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The consignment shop that sold my 61 said they ship 30+ cars overseas monthly, they transport them to Tampa then to a shipping company and over the big pond they go... Routine part of their business..
Greg Wyatt at Vintage Corvettes where I bought my car told me a similar story. A significant segment of his business is overseas. He sells many of these cars sight-unseen with no inspection.
Hi, you can ship your car round trip for $900-1,500 (roll on roll off- they drive the cars on to boat) depending on port and destination. If you want to put it in a container...$3,000 to $5,000
I shipped mine over in a container....but put it on a roll on for the trip home and saved a lot of money.....my car didn't care..
This is just one man's opinion. One of the things I value most in a weekend driver is uniqueness. If there are others who want a very rare car but can't afford one that is rare because it costs $750,000+, then an old American classic in a foreign country might be very appealing. If it only cost a couple thousand more to ship it, I can see where that market could thrive.
I talk to foreigners at Old Town (tourists visiting the theme parks) and I can tell you that their interest in our classic cars is over the top. Particularly Brazilians, Scandinavians, Germans, British and New Zelanders. That is the majority of folks that I discuss my car(s) with. One gent who visited Disney each year from England made a point to come see me at Old Town every year for 5-6 years. I finally let him sit in the 61 with the engine running while his wife took pictures - I thought he would wet himself out of sheer delight...
Many Scottish people stop and discuss my car with me...after 6-7 minutes of me nodding my head in agreement they move on. I have no clue what they said ...
It may be English but if I catch every 5th word I feel I'm doing good.
The tourists I've seen from the Middle East and Asia are curious about the vehicles but nowhere near the interest of the other countries mentioned. Not making any cultural statements here - that's strictly my observation after a decade of showing the car(s) to tourists from all over the world..
Last edited by Frankie the Fink; 06-12-2019 at 08:06 AM.
...kinda hate to see it too, but if other parts of the world want to enjoy our early classics it's not a bad thing. 85% of the Corvettes driving around and at car shows are C5/C6/C7s and soon to be C8s, so does it really matter?
I worked for a Finnish company for several years--those guys had the intensity for 1950s-1970s American cars that even most Americans never had.
Back in 2007-2009, when the Euro was extremely strong against the dollar, I bet the rate of exodus was even higher than it is now. At the time, my other hobby was 1960s-70s Cadillacs. We were selling cars to European buyers at a rapid pace. I would buy something I wanted, have fun for a few months, then sell it on via eBay to a European buyer filling containers and shipping them overseas. I sold a top 1% 1969 DVville convertible once, and the buyer told me he was buying as many 69-70 DeVille convertibles as he could and planned to do a complete restoration on the best example that arrived.
I do not see how classic American vehicles on the world market is a bad thing:
- Creates cash inflow to the US
- Will create a worldwide market for American classic cars raising values and smoothing out any market corrections
- Creates more interest and affinity in American culture
- Creates worldwide interest in American vehicles. You may see fewer early Corvettes on our roads, but when was the last time you saw a '64 Ferrari GTO, a '67 275 GTB, or an '64 Aston Martin DB4 driving on the road. Yet you all know what they are and how desirable they are. This worldwide interest will translate to Corvettes in time.
- Will minimize the effect of all the current "old-timers" dumping their cars on the market since they are too old to drive them.
- Will make YOUR car that much more of a rarity when you DO drive them
- Would less likely drive foreign governments to drive their economies away from oil based economies (on the assumption that people who spend money on old cars on these countries are fairly wealthy and have influence)
Kind of ironic that most of the cars pictured in the article are foreign cars.
I noticed that too, odd picture choices, particularly the big lead photo in the container.
i started a thread in C3 asking about the particulars of how a non dealers/private party could sell in Europe, as these stories are everywhere and I’m well aware that dealers funnel them there routinely. For such an active topic, I never did get a straight answer.
The show that they talk about in the article, the Power Big Meet in Sweden, is fantastic. We went a couple years ago and that’s a bunch of people who enjoy their driver cars. Thousands and thousand of US cars, almost all drivers.
Well between my 2 corvettes, 1 mustang, 2 Chev pickups and around 10 Harley Davidsons not to mention restoration and maintenance costs over the last 4 decades I have been doing my part in sending a decent chunk of cash to the USA so it can't be that bad a thing for you guys to be sending some of your cars and bikes OS.
For us the shipping is often a very small part of the importing cost with a swag of associated costs and taxes being applied at our end.
To be honest I would rather a classic car go overseas to some loving owner who is committed to "bringing it back" than have it sit around some American garage where the owner will get around to fixing it up "some day" (which never comes)...
This car was in the latter state for over 10 years in a garage across the street from me; nothing ever done with it and they wouldn't sell it to me...
Last edited by Frankie the Fink; 06-13-2019 at 07:17 AM.
To be honest I would rather a classic car go overseas to some loving owner who is committed to "bringing it back" than have it sit around some American garage where the owner will get around to fixing it up "some day" (which never comes)...
This car was in the latter state for over 10 years in a garage across the street from me; nothing ever done with it and they wouldn't sell it to me...
Exactly! These cars get driven over here....for sure the ones I own.
Well between my 2 corvettes, 1 mustang, 2 Chev pickups and around 10 Harley Davidsons not to mention restoration and maintenance costs over the last 4 decades I have been doing my part in sending a decent chunk of cash to the USA so it can't be that bad a thing for you guys to be sending some of your cars and bikes OS.
For us the shipping is often a very small part of the importing cost with a swag of associated costs and taxes being applied at our end.
ordered a brake booster vacuum tube yesterday for $27 shipping was $70 or $100 then I get import duty on top. So it's not just the cars that are being purchased it's all the follow on parts cost benefitting the USA
Originally Posted by Frankie the Fink
To be honest I would rather a classic car go overseas to some loving owner who is committed to "bringing it back" than have it sit around some American garage where the owner will get around to fixing it up "some day" (which never comes)...
This car was in the latter state for over 10 years in a garage across the street from me; nothing ever done with it and they wouldn't sell it to me...
I wish you all shared that attitude Frankie! I got abuse from some Forum member when I bought my first LT-1 out of New York saying it was a national treasure and should stay in the USA. If that's the case what about all the Jags, Triumphs, Astons etc, can we have them back! The second of my LT-1's has languished in a barn type structure with not a penny put to it for 20 years. I've just finished a cosmetic restoration and now it's in the shop getting a date correct restored Holley, date correct and restored smog and a ton of other stuff. I may be upside down when I get done but I don't care, I'm enjoying the 'ride' and 'bringing it back'
Originally Posted by swissie
Exactly! These cars get driven over here....for sure the ones I own.
My red LT-1 which is a TF car did maybe 500 miles in 20 years following a body on restoration. I've notched up nearly 15k miles in 3 years
06-12-2019, 06:47 AM
30,000 classic cars expatriated in 2018
ordered a brake booster vacuum tube yesterday for $27 shipping was $70 or $100 then I get import duty on top. So it's not just the cars that are being purchased it's all the follow on parts cost benefitting the USA