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Importing a 7 from the UK


trykeman

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Bussa

when was this ?

were these questions being asked by UK or USA ?

If the car was not going to be used on the street then why all the problems?

There are lots of cars for sale, partic from UK like Lotus 211 and the like that are under way under 25 years old but appear to be sold as track use only.

It would seem that anyone could import anything ( even as a piece or art or lawn furniture) if it is not going to be road registered ?

Edited by rikker
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I tried to buy a formula type car in Norfolk England, I indicated in the broker form that the car is only for racing not intended for the road use.

They gave me a 9 yards of red tapes. I've been asked what racing league the car belongs and if i have a racing license....on and on.

I never heard this before. They warned me that the car will be sent back or impound until I complete the process. I got scared and I told the owner that I will pass.

I wonder what difficulty if you declare the car is for road use.

 

Shipping is not the problem....the problem is if you can take it out from the gate without the authority questioning the process.

Good luck I hope everything will be ok and custom will not give you a hard time. Let us know I would like to try this again if it works for you.....

There are significant import exemption differences between bringing in a car over 25 years old vs. a car for track use only. Feds want to make sure that someone doesn't claim a vehicle as track car and then license it for the road.

 

Bussa - Since you were trying to bring in a Formula car, did you provide a photo of the car so the examiner would have a better idea of what the car was? That may have gone a long way towards getting the track car exemption.

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"were these questions being asked by UK or USA ? "

In the USA -- Any UK dealer will sell you the car. Not their jurisdiction to stop selling & shipping the car. The receiving end is the problem.

 

This just happened a year and half ago when I inquired about the Ford eco-boost for the street. The Ford told me not for sale but I can buy the 'older' Formula type eco-boost that was used for series racing.

I contacted the racing team who does chassis for Ford (there are 1/2 doz. company making it for them). To make the story short, they can sell me a 2011 formula ford chassis with full dress up but without engine. I contacted a broker (shipper in FL that specialized with this type). They sent me a few pages of forms (pdf file) to fill. Since I declared it for off road only, they would like to know the history of the car (any history that the car has been raced in England), what racing league I will use the car in the U.S., must have racing chassis number and if i have a racing license (SCCA probably acceptable). I think they were trying to gather as much information in case their is a question that will arise during the importation process. I don't think they will use the info (if the examiner will not press) but I'm not too sure... I chicken out because they warned me. There was line to put your signature that you are telling the truth. I'm searching my previous emails and see if I can find the pdf files.

 

 

Yes, I provided a photo of the car, this triggered this complex process when they saw a formula type car...this was not even the examiner. I was not there yet. This was just the shipper. Importing car is

a hit or miss process like registering a seven in 50 states.

Edited by BusaNostra
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I found a couple of emails:

 

Norton, Michael (M.P.)

10/27/14

 

to me

 

Which vehicle are you referring please? See attached. The blue one is the latest Formula car to FIA F4 specification with carbon monocoque. The red one is the current Formula Ford with tubular steel monocoque. Both use the identical 1.6 EcoBoost turbo engines and come with the latest FIA safety standards.

 

Neither are yet in the US but could easily be transported. What was your plans regarding where and in what championship you would run the car. Many thanks.

 

Michael Norton

Manager Ford Racing

Technical, Sporting & Programmes

 

Ford Racing

Ford Motor Company

15-GC-H01-C Dunton Technical Centre, Laindon, Essex, SS15 6EE

Tel: +44 1268 405978

Mob: +44 7714 695904

 

The next email:

 

 

10/27/14

 

to Michael

Mr. Norton,

Thank you again.....would you mind if you can tell me what is the price of the red & the blue?

I will try to fit it in my budget. No shipping cost....I will take care the shipping.

 

Regards,

 

 

 

Norton, Michael (M.P.)

10/28/14

 

to me

 

The carbon cars are only available as new cars as there is no 2nd hand market yet. The cost of the rolling chassis is €33,000. If you add the paddle shift system, data logging and on-board camera that’s an additional €5,000. The EcoBoost engine package is available at the FIA price cap cost of €9,500. The engine is supplied separately to the car so if you wanted the car delivered ready to race there would be an additional build cost.

 

The steel cars are only available 2nd hand and I can put you in contact with a couple of people who you can negotiate with. The price of these cars ready to race would be between £13,000-£16,000 remembering that these cars are now 3 years old generally.

 

Many thanks.

 

 

Michael Norton

Manager Ford Racing

Technical, Sporting & Programmes

 

Ford Racing

Ford Motor Company

15-GC-H01-C Dunton Technical Centre, Laindon, Essex, SS15 6EE

Tel: +44 1268 405978

Mob: +44 7714 695904

 

 

here are the cars he was talking: http://i60.tinypic.com/28l55k6.jpg

http://i61.tinypic.com/256d1qs.jpg

Edited by BusaNostra
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Trykeman here.

Since my question I have purchased a 1989 Caterham in England. It loads on the ship on October 8. So far. So good. As this progresses I will post any problems

 

What motor is in it? I would like to see it when it arrives.

 

Coffee Break

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It is an 89 Caterham super lite, long cockpit, Ford Sierra cross flow, Sierra 5 speed, DeDion rear. Loads on the ship this Thursday. Arrival date is the 25th. I'll let you know when it gets home

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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  • 4 weeks later...

Mind if I ask approximately how much it's costing to ship from UK to (presumably) East Coast?

 

It is an 89 Caterham super lite, long cockpit, Ford Sierra cross flow, Sierra 5 speed, DeDion rear. Loads on the ship this Thursday. Arrival date is the 25th. I'll let you know when it gets home

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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Sorry for the delay in responding. I am picking the car up on Friday. Cost so far is approx 1,000.00. I still have to pay 2.5% import duty plus fees and such. I'll give you a grand total after I get it on the trailer.

 

 

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Thanks for the reply. Wow, that's a lot cheaper than I was expecting! Is that because the car can be driven and it's a roll-on/roll-off service? Did you do this all remotely? Much appreciated.

 

Sorry for the delay in responding. I am picking the car up on Friday. Cost so far is approx 1,000.00. I still have to pay 2.5% import duty plus fees and such. I'll give you a grand total after I get it on the trailer.

 

 

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Hey, Ferrino! You have been absent for a while. Funny, I just mentioned you in a post a few days back here. :)

Hi Sean! Funny, I am actually still in occasional touch with the current owner of the "Yamaham" and he wrote an article on it in Low Flying, which was great to see. It has been to Spain and back several times and he appears to be in love with it. It's funny to think that, as of last year, the car would've been eligible to bring into the US under the 25-year rule (assuming motorcycle engines are ok?). I remember moving to the US in 2007 and thinking how far in the future that seemed! I still periodically scan the UK for interesting 7s for a bit of fun and thought I'd stop by to see how much folks are paying - just in case a great deal comes along... There was a 190 BHP Fireblade engined 7 that went for 10K GBP recently - insane value.

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  • 1 month later...

Trykeman had a win - car was over 25 years old and he states in a post in this thread he was picking his car up which he would not have done had they not cleared him.

 

The digression into the other guy mid-thread is an unknown.

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:confused: Thats a new seven replica brand I had not heard of before.

 

Rather than hijack someones thread, it would be better for you to publicize your new car with a separate post, details, photos, etc and full contact details as I am sure I am not the only one who has not heard of the Wharton Roadster before. That would give it more prominent viewing than tacked on the end of this thread.

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A friend shipped is historic Lotus race car to Goodwood for the festival this year. When it was shipped back, Customs would not let it back in. This even though he owned the car and had records of shipping it out of the US. I think he eventually got it back.

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  • 1 year later...

I have a question regarding customs on the US side. Is there a particular class/type of customs broker I need to import a Seven on the 25-year rule? For example, some of these brokers appear to be geared towards high-end, extremely valuable imports. If I find a car that is as original as possible and appears to pose no significant issues on the 25-year rule (original engine etc.) can I just go with a standard broker? Also, how much would you typically expect to pay for customs, if everything goes smoothly? Are we talking $500-$1,000. Thanks.

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I just responded to your PM but the answer is yes a standard broker would likely have vehicle import experience with regular vehicles. No reason why you need a high end valuable historic vehicle import guy. All my invoices are buried in boxes thanks to a home renovation so cannot check the numerous various fees to give you an estimate but you really need to get the estimate from the broker you plan to use in the port you are shipping to. Dont forget there is an import tax on that value of the car too.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I was with my friend yesterday when we brought an MGC over the border from Canada. The process itself was pretty painless with the car being over 25 years old. Took the CBP Officers a little while to work out exactly what they had to do with the forms - fortunately there was an old hand on duty who they were able to call upon so it only took about 15 minutes once he got involved. This was after they spent a good 10 minutes going through my passport (checking every individual stamp in the book as well as my US and India visas) and grilling me on my immigration status and trips to the US prior to having an L1 :flag:

 

http://www.usa7s.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=12591&stc=1

hendy and juan.jpg

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