Rare Cars You Can Import in 2025
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 ม.ค. 2025
- Try Rocket Money for free: RocketMoney.co... Thx to RM for sponsoring us!
Join our Discord (and The Boookclub)! / discord
It's 2025, which means we (USA) can now legally import cars made in 2000 from anywhere in the world --JDM, European, wherever! We already have access to the likes of the Nissan R34 GT-R, Silvias, etc, so I had to dig a bit to find some interesting ones. Lmk you what think, and what you think I missed. And as always, I love you!
Merch: speeed.co
Follow me on instagram: / jamespumphrey
Follow Speeed IG & other socials: / speeed.co / speeedcompany
/ speeed.co
Outro song is White Sheets by Hennie Hun
open.spotify.c...
Try Rocket Money for free: RocketMoney.com/Speeed
Get that bag, king.
not pronouncing hrsprs?
Miss you on past gas! Still love the guys there but need more Kentucky Cobra. Plans for a podcast?
why did u put the belgian flag instead of the german flag on renault?
Is lists actually all you want to do now. I honestly thought the LIST donut videos was actually a shit, effortless part of donut when compared to uptospeed. - You seem to be phoning it in. This whole channel is "James can't be fked anymore"
Damn us Belgians make a lot of cool cars
I was genuinely intrigued when I saw the Belgian flag, thinking "Wait, we haven't made cars in Belgium since the 1900's". Took me a minute to understand Americans don't differentiate European flags. 😅
@@mrpepinas an American, it wasn't done out of malice
@@mrpepinthere was the Gillet cars in the 2000´s but only 28 where made
I was coming here to comment this 🤣
Germans are mad now.
I'm a big dude, and I think I suffer from the opposite of short-guy-in-a-giant-lifted-truck syndrome. I want to squeeze into all these tiny hatchbacks. The Speeed vibe is really starting to cement, James seems super laid back again. Loving the new groove!
Same same. I have only tiny cars
@@SpeeedCo but diffeeerent
Same. I’m 6’ 270 and would love a car like a Miata to tool around in but while I can fit in the car width-wise, my torso is too tall to fit if the roof is on. 😅
Lol me and my S3.
@@backwoodstherapyI’m 6’ 2” and I have a Miata. I did have to cut and drop the floor pan more than an inch and side mount the seat without sliders so my helmet doesn’t hit the cage I built, but hey it works.
This channel after the spin off has been a significant surprise. Super well done videos and research. I know there is a ton behind the scenes. It’s very much appreciated. Keep up the good work.
Much appreciated!
@@SpeeedCo i would honestly pay a Patreon just to see more of James funny moments that didn't made the cut. I mean I'm broke actually BUT IF I WASN'T I would for sure pay for it
Yeah the up to speed on a camera was awesome
@@SpeeedCo can you up to speed with the Mercury cougar please? :D
One of my favorite things about James's videos have always been that he tells us that he loves us at the end of the video every time
Hands off our Clio V6's, they are already so rare over here and I'm still saving for mine!
nuh uh im gonna buy it first
Soo rare in UK and looking at 25k...what's the price going to be when they start getting exported! That's what shook the R32s over here from 10-30k in a few weeks!!!
Knew the Lupo GTI from the silhouette.
You Americans have missed put on soooooooooo many cool Euro cars and now you're finally going to be getting them!!
@@HomeWithDrew my desire to own a 306gti6 will remain unfulfilled if they learn about this peug, gotta keep this one undercover. Lets redirect their attention on the 206 instead, 'till they learn about the shitty rear axle 😂
@@HomeWithDrewno one would want to import a right hand drive clio that’s why all cars are dirt cheap in uk
Using the Belgium flag 🇧🇪 for the German flag 🇩🇪. Is a bit of a big mistake😂.But I think it's funny. (I'm dutch🇳🇱)
Me too 🇫🇷
Hallo ik ook
belgian* silly european
@@Andr3nEM *Belgian silly internet citizen.
If I make an intentional spelling mistake we could keep this up four days.
@@_Billy I caught that too... I was wondering what cars Belgium makes lmao
Whoa! Never expected to see our footage in one of your videos, stoked that you’ve seen our stuff.
Awesome video James, love what you’ve been doing with Speeed. Enjoy the new JDM cars! ❤
@@jdub85055 i care???? I care a lot. Checkpoint japan is rad.
@@jdub85055Bruh, he cares obviously. What's your problem ??
@@jdub85055 I care - DUDE
BIG W was super excited when i saw
Whoever does the editing of these videos, massive respect for the original modern warfare rank-up sound effect. 3:27
That sound is so nostalgic.
HELL YEAH
Great catch bro
Loving these new list videos, James! It's so cool to see some love being shown to some classics of the UK car scene. I used to own an A3 8L (nothing compared to the S3 performance-wise), and I loved it to bits. They are so cool. I lowered it on 17" Audi TT wheels with 20mm spacers on the rear, and it sat so nicely. Blue Alcantara seats from the factory to match the denim blue paint, such a vibe. I'd highly recommend that any American VW/Audi lover import one.
The Holden ute has been legal to import. Although not sold in the USA, it was originally intended to be sold there. It passes all legal requirements and can be converted to left hand drive.
I work at a Chevy dealership and a local gentleman did import a commodore ute and has it serviced at our dealership! So cool to see the first time he pulled up, only a few of us actually knew what it was
Pride of Australia 🇦🇺
@6:20 you might be mistaking this with TWR (Tom Walkinshaw Racing) which is a British company that built and tuned Jaguars, Astons, and Volvos. TVR indeed stands for TreVoR.
TWR is a legendary company in australia too. Even have cars named after it like the VL Walkinshaw and the very special GTSR W1 (W is for walkinshaw)
11:31 the Ibiza is a Polo platform, the one based on the Golf is the Seat Leon. MK4 all.
And the Arosa was on the Lupo platform. Arosa had a nice gti variant too with a single exhaust. The are cool af
Dissapointed, although no necessarily suprised, that the MK1 Skoda Octavia vRS didn't get a mention, also MK4 VW Golf platform with the 1.8T (AUQ - 180hp variant)
yeah or the skoda octavia 1.9 tdi 4x4 fun as hell that one
Paraphrasing what you said at the end, "..kind of like how the world in a way has become less special, less romantic" [aka - more boring and repetitive, where everyone plays by the "rules" of profit]..thats probably the most simple wording I've heard used to describe the modern world while still being wonderfully poetic; and why I'm so happy that although I missed the 60s I still got to live through the 90's and I will cherish that forever
I'm surprised the Morgan Plus 4 wasn't included. Even more surprised that no one in the comments mentioned it (yes I went through the entire comment section hitting "cmd/ctrl + f").
4:46 It a Belgium flag not a German 😭
american
glad someone else caught this!
Okay... Glad I'm not the only one who caught that.
Oops we were editing in landscape mode
Yeah, that hurts that hurts me as a Belgian...
Your car analogy is spot on. All of my friends asked me why I purchased my VW Tourage with the V8. It was the end of a bygone era when cars had personality and a sense of individualism.
Mom car. Shoulda just got a VR6
Touareg was available with factory lockers in the USA, very nice upgrade if you don't have them and makes it a much more capable car off road.
Dude the Clio V6 is a pocket rocket. I love small fast cars, it's like driving a go-kart. Who doesn't like go-karts?
Them TVR's will try to kill you though. You better be a good driver.
And the Clio 172 2.0 16v
my brother owns a clio sport as his daily, i've driven it also, it is fast and awesome alive like a civic
I wanted it as soon as he showed it. Loved that car since GT2.
I totally forgot about this car. Seriously a cool car but it’s French and def unreliable.😂
I’ve been waiting for someone to make a video about the newly available imports and I’m damn glad it was James who made it.
damn man you make a great video, I imagine that's why speed started, and your full potential was realized. The sincerity at the end there is really relatable, weird times indeed. Liked the "where do we go from here." fade out. Cheers
Here are some other interesting cars that are very rare in the US:
Škoda Octavia RS
Opel Astra OPC
Volvo 850R
Renault Mégane
Suzuki Jimny
Megane rs
Octavia RS is very cool and not even to bad to get mechanical parts in the US as it's all VAG.
Megane RS is so cool, quirky design and extremely good track car. Might be a pain to get parts in the US.
850R, yes, just yes.
@@krazypilot Megane RS is 2004, so it is not legal in the US yet
I forgot about BMW M3 CSL. It is also from 2000. But I don't know if it was imported to the US back then.
@@sheva4ever1 It was. Jobe just built a replica M3 CSL on his channel
Its funny how we used to think cars were getting too "cookie-cutterish" back in the late 90s. We had no clue what the 2020's had in store.
in 20 years we're gonna think 2040s cars suck and we had it good in the 2020s.
I never heard that in the 90s tbh lol
Sorry for being so gen z but wtf is “cookie-cutterish”?
@El_Negro2003 It's an idiom that basically means it lacks originality or is often repeated. Like using a cookie cutter and stamping out cookies that all look the same. It's not a very common expression these days, but it was back then.
@AdultsAreTalking I was knee-deep in automotive journalism in college (late 90s) and interned at an advertising firm. Trust me, from a stylistic perspective, it came up.
My personal pick as an American is a 2000 Ford Falcon TS50 (T3). Badass hand-built 5.6 Windsor V8 stroker, MOMO steering wheel, Brembo brakes, Stout Tremec TR-3650 5-speed manual, and not to mention that body kit
AU FALCOOOOOOOON
😂 @@Nizzino_40
@@Nizzino_40a man of culture.
@johnherbold6539 Series 3 5.6L (342ci), you'll have to wait 'til '02....sorry mate ! I own the poor man's AU2 XR8, still with the hand built 295hp 5.0 though !!
As a french dude, I can tell you, the clio is terrifying, the front wheels do not turn that much and it make the car really hard to save from slide on the road because of the weight of the v6 positionned in the back of the cha
Love the new show! Keep up the good work! How about the renault laguna coupé, avantime, espace F1. Or maybe you could do a segment about the crazy history of Louis Renault and renault it self, there is a lot there even till modern day with carlos ghosn
The Clio V6 you showed in the video, is the facelift version that came out in 2003.
The original version from 2000 has different headlights and 25 horsepower less.
And the price is now closer to 50,000 euros 😊
Intrigued to see how the face-lift prices start to go up in a couple of years...and then the Trophy and base 172/182s as they will be a lot more attainable than the v6 to most!
@@HomeWithDrewI just spent €10k on a 114k km all original perfect condition 172 in Greece. They’re already going up but I’ll have the first one imported to the states🤷🏼♂️
Learned to drive in and grew up with a 100hp 1.4L VW Lupo S and can confirm terrifying body roll when you pushed it and the float over 100mph was even more scary. But god was it a fun little car.
Daily driving a 75 HP one and yeah, tight corners feel like I'm gonna die. Needs coilovers to really unlock the pocket rocket power.
Love my little lupo, is tiny but quite roomy
3:26 omg that cod unlock sound was so nostalgic. Man the ending of this started making me really think... were getting old now. 3 more years till im 30 but i feel like i was playing in the backyard with my friends and nerf guns a few weeks ago, that was 2008.
i was waiting for this comment! lol
Which sound is this? From Black Ops 1?
@@CAslayerlukeCCHawk modern warfare 2 or 3 i think. the original series
Love this James! Keep it going ! We are here for you and the ways you can speak to us and teach us! Long live @speeed
how does this guy end every video with a deep thought that actually gets to you. These videos are too high quality for modern entertainment.
Am I drunk or are all the german cars represented by a belgium flag?
You’re not drunk! 😂
Drunk!
Unfortunately so, his editor couldn't be arsed to Google German flag and ended up with the Belgium flag
Both.
Yup
Quick correction, you cannot get an Altezza Gita with a 3sge beams engine, the 2.0 Gita (AS200) is a 1G-FE 6cyl engine with 160bhp, the 3SGE 4cyl only came in the RS200 Altezza Saloon.
Also to mention the Altezza was also the IS200 (IS 200 Sportcross) with the 1G-FE outside of Japan
And AS300 had the 2jz-ge engine. Samme as IS300 in Europe and US.
@@mitTÜVimKonflikt The Sportcross was mentioned in the video.
@@AdultsAreTalking but not the 200
@@mitTÜVimKonflikt gotcha
11:25 I have to correct you on that one James: the car you’re showing is an Ibiza, which never had 4WD. The Ibiza was the SEAT variant of the Polo, not the Golf
11:33: that is a Leon Cupra R, which was based on the A3 8L platform (yes, the A3 was the first car on that platform, beating the Golf mkIV by a year). The Leon Cupra R had the same BAM engine as the S3 only it came with FWD only. There were Haldex 4WD variants of the Leon, one with the 180HP 1.8 20vT (AUQ) and the actual Leon Cupra4 had the 2.8VR6 with 201 hrsprs. SEAT had to drop the “4” moniker as that’s what Porsche was using for their 4WD models.
Had to correct you on that one, the Leon Cupra R is one of my favourite cars, and it put the GTI to shame. Mk1 LCR still had mo powa babeh than the Mk5 GTI.
IT is seat Ibiza 2fl cupra. not leon
@rayivo7302 yeah, that’s what I said also. He shows an Ibiza and says it’s a mkIV (Golf) and then shows a black Leon Cupra R.
James you have reinvigorated my love for Audi with the avant info… though the Clio and the Lupo are there too.
I’m glad you’re back at it and keeping it James it’s a breath of fresh air.
James, I love that you and your crew are making videos *you all* want to make. It’s easy to slip into the ‘what does the algorithm need??’ mindset, and by all means, there will be times where you need to make a few vids that have a big reach but only 1/2 the joy/effort, you gotta keep the lights on one way or another. But keep doing what you guys enjoy. x
The RS4 Avant has been on my bucket list for a long ass time now. Going to be trying to get one in the next few months.
Hell ya. Jelly
James, I love the passion in your videos. I never heard of most of these vehicles, but I am 100% invested in learning about them!
21:03 not just Mercedes, he got those engines out of AMG!! Nobody but nobody got AMG engines when he pulled that off.
It seems someone had some connections in Afalterbach….
Just to clarify something. The JZS171 Crown, Only the Athlete V came with the "276hp" 1JZGTE. The regular Athlete had the NA 1JZ. Only 15,000 Athlete V's were built. 10k Sedans and 5k wagons. There is also an Athlete VX with 300hp. But those are rare with only 300 built.
I'd like to see a video expanding upon that idea at the end of this one - The melding of cars, fashion, music, etc. In that, it went from unique and romantic to generic and mass-appealing. Great theory that deserves to be expanded upon! Also, a Brabus Van would be a boss import.
@22:08 we love you too my Guy!
Hit the nail right on the head with that closing statement! Stuff seems to be losing the uniqueness or character that separates it from the rest
Ohhhhh book
Club! You are the channel I am always so excited to see pop up in my feed. Loving the vibe and the subject matter.
Love the content and the Klein in the background. Much Love !!!
Thank you James for being you, the authentic moments of real are what make this channel shine!
I get you. I have a 1993 chevy lumina that i bought for 600 bucks here in gardena. 49k miles. I LOVE this car. It sticks out like a sore thumb. Need to get some work done on it but its in really decent shape. It hits so different than a new car. I want it to last forever. Also, James, so glad you're back. It's you!
This list is missing the Lotus Exige S1. Definitely should have been included!
It was on there but we cut it.
@SpeeedCo wrong answer!!!
I still remember using the gear ratio from 6 speed transmission's in the Summit Mail order catalog on Gran Turismo back in the day...Ty Richmond
11:45 I love this man for his love of VW. I started this video fully believing two things
1. The 1.8t mo powa baby engine would make an appearance in the lists and
2. VW 4motion is getting mentioned.
Good to know my intuition was correct
Much love man, I love the vibe of your new videos.
You did forget 1 special car.
The Mitsubishi evo 6.5 is now available and the prices are going up. Most are 2000 models.
Let’s gooooo get up to SPPEEEEEEDDDDD!!!!!!!!
James, I love you dude but your killing me, do you know that every single one of these cars has gone up in value since this video 😩🤣
Wagons are quick in Europe. I was stationed in Germany in the mid-2000s and had a 735 for my Autobahn cruiser. My cruising speed was between 120-140, and German wagons were regularly passing me like I was sitting still.
Mate, the Holden VX was an Australian Icon. And were used as the base for Vauxhal, Pontiac and Chevrolet back in the early 2000.
Every gearhead in Australia, grew up driving or wanting the Commodore. We had so many options during the VX era. Saloon, Sedan, Stateman, Ute, and crewman. The top tier "you truly are a petrolhead" ones were the HSV, Monaro and Maloo models. Each cool and beautiful cars that like a good woman, would beat your ass for disrespecting them.
K
Glad to see some respect on holden's name
I looked forward and click immediately when y'all drop a video.
I love the Renault Clio V6! It is always a go to if available in games for me. I'd love to own one.
Don't you DARE import a bunch of Clio V6's and drive their prices up! I NEED ONE! Why did you have to bring it into the attention of this many people?
The normal Clio mk.II phase 3 will be my first car in a year when I get my license, and after some time I WILL upgrade to the Clio V6.
EDIT: I am European
You can get the 2.0 Renaultsport FWD Clio from Mexico if you want something a little closer to home. :P (Assuming you're located in the states)
@@christopherwilliams9418the 2.0 Clio sport was a much better car than the V6. I had the Megane RS and the got to drive both clios B2B. V6 definitely got more attention, but handling was worse than the more balanced Clio RS. Plus the V6 was a nightmare in the cabin as there was no proper insulation from the engine heat.
If you want to import a Clio V6 you need to wait for for the phase 2 (the one with 250hp) wich has a much better chassis, the phase 1 (230hp) is way too dangerous.
That would just drive the prices down. As supply meets demand prices get lower not higher. So by all means bring them all over here. Then maybe I will be able to afford one.
In that bright blue with bbs gold wheels for me plz my fav hot hatch of all time 5 turbo a close second tho
An engine swapped Lupo GTI seems like a good idea...
11:11 we also have Jettas in Europe...
The mk3 was the vento and the mk4 was the called the bora in europe. Only the mk1 mk2 mk5 and mk6 were called the jette in europe as well as in the us
If memory serves, the mk3 was the... Vento I think? Then everything else was just a Jetta?
Yes but not all generations were named Jetta.
The mk3 was the Vento and the 4 was the Bora.
And we also have Bora in America. They're everywhere here in Argentina
I didn't know about the generational variants, I have only seen in person the original, mk5 and mk6 so I only ever saw Jetta written on the back.
12:31 GM is a prime example of this, if it wasn’t for Saturn or Buick we wouldn’t have opels or vuaxhalls in the USA
Wait...so they made the Opel GT with the same engine which mimics the Pontiac Solstice/ Saturn Sky but then made an even cooler body style and called it the Opel Speedster? Damn...we missed out!
The Opel GT and the Opel speedster are 2 completely different cars. The GT is the same as Pontiac/ Saturn. The speedster is based directly on the Lotus Elise and is much smaller but also much lighter than the GT.
Love this video, love the direction of the channel. Fun fact you can import some of these cars from Mexico, don’t even have to be imported overseas. Keep the SPEEED up! 💪🏻
loving the clio v6 since it was born, have seen it twice, once in Helsinki and 10 years ago in Berlin. amazing in real life
2:14 confirmed Luigi stan. We love to see it.
Liking murderers is gay
Dude, those are Belgian flags, not German...Next up, up to speeeeed with...the sickest, coolest, country flags! hahaha
Amazing video though, as always
The colors aren’t even in the same order.
How can you mess it up?
At least look it up before editing the video. 😂
Renault is so underrated. They made crazy v6 Clios and Megane RS with Rollcages and Bucketseats..
Yeah there are a lot of great Renaults. They’re really starting to make some interesting EVs too. Which probably won’t make it to the states.
You will save time by just buying another one than ordering a part 😅
Renault, Peugeot, and Citroen are so slept on. Sure, parts would be hard to get and they would break every 10k miles, but they’re SO COOL.
Most car enthusiasts born in the 80’s and early 90’s would get VERY excited with anything from Renault RS… They were legendary
For a Megane RS you'll have to wait for a few more years before you can import. You could get a Coupe version of the first gen though, with a 150hp engine. Still a very unique car.
We love you too mate. Love your enthusiasm, and your videos. Just found your channel here, always watched your old school stuff and loved the OG car videos you put out. Excited for more content
well im from denmark and i see most of these cars every day but cool to see some people appreciate them
We still don’t get enough wagons
Most of these cars are German, not Belgian 😂😂It's easy to get them mixed up though
How?
The colors aren’t even in the same order.
How can you mess it up?
At least look it up before editing the video. 😂
Only if you're a ignorant American.
@@Kev27RS *for Americans
@@i8yourDog Yeah 😆
Great video with very interesting cars. It would be wow also to do the same video with the limiter that you have to pick diesels
I love you dude. I’m so stoked that you’re doing this channel. It’s everything that brought me to Donut in the first place (The Pumphey, mainly.)
Keep it up and I’ll keep supporting and singing your praises to my bros and sisses.
PLEASE SOMEONE SUPPORT THE ARTIST IN THE OUTRO, THE SONG IS AMAZING AND SHE BARELY HAS ANY FOLLOWERS OR LISTENERS. Her name is Hennie hun, and the song is titled, "white sheets"
Thank you! I needed to listen to the full thing, so I searched in the comments to see if someone knew who it was.
Thank you James for everything you have done and continue to do, you have zero idea how much your outlook on life and the way you articulate it helps me sometimes. Keep on Keeping on brotha
If you like the holden commodore check out the opel omega (the commodore was based on it) with a 3.2 v6 or a 2.6 v6 or inline six bmw diesels.
Thank you for what you do, after a long day of slinging recall transmission jobs at the dealership it always feels like I’m just listening to a close friend talk to me. I love your videos so much
YES JAMES! Speeed videos clunching their style rudebuoy! Loving this video/animation journey shindig your dragging us through. Oooooozing some style, shim shammy smooth chamois supple selections finding your brand. Always knew you'd get there🤩
The most ad-happy channel ever! I have never had so many ads in a ~20 minute video. Yt is fkn outta control!
God, I fucking love James. the true life blood of Donut that got me back into the car scene after a few years away. The transition to this solo content has been awesome to watch and I love the retrospective at the end. Somber reality that the personality has left all of our formerly romantic industries
James, I don’t think I’ve posted this on any of your previous videos, but I love you too, man.
Keep up the great work!
I appreciate that!
The ending of this turned into a uncle in his cozy chair just chatting away in the evening. Love it.
The Altezza Gita was sold as the Lexus IS200 and IS300 "Sport Cross" in Germany. So if you want a LHD version get one from Europe
Dude, you cannot just buy a Pagani. Pagani chooses who can buy his cars. Horatio (and/or his son) decides who they allow to have the opportunity to buy one of their cars, it's invitation only. That is why they are so pretistigious and so hard to get.
It’s interesting you mention it, I found one in japan, just sitting there, possibly abandoned, it was used by an old tuning shop, I hope I can pick it up
One of my favorite nostalgia things about James Videos was when he was on Dount Media Channel. He talked about everything you need to know about the history of certain cars like the Chevy Monte Carlo
Hi James, I love your videos... fun, smart, honest and genuine. As a French guy working at Renault, I appreciate that you mentioned the Clio V6... we are now working on a new crazy toy : the Renault 5 Turbo 3E, to be revealed shortly!
We have most these cars here in our country and this video has made me appreciate them more
Couldn’t agree more with everything you said at the end about how cars used to be. I’m a mechanic and in my shop we get a lot of older vehicles. They can be a pain in the ass to fix but they seem to have some kind of character or soul. Maybe they have something to tell you.
Yet another reason to miss the 90s, especially starting this week.
The clio is one of my dream cars I’ve always wanted since gt as well
Love these videos about cars, format, info, everything. Keep up the good work
Thanks for bringing this back. My first TH-cam i watched was with the red mr2 . No clue who the heck you were and fell in love since then
My first car was a VW Lupo GTI ant that german enginering was really well made so wasn’t scary at all to drive…. But could also be because I was 18 and had not developed the ability to think of the consikvenses yet
My sister's 2018 corolla makes 142hp and I'm tearing the freeway up in that thing! The last thing my family needs to hear is that I got a car 3 sizes smaller and about the same power to weight ratio!
Love you man, thank you for the pure content!
I think I speak for everyone when I ask “where on earth are all the new sport sedans?”
No one buys them
Brilliant video James. It is wonderful to see your channel being a success.
Thanks James ❤
Bro these videos r edited so well they flow perfectly audio is great and cool visuals!!! AMAZING!!!