Bringing a car into America that was never sold here has often meant dealing with federal regulators. Some of the cases below ended in a petition notice, a decision or a denial, while others arrived through the grey market. Here are eleven exotic cars that show how varied that path has been.
1. Porsche 911 R: Newest Petition in the Docket
On September 8, 2026, NHTSA published a notice of receipt for a petition asking that nonconforming model year 2016 Porsche 911R passenger cars be declared eligible for importation. That filing is the newest entry in the import-eligibility docket, and it is a request rather than a ruling.
A buyer eyeing a grey-market 911R should read the notice for what it is. Publication means the agency has received the paperwork and nothing more, so the petition does not establish that any such car may be brought in, registered or driven on American roads.
2. Porsche 918 Spyder: Hypercar Needed Paperwork
A model year 2015 Porsche 918 could not simply be shipped into the country, because a petition for an eligibility decision was required first. NHTSA published the notice of receipt of that petition on December 30, 2019.
The notice records only that a request had been filed, not that the hypercar had been cleared. Anyone weighing a comparable low-volume import would have needed a separate agency decision before treating the car as eligible.
3. LaFerrari: A Petition That Was Granted
NHTSA published a decision on eligibility on April 17, 2020, finding that nonconforming model year 2014 Ferrari LaFerrari passenger cars are eligible for importation. According to the research on file, the notice arrived four years after the car was built.
Unlike most entries in this docket, this one ended in a grant rather than a pending request. The decision names model year 2014, so it speaks to that specific car and not to every LaFerrari that might otherwise be imported.
4. Ferrari 458 Speciale: Open-Top Special Filed Separately
The open-top 458 Speciale Aperta needed a federal eligibility petition of its own. NHTSA published the notice of receipt on November 30, 2018, covering a nonconforming model year 2015 Ferrari 458 Speciale.
As with other notices of receipt, the publication marks a filing and not an approval. A collector hoping to bring one in would have been waiting on a later decision from the agency, which the notice itself does not supply and which no reader should assume.
5. Bentley Continental GT: Grand Tourer Under Review
Model year 2014 to 2018 Bentley GT Continental passenger cars were the subject of an import eligibility petition, with the notice of receipt published on November 25, 2019. The span covers several model years in a single filing.
A notice of receipt only announces that a request exists. Owners abroad looking at a Continental from those years could not read it as permission, since the outcome of the petition is a separate step.
6. Mercedes-Maybach Pullman: Stretch Limousine Refused
The stretched Maybach S600 Pullman was turned away. On March 17, 2021, NHTSA published a notice of denial of the petition seeking import eligibility for model years 2017 to 2019.
A denial is the opposite of the pending requests elsewhere in this list. The petition did not succeed, so the nonconforming Pullman was not declared eligible under it, and any importer wanting one would have faced the same hurdle again with a fresh filing.
7. Daimler Double Six: Jaguar Saloon Needed a Filing
Model year 1994 to 1997 Jaguar Daimler Double Six passenger cars needed an eligibility petition before they could be treated as importable. NHTSA published the notice of receipt on January 31, 2020.
The date matters because it shows that the process is not limited to new supercars. A car from the 1990s went through the same request-and-notice routine as the hypercars on this list, though the notice itself leaves the final answer open to a later decision.
8. Lamborghini Countach: Grey Import From 1976 to 1985
Before any official US car existed, the Countach reached America only as a grey import. The grey import vehicle reference says it was available that way from 1976 to 1985.
This entry rests on a general reference rather than a federal notice, so no petition or docket date applies. It shows the other route by which exotics arrived: outside the factory’s own American channels, and well before any official car could be bought from a dealer.
9. Citroen CX: Showroom-Free French Hatch
The Citroen CX is named in the grey import vehicle reference as one of the otherwise unavailable vehicles that entered the US through the grey market rather than a showroom.
No petition, decision or date is attached to this entry, and none is implied here. It stands as an example of a car whose American presence came from individual importers instead of an official dealer network, which is the contrast with the docket cases above.
10. Renault 5 Turbo: Mid-Engined Hot Hatch
The mid-engined Renault 5 Turbo is listed in the grey import vehicle reference among the cars that reached America only via the grey market.
Like the Citroen before it, this car carries no federal notice in the research. The point is the route rather than a ruling: a small French performance car arrived through private imports, not through an official sales channel, and that is all the reference is cited for here.
11. Range Rover Classic: Demand Preceded the Official Model
The Range Rover Classic came in through the grey market first, according to the grey import vehicle reference. The maker only later built a US model to meet the demand.
That sequence is the notable part, since private importers effectively demonstrated the market before an official version followed. No docket action is cited for this entry, so it is a story about demand and not about a petition or its outcome.
More from Morning Overview
- NTSB report details how a family of four died when their plane’s nose suddenly pitched up
- Doctors warn a silent liver disease now affects one in three American adults
- Common allergy, bladder and sleep pills tied to sharply higher dementia odds
- The second-largest U.S. reservoir just fell to its lowest level ever recorded
