@WNGD posted:So it's your opinion that anyone can bring a 356 replica across the border as long as the paperwork and title uses the pan as the model? ie 19XX VW Beetle.
My understanding was always that you were taking your chances doing that and an inspection of the actual vehicle might easily turn you back. And the 15 year actual build date would also be what they'd rely on.
Isn't it still "you'll probably be OK" but a potentially expensive crap-shoot?
This is a very grey area and I think it could swing both ways. I specifically asked the CBS personnel on the Canuck side in Prescott, Ontario if they would allow a Speedster body on a VW titled frame to be entered into Canada a few years back and they said definitely not. They clearly said that they know what a 1960's something VW Beetle looks like and one disguised with a Speedster body or MG body would not qualify for import. Period. Funny things do happen from time to time though.
As I mentioned in an earlier post I questioned a Transport Canada person about the procedure to import a Speedster replica and they went on and on about kit cars and my need to check this out with the local ( DMV) Service Ontario Center to be sure. Such it can be while trying to get a straight answer about a special circumstance from a Federal Employee.
Another stunning example here: I bought an old Honda C70 passport to get around the Sun n Fun event earlier this year. Although it had a 70 cc motor, it was titled as a moped. Mopeds in Canada need to be 49cc max and I knew that. I got the "wrong" employee at the Service Ontario office and suggested to him that we have an opportunity here to correct the registration. He dumbed down and called a supervisor in Toronto for an opinion on the situation and then advised me that I need to get a letter ( not even an email would do ) from the manufacturer ( Honda ) to state it was more than 49 cc. A letter from a dealership would not suffice either he said. I explained that anyone could do a google search on the model of the bike and that would prove the engine size. He said he couldn't overrule the opinion of his supervisor. Even my insurance agent had looked up the vin and noted that it was a small motorcycle not a moped and charged me accordingly. I left the office and came back later to get with another service rep who likes my BSA's and is a rider himself. I showed him the insurance, the safety and the previous owners ownership, paid the tax and was out of there in less than five minutes, still owning a "moped".