Classic Mini Value Question

Keith Tanner wrote: And yet, the second one I looked at on eBay was an obvious swap. Go figure.

I'm not saying there aren't a ton of them in the US and personally, I have no concerns about buying a car that beat the odds and is already titled in a US state. PA has dropped the photo requirements for registering classics so there would be no way to confirm it's a real '73 even if anyone at PennDOT could tell. If that particular car had A/C I'd be damn tempted to buy it and use it as a DD if the reserve wasn't nuts (which it probably is). Those late model MPI/airbag Minis are nice cars.

I'm just saying I wouldn't risk my money trying to sneak a non-compliant car through.

Are the non-legit cars that are already in safe though? What's to stop the feds from coming after them after they're already in?

Technically? Nothing. But once a car makes it into a state DOT system, there isn't much reason for the Feds to go looking for it. Basically, once a car is past the US customs it's out of the Fed jurisdiction (or quick/easy inspection & verification). It's not like the Fed and State DOT's really talk to each other. Hell, PA and NJ barely talk to each other and they share a ton of drivers and cross-border car buying.