I think you might be right about the corruption, I have heard rumours that members of a certain USA car club in the NI have been pulling strings, by means unknown, with NZTA for the sole reason that they want their precious four wheeled investments protected by making it harder for others to import.Totally agree with the 20 year thing, it's a crock of shit regardless of where it comes from.A 1989 R32 Skyline or whatever else takes your fancy that was unsafe five years ago is now safe again!Pull the other one!
richardmayes,
Nov 8, 9:23am
I suspect this law is more about keeping the NUMBER of left-hookers on our roads at a very low level, rather than about the safety of any given car.
I doubt they are seriously trying to say a 1963 Corvette is more worthy to be on our roads than a 1993 Corvette because the older one is safer.
vtecintegra,
Nov 8, 9:25am
Their standards are different - a lot of USDM cars are noted for extremely poor frontal impact results (see Dodge Neon, Chev Cavalier/Pontiac Sunbird/Ford F150).A lot of the Korean 'rubbish' isn't any worse.
Basically the law as it stands is to discourage the use of LHD vehicles without banning altogether - presumably anything that meets the criteria isn't going to do a lot of mileage which somewhat mitigates the risks.Personally I think they should blanket ban all LHD vehicles, plenty of stuff with the steering wheel on the correct side available.
fordguy17,
Nov 8, 9:35am
If you are satisfied with driving Hondas. Or taking out a second mortgage just to buy a Mustang with the interior butchered to make it RHD. If people have the money and the time to import and restore LHD's, they aren't going to be out there causing crashes. I can think of 1001 more people who drive our current RHD drives who shouldn't.
vtecintegra,
Nov 8, 9:42am
In that case its not just LHD vehicles, the 20 year thing applies to older RHD imports too.
vtecintegra,
Nov 8, 9:44am
I don't even know how any of this is relevant to the topic.
richardmayes,
Nov 8, 9:48am
"My car would smash your car." "You're a w@nker." "No, YOU'RE a w@nker."
What an excellent thread.
kiwigal,
Nov 8, 9:55am
Not read whole thread.
I hread that you are only allowed to have ONE LHD car at time,how do they work that one!
rotormotor7,
Nov 8, 9:55am
his car is always faster/better/stronger than any other poster's car on these boards, even when its parked up
he should stick to riding BMX's.
fordguy17,
Nov 8, 9:58am
New Mustang is a RWD Mazda! Now that's an idiotic statement if i ever saw one. I presume you drive an 80's Starlet or some other little car, and have no idea about cars at all. What are you going to claim next, the new Mercedes SL500 is a RWD Corolla! The USA never stopped building great cars.
fordguy17,
Nov 8, 10:10am
Forget the Mazda, i think he just drives the lawn mower. 460 cubes obviously is too much for him.
richardmayes,
Nov 8, 10:31am
10.5" uncut.
(This is the willy contest right!)
ashwattau,
Nov 8, 11:34am
This entire thread is pretty much the reason why i don't/won't ever drive a V8. Or any other wank-tank for that matter.
phillip.weston,
Nov 8, 6:55pm
Bullshit. The latest shape Ford Mustang is on Ford's own platform (D2C) and is the only vehicle to use it. There is no Mazda input anywhere.
The rule now is 20 years old at the time of compliance, not at the time of importation. Under the old rule, I brought in a 1971 mustang in may 91 and was told it cannot be registered ever in NZ because it was first reg in aug 1971 and was not 20 years old. I proved to them it was manufactured before may 1971, so got through that way. Yes, they even went by the month!
freedomaira320,
Nov 8, 9:05pm
Actually, it's all to do with safety. As a couple of posters above have pointed out, it's about keeping the numbers of LHD cars down. You only have to spend a short time around Calais or Dover to see the chaos large numbers of wrongly hooked cars can cause, and that's after millions have been spent making the roads there as friendly as possible to both LHD and RHD.
I think we're lucky in NZ to have rules that will allow small numbers of genuinely classic cars in LHD form on our roads. No one is pretending they're safer than more modern cars, it's just a loophole to let enthusiasts like yourself drive a small number of very cool cars on our roads and prevent hordes of nasty (albeit arguably safer) more modern left hookers creating all sorts of hazards.
howie69,
Nov 9, 6:12am
I have four Left hook vehicles, three registered and one going through compliance now. They are almost making me bring an eighties car up to new specs. I don't mind safety issues but they are over the top on some points which is pushing my costs through the roof.I use my pickup to tow with and find the left hook great you can drive to the left of the road far better. Passing is no issue the noise volumefrom the passenger side from her is a good gauge.
pat56,
Nov 10, 12:10am
Wasn't that just one member couple years back who realised he wasn't going to make a bundle 'cos his car wasn't the only one for sale. Apparently he had political connections.
gbbrot,
Nov 10, 1:58am
Can't be helped. Fact: you pull out to pass with lh drive car, you have to expose at least half the car to other drivers going the other way until you get good vision for passing purposes. They are dangerous! Nothing to do with attitude (other than the attitude of the driver towards other road users).
pat56,
Nov 10, 3:15am
Left hook enthusiasts know how to drive them. They sure as hell don't want to crunch their pride & joy. To pass, you will find if they don't have a passenger in the right seat, they will drop back from vehicle in front so they can see oncoming. Mate has just picked up his '07 Vette Z06. He says worst aspect is reversing out of angle park.
2get1,
Nov 10, 5:27am
what BS ive driven LHD vehicles here and in USA and a wide variety of them.
when driving a LHD here, you tend to keep much further left in your own lane than any other vehicle, almost so that it looks like your driving in the gutter. You use the left hand lane marking as your referance point on the road. Everyone in a RHD car uses the centre line and as such almost sits on it.
when sticking to the left side you get a great view up the inside of a car infront of you, so you have a good look up the inside before you stick your nose out as you start to overtake. You dont just stick 1/2 the car out into the oncoming lane to have a look to see if its safe to overtake. If you did the front would be smashed in, in no time.
left handed bends are even better you get a really good look up the inside.
freedomaira320,
Nov 10, 5:39am
Which all goes to show that driving a LHD vehicle needs a bit of skill and some extra concentration. Exactly why we don't want our roads flooded with cheap cars from China and Thailand driven by all those plonkers we've got out there on our roads.
Hence restricting LHD vehicles to older enthusiast vehicles only. It keeps their numbers down and the skill levels of their drivers up. A good law.
lookoutas,
Nov 10, 5:53am
No - it might hurt.
dr.doolittle,
Nov 10, 6:16am
A good reason for DRIVER/OWNER certification come registration by way of a competency test or such, as opposed to certifying the vehicle.
lookoutas,
Nov 10, 6:19am
I already apply that.
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