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6 cars that are eligible for import to the U.S. in 2023

For car enthusiasts, the most exciting part of ringing in a new year is watching the list of import-eligible cars grow. Federal regulations make bringing a late-model car from Europe or Asia mind-bogglingly difficult, but these barriers fall as soon as a vehicle turns 25. There's no need to slash through a jungle of red tape; simply ship your dream forbidden fruit over, pay import duties, and in most states you're good to park a fresh import car in your garage. Of course, you need to locate any car you're considering importing, whether it's on this list of cars you can import in 2023 or not. A quick search of the internet will show that there are a lot of places that specialize in sourcing cars to import into the United States, and while we don't have any firsthand experience with any of them, we can point out a few well-known import car dealers, including some at auction. Duncan Imports and Classics bills itself as "America's Largest JDM Dealer" and keeps a large inventory of vehicles that have already been brought into the States. The Import Guys boast options to ship and finance worldwide, Davey Japan claims to have exported over 50,000 vehicles from Japan, and Goonet Exchange says it's operated by "Japan's largest used car information site." Japanese site Be Forward lists a staggering 10,949 online reviews at the time of writing with an average score of around 4.5 out of 5 stars. If your new year's resolution is to buy a car from overseas, here are some of the highlights from 2023's crop of importable cars. Keep in mind that some of these import cars were introduced in 1997 but didn't enter production until 1998, while others made their debut late in the year. And without further ado, here is a list of six cars that are eligible for import to the U.S. in 2023 that are worth noting. Cars that are eligible to import into the U.S. in 2023 Alfa Romeo 166 Developed to replace the 164, the 166 stands out as Alfa Romeo's last true flagship sedan; it wasn't directly replaced. It shares its front-wheel-drive platform with the Lancia Kappa but the two cars look nothing alike. Alfa Romeo gave the big sedan a smooth, relatively elegant design that borrows several styling cues from the smaller 156.

Nissan axing Pathfinder Hybrid from 2016 lineup

The Nissan lineup gets a little smaller for the 2016 model year, as the Pathfinder Hybrid is dropped from the range. With its debut in late 2013, the electrically assisted SUV is one of the company's more recent introductions. However, it never really caught on with the public. "The Pathfinder Hybrid is not available in the US for the 2016 model year. Our emphasis is on the 3.5-liter V6 Pathfinder that achieves a best-in-class 20-city and 27-highway fuel economy," Nissan North America product communications director Dan Bedore confirmed to Autoblog. "Nissan has no announcement on future hybrid gasoline-electric powertrain applications at this time." Nissan actually ended production of the Pathfinder Hybrid in January, and "the hybrid was never a big part of Pathfinder sales," Bedore said to Automotive News. For the price premium, the electrically assisted version that combined a supercharged 2.5-liter four-cylinder and a 20-horsepower electric motor was only rated three or four miles per gallon better in EPA combined ratings than with the V6. However, while the company doesn't outline individual sales of the two, powertrain variants, the SUV is performing well so far this year. Through June 2015, sales are up 4.9 percent with 41,938 units sold. The future for the Infiniti QX60 Hybrid, which is the Pathfinder's more luxurious sibling, doesn't look very bright either. "For the United States, while the QX60 Hybrid continues to be available at some retailers across the country, our production is currently focused on the QX60 3.5 model," Infiniti spokesperson Kyle Bazemore told Autoblog. However, the vehicle is still in production at the Smyrna, TN, factory for export to places like China and Mexico. According to Bazemore if demand happens to increase in the US, "we have the manufacturing ability to make them available." Overall, QX60 sales are also up 14 percent this year in the US.

Porsche 911 GT3 dukes it out with MP4-12C on track and GT-R on spectacular roads

The Porsche 911 GT3 has always been a favorite among auto journalists and car enthusiasts alike, but with the introduction of the new 991-generation GT3, which is the first GT3 with electric power steering and no manual gearbox option, how does it stack up to the competition from McLaren and Nissan?
Evo's Jethro Bovingdon attempts to answer that question by pitting the rear-engine Porsche against the mid-engine McLaren MP4-12C on a racetrack and the front-engine, all-wheel-drive Nissan GT-R on some amazing, twisty European back roads. We won't give away the victor of either comparison, but we will say that, in Evo's test, the McLaren's 141-horsepower advantage doesn't give it as much of an edge over the Porsche on a racetrack as one might think, and the lack of a manual gearbox and the inclusion of electric power steering on the GT3 isn't detrimental to enjoying the car on a back road.
Watch the video below to find out which car Bovingdon prefers on road and track - we think you'll be happy to see him drift around turns every chance he gets.