So So sad Poor skylines.

[feldy]

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/05/29/w...issan-skyline/

Authorities in Wisconsin are bound and determined to crack down on gray market vehicles. According to Stevens Point Journal, In 2010, the state government orchestrated a sting to catch Justin Beno selling two Nissan Skyline models, one of which played a role in the Fast and Furious franchise. A Wisconsin Department of Transportation investigator spotted both a 1995 and a 1996 Skyline up for sale and pretended to be a buyer. The investigator asked if it were possible to get the cars titled, and Beno said he believed the vehicles could be titled in Florida, then retitled in Wisconsin.

This was not the correct answer. The government seized both cars and charged Beno with a spate of offenses, including two felony counts of conspiracy to commit fraud, one felony count of owning a vehicle without a vehicle identification number tag and two misdemeanors tied to those missing VIN tags. Beno said he had originally purchased the cars as bare shells without the tags and that the seller later mailed them along. He also says he didn't know it was a crime to simply own a car without its VIN tag attached.

Brown County Deputy District Attorney Dana Johnson offered Beno a plea deal wherein he would accept the misdemeanor charges and give up both fully restored Skylines. After offering to pay the fines and help the authorities find buyers for both machines overseas, the prosecutor declined. Instead, both cars will be crushed and sold for scrap. That's particularly heartbreaking after Beno spent years assembling both from parts bought from all over the world. It's made worse by the fact that in just a few short years, both cars will be exempt from federal safety and emissions standards for vehicles over 25 years old. Head over to Beno's site to see the Big Bird Skyline that's headed for the reaper.

http://www.bigbirdskyline.com/BigBir...e/bigbird.html

[Cheddar]

That's just fucked up!

[ttknf]

There's more to the story than what Autoblog posted. "Yellowbird" is actually a legitimately legal car and wasn't actually missing the "VIN plate." It has the small trim plate removed that denotes the interior color, exterior color and whatnot. The whole thing is completely ridiculous and just goes to show how much of the taxpayers' money gets wasted on frivolity.

[Jay Grey]

Thats really sad... I love Skylines!

[YukiHachiRoku]

[RRnold]

" The investigator asked if it were possible to get the cars titled, and Beno said he believed the vehicles could be titled in Florida, then retitled in Wisconsin"

"Beno said he had originally purchased the cars as bare shells without the tags and that the seller later mailed them along. He also says he didn't know it was a crime to simply own a car without its VIN tag attached"

Doh!!

[ZetaVI]

That was an interesting car story. Particularly sucks to mention they will be exempt in a few years time.

[Droopy]

yeah its sad, i was part of skylineownersusa.com's forum for a extremely long time. about a year ago the creator of the site was accussed of selling black market skylines because of his site. He lost one of his skylines because the paperwork wasnt right, he even said he wasnt sure if that had the right paperwork. If i remember right he got to keep his other one because it was fully legit. I think its just stupid to take these cars off the road when a lot of the owners are safe drivers and NOT IDIOTS. but o well its hard to fight jonny law

EDIT: the site is still up, i just checked it out

[Jayde]

Poor Skylines.

[reni]

WOW it's a good thing that our benevolent government is taking care of this serious threat to our country and not wasting time on money on stupid things like prosecuting violent criminals.

[Prava]

This pisses me off hard

[M-17]

That is pretty wack, but that's the law for you. That poor Skyline.

[yayforaddison]

This is probably the saddest thing ever. There was just a petition about 6 months back for people to sign, that'd allow people to import cars 15 years old rather then 25. Sadly it was a few thousand short from being passed.

Wish I could import an R33!

I just keep thinking tho, in roughly 3 more years, I can get myself an R32 to hold me over, and not have to worry about these kind of crazy stories...

[old greg]

I have zero sympathy for anyone who gets a skyline confiscated/crushed in this country. It hasn't even been ten years since the Motorex fiasco went down for Christ's sake. It is common knowledge that the Feds are on a crusade against any and all modern Skylines. Anyone who drives one on the street in this country knowingly does so at their own peril. And anyone stupid enough to do so without realizing the implications, frankly, deserves what's coming to them.

Any vehicle, less than 25 years old and not originally sold in the United States, being driven on public roads in the United States mustbe brought over with the assistance of a Registered Importer and be individually approved by the NHTSA as meeting FMVSS and (if under 21 years old) by the EPA as being emissions compliant. And just because Motorex crash tested an R33 does not mean all R33's are approved by the NHTSA, it just means that when you go to the NHTSA to show them that you've done all of the necessary modifications to the car to bring it into compliance with FMVSS, you won't need to bring along a couple of spare Skylines to crash test. Getting a car titled/registered without these things, and the paperwork to go with them, does not make the car legal, it just makes you a criminal.

Originally Posted by ttknf

There's more to the story than what Autoblog posted. "Yellowbird" is actually a legitimately legal car and wasn't actually missing the "VIN plate." It has the small trim plate removed that denotes the interior color, exterior color and whatnot.

You'll note that he was selling two cars but only facing "one felony count of owning a vehicle without a vehicle identification number tag".

The crux of the issue is that the cars were almost certainly imported as shells with no VIN tags. There is absolutely no way in hell that those cars can ever, ever be legally titled for road use in the United States. Ever. To sneak them past the DMV and get them titled/registered anyway would be Fraud, and could very well get you sent to a Federal f***-me-in-the-ass prison. And the act of the seller suggesting to a potential buyer how one might commit such a crime is in itself a felony, and carries a similar penalty. That's what he was charged with; "two felony counts of conspiracy to commit fraud".