It's a pretty boring car all in all. Doesn't stand out in a crowd. It was kind of banged-up, too. But what was it doing here? Who was so unsatisfied with the offerings on the dealership lots that they brought their own minivan over from Europe or South America? It just made me think. Maybe it was just an issue of convenience for a European expat who brought his own car over (somehow), or maybe someone was just looking for something different. I've seen a few vehicles here on Euro plates (and some American plates on European roads), which is legal on a temporary basis, but with permanent tags this car had to have been registered with the MVA. This car's not on the NHTSA eligible import list, so for now it's a mystery.
The pictures are from wikimedia commons, not the actual car.
Having just rented a Dodge Caravan for a few weeks - growing very enamored by its functionality, yet mortified by its build quality, I started scanning the options. Odyssey, Sienna- blah. Then TODAY I saw on the streets of San Francisco, with normal, recent California plates, a MB Vito. Sexy. That's all I'm saying. Boxy, solid- I want. A Galaxy might tempt me though...
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The Vito/V-Class is definitely a nice looking minivan, not sure how they got it through customs but hey, it happens. If I had to choose a "people mover," as they say, I'd like to have an Opel Vivaro:
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opel_Vivaro
For some reason when I was living in Holland from 2005-2006 I used to think these were the funkiest things around, as if the designers said "Let's see what we can get away with." It's also sold as the Renault Trafic, Nissan Primastar, and Vauxhall Vivaro. Not eligible for import, though...
They might be temporarily registered in the USA by foreign workers. In 1998 I knew a German guy who had a contract with a design company in California, who was able to bring his Euro Audi to California, register and insure it, and it was only valid as long as he had a contract in the US, for no longer than 5 years. The car had to leave the country when he left, but he drove around with California plates.
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