Cars going overseas

I live in the Netherlands (aka Holland), Europe. My first american custom was imported from the USA. It was a 2door chopped '51 mercury lead-sled.
Beside transport it had cost a lot of money before it was road legal.
Main issue was that it was equipped with a relative modern Chevy V8 and had disk brakes and stuff, which they didn't have back then.
Dutch law is very strict on admitting foreign old cars, they must be pretty much all original. so I ended up having to register the car in Germany, where the rules are less strict.
After that I was able to import it here and get it road legal, because they "have to" accept cars previously registered in an other EU country.
Probably one of the very few advantages that came with the Money consuming EU construction....

So It took me a lot of efforts and costs, but hey, I was driving a Badass Sled which made it all worthwhile!

Now I am building my first rod myself off a stock a '29 model-A, equipping it with a classic flathead V8, chopping it, you know what I mean.
Pretty much all of the parts, new as well as used stuff, I order in the USA, also from fellow-hambers here. All great guys!
The taxes, transport costs and long time to get the parts to me are the drawbacks, but the fun in the build make it all more than worth it!

Also our tax swamped expensive gasoline ( $8,90 /gallon!) does not keep us from cranking that awesome V8's!

clearly the common love for the old usa cars and scene is thankfully not limited by any borders!

As for Mr. Hussey's comment...you should come visit a car show like a-bombers in Sweden, Europe ( outside USA). Might - no probably will - broaden your mind

Off to my grinder now, got some old steel to cut

Cheers
Barry

 

Thats more than you need to pay !!!

 

You have really got to wonder with so many cars going out of the country how and when will it start to hurt locally.


I had the chance to visit a relatively small shipping car exporters warehouse in Los Angeles CA port area, last April and I was amazed how many cars where being readied for shipping abroad.
What further surprised me was how many where the cream of the crop, mostly 50's thru to early 70's classics and muscle cars, with a smattering of 30's hot rod, restored cars in the minority and a good number of 50's pickups.

 

Steve we'll have to have a chat sometime. I'm not in the position to be buying a car until march/april time and its a toss up between a few cars. One of them, a mild custom 49-54 Chevy 2 door of some sort would have to come out the US as there's nothing here suitable to buy. If i could bring that £4K costs down it makes it a little more of an option.

Dan

 

This year has been the best for me in terms of hauling cars
to Long Beach ...

Soft US Dollar is helping exports ....

Latest was this 67' Mustang Fastback bound for Perth






Jim

 

There are hunreds, no, probably thousands of US imports (Left hand drive) here in Australia, and the flow doesn,t seem to be slowing down. You can always add up to $4000 to your purchase price before you have it inyour driveway.
I'm waiiting on my latest ("47 Aero sedan) , it's in New Zealand now, but heading my way.

 

I am unsure of where other American Cars company's had assembly plants other than on American soil but in 1932 Ford Motor Company had worldwide passenger car production,,

Lets look at the 1932 Deluxe Fordor,the car I sold that went to Japan for example

The United States built 20,471 on American soil,,,but Canada built 1,105,,not American soil,,The Aussies built 395,,again,not America soil,,and 2,594 were built in other parts of the world.

Just because it has an American Logo on the grill doesn't mean it was born here.

I offered my Sedan for sell here on the Hamb,,I had a few low ball offers and one got close but fell through..the gentleman from Japan stepped up to the plate,didn't haggle and paid my asking price and is happy with his purchase and I'm happy too.

One thing is certain,the overseas buyers are eager and ready to purchase American cars,,especially well built Hot Rods & Customs and are not afraid to pay to get what they want. HRP

 

Writing in from Dubai here... I've seen a huge increase over here in the last couple years in the classic cars... Some people are losing interest in the modern fancy cars because they don't have the same soul and the same head-turning ability as the classic metal.

You've also got to remember, it's a small world these days. People of all nationalities live in all sorts of countries. Even though my obsession is mostly American cars, I'm actually British. Dubai and the UAE for example has way more foreigners than local nationals. Our local car club has all sorts of nationalities all with a wide variety of very cool cars. We've pretty much got at least someone from every major region - Americans / Europeans / Arabs / Indians / Australia / NZ / Russia etc.

A lot of those expatriates over here work long hours in very hard jobs in very harsh conditions. Why? Chasing opportunities to make their dream goals a reality. For some, that dream just happens to be an old car.

I've wanted my '59 Cadillac since I was 9 years old. She's formerly a California car but I actually bought this one from a friend that left the country. I was lucky to find what I wanted already here, but for most people, the states is where we need to look, because the cars just weren't brought over here in any real volume at that time frame...


And it really is a dedication to have a car like this and keep it running over here. Much more than many of you can imagine. I'm extremely jealous of the quality workshops and hardware and parts suppliers you have in the states. For us, we're just lucky a lot of those suppliers have well sorted websites and ship international, but it often means being awake at strange times to be able to call the States, and paying a small fortune on shipping, and being very patient. It also requires you to be very trusting and choose your suppliers carefully before you send them a large sum of money.

Shipping is a killer but there's no way around it. On my modified Jeep I'd say easily 30-40% of the money I've spent on it over the years went to couriers. The Caddy is looking no different. Standard post here is unreliable so you'll use a courier. You just have to bite the bullet and live with it. If the thought of spending $100 to ship a $50 part bothers you, owning a classic car here is not for you!

It's also very frustrating if suppliers make a shipping mistake / miss a component / don't tell you that you will need X in order to install Y. Costs time and money to fix it. All too often, 10 minute jobs in the states turn in to 3 day jobs over here.

It's definitely a labour of love.

But... there's a lovely little community of people that are obsessed enough to put up with the difficulties and costs of doing this here... and it's a great friendship of dedicated and passionate people that are happy to help anyone. The Classic car culture is awesome.

 

You know the strangest thing, it costs more to buy a brand new English car or motorcycle in the UK than it does to buy it in the USA, go figure that one out.

 

Isn't the export industries one of the things that made America great?

Our foreign money going to people in the business of restoring and maintaining classic cars is keeping food on their tables and a roof on their heads, just as the original manufacturer would have appreciated the export business in the 50's or 60's.

I wouldn't worry about the culture being lost by a few examples going overseas. If anything the culture grows and spreads as more people get to experience it. More interest = more people that will want one when they can afford it = more business for those in the repair / reproduction industry = more parts and support long term. I wish enough cars were coming over here to rival an American Cars and Coffee morning turnout, but the reality is it's still in it's infancy here.

And don't think of it as the end of the road for the car when it leaves the country. It's the start of a new adventure.

I like to wonder what types of road trips and adventures the original owners of my '59 would have taken in the states. And I doubt they ever thought that one day it might be travelling down the roads on the opposite side of the planet... about to head off on a road trip to the neighbouring country for Christmas holidays.

People, Ideas and Things travel. Just takes an open mind

 

Gotta say I love reading all the comments about respect for people putting in the effort overseas and the positive / successful transactions. When we're sending our money to people we've never met before, you always wonder how seriously the deal is being taken and sometimes can be very nervous until the parts are physically in your hands.

Great to see people really appreciating the overseas business.

 

I remember back in 2001 or so when the Aussie dollar went down to like 50c compared to the USA $

the cars were being bought back to the USA then.

our Aussie $ had been on par with the USA for a couple of years now, so plenty of cars have headed this way.

I bring parts in from So-Cal, Mooneyes etc and those guys are pretty happy as they say the parts market in the USA is still not as strong as it was.

 

I bought a stone stock deuce roadster from the US and it cost not a lot to have it picked up by my shipping company from the sellers house,delivered to the docks and clear all US customs paperwork,ship it across the Atlantic and clear all UK customs etc,and then have it delivered to my door on a trailer.I think the thing that bugged me the most was the charge by my bank for sending the money over to the US bank.....well not the charge really, but the exchange rate they used to change my £'s into $'s..according to the official rate that day, they ripped me off for around £800 and then had the gall to charge me £25 for the transaction..ie, tapping in the account and sort code numbers and hitting SEND.

The deal with Dave, the vendor was great....I did a search on the Internet and found out all I could about him and his town, I called him up and had a talk with him to try and assess what kind of guy I was dealing with....it became apparent that I was talking to a guy very much like myself but with a slightly different accent that's all....I sent virtually every penny I had to a guy on the other side of the ocean..it turned out to be a nice car exactly as described ....although some guys have been stung badly with imports and have recieved virtual wrecks with a fresh coat of paint.

Remember not all the traffic is one way....I know of a three window deuce with rhd recently for sale in California,a five window deuce in California with Chicago John who emigrated with it,a deuce cabriolet with another immigrant,and the cherry B400 that went over to Vancouver a couple of months ago, a drag race Fordson van went to California,I believe Rudi s three window deuce went back over to America after being over here and look at the amount of Mexican and Argentinian cars finding their way to the USA.....

 

I've sold 4 to out of country buyers lately. What's strange is, the deal ALWAYS goes super smooth without all the haggling and bitching.

So far, ALL of the foreign buyers have been a pleasure to deal with.

 

I’ve been active here on the HAMB for a couple of years and have been tore into a couple of times so you think I would have learned by now when to keep my mouth shut. But, sometimes being that guy of a thread that everyone hates can be fun too. That's usually what happens to me when I get on here after having a few beers which tends to loosen my tongue.

What I really felt was what fiftyv8 said more eloquently a couple of post above me “You have really got to wonder with so many cars going out of the country how and when will it start to hurt locally”?

Yes, I believe that exportation made the US great, and yes, I think a global economy is better for the US and the world. I’d say that in the past couple of years that 50% of the projects I’ve charged time to at work have been in foreign nations. I’ve done work for clients in Central and South America, Korea, Indonesia, China, Africa, Saudi, and UAE and I have fully enjoyed working with and collaborating with people from other nations and other cultures, so it's not that I have something against other nationalities. You guys have helped pay my bills too.

But at times I’m just a stubborn, selfish, proud, and overly patriotic American who prefers to preserve something for myself and my fellow Americans. I have a hard time apologizing for that but I will say I’m sorry if I offended any overseas hot-rodder’s who are passionate about their rides.

 

I dont think any one was hating on you ( I know I wasnt) it just seems they are serious buyers and are usually a pleasure to deal with, and you dont get the rediculous low ball offers from them either. I am just as Patriotic as the next guy but Im not gonna sell a car for 2/3 of an already good price just to keep it in the states, especially when it might just get resold for a profit and end up there anyway.

 

Well,its all about the economy,the one buys who got the moolah.Over 10 yrs ago a friend of mine,who is a Cadillac guy,told me that theyre a shipping the most rare models back to states.So it works that way too,but that was before the worlds economy went to sewer.
If there were no such things like exporting and importing,this could be a stone-age.

 

It cost me around 3000 quid to get my coupe here from california, and was a total pain in the ass.

i'm so glad i did it though. i'm not going to let living on a tiny island between england and france stop me from building the car of my dreams.

 

As a big 32 Ford fan and owner of four, it's like said above, if it's not available you have no other choice.
90% of 32 Fords in the Netherlands are boring European style tudors and fordors and i have never seen a steel 32-3W in the Netherlands, so if we want a nice US car we have to import it from the US.

Hennie

 

I belong to a O/Topic car site out of the U.K & damn near every one of the vehicles posted on the came the Good old U.S of A,
Vehicles from over there---rust is King over there! some of the builds those post--HOLY SHIT!!! they start off with a rusted out P.O.S. & totally build em to new-- unless the get em shipped from here or Aussy land,then some have to wait for months to even see their prized possession which they have never even laid hands on, in the England they still have to pass M.O.T (kinda like D.O.T) pay extra taxes-road/sales-purchase & so on.when i did a thread on our build the dudes freaked when they found out we paid less than a grand for 'kinda' running vehicle-they told me over there it would be 5 to 8 times that just to start!! the love for old iron is strong all over the world not just here in The US!

 

Man,I gotta agree 100% with this. HRP

 

Wish it was that cut & dry. In the past, everytime I've tried to sell old American iron to an,"American" it never works out. Americans are usually too picky, and don't really even care for their history anymore, I feel they take it for granted.

On the other hand, the same cars I tried to sell to an "American" I ended up selling to someone out of the country who was much more enthusiastic, less picky AND never tried to negotiate with me on asking price.

 

Get your wallet out and buy it all,simple,and would save you the effort of talking crap.
I wonder how that would affect the Big 3s' export business today?

 

Iv'e shipped two cars over to the uk from the states, in 2008/9 a stock 1937 dodge business coupe for the wife and this year the 37 Zephyr coupe in my build thread . The dodge we paid around 8000 usd for and the zephyr was 6400 usd, it cost around 3300 usd (2000 gbp) for shipping and customs.

With buying the car, road transport to the docks,shipping and customs and trailering to my door the zephyr worked out at around 10500 usd (6500gbp).
That may sound like a whole load of money to many of you, especially if you have followed the build thread and seen the condition of it, but to me it was money well spent. It's been a long long dream to own a zephyr coupe and I'm determined to get it sorted.

Paul.

 

My father in-law recently imported an early 1900's Albion from Scotland via South Africa (I believe), so they do come this way on occasion. The shipping and customs coming to the US was pretty easy on him.

If you don't like them going overseas, you can always buy them and bring them back. It is simple supply and demand, but now in a global economy.

 

Well this is much better

I would say you don't really have to worry. A lot of the cars that end up out in this part of the world tend to be the mass produced models. The Iconic and famous ones. The handful that make it out this way are really a drop in the water compared to the tens or hundreds of thousands that were produced.

 

this summer i got these 3 cars 4-dr cadillac 1949
cadillac 1949 2-dr sedanette
and 1958 gmc longbed
cadillacs from oklahoma and gmc texas
these full restaration prodjekts and i will sell the 4-door as soon i get it ready for road .brakes and other tings. i vill get even with this car minus work and i have the other cars in a good way to restore them.3 cars in a container is the way to go.
ken

 

Just tossing this out..... If I got a job in Europe and moved there, could I keep my Texas registration, if i went back to the states to keep it current? Or would I have to register it in whatever country I lived in?

 

PMSL


Bought my 42 Fleetline http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=757059 from Montana arse end of no where. It traveled by land to New York then by sea to U.K. and yet another 250 miles across land in the U.K. and its a shed at the moment seized engine dented and rusty body I really should have a word with myself. It prob owes me more than its currently worth in the shipping alone.

But Hell, where the hell else would i find a 42 Fleetline?