I've looked at a 92 at a local dealer that I think have a quite rare combination of options:

92 Coupe. Cloth seats!
Black Rose / Black
MN6
Z07

I know it was only 480 cars with cloth seats in 92 an only 750 with Z07 so this combination must be quite rare. What do you think?

I love the car but the price is just to high for me.

What is the price you ask... $51.000 ... wich is about the "normal" price for a 92 here in Norway (Due to insane taxes on cars)..





[Modified by Roar Hansen, 12:37 PM 7/19/2002]

 

:eek: :eek: $51,000? :eek: :eek:

 

The cloth seats are rare but actually are very comfortable. The Z07 is also rare. But $51k?? Yikes! How much would it cost to buy a Vette in the USA and import it? Shipping should only be $2000 to $3,000.

I understand that you can import a car into Norway and as long as you keep it for a certain length of time, the taxes are not that bad. Is that correct? A friend of mine came from Norway and imported a number of cars including a mid- 70's Trans Am. But that was a few years back.

You think the taxes are bad, look at Singapore. First you have to purchase a permit to buy a car. The government auctions the permits once a month and depending on the engine size, they cost from $30,000 to $50,000. Thats just the PERMIT to go to a dealer and buy a car. Then, you have to pay for the car and pay more taxes up to 100% of the car's price. I don't know if it is still required, but at one time, if you did not have a trade in car, you had to buy a scrap car and trade it in. A scrap car was worth big bucks on the open market. And there were dealers that just handled the scrap cars for trade ins and you would never see it.

The cheapest Toyota would run $40-50k. A luxury car such as a Jaguar would run $200k! Oh, they also make it cost prohibative to have a car more than 10 years old.


[Modified by Mez, 5:19 AM 7/19/2002]

 

Its rare but not sure how much it would add to the value. On the other hand... the Z07 option is desireable.. :D

$51,000 USD?? Hmm.... I will sell you mine for $40,000 USD or maybe I need to start an import/export business :eek: :D

:cheers:

 

If I bought a Vette in the USA and imported it, the total price would be about the same ($45k - $50k for a 92). I can get the car here for the price in the USA + shipping but to get Norwegian plates on it I have to pay a tax based on : 1. Weight of the car 2. Engine displacement. 3. Engine power (hp). 4. Age of the car (cars older than 30 years have no/very low taxes)

What you are refering to about owning the car for a period of time was true if you had lived outside of Norway for 5 years or more and were moving back. Then you could take your car with you without paying taxes but you had to keep the car for 2 years before you could sell it. They have now eliminated this scheme, so this is no longer an option..

But you are right, Singapore looks bad.

 

Cloth seats in Norway...hhhmmmmmm...kinda makes sense :D
Well just get a 71 model then. They look better, ya know.

My great-grandparents came from Norway in the 1870's (I think). My grandparents grew up speaking Norweigan, and they would visit their cousins in Norway. They always told me how beatuiful Norway is. I've always wanted to visit. I understand that most Norweigans speak English. That would make it easy to visit for Americans. :cheers:

 

I'm afraid to go to Norway. I was on the Norway ride at EPCOT, and they have really wicked trolls over there. Worse than the ones on this forum. :yesnod:

 

wouldn't a porsh or TVR make a tad more sense since both are local? last i checked a 2001 tuscan speed six in mint shape with under 5,000 miles was selling for 40,000 pounds or so. i'm sure even better deals exist if you shop around. that just seems like a insane amount of cash for importing a $12,000 car. maybe i should go buy a ship and cart some over to western europe, i wonder how much more a C5 would cost you to buy compared to the C4. if most the $ is in taxes and importing it seems like the newest car you could afford would be smart.

 

I know these prices must seam totally crazy to you guys that can get a new C5 for $45K, believe me we think this is crazy to ...

No, a Porsche or TVR would not make (much) more sense as the taxes on these are just as bad (or actually a bit lower due to smaller engine displacement).. These taxes ar special for Norway, most other contries in Europe has more normal taxes.

What I ment by saying that age of the car was a part of the formula for calculating the taxes was the the tax gets lower the older the car is (a 10 year old car has 67% lower taxes than a new car)..

Price of a new C5 here: 1.296.600 NOK wich is $176.000 USD :cry

 

WOW, maybe that's why North Dakota looked good to my dirt poor Norwegian and Swedish great-great-grandparents.

Eric

 

WOW 176k for a C5, i guess your right a speed six or 911 would be very similar money. well if your into sports cars the C4 might not be a bad idea. if old cars have very little tax i'd almost be tempted to get a 67-69 camaro or mid 60's corvette. there's just something really irratating about throwing away so much money in tax. do you guys have large import taxes on parts and the like also? i'm sure if you did buy a C4 a lot of the guys & business owners here on the forum wouldn't mind helping you out and UPS'ing parts.

 

I dont know about norway but the import taxes here in sweden are 25%. And the shipping cost adds to the value of the product so you have to pay tax for the shipping too. :sad:

 

Taxes on parts etc. is not that bad actually, just normal sales tax (24%). I have ordered parts for my 86 directly from the US sevral times, works great. I also have a brother that studies in South Dakota at the moment, so he has helped me out with shipping some times.

A pic of my 86:




Even with the stupid prices it is quite a few Corvettes in Norway. At this years cruse-in of CCN (Corvette Club Norway) it was about 60 Vettes. This event was kinda cool actually, Dave McLelland was ther and told us about his time as chief-engineer for the Corvette !

Here are some pictures I took of some of the cars at the cruse-in:
http://home.online.no/~roa-ha4/landstreff2002/

 

I would like to add a comment that every country has a different tax structures that can vary widely from the USA. For example, when I lived in Hong Kong it had no sales taxe, about 17% personal income tax, no taxes on capital gains or stock dividends. But gas is US$5/gallon and a nice 2000 sq ft apartment rents for $10,000/moth or sells for about US$1 million.

So in Norway there is likely some offset in cost such as low personal income taxes or high average wages.

 

I got a feeling if my family was still in Sweden or Norway I'd be drive a 65 Saab, you know, the one that runs on kerosene :)

All kidding aside, it's neat that you guys love America's sports car. Everytime I go to Europe, I find most folks like us Americans (except for our rich college kids that don't have to work over the summer to pay for school).

Eric

 

I'm with you on the difference in tax-structure but I can't really find where the norwegian system is any good:

Income tax: 35% - 40% with a desent income.
Gas: $4.50 / Gallon
Real-estate: more or less like USA

The only thing that I can think of right now is that we have one of the best public health-care systems, so there is no need for expensive health-insurance...

 

I only go to Southern Europe, but it's been my experience that there is little economic mobility in Europe. The effect of the high tax rate (and it is high) is that people are locked into their economic class. If you are a plumber's son, you'll grow up a plumber. Here in the US, it's much more common to have people move outside of their parent's class/occupation, that may be up or down.

When Europeans see my house, they think my family is rich. I explain that I went to college, got an EE degree and made everything myself. Blows them away.

Eric

 

Any 91+ C4 with cloth seats are very rare, add the Z07 Option, AND the 6-speed and you have one of the rarest standard C4 around. That's why I like mine :)

 

Back on topic for a second - yes, that is a pretty rare combo: 738 Z07s, 1,886 black rose metallic, 480 with cloth seats. More unusual - automatic trans with Z07, but not applicable. Anyhow, something of interest for people who look for the unusual ones.


[Modified by TomH91, 11:15 PM 7/21/2002]

 

Some combo's are rare for only one reason, people just did not like them then (and probably do not like them today).

tom...