Shipping our Rods out of the Country (not me)

Hell it goes both ways, like one of the Sweedes was saying upstairs there, between us the aussies and them we probably saved a heap of American iron that would otherwise have been crushed or left to rot, as for us having lots of $ or being able to afford the stuff, dont forget that most of the time the NZ$ is worth about 0.55 usd so we sure can't afford it even before shipping......
At the same time I have seen people here in NZ at swap meets calling the US to see what they would get for a 32 3 window in the states and I'm pretty sure that car amoungst others went up there due to the small population here we don't have to many folks willing to step up with 40k NZ to buy that car but if someone is talking 40+ USD you can see why its being sold to the U.S. belive me in the last few years its probably been more 50's stuff inbound to NZ and more 30's going out if not to the US then to Aussie......
Hell stuff happens, better that the vehicles are owned, rebuilt, loved and driven, I don't care who has em (just wish a couple more were mine).

Oh yeah, I have a 55 Olds bought in Phoenix about 10 years ago by me and belive me there was no line of yank kids outside the guys door trying to buy it, they were too busy with pick up trucks or buying rice.......

 

The way I look at it is , if they like these cars as much as I do
and they have cash, I don't care where they live.
Some of those folks across the pond have made some very nice rides
out of stuff we would p*** by.
Hotrods and rock&roll may have started here but is a world thing now.

 

PJ, your statements don't sound much different from the guy with a field full of cars who would rather watch them rust into the dirt ("I'm gonna restore them some day") rather than sell any.

Or the old guy who won't sell to the young guy because he won't like what the kid will do to the car.

A hoarder by any other name...

My 2¢.

 

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I sold my coupe to a guy from Germany after swearing I'd not send it overseas. He was the most enthusiastic person who expressed interest in it and physically brought me cash. I think it's awesome to see other cultures embracing ours and I have no problem with it.

Look at Baumi's pictures

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Sorry Mike, these are not my pics, it´s Mike Lange "flatordead" from the Hot Heads East who´s posted them.
But anyway the pics are great!



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I try my best to not get on here when I'm drunk and last night, I failed miserably.

 

Jesus man you have no idea how hard it is to build a hotrod over here do you?First any old American tin will cost us 3 times what you pay then there are the parts a $15,000 hotrod will cost us £15,000 or more and someone is making money out of it.Not only that we get scammed on parts from the states (not by hambers) and have to wait 6 weeks to get the parts after we have found them.And if after all that you are still keen to build a hotrod then you must be the right sort of person for others to sell thier bits too and help out.There are some real nice cars here in the uk now and a real burgeoning hotrod scene taking on American culture,lots of American car shows too.We have no old s**** yards that go for miles with old cars as most old stuff is crushed so our own cl***ic car scene is real thin and anyway who wants a morris minor when you can have a chevy belair.God you guys are so lucky ,you were lucky then and lucky now and a good deal of you car nuts realise it sadly some dont.I hear sstories on the hamb all the time about yards shutting and old tine being crushed well perhaps if there were more like me and the other uk hambers there would be less old cars being crushed........my tuppenny worth

 

Good call..

 

Re Petejoe's original post:
I'd be a bit cautious using racist comments on an open forum. Oh sorry, You were being Patriotic.
Well I for one wouldn't sell anything to one of those foreign *******s.
Whoops! I forgot! My '34 is now in Japan.
I think it's neat when someone overseas goes the extra mile to actually seek out a car from abroad. it shows a level of commitment beyond the lazy everything-on-a-plate at***ude that can exist.
(That means my tongue is in my cheek as always)
Mart.

 

Aussie cars (yes, old stuff) get shipped to the States too, ya know....

It's also why a lot of stuff isn't getting converted to right hand drive anymore, 'cos the smart ones know that one day, their pristine rare vehicle may be worth more in the US than here.

Did I mention I'm buying a 27T roadster via a HAMBer? Either that or I build a plastic hotrod....

 

The uk guys are right, it costs a bomb to even get a project started here.. a cutout sbc is gonna cost you between $500-1000 alone, and it'll probably need a freshen up. Any car coming in is gonna cost $1600+ just to get it here.. there no or very little in the way of junkyard parts that can be used, so getting an S10 frame to put under that old pickup is unheard of. Sure we have companies that build ch***is and bodies but the choices are fairly limited - you want something other than a 32-34 body then you're in trouble.. Say you want a '35 ford body & frame.. so it might take you a week or two to locate one right ? you talk to local guys and do a bit of legwork and find what you want.. we can't do that.. the only way we are gonna get that is to import, typically nowadays you'd find it on the net and go from there.. and since when did you see cheap stuff on the net ? You guys have you feet on the ground and thats a big advantage cos you'll find the deals we can only dream of (and read about on the HAMB of course!)

I guess its the same for the kiwis and aussies too. Damm, even a mullet 80s camaro is gonna cost you $3000+ !

As far as us building neat stuff ? oh yeah.. Check this out, to my mind one of the best cars fresh out this year http://www.drcreview.com/absolutenm/templates/rod.asp?articleid=16&zoneid=4

I sort of understand where you aer coming from but you gotta realise that compared to the numbers of cars left in the states what we have is only a tiny tiny fraction.

 

Petejoe, I like you, you know I do, but I think you're completely off base.
Just because someone's an American doesn't mean they appreciate Americana any more than a 'foreigner.'
If that were the case there would have been Americans lined up at Sun Studios buying old stocks of 45s rather than the Germans, English and French. Today some Americans bemoan the fact that these recordings have left their native soil forever, but were these same people at the sale? No they weren't.

I wasn't born here, I spent my formative years in England and I can tell you that American cars weren't just appreciated over there, they were revered. Rust buckets that Americans wouldn't touch with a broom handle were painstakingly restored because the builders wanted them that badly.

Let me speak to you from experience. I put my worthless '61 Caddy 4 door Sedan De Ville up for sale in the Auto Trader for $2500, I had zero phone calls up until Friday. On the last day a trucker from Switzerland called me, he eventually bought the car (and two more) and it left America forever. If a European feels that a somewhat rusty, yet perfectly running, 4 door Caddy is worth taking home with him then I have to give then kudos. No native American thought it was worth a ****.

I also sent an English built '57 Ford Zodiac back from whence it came. This car was built for America, it was a 90% rust free car sold new in California, left hand drive too. I'm sure the guy found some kind of novelty in the fact that it was English yet somehow American.

If you want to know the truth, I think some Americans are up in arms because 'their' cars are going to Japan more than anything else. They don't want to admit that these guys, who were America's sworn enemies once, deserve to own
them. Let's get down to it, the Japanese don't look like Americans....you wanna know something? Americans don't look like Americans anymore. Get over it!

As far as I'm concerned, if someone shows the same p***ion for owning ANY particular thing as I do, more power to them.

I'm pretty sure, that if I were the high bidder, that any Japanese person would object to me buying a '67 Toyota 2000GT and importing it to America.

If anyone from Japan wants to swap a '34 Ford with a '56 Packard engine in it for a '67 Toyota 2000GT (my dream car) my e-mail's nuk@k2services.com


I'll be waiting for your call.

 

Maybe you should give your son your truck then? I mean if the current generation really cares so much about the next generation having American iron, right?

I have to laugh when people say "our iron" or "our jobs" are being shipped overseas. Where in Our Cons***ution does it say we are en***led to jobs and iron? Thank God it doesn't because the we would be communists.

If you want all the old American cars then go BUY them. Just like Henry Ford who bought the materials that he then BUILT in to something before he SOLD them to your Grandpa or Great Grandpa (***uming he was born here.)

And maybe take a vacation to another country, you will see they are not friggen aliens. Look at some of the non-US posts on this board again like that recent post from those guys in Finland and that Chicken Race. (there are plenty of so called hot rod guys in the US that can learn something from them)

And to the Hambers (me included) who want something they can't afford.....check the WAAH WAAH message board, I hear there is a Japanese investor who is buying American "left nuts" for 50k.

now I gotta get back to WORK!


_Eric (Red Blooded American)

 

Nice one 41ChevyTrucker.

Hypothetical situation Petejoe, let's say you've just died, you're wife's gotta sell what you left behind to pay for your funeral expenses. Let's say your American iron's up for auction and the highest bidder happens to be Japanese.

Maybe you're up in heaven crying that the Asian's got the deepest pocket and your car might sail off, but there's also the chance that not only does he have the deepest pockets but ALSO the deepest p***ion for what you built.

Don't tell me you wouldn't be deeply flattered?


And isn't it also a remote possibility that most of our young 'uns don't give a **** about old American cars?

 

Where is this rich Japanese investor!? I will sell my left nut for 50K. Just dont leave my in a Super8 batthroom tub packed in ice? I hate when that happens

 

I was born with 3 nuts, I'll sell my middle nut for $23,000.

Oh yeah, I got speedy sperm, both of my kids were born prematurely.

 

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Where is this rich Japanese investor!? I will sell my left nut for 50K. Just dont leave my in a Super8 batthroom tub packed in ice? I hate when that happens

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hehe. They are more advanced now. They s***ch you up and leave you in a veterinarian's office.

I would think a left nut would have to be worth more than say a left arm. I mean with all the infertility clinics out there these days.

Nads? Tri-Nads? TriniNad?

 

I used to be TOTALLY, TOTALLY against sending any of "our" stuff out. But then I got to realize two things:

1)Stuff is NOT hard to find, we have plenty of it. I guess I realized this after my garage became completely full and wouldn't hold any more stuff.

2)There are some mighty fine hot-rodding folks in many, many countries, and they ain't no different. I realized this after meeting some in person. NO DIFFERENCE

So now I will personally ship stuff out with no feelings on the matter, as long as the shipping and money-changing doesn't become a h***le (don't like h***les here in the U.S., so logically don't care for them internationally either).

 

All this after reading all about the texan who is buying all the rods and saying he built them,(I agree thats ********,I cant,and dont do everything on my cars,but I am the first to give credit where its do!)So this texan has too much money and buys stuff up and hes an ***hole,and to send cars overseas is worse,I dont get it.I just brought home a couple pickup cabs,where I also found at least 20 other projects,after the guy has sold off about 50-75 other cars,and thats just taking a drive on a tip from a friend,very inexpensive,and I'm sure I could do this at least once a week for the next two years,this stuff is out there,all over.It might not be 32 ford stuff,but theres more than all the guys I know could ever get done.I agree that its better to sell to someone p***ionate enough to actually do something with them,than let them rot away(because I'm gonna restore that someday!)Maybe I just like the thrill of the hunt,and the satisfaction of knowing I got the ball rolling on that car may be getting on the road again,instead of sitting in the woods for the past 20 years,weather I make 100.00 on the deal or 10,000.I feel I did what I wanted to do,and someone is thrilled to have it.I keep,(or hoard)what I can afford to,and p*** on the rest,It doesnt matter to me if its down the block,florida,califonia,or timbukto,if someone appreciates it and I'm satisfied.I would love to have 300 acres full of cars,but in my town,they are cracking down,and alot of these places in the woods are having to cleen up,so why not save them and spread them out?The more sweet looking 51 fleetlines out there,only make my car, thats waiting for me to do something with it,worth all the more...Just my two cents....more like a nickle,after all that..

 

You better keep shipping them,or we'll bring our BlackMetal music,Moonshine and tools and move over...

Mr,I understand your concern but I think that in the long run,in reality its a good thing.
Especially when it comes to projects. Every piece of old iron saved,hopped up,and brought back on the roads are a true victory.
Dont let geography fool you,boarders are a man made illusion regarding our p***ion and hobby.
As stated in my favourite mag of all times:Its all about the IRON.
Please,keep them coming. (or else.... )

Z

 

Greetings from overseas Finland.

Petejoe: I can easily understand your sorrow, but You must understand that our ´20-´30ies cars have gone through both World Wars, after that people used to make them wooden-wall pick ups in order to carry some fish to the marketplace to earn some money.

When Russian and German cars were started to import in the fifties, those old wrecks were worth of nothing. For example some old beard told me that he made an ice saw of V12 of his Linc-39 Zephyr. Axis went to the horse carriage as usually.

Here are some discoveries. And we will restore them! Overseas carriage costs money, as you know. Then we have taxes and so on. Please don´t worry!

 

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You dont REALLY think our economy ****s? If so, you are wrong.



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Sorry, but The White House is saying differently.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/fsbr/international.html
http://www.whitehouse.gov/fsbr/employment.html



Okay, way OT, let's get back to the cars.

 

This looks so sad, but truly this is a good forest finding here in Finland...

 

38-Chevrolet and 37-Ford bodies. Compare these pictures with your projects and think would You like to help us to build some Hot Rods...

 

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Jesus man you have no idea how hard it is to build a hotrod over here do you?First any old American tin will cost us 3 times what you pay then there are the parts a $15,000 hotrod will cost us £15,000 or more and someone is making money out of it.Not only that we get scammed on parts from the states (not by hambers) and have to wait 6 weeks to get the parts after we have found them.And if after all that you are still keen to build a hotrod then you must be the right sort of person for others to sell thier bits too and help out.There are some real nice cars here in the uk now and a real burgeoning hotrod scene taking on American culture,lots of American car shows too.We have no old s**** yards that go for miles with old cars as most old stuff is crushed so our own cl***ic car scene is real thin and anyway who wants a morris minor when you can have a chevy belair.God you guys are so lucky ,you were lucky then and lucky now and a good deal of you car nuts realise it sadly some dont.I hear sstories on the hamb all the time about yards shutting and old tine being crushed well perhaps if there were more like me and the other uk hambers there would be less old cars being crushed........my tuppenny worth

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Ditto to what Marq said....

Consider the following,

From where I'm standing, a rodder stranded on a Island 1000's of miles from you guys.
For me to persue my chosen interest, I have to

1. pay some 'middle man' **** loads of cash to ship my rusted out body panels (which were either 'dumped' in a paddock, or sold to the middle man for petty cash), thereby giving the middle man a great profit margin (eg have recently been looking at a rough 2 door 55 chev, have seen them advertised in US for around US $1500, labeled parts/donor cars. Middle man buys em and sells here for Aus$15000, or say US $10000)

2. pay overinflated import taxes and charges

3. wait for months on end, trusting that the 'guys-in-the-middle' are doing the right thing by me, having handed over the cash up front

4. finally piecing together these bits of tin, using whatever we can get to make them both safe & appealing, with the expenses rising at a rediculous rate

5. when we finally get the car to a standard that will be approved by our laws, we have to, again, hand over more hard earned $$$$ to be able to drive em, and to top it all off, pay excessive amounts for the fuel to feed the ******. NOTE: today fuel cost me $1.10Aus/litre

All of this effort and expense for a car which originally was destined to die in a paddock or to be split up as a parts car..........

If you want your kids and future American youth to enjoy <font color="red"> our </font> chosen p***ion, maybe you should start a thread telling your fellow Americans to embrace the cars and start doing something with them, rather than trying to prevent all of us who don't have the priveledge of living in your fine nation the opportunity to enjoy 'American iron'.

Appoligies for the long winded ramble, and I don't wish to offend you guys with my whinging, but I trust you can see where we're coming from...

Cheers,

Drewfus

 

This Ford-37 belongs to my good friend Janne. Car was found in the forest. Janne has built it for three years now. Here You can see how to turn old Sedan to shiny Coupe... We have neither Coupes nor body repair parts... USA is ours rod-builders´ promised land...

 

ive got to agree with mart and marq on this one. I have a '35 (see www.garagescene.co.uk) and when i bought it as a bare shell with a ch***is, small block in it and nothing else really i had to pay $12000 for what I wanted, yep you read the price right!! yet I know when someone bought the car in the states it probably only cost $5000. when we buy parts from suppliers over here, UK, we always get told whatever the price in dollars is what we need to pay in pounds, so $1=£1 - this is allegedly due to shipping/VAT/Duty and whatever else.however the current exchange rate is £1=$1.80 so for anything that costs $100 in the USA we are getting charged $180 in the UK - speak about inflated prices....now tell me we aint dedicated.

you guys couldnt build all the cars left in the states so why not let someone build them and save them? I also find we get p***ed the stuff you guys DONT want to build and WOULD NOT build because they are too rotten and you have better tin nearby - so again we are getting the ****ty end of the stick. We spend millions of dollars every year on parts building our rods with a lot of suppliers in the USA, your postal service gets thousands of dollars from people sending stuff to these foreign countries. maybe you should stop tourists coming to the USA as well? that way you dont have to share anything

anyway ill get of me soapbox now lol...

 

I think there´s enough toys for all of us to play with.

 

Ok....Ok... My **** is raw now, I was afraid this post was going to be misunderstood. I too, am just as guilty about reading parts and pieces of a thread thinking I understand the thoughts of the initial poster.
I have read every response to this subject. Here's my take.
This post, nor my opinion (as stated), is not going to curb the commerce of antique and cl***ic vehicles out of the country. Someone said it well... money is the driving factor in all of this. I agree.
I guess you've seen my possessive side, there are alot of projects..(not the old fords mind you) that are overlooked, rotting and crushed here that someone in other countries would love to have.
<font color="blue"> LET ME SET THIS STRAIGHT </font> .
This post is not the subject of <font color="blue"> project bodies or parts </font>.
All of you think here a minute... We all have an emotional attachment to the cars we've built and owned. That's obvious.. otherwise we wouldn't be on this board talking incessantly about cars. If we were to sell our vehicle, wouldn't our choices be first, to sell it to a relative, secondly, to a fellow rodder or friend and thirdly, to a neighbor or young person who shows a love and p***ion for the car.
I have read it here numerous times..
When a vehicle is up for sale here on the cl***ifieds, the owner expresses the intention of wanting to sell it to a Hamber. Then why on earth, if I was in Finland or Sweden or England would I want to sell it to someone in the US?? I'd never see it again and I wouldn't know the owner at all. I guess its like making a will out. The intention is to give our possessions to those we love and know.

Bruce had a point that hit home and didn't set well with me. Reason being, he was probably right. Most guys in the US who buy these vehicles, will turn them into faceless bathtubs with no character and hang billet jewelry on them thinking it's the thing to do. Now that would make me sick..

Again, please understand, I am not against rodders from other countries building American vehicles. You guys by far have more taste, talent, and for***ude than many I have seen in the states. If we had to grapple the hurdles you undertake. Many of us would be rebuilding VW's and 4x4's.

It's simple.. I have two buyers for my car. One lives across the street from me and the other one lives in California. I need some profit to continue my next project, but the highest profit is not my priority. My priority is to see that my car is cared for and that it will be used as a tool to continue my p***ion. I don't know.... maybe I do have a few stingy bones that I just can't shake but I must say. I just don't like some middleman coming to the states to buy our old (complete) rods and selling them to others outside of the country for profit.To me this hobby is a p***ion, to see someone make huge profits by selling the vehicle to well off people outside of the US just doesn't sit well with me.
As I said before, I've come to know, respect and like many of the Hambers who live outside of the states. And yes, I would consider selling my car to them.
And My **** hurts.....

 

I got an idea. Why don't the cars from these old-car wrecking yards that are shutting down get shipped overseas en m***e? If old American iron is really expensive overseas, couldn't you overseas guys make money off them if you could buy all these hulks for $50 each, and transport them? Better than getting crushed. Oh, wait, then we'd have to ship them all of our parts so they could restore them.

 

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I got an idea. Why don't the cars from these old-car wrecking yards that are shutting down get shipped overseas en m***e? If old American iron is really expensive overseas, couldn't you overseas guys make money off them if you could buy all these hulks for $50 each, and transport them? Better than getting crushed. Oh, wait, then we'd have to ship them all of our parts so they could restore them.

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Yep it'd work out ok. You need someone stateside to do the dragging &amp; loading and someone here ( or in Oz / NZ /Japan etc ) to receive and sell them on. Hell you'd make money piling $100 junkyard engines into a container and bringing them in... its the logistics of having someone each end...

 

My criteria for selling some object I no longer wish to "curate" myself;
"You got MONEY????"

(In USA cash Dollars, of course...)