Miata Mailing List: March 1995, Message #188
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   From: "k.w. tanner" 
Subject: Re: Are Canadian Miata's US legal?
   Date: Sat, 4 Mar 1995 18:18:54 -0500

> I'm 
> trying to find out for sure if it is possible to purchase a '90 Canadian
> Miata and legally bring it to the US.  Has anyone done this?  Customs
> was unsure of the legal matters, seems to depend mainly of whether Mazda
> placed US EPA and federal safety standards stickers on Canadian Miata's.
> (Also, would a '90 model in Canada lacking an airbag be a problem?)
> Thanks for any insight...
>                                               -Mike

   I just went out and checked Baby for stickers.  She's a 1990 Canadian 
model, and according to her labels, she "meets all federal safety and 
bumper standards on the date of manufacture".  No mention of the country, 
but it's not a bilingual sticker, and thus not solely for Candian 
consumption.  Under the hood, there is a label stating that she meets the 
US EPA standards for emmissions.  No problems, mate.  Our safety 
standards are not terribly different from yours, and my next door 
neighbours brought two cars into Canada when they moved here.  The only 
stipulation that I know of is that they couldn't sell those cars for two 
years.  
	As for the airbag question - if I remember correctly, passive 
safety devices (airbags, mouse belts) were only required on a certain 
percentage of a carmaker's models in 1990.  Thus, there are 1990 cars 
without them, and your Miata would be another.  I could be mistaken, 
however.  
	Good luck, and grab yourself a BRG - they're just a standard 
colour here, but you'll get better resale south of the border!  (I prefer 
the yellow ones, anyhow - BRG is too dark for the car, IMHO)
				Keith Tanner and Baby