For those of you in Ireland or the UK, would it be better to take my car with me, or sell it here and buy a different car there? My wife and I are planning a move over there in the next year or so, and I haven't decided whether to bring one of my cars with me. The one I would stick with is a 62 Thunderbird convertible. Obviously there is expense ***ociated with the move, but I wonder also about the difficulty of driving a bigger car like that over there, especially with the wheel on the wrong side of the car. Is it worth it? Or am I better off selling it replacing it with a smaller model from over there?
Depends if your will be using it as a daily driver or recreational vehicle? You need to consider the cost of gas here if you are planning on using it as a daily hack. If it were me I would be selling the truck to buy a smaller one here as a hack and be bringing the T Bird as a toy. You will have no problem driving a LHD car over here, it's easy once you get your self adjusted.
It would definately be a toy, not a daily. It's relatively small for a typical American car, but very big for over there. The size is probably as much of a concern for me as the LHD.
You'll have no problem with the size of the T-bird over here, you'll soon know where you can and can't take it (some of our country lanes are way to0 small). Seriously though bring it with you, cars here aren't as plentiful or affordable here as they are on your side of the water. Driving on the left with a left ****** isn't a worry either.
Driving american iron is an absolute blast over here. I drive mine as a daily all the time (51 Ford F3 1 ton truck), its a pretty big old bus but I have no problems and take it anywhere. I have also driven my 59 Dodge (custom royal, see avator)as a daily when it was on the road, also with no problems. My wife has a 56 chevy sedan which she uses regularly too. Bring the Tbird over and enjoy the admiration that it will get. Be prepared to get the roof up more often than you are used too though Paul.
I have been using my 56 Chevy as my daily for the past week as my normal car is away being repaired. No problem with the size on the road, the real problem is finding parking spaces big enough to get it in and open the doors! I would bring it with you, the only thing that will stop you driving it is the cost of petrol, its around $7 per gallon at the moment and is only going to go up..... The other thing to remember is that you know the car and all its little foibles. P.
Just remeber to look right first when you cross the street....cant imagine trying to learn how to drive over there, dont pull a Clark Grizwold...hahaha
Driving a LHD car in England (or Japan, South Africa, Ireland, etc) is easy. You drive on the left. Look out your door window and down. If you see the curb, you are fine. If you see the center line, you are soon going to die. Pretty simple, really! I toured southern England and the Midlands in an '85 Dodge D-150 pickup and a Toyota Celica GT, both LHD US-spec vehicles. Even got to do the Chelsea Cruise, too! Way fun!
Thanks guys. What about insurance? Do the American specialty car insurers write policies over there? Or are there companies that write similar inexpensive collector car insurance like that?
Insurance won't be a problem either. There are a few companies that spe******e in American vehicles, whether they're seriously modified hotrods or fairly stock 50's/60's whatever. You'll find everyone over here will go out of there way to help you with any issues you may have. Plenty of events/clubs and shows for what is a small country. Check out the UK's NSRA website for a little more insight http://www.nsra.org.uk/
BARREL MONSTER! lmao, I saw it when the cops were taking it down. They got the kid and now the construction people won't press charges... Funny how it made it as your avatar.
I am driving around in Belgium in a RHD Caterham superseven wich I have bought this winter in the UK (on the right side of the road naturally) and I have no problem whatsoever! And I have a 1939 Ford tudor deluxe in the pipeline wich came from Argentina and wich is RHD too!
A few years ago,my daily was a '62 Olds Dynamic 88.No problem apart from going for the weekly shopping,took up 4 parking spaces! The roads are generaly narrower but people tend to get the hell out the way when there's two ton of steel heading towards them. Just take extra care when overtaking. Another U.K. based forum to check out is Rods'n'Sods. Plenty of spe******t insurers too.
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