Special Interest Vehicle Permit - Registering a Hawkeye Sti

[joshuahare17]

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

[Technikhaus]

Hey, and welcome!
Nice looking STI you've nabbed yourself there. Where about in the country are you?
My first recommendation would be finding a local compliance center/certifier and have a chat, hopefully there's one local to you that might've done a few special import vehicles and they might be able to point you in the right direction. 
The other option might be to try and find a contact at FHI/Subaru Japan that you might be able to get in touch with and use Google Translate to try and request some information from them? 
The final option I can think of would be to find a local vehicle importer and see if they might be able to do some coms with Japan and grab those details for you. 
Best of luck! I've always wanted a hawk-eye STI!

[joshuahare17]

Thanks for the feedback, I've always loved the Hawkeye Sti but was out of reach when I was younger. My first Sti was a bigeye, then managed to save up for the teareye/blobeye which I do still love. However being young and dumb I got into too much trouble with them back in the day and haven't touched one in 10 years now, so its sure a blast from the past for the short time I had a drive with a trade plate on.

Being an auto sparky myself I like to think I have a few contacts. Im in Wellington and have had a chat to a couple of car dealers I do work for as well as the business id take it to for certification on the road. None of them have been overly helpful except for the fact the car dealership pointed me to the special interest vehicle option. 

I hadn't thought about contacting FHI or anybody in Japan directly, so I might give that a go and let you know how I get on. Theres no harm in trying.

Cheers

[Hooch]

Hopefully they don’t change compliance rules in 2025 

😬

[Gripless]

I would not count on option 1 existing for long. It’s a moving target. 

 

option 2 is an option but it’s a bit of luck as to if it passes. I haven’t looked at in many years. 

have you called NZTA as a start?

then Subaru nz for figures, they may have ones older than 10 years if you are lucky. They may even send you email to use as part of submission.

 

Burden of proof is on you so make sure you have it covered well.

do you have the Japanese paperwork for the car?

production numbers are worldwide not American ones which are online a lot.

you need to supply an article saying it a collectors item not just a review, though review will say it’s a performance model.

Depends on how the split the models as well WRX vs STI.
You also can’t sell the car for 4 years or use it for work.

https://vehicleinspection.nzta.govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/49738/Application-for-SIV-permit.pdf
 

option 3 put a cage in it and then frontal impact doesn’t apply as the airbags etc have to be removed 

Edited September 12, 2021 by Gripless

[d0dgee]

how did you go any luck getting a v10 registered with a siv? i just got a v10 spec c done that was easy as low numbers were made of that model interested to know if you could get a normal sti done as like to get another to keep the kms on this one low as its a fun car for a daily.

[BT]

I'm also keen to find out how you've gone with this? I've been keeping an eye out for Spec C's in Japan, some nice standard low KM Sti's have also been popping up, but a bit worried about getting an SIV for them.

Cheers

BT