The Nissan Silvia S15 is currently banned for road use in the United States. Good.
The official reason for the S15 being kept off of American roads is because of our 25-year import rule, which bans any car that 1) was not originally sold in the United States and 2) is less than 25 years old. The Nissan Silvia was never sold in the US (so it does not conform to our safety and emissions standards) and it is just 16 years old at its oldest. That's why a guy who imported one recently faced a possible 20 years in prison with a $250,000 fine.
The unofficial reason for the S15 being kept from American drivers is safety. Safety from drifting terror.
Just think of what would happen if S15s were allowed in the United States. It would be madness.
People would be drifting everywhere, all the time. Drifting down your street. Drifting on their way to school. Drifting into school buses and school children and that orphanage down the street run by blind nuns. The public highways would be overtaken by Drift Wars, where rival gangs of drivers would drift intensely and dangerously like in that Fast and the Furious movie only everywhere and all the time.
Thank you US government, for keeping us from this Driftpocalypse. May the S15 never be allowed in this great country.
Photo Credits: Nissan