American collectors. So, be ready to see a price bump in the very near future!
Aston Martin V8 Vantage
Produced from 1989 until 2000, the Aston Martin Virage was one of the strangest automobiles the legendary company ever produced. It was an extreme car in all ways, from its beefed up looks, all the way to its performance. The standard Virage packed 335 horsepower which was already powerful enough, but for those who wanted more, there was the V8 Vantage. It had a 5.3-litre twin turbocharged V8 which produced an astonishing figure of 550 horses. This kind of power could make the Vantage top 186MPH, which was a truly magnificent number for the time. Anyway, only 280 Vantages were built, so finding an example from 1993 is possible, yet quite a challenge.
Lancia Delta Integrale EVO II
The final update of the legendary Lancia Delta Integrale was dubbed EVOII and built from 1993. It had many cosmetic changes and a bump in power, so it was now producing 215 horses as a result of a re-engineered engine and a new turbocharger. The ultimate Delta Integrale is a car that enthusiasts waited for a long time, and its prices will continue rising even more, with American buyers now able to get on board.
Fiat Coupé
The early nineties brought us many cars with questionable styling, but the Fiat Coupé was definitely not among them. This Italian pocket rocket had dynamic, well-defined looks, earning the nickname Little Ferrari because of its stunning design. In its first year, it was available with either a turbocharged or naturally aspirated 1.9 litre twin-cam engine producing 190 or 139 horses. There were only 119 examples built in 1993, so if you want to be among the first to import this great little Fiat, you’ll have a pretty hard time finding one in Europe.
Porsche 968 Club Sport
As the last of the front-engined Porsches, the 968 was a successor to the fantastic, yet almost forgotten 944. As water-cooled Porsches are slowly getting the appreciation they deserve, there are a lot of cars becoming more sought after than ever before. One of those is the 968 Club Sport, a limited edition model for hardcore enthusiasts who wanted to squeeze every bit of performance from these balanced and powerful machines. The whole car was lightened, the interior stripped, the suspension was revised, and there was much more. The result was a sublime driver’s machine produced for one year only, from 1993 to 1994, which makes it a collector’s car and one of the best Porsche investments.
BMW E36 M3
While the E36 generation M3 was sold in the United States, BMW enthusiasts on that side of the Atlantic were left pretty disappointed because the car was just not as good as the European one. The American model got only 240 horsepower coming from the 3.0 litre inline six, while the European version was much more powerful, being graded at 282 horses. However, you’ll still have to wait a few years until the superb 295-horsepower M3 GT becomes available for import.
Audi RS2
In the nineties, Porsche played an important role in creating two fabulous sleepers for other brands. One was the Mercedes-Benz E500, and the second one is the Audi RS2. Based on the Audi 80 Avant, but thoroughly re-engineered and fitted with a turbocharged inline-5 cylinder producing 315 horses, this Q-Car was brutally quick and sadly not available in the United States. In 2018, as this car is turning 25, it means that some of these all-wheel drive monsters will hit the US shores pretty soon.
Renault Clio Williams
One of the greatest hot hatches of the early nineties never got the chance to prove itself on the North American market mostly due to the fact that Renault spectacularly failed with the Le Car. In Europe however, Renault had smokin’ hot versions of the R5, and its successor Clio got the famous Williams treatment. It was a homologated special built in just 3,800 examples for the first series, but this little 147 horsepower beast of a car saw higher production numbers, at around 12,000. The first series is the most sought after however, and you can finally legally import it into the States!
Lister Storm
This one is a bit of an extreme, but in 1993, the famous Jaguar tuner built its own supercar and called it Storm. Behind the pompous name hides a pretty strange looking car powered by a 7.0-liter V12 sourced straight from the Le Mans-running Jaguar XJR-9. The car was built as a homologation special, and there were only four road cars, three of them surviving until today.
Since the Storm is so scarce, we bet at least one high-end US collector is eyeing up this spectacularly fast eyesore.
Nissan R32 GT-R V-Spec
The Nissan R32 GT-R has already reached cult status, being adored by JDM fanatics and car collectors worldwide. Most of them already know that, but 1993 was the year the V-Spec was introduced in celebration of Nissan’s racing success. The V-Spec stood for victory specification, and the car was equipped with 17” BBS wheels, Brembo brakes and lightweight aluminium hood. The ATTESA E-TS four-wheel drive was retuned as well to provide optimal performance. A total of 1,453 copies were made, with the rarest of the bunch being the V-Spec N1 which was built in 64 examples.
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