Importing a car from the US

[NotoriousREV]

Has anyone on here imported a car from the US or know of any reliable shipping agents? Asking for a friend.

#ProjectStoopidRedneck

[ste]

My brother's imported a few early VW buses from the US, but he has a mate out there that handles some of it, i can ask him the ins and outs though.

However, there's an ace thread on Retro Rides that details the process. It's also a fantastic read with ace photography. If you haven't seen it before, grab a beer and enjoy: http://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/184 ... ato-buyers

[NotoriousREV]

My brother's imported a few early VW buses from the US, but he has a mate out there that handles some of it, i can ask him the ins and outs though.

However, there's an ace thread on Retro Rides that details the process. It's also a fantastic read with ace photography. If you haven't seen it before, grab a beer and enjoy: http://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/184 ... ato-buyers

Great thread!

[scotta]

My brother's imported a few early VW buses from the US, but he has a mate out there that handles some of it, i can ask him the ins and outs though.

However, there's an ace thread on Retro Rides that details the process. It's also a fantastic read with ace photography. If you haven't seen it before, grab a beer and enjoy: http://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/184 ... ato-buyers

Great thread!

So did the 911 in that thread eventually make it home - ive got about 20 pages left!

[Rich B]

Has anyone on here imported a car from the US or know of any reliable shipping agents? Asking for a friend.

#ProjectStoopidRedneck

we won’t tell your wife Rev, your “friends” secret is safe...

[NotoriousREV]

She has this mental notion that I shouldn’t be spending money on cars whilst I don’t have a job.

[Sundayjumper]

She has this mental notion that I shouldn’t be spending money on cars whilst I don’t have a job.

This is the perfect time to do it, while you have the time on your hands. Once you're back at work you'll be too busy and it'll never get done.

[NotoriousREV]

I’m kind of torn on what to do.

My final vision is this:

3rd Generation Chevrolet Camaro Z28 with an LS swap and 6 speed manual box, updated brakes, DSE full suspension kit and Ford 9” rear axle, LSD, nice wheels, nice bucket seats etc.

So, do I buy a “nice” one for $10k - $12k, knowing I won’t need to do any bodywork etc. but also knowing that I’m throwing lots of it straight in the bin, or do I buy an absolute snotter and accept that it’ll need a full respray at the very least?

At the moment, I’m thinking snotter. I’ve got my eye on 2 cars at the moment: a 1982 Z28 with a rebuilt 5.7 and 3 speed auto that has the rear suspension jacked up and sticky out rear wheels and a 1983 Z28 5.0 auto in maroon with t-tops and lots of peeling lacquer and 168000 miles. Both are being advertised at $3500. I don’t know if the second car is a runner. They need to run and drive enough to RoRo because I’m not paying to containerise a shitbox

[NotoriousREV]

My current inspiration is DSE’s own demo car:



But I’ve always loved this shape Camaro and they’re still cheap enough to get into, although prices are starting to rise now.

[scotta]

She has this mental notion that I shouldn’t be spending money on cars whilst I don’t have a job.

I remember being between contracts and the radiator failing on the Lotus..didnt feel right spunking £400 notes on the pro-alloy one over £100 for the standard one...But fuckit!

[Rich B]

Tough one - bodywork is a fairly miserable messy task best left to someone else, whereas oily bits are far more fun and more suited to a normal home garage set up.

[NotoriousREV]

Tough one - bodywork is a fairly miserable messy task best left to someone else, whereas oily bits are far more fun and more suited to a normal home garage set up.

Yeah, I’d want the bodywork done professionally but wouldn’t be after a show finish. The suspension set up I want to use needs fairly comprehensive underbody mods, too so whichever car I choose, it’d be off to Flewy with it for parts of the rebuild.

[NotoriousREV]

The 2 cars:

Yeehaw


Unpolished Turd

[JonathanE]

To answer the original question, I've used Schumacher Cargo a couple of times. They are very good, communicative and not that expensive compared to competitors. My personal inclination would be to get one in decent cosmetic condition as (a) cosmetics aren't cheap and (b) you have at least $2k of shipping costs which are more or less fixed regardless of the value (if it's over 30 years old there is only 5% VAT and no import duty) so shipping a $4k car seems a bit disproportionate.

Jonathan

[NotoriousREV]

I’ve seen quotes from $650 to €1500 so far (generic rather than specific, usable quotes). I’d only be using RoRo rather than a container, so it should be cheaper, I think.

[ste]

Id agree about getting one with as solid a body as possible. Chose a state where the climate is favourable. My brother's shipped his buses in from Arizona and they've always been unbelievably solid, the only issues often being sun damage to the paint, which to be honest looks ace anyway IMO.

[ste]

Oh and I think the plan is ace BTW.

[NotoriousREV]

Oh and I think the plan is ace BTW.

The only downside of this plan is my complete inability to follow through on a plan. I’ll just sell it in 5 years as a garage find.

[Jimmy Choo]

Go for the second one. T tops are cool and the first one looks stupid.

[Rich B]

Is it really worth going through the effort and cost of importing one? There’s a white t top on eBay at the moment for £5.5k - looks a bit shit, but it’s here and you could start working on it immediately rather than waiting how ever many weeks it takes to import one.