[macloft]

You may be right about the 3 years then take back with you to US.
I have only looked at bringing one over permantley from US, then you have to change it over to RH drive and it must pass the ADR rules ie seatbelts mirriors etc, but no it does not need to meet the latest emmission requirements. It can not have side pipes however. Again this is only if you want to keep it in Australia or sell it in Australia. Warl you need to have a registered engineer to qualify it in Australia. There are many areas to search on the web, look under "personal car imports to Australia from US", then contact the transport authority in the region you intend to move to.
Good luck I would take it over as you will miss it, remember the price of petrol is a lot dearer in Australia so if it is a big block it will be expensive.