Importing RHD Cobra from Ireland into Florida

[pcoghlan]

I moved from Ireland a couple of years ago and left behind my Gardner Douglas (www.gdcars.com) Euro chassis 427 in an unfinished state.

I am now looking to bring it over to the US and finish it but am wondering about things like emissions and safety tests etc.

The drivetrain is fitted but I am being advised to remove it so as to import the car as parts instead of as a 'car'. Is this sound advice? If I take this route can I simply crate the engine/trans in a wooden crate in the same 20' container or do I need to ship separately.

I am looking into it but was also told that Florida recently brought in a new law stating that kits can be registered as the year of the car they are replicating regardless of the age of parts. I dont know if this might help. i.e. bringing it in as a '65 etc.

Does anyone else here have experiecen in brinign a replica into the US?

Many thanks,
Paul

[jmimac351]

Paul, relative to other states, Florida is very friendly from a regulation standpoint for cars. Safety or emissions checks were not necessary for registration for those building their car here. Whether it would be because you are bringing one in from outside the country, I'm not sure. I doubt it. I suspect bringing it in as a collection of parts is a good idea. One thing you could do is contact Reg Dodd at Backdraft near you in Boynton Beach. I'm sure he knows the details and can offer some advice on the best way to do it.

Jim

[CobraDan]

The reason manufactures bring their cars in as Turnkey Minus cars is so they don’t have to have them crash tested etc as other new car manufactures would have to do. Since personal cars are brought in from other countries everyday and I’m sure they don’t make them into Turnkey Minus cars, I think you would be wasting your time. Drop by the Florida DMV and tell them what you want to do and find out the correct procedures, making sure you get copies of all the procedures in writing as you might find a clerk who thinks they know what has to be done but since they have never looked into it before, actually knows less than you or I on the subject.

[pcoghlan]

I thought I would return to update everyone in the event this is useful to others.

After talking to MANY people in Customs, DMV and shipping brokers here is the story.

I do indeed need to remove the engine and transmission in order to bring the vehicle in as 'car parts'. Otherwise, and unless the car is old, it needs to met emissions and, according to one broker, be converted to LHD. There is confusion as to what is 'old' although it appears to be 25-30 years old.

The DMV arent involved in the discussions at all. They honestly couldnt car eless what happens and will register/title it as long as it gets here. Customs are the issue.

So, thanks to the guys at Backdraft I now have a friendly shipping agent who is clearing it thorugh customs for me. The drivetrain is being separately shipped. Hopefully I should have one fo the first RHD GD Euros in the US in early January!

Thanks for the input. I will update this once the car is here.

Regards,
Paul

[CobraDan]

Paul,
It seems it would be a lot less costly if you could have sold your car in Ireland and got back with Reg on purchasing a new Back Draft. Good luck

[pcoghlan]

Dan

'fraid not. The cost to get the GD here is only $2500 in total plus maybe $500 in excise tax. Also, the GD is, in my very biased opinion, one of the best out there so I am looking forward to putting it through its paces on the local strip. Plus, selling it in Ireland is pretty much a non starter as registration tax is about $20k. Shipping it to the UK equally wouldn't work as the SVA (tests to get it onto the road) would require me to potentially contract a UK company to put it through the test and fix any deficiencies. I just sold my Cobra here in the US and 3k to get it here seems pretty reasonable considering I would likely sell it at a significant loss in Europe as winter is looming. Here in southern FL things are just getting nice and cool!

Again, thanks for all the feedback.

Regards,
Paul

[pcoghlan]

A further update in the event anyone looks at this in the future for reference.

Getting the car through is not an issue, once stripped of the engine/trans it is indeed considered an "assemblage of car parts".

Getting the engine and transmission in is another matter.

I am now in Ireland trying to get everything sorted and it appears that EPA certification will be needed prior to the engine being allowed in. I might end up having to sell the engine/trans in Europe and buy replacements in the US which is a shame considering the high spec on the current one.

In short the car, no problem. The drivetrain, buy locally.

Paul

[mininoux]

hi Paul,
i'm in a reverse situation i would like to buy a cobra from the us and imported to ireland .
Did you buy the kit in the uk and build it yourself or was it fully build ? because i was told you cannot import a kit to ireland... if oyu didn't sold your car i could be interested ...
jm

[Historybuff]

He bought it into California from the UK without the engine (302, easily found in the US) and without the transaxle (ZF, easily found at a Pantera shop) . Shipped it in as a chassis with body parts loosely attached (if they were firmly fitted it would look too much like a finished car. Then came the bad part, he had to wait two years until the guy he thought was qualified could get around toa ssembling it . Eventually tho it got put together and I have had several rides in it. I think it has doubled in value since he bought it, but then again without the engine and tranny he got it for 30,000 pounds and that was during that brief moment in time when one dollar equaled one Pound Sterling.

He registered it as whatever year the engine block is, probably '65 or so and I believe it says GT40 on the registration, which will confound historians if they ever try to track down GT40s in the DMV records.

[pcoghlan]

Originally Posted by mininoux

hi Paul,
i'm in a reverse situation i would like to buy a cobra from the us and imported to ireland .
Did you buy the kit in the uk and build it yourself or was it fully build ? because i was told you cannot import a kit to ireland... if oyu didn't sold your car i could be interested ...
jm

Hi, I just sent you a PM. Let me have contact details and we can talk.

Paul

[pcoghlan]

All

In case anyone finds themselves in the same position of trying to import a Cobra into the US I can confirm it can be done!!

My GD Euro arrived from Ireland yesterday and will be on the road in the next month or two once the drivetrain is installed.

A RHD Cobra will certainly turn a few heads!

I will post a photo later this morning.

Paul