Hey guys,
I'm new here so hope I've put this in the right place.
I have recently managed to get my hands on the car I have always dreamed of, a 2005 Hawkeye JDM Sit in blue. The car is completely stock and has been freshly imported to New Zealand. I have done a lot of digging to find out about getting it complied and registered to be on the road. Because it does not meet the frontal impact regulations and does not have electronic stability control I only have 2 options;
- Option 1, I leave the car in the garage until August 2025 when the car becomes 20 years old and is deemed a classic, at which point I can register it as a classic car and should be good.
- Option 2, I get it on the road now as a special interest vehicle.
Option 2 would be my ideal scenario as it means I can drive it now, easier to insure as its a registered car and also saves me any future headaches if the laws around classic cars change. Where I am struggling though is gathering evidence to support the fact that it is a special vehicle. I have tried to contact Subaru New Zealand to get some information off them but because the vehicle is a JDM model they aren't able to get information regarding the numbers manufactured or confirm that it is manufactured as a high performance vehicle. I have been through the list that NZTA provides and see that over the last year a couple of standard Sti's have come through as a special interest vehicle without being a special model (s204 etc...).
I'm hoping that one or some of you amazing people out there would be able to help me or point me in the right direction of where to gather this information from.
I have attached a list below of the information I need to provide.
Requirements that the vehicle must meet
To have a vehicle identified as a special interest vehicle, the Transport Agency must deem it to have historic value or it must meet three of the following four requirements:
The vehicle (or its make, model and submodel) is identified as being a collector's item in one of the following magazines or their respective websites – Australian Classic Car, Car and Driver (US), Automobile (US), Motor (Australia), Motor Trend (US), New Zealand Autocar, New Zealand Classic Car, Road and Track (US), Top Gear (UK), Top Gear NZ, Unique Cars (Australia) or Wheels (Australia).
Less than 20,000 units of the vehicle’s make and model have been (or were) manufactured annually.
The vehicle is, and was manufactured as, a high-performance vehicle.
I really appreciate any help with this and look forward to meeting up with some of you once its on the road.
Josh