10 Cool Cars Eligible to Import to the U.S. in 2020

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has a rule that disallows any car not originally sold in the U.S. from being imported into the country and registered, unless that car is 25 years old or more. There are a few exceptions, but most of those are low-production exotics too expensive for the average person to afford.

The rule is pretty lame, but it does give us something to look forward to, as a slew of newly-aged 25-year-old cars become legal for importation. Here are our favorites for 2020.

If you're importing one yourself, just make sure you figure out what month the specific car was built. Otherwise, it's not quite 25 in the US government's eyes, and thus, not eligible for import or registration.

Then there's the Mega Cruiser. It's a Hummer lookalike only sold in Japan, powered by a diesel inline-four. It's just as capable as the Hummer off-road—perhaps even more so, thanks to four-wheel steering, a feature never offered on the Hummer.

The time has finally come for the second generation of Godzilla. JDM fanatics will no doubt be clawing for a chance to get their hands on the first R33-generation GT-Rs to hit U.S. shores legally, and while it may not be as widely revered as the R34, it's still a Skyline GT-R. We can't wait to see them on the road.

The RX-7 SP was a special edition 1995 model built in extremely limited numbers to homologate the car for Australia's Production Car race series. It got a bunch of upgrades, including more aggressive aero and a bump in power.

The Elekta was a special edition model built in 1995 to send off the E34-generation M5. Just 20 examples were built for the Italian market, all based on the later 3.8-liter variant of the car. If you can find one for sale, you can now legally register it here in the states.

We can forgive you for not knowing what the SARD MC8 is. Just one exists, after all. The Japanese tuner team wanted to race at Le Mans with a highly modified twin-turbo V-8-powered Toyota MR2 in the 1990s, so it built a single road car to align with homologation rules. The car went into hiding for years before popping up on YouTube in 2015, then again on Twitter in 2018.

Mitsubishi introduced the third generation of its iconic Lancer Evolution in 1995, packing similar looks to the outgoing car, but with more aggressive bumpers and better airflow. It had slightly more power, too, and a larger rear wing.

Sure, it might have been front-wheel drive, but there's still a lot to love about Alfa's mid-'90s GTV coupe. It looks like a creature from space, and thanks to a lovely V-6 engine, makes a wonderful sound. Best of all, they'll be eligible for import into the U.S. starting this year.

Alpina never sold the E36 variant B8 sedan in the US, but starting in 2020, you'll be able to import them. It packs a 4.0-liter V-8 under the hood, so it's sort of like a later E90 M3, just a lot lighter (and presumably, more fun to drive).

The Cedric has been around since the Sixties, with the ninth-generation car being introduced in 1995. It was available a slew of Nissan's then-new VQ engine family, sending power to the rear wheels (or all four, if you checked the right option boxes). Now, you can have one for yourself come 2020.

The MG F isn't exactly the prettiest car on this list, but it's still cool enough to mention here. It's a mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive convertible with a light curb weight perfect for tossing around your favorite back roads. And unlike some of the other cars shown here, prices for used examples are pretty reasonable.