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Did you know there are almost no restrictions for importing a car older than 25 years? This got me thinking, "Am I buying the right cars"? If you look at Haggerty's price guides for classic sports cars just about everything interesting has spiked insanely in the last year in America. Are there better deals to be had overseas? You probably won't believe what I found; you can have a Lambo for under $15k!
Screenshot of the price of a Ferrari 328 in America
Yes, I decided to do some foreign investigative journalism for you my readers; this global effort involved logging onto the British magazine Classic and Sports Car's classified pages. Yes, just for you, readers, I spent several hours looking at classic car ads online. The life of an investigative journalist is tough.
Instead of plagiarizing and writing drivel about things I know little about, I'm going to take a road most journalists never consider and I'll point you towards the source of my info about the 25 year rules. Doug Demuro, over at Jalopnik, wrote a blog on import laws (http://jalopnik.com/here-are-the-four-legal-ways-to-import-a-car-to-the-uni-1682067632). The summary of his article is once a car hits 25 years old, it doesn't matter how out of conformance with emissions or safety it is, the car is allowed to be imported to the US. There's also a video I'll embed here.
So just what cars can I bring over?
I would have enjoyed searching the Italian countryside for a bargain Ferrari but 1. I can't read Italian, and 2. I can't find a well functioning searchable classic car classified site for Italy. So I landed on British classifieds written (mostly) in English. Likely a mistake as the pound seems to be doing very well against the dollar, unlike the Euro, but I could at least read the ads.
It seemed relevant to set a budget. I thought a $13,000 US dollar budget was a good price point for people like me, who are too politically incorrect to ever be middle-managers (for example, I passionately dislike the supposed profit Mohammed and will never believe his religion is peaceful no matter how many CNN/NPR articles they air/write/televise). $13k equates to about $9k British pounds.
Note: All photos are screen grabs from Classic and Sports Car classifieds.
Ok, first let's get this out there. I teased you with a Lambo. And yes, yes, you can have a Lambo for under $15,000 USD. Turns out before he went all wedge with the Countach, Signor Lamborghini built tractors. It is pretty. If I owned a farm I might even be tempted. But I don't. And I've watched two tractor shows in the last year (Oregon Steam Up and Heritage Days in McMinnville) and they remind me way too much of beauty pageants which I've never had the slightest desire to enter. Seriously, they line the tractors up and have them drive a runway in front of the judges. Thankfully there's no bikini contest for Farmer John or I might lose my fried elephant ear (these are high class events with 1st class dining).
While we're on the subject of vehicles with no horsepower, consider this Austin 7. Now why in the world am I showing you this car? Well, if you've ever seen one in person you'd understand the uniqueness. They are roughly the size of a large John Deere riding lawn mower. With prices for "micro-cars" going through the roof, I think these are the un-recognized micro-car deal of the year.
Now I understand a clown car may not be in the cards for all of you, but I've always thought it would be fun to drive around a car the size of my motorcycle. Especially this one, which in pictures without scaling elements looks like it should be completely normal. Maybe you could park it at one of those optical illusion parks when you're not driving it to earn money on the side.
Well, I've shown you a tractor and a micro-car so far. My American muscle car readers may be about to hit the "x" button but wait... I've got a Ford for you!
You know how that chicken farmer Shelby made his fame sticking Ford power in an English built body? Well, did you know that Ford was building sporty cars in France 6 or 7 years before Shelby had his idea? Mark Twain once said something to the effect of, "If anyone ever tells you they came up with the idea completely on their own they are blatant liars, everyone plagiarizes to some degree", but I'm too lazy to actually look up the quote.
Ford's French bodies are a huge hit with me, and I would give serious consideration to selling my current well running track day car for this pile of parts. Here's a photo of one restored (drool) -
Photo license Flickr Creative Commons user Michael
Perhaps drop-dead gorgeous, like the Comete, isn't your thing. Perhaps you've been more a fan of Tim Burton movies than those glossy A-list movies with glamorous unrealistic people. Consider this...
Behold the Citroen. Everything is bizzare, but not bad. From it's air ride suspension, to it's weird single spoke steering wheel this car is not for the run-of-the-mill Mike. But all the reviews I've read say they were great cars, if a little complex. To testify to either their reliability, or the strangeness of Portland Oregon, I still see these occasionally around town... although I don't think I've ever seen one moving. Hmmmmm...
Ok, true, everything I've shown you could probably be whipped in a drag race with the earlier mentioned John Deere riding lawn mower. How about some power?!
Ok, I cheated. You'd need to bump your budget up just a little but a Caterham 7 looks like more fun than a barrel full of monkeys (which actually sounds horrific, especially if you're inside).
With it's little dual-overhead cam, dual side-draft carb, modern Ford motor setup, and a weight of 1300-1400 lbs, this thing likely moves like few things you've driven before (if ever). And it looks like it's almost track ready with seats, harness, battery cut-off, etc! I want to drive one bad, and if I didn't have kids I'd like to take to my car events this would likely be the car I'd be pursuing right now.
Four cylinders remind you too much of Honda's with fart-can exhausts. Sick of pissed off bumble-bee noises? Well, perhaps the TVR might turn you on. These little sport cars sport Ford V-6 motors, and in some cases V-8s. The rumor is they "go-like-stink" as I read in one TVR ad (I think this is British for "fast").
And on the topic of British auto-makers, check out this Reliant! And it's not a Robin. Great body-lines on this car and you'd have something totally unique at any car show. I dig it. Would go great with a high revving small block.
And if you have no idea what a Reliant Robin is you HAVE TO WATCH this video. I vote for this as the funniest Top Gear segment of all time.
The quid-essential Morgan 4/4! This is the 1938 motor show car that's continued giving demonstrations for it's entire life. 2 owners from new! Could you find a more pristine platform, with better provenance, to plunk a body on ? Actually, forget that. This calls for some aluminum seats. That's it. Oh, and maybe a steering wheel and a pair of goggles connected to a leather hat.
But you know what caught my eye the most? Maybe it's because I grew up in a small mountain town where we did strange things like "go muddin" but I still have an affinity for anything that can take me where most of the U.S. population (that disagrees with me on almost every belief front) isn't; I need a break!
Behold the Land Rover Trail... wait. Tralala... forget it. Four x Four thing looking awesome. I don't think I've ever heard of or seen this before but the WANT is soooo strong. If I didn't have fun in that I'd need to go apply for those happy pill medications they're always pushing on TV with the creepy ads warning of anal seepage (I think I prefer grumpy and stain free to happy and leaking).
Let me guess, there's no way the wife will let you bring home that monstrosity. She's asking for a larger family car to meet the growing needs of your family....
Bring her home a station wagon!!! Seriously, it's named a "station wagon". I think my wife saw my eyes light up when I saw one of these because the other day she told me she's scared that someday I'll make her drive "some weird thing where the air filter sticks up above the roof".
I only hope we are so lucky.
And it's not just the extreme and family haulers that seem well priced. Look at this gorgeous S2. You show up to the hunting cabin in that and all the Dodge Ram diesel drivers will cry late that night as they realize that they were just out accessorized. The S2 exudes "fishing and hunting", in a classic way. Best invest in some tweed with arm patches if you go this route. Oh, and I'd recommend an English shotgun but... that'll cost you more than the truck. But see, you could tell your wife, "think of all the money I saved not buying the Dodge Ram diesel"!
But which was my in-budget favorite?
This. "Road Legal". Just look at it! It's the insane go kart that you could drive to work, legally! Pick a twisty track and watch the BMW M3 and Porsche drivers fold their "popped" collars down when you utterly destroy them and check their haughty spirit. Center of gravity two-inches off the ground? Check. No weight? Check. Race legal? Check. Best commuter ever? Check.
Well, it's two in the morning. I need to be done. If I wasn't so tired I'd wrap things up in a witty conclusion. But it's two in the morning. Conclusion is, consider importing when you start looking for your next classic car. Looks like there is some fun, different stuff out there you don't have to be rich to afford. I'll be jealous if you pick just about any of the above.. except the TVR, it's ugly.
Here's the links to the above cars -
Triumph Herald Convertible - http://www.classicandsportscar.com/classifieds/classic-cars/triumph/herald/triumph-herald-948-convertible/4849417
Beautiful Classic Series II - http://www.classicandsportscar.com/classifieds/classic-cars/land-rover/other-models/land-rover-series-2-1966/5119619
Defender pickup - http://www.classicandsportscar.com/classifieds/classic-cars/land-rover/defender/land-rover-defender-110-pick-up-200-tdi/4970822
Land Rover Trialler - http://www.classicandsportscar.com/classifieds/classic-cars/land-rover/other-models/land-rover-80-inch-class-10-trialler-1960/3656685
Land Rover Station Wagon - http://www.classicandsportscar.com/classifieds/classic-cars/land-rover/other-models/land-rover-110-2-5-200-tdi-county-station-wagon-1989/3656680
Mini Hill Climb - http://www.classicandsportscar.com/classifieds/classic-cars/mini-classic/all-mini-classics/1984-classic-mini-race--hill-climb-car-road-legal/5133395
Ford Comete - http://www.classicandsportscar.com/classifieds/classic-cars/ford/classics/1954-ford-comete/4299795
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