Show or Display
The "Show or Display" rule is a statutory amendment in the United States that allows certain privately imported automobiles to be exempted from the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) if the vehicle in question is deemed to meet a standard of "historical or technological significance". The amendment, which became law on August 13, 1999, is intended to apply to vehicles that could not feasibly be brought into compliance with the FMVSS, including requirements for destructive testing, and that do not have a federal counterpart that was originally built for the United States market.
Because of the expense and effort required to import a vehicle with this exemption, the approved vehicle list is mainly limited to high-value sports and touring cars.[1] Applications under the "Show or Display" rule are reviewed and managed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which allows the vehicles to be registered for limited use on public roads (2,500 miles annually).[2]
The approval for "Show or Display" import is granted if the prospective importer is able to show historical or technological significance of the vehicle in question, and if the vehicle was produced in limited numbers (with 500 being used as a threshold value.) Import approval is granted on a combination of make, model, and production-year; thus, there is no need to re-apply for approved vehicles when further examples are imported in the future. Because the manufacturer of a "Show or Display" vehicle does not necessarily endorse its import, such automobiles would be considered grey market cars.
NHTSA originally proposed an annual mileage limitation of 500 on-road miles, and also required that a certified mileage statement be submitted annually during the first five years after import. During a comment period on the wording of the statute in May 1999, the Special Vehicles Coalition recommended that the figure be increased to 2,500 miles (a figure already in use by the insurance industry as a threshold to describe a limited-use vehicle.) The Coalition also recommended the elimination of the annual mileage statement requirement, as such a statement would not accurately reflect on-road mileage for vehicles that are also used off public roads. Both recommendations were incorporated into the final wording of the statute, though NHTSA retains the right to inspect an imported vehicle for the purpose of verifying mileage.
Citing unspecified concerns about public safety, NHTSA reserves the right to approve a vehicle for "Show or Display" import, but disallow it from being registered for use on public roads. The administration also reserves the right, at the time of import, to place any other arbitrary restrictions or limitations on the use of an imported vehicle. Regardless of "Show or Display" approval, imported vehicles must also meet the import restrictions defined by the Environmental Protection Agency.
NHTSA does not require FMVSS compliance for any imported vehicles that are above a certain age, currently 25 years.
References
- ↑ "Vehicles determined eligible for importation for show or display" (PDF). National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
- ↑ "Federal Register, Vol. 64, No. 134, Rules and Regulations" (PDF). National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Retrieved 2012-01-16.