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Anon
By AA | Moderator | 844 Posts | 25 January 2011 at 8:46am

I am looking into buying an American muscle car and I was wondering what the rules are in regards to R/H drive conversions..

Also what are the rules in regards to importing a L/H drive vehicle into NZ.

Albert

From the "Ask Jack" archives - 11 December 2009

jbiddle
By jbiddle | Community Member | 1657 Posts | 25 January 2011 at 8:54am

In a nutshell there are two categories of Left Hand Drive imports.

For Vehicles that were manufactured before the 1st of January 1990 (Category B)
There are no restrictions on the importation of L/H drive cars provided they are classed as a light vehicle (under 3500kg). They are not required to meet any of the later standards such as emissions etc but they do need to be in good mechanical and structural condition.

For Vehicles that were manufactured after the 1st of January 1990 (Category A - Class MA only)
Vehicles must obtain a left hand drive permit from NZTA (New Zealand Transport Agency).
In addition they must also meet all the required standards applicable to the build year of the vehicle.

Refer to the NZTA web site for more information

If you are required to convert to R/H drive then the vehicle needs to be Low Volume Certified.