Cars going overseas

We build and export on a fairly regular basis. Did this one, and sent it to Germany.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aees53f8dQw At our shop.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AHEHy5ZO0s With the owner, on the other side of the world.

 

anyone ever see the documentary on Cuban car culture called yank tanks.....unreal what guys build...reshoe brakes, welding with chain link fence

ive shipped parts overseas, including early camaro parts to Thailand and Norway..i always thought it was cool that people love cars built here...

 

I have imported 3 cars from the US to Australia so far, with internal car transport of car to port, insurance, shipping container fees, import duty in Australia, plus all the other cost such as loading and unloading charges, customs inspection fees, cleaning cost etc etc, each car has cost me around an extra 10K on what I paid for the car.
But I have got some nice cars that are very hard to find in Aus.

 

Keep AMERICAN metal on AMERICAN soil.

EDIT:
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.

 

Distance to us has always been the killer, we have no choice because of where we live and work!! Then add shipping, Gov't charges, taxes, GST (FBT), customs fees and agent, quarantine and other duties. It all adds up. Convert $USD to local currency and allow for exchange rate, we are a committed bunch.

 

Send me money, and I will.

They go where the customers are paying. I have a business to run, a family to support, I like to eat, and pay my bills on time, and in full.

 

Too late.

One importer has landed 5,000+ cars here over the last decade or so..

 

People will sell to who ever has the money they are asking, I myself will sell a car to anyone overseas and help with arranging stuff, have sent many parts back to the US.

 

Probably should make that; "We should be commited" ( to a loony-bin).

What with all the taxes etc and paper b.s. we have to put up with just to get a US car down-under and on the road!

 

Same here! I sold a car to a fellow in Italy and the deal went A LOT smoother than ones I've had with a guy one town over. Bob

 

back in 1991 i when i was 17 and living in so cal i sold a kinda rare vw to some Japanese buyers who were in the states to purchase cars to ship back to Japan,,they had a container in long beach ready to go,,,at the time me and my dad thought it was so cool to think that i car i fixed up was going over seas,,,,since then ive sold a chopped 51 chevy to Finland, a steel 34 ford coupe to Germany a 66 buick skylark convert to Finland and a Panhead to Japan...it does make me sad that i may never see them again,,but at the same time i have sold many more cars & bikes than them across the U.S. and have NEVER seen them since either,,,,,,so......

 

Most of the cars that I have built, and sold locally, over the years, I have never seen again. No idea where they are now, if they still exist. At least my overseas customers keep me updated, and take my creations to shows, where they get trophies, and I get recognition. My overseas customers seem to understand the term "as-is" a little better than my domestic customers, much as they expect to get what they paid for, and not a whole lot more, for free.

 

I have not sold any cars that have gone overseas yet, but about 20% of the parts I have sold in the last 2 years have gone overseas or at some point will go overseas. The ones that at some point go overseas are bought from people overseas and I ship the parts to places that put them in Cargo Containers or to U.S based Hot Rod shops where their cars are being built. Rod

 

You got to be kidding me,the cars going overseas are generally getting as much attention if not more by there respective owners overseas as they are here.Anyone that likes wheels no matter where they are from and take the big hit from taxes ,import fees etc to me get my respect for taking the time and commitment to get something that they are passionate about.Good luck to them,at least you know they are going to be well looked after and enjoyed!

 

just have a look here for prices being asked
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/specialist-cars/hot-rods

mostly ot

 

Don't mention all the used crap we've imported out of Japan

We need to export some comodities to offset this.

Maybe we should export all our "No Hopers" over to Aussie

 

I've bought a couple dozen cars & bikes for a friend in Sweden. It's expensive & duty is a big part of the cost of the car by the time it's there. Looking for a 57 Fairlane 2 door now if anybody has a spare. Joe H

 

I just sold this car to Nori in Japan, he's been a member here since 2001. I put this car up in the classifieds for 25K. What I feel was a steal for this car with a brand new 286 stroker flathead quickchange etc... Within a few hours I had offers from 4 guys overseas to just buy it at that price and 1 Low ball offer from someone here in the states? it cost him about 5 grand to ship it but I think with the exchange rate he did pretty well. He was a great guy to deal with and im kinda glad it went over there.I hope he enjoys it as much as I did.

 

They tell me most of them are already there!!!

 

I've sent 40 + to Sweden.

 

People overseas who build hot rods and kustoms are the best! It shows how commited they are. When I lived in Dubai it costed around $2,500 - $3,000 to ship a car from Florida. I would much rather watch a build overseas than over here. Those guys are hardcore and have mad love for the hobby

 

I sold a '59 El Camino around 1997 or so that went to Japan.......along with 2 other '59 elcos.

 

Not always. The 57 Caddy Coupe I got from Tennessee was advertised as "has rust" and it cost me US$3200 plus about US$4000 to get shipped here. With some local taxes and a $0.70 exchange rate at the time, it had cost me $11,000 in local currency.

When being pulled from the container the chassis broke thru by the front suspension, and the shippers said itr looked rough, but it looked good to me. I priced the panelwork - sills and floors right thru and was told another $10,000 minimum from an experienced Caddy restorer. Rechroming bumper was quoted at $7,000 so I decided to bail as i could see a NZ$50,000 rebuild coming my way, and at the time, a nice 57 Caddy could be bought and landed here for about NZ$30,000. (about US$23,500 at the time)

I got my money back in full and the young dude who bought it was a member of the local Caddy club & he ran into tax difficulties, so he bailed at NZ$8000. Next guy pulled it apart and had what was left blasted and then tried to get NZ$6000 for it. Got offered NZ$5000 but couldnt find my old paperwork or the front screen so the next buyer paid NZ$2500 and said he would pay the balance when the vendor found the screen and import paperwork.

Two years later, the vendor hadnt rung back, so buyer has a cheap parts car to go with the next 57 Caddy Coupe he imported himself.

Not every import is a big cash win. But rust free cars at least give you a chance to come out on the right side.

 

GasserTodd hit a nerve there - quite a few here and in Aussie have bought 'mint unmolested driver' car without seeing them - and ended up with a car like the Caddy mentioned.

Some Stateside guys have a warped sense of what a "good original sound car, clean and unmolested " is like...

The ONLY way I would buy a car without checking it myself would be if I had somebody I knew and trusted check it out for me.

 

AS far as taxes fees and paper work. I had less trouble shipping to Japan {sportster} and Germany {68 Plymouth} than I did with Ohio. The Goverment of Ohio has some odd rules on a car coming from out of state. I guess its all about the money.

 

I knew my Caddy wasnt going to be mint or even close to it, and I knew it had seen salt so really, I shouldnt have let my excitement at seeing one I could afford get the better of me.

I was fortunate to get all my money back, but subsequent folk have taken hits on the project.

I still think of a 57 Caddy coupe as twice the car a 57 Chev is, at half the price. The next few years they seemed to go from US$15,000 for a tidy driver to US$30,000 so I wont be getting one in the forseeable future.

 

I got me a 29 rpu old 50s hot rod from CA with the help of Crashhead here on HAMB.
Cost alot in shipping and import taxes,and pickups are more expensive in import dutys.
I also have to get it thru a major tech inspection before i can drive it legal here.
BUT,i like old cars and i dont care if it cost ALOT.
Im a regular worker and dont have alot of money but if you want something hard enough you can get it.
So when you hear stuff like "keep american iron in america" bla bla blaaa.. from some ignorant people that just dont get it you dont really care.

 

Hey i just shipped one back...so no worries! ha ha
-palle

the Jack Stewart Ford

 

I've been looking at cars overseas and as a rough estimate i'd be looking upwards of £4K ($6.5K) to make it happen on a car costing $10-15K. So in many ways we are paying over half the cost of the car to get it landed and legally on the road. Obviously that doesn't include getting it fit for British road laws.

Not cheap but if you want a car that no one has seen here and hasn't been passed around, that's what you have to do.

Must be bloody crazy but all good fun

 

I've shipped lots of cars from the US, Its very easy these days but can be expensive for potential buyers, There are ways of keeping the costs down to a minimum but won't go into them here.