In a message dated 20-Jan-01 18:45:59 Eastern Standard Time,
jonmac@ndirect.co.uk writes:
> Few dealer salesmen were aware of what one could or could not do, so
> mostly customers got the car that was available. You could get your
> car in two months (just) if it was ordered and paid for in the States
> and then collected by you at the factory or in London, driven around
> Europe on vacation - and then shipped back at the end of the trip.
> This method substantially reduced the US import duty payable on
> arrival. One lister did this and still has the car - but I forget who
> it was. If anyone has a Heritage Certificate which states the UK
> licence number, that would have been a car delivered and used in the
> UK/Europe before shipment.
>
Jonmac is correct. I ordered my TR4 (CT 33118L) in January '64 from the NY
distributor and picked it up on 11 June in London. (According to the BMIHT
certificate it was built on 14 May '64.) It was delivered to me with all the
options and colors etc. which I had chosen and had the license plate DDU 418
B, which it still has on the front bumper.
After pickup we (college roommate and I) drove it for about two weeks in the
UK. Then we took the Dover/Calais car ferry and toured for another two weeks
in France, Belgium, and Holland. Shipped it myself out of Rotterdam and
picked it up as a "used car" (very little, if any, duty) at the port in
Bayonne, NJ.
Art Kelly
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