Hi Tim and list-
Sports Car Market magazine has featured a few very interesting articles on
the joys and pitfalls of overseas shipping.
The first that I noticed was titled "Please stand back while we smash your
hood".
This article emphasized inconsistencies in policies and procedures based only
on the USA entry port city.
A very valuable vintage Ferrari was damaged with a 2 by 4 and hammer by port
authorities who had to verify the engine size (the law for this based on euro
vs USA emmissions differences). The port emplyees wanted to see the engine and
could not figure out how to open the hood. So they used the aforementioned
"tools". This despite the fact that the car was built in the 1950's and
therefore whether or not the engine had been replaced was irrelavent.
The story went on to compare how different this experience was with other
port cities in the experience of the author, who by the way was vintage Ferrari
dealer Michael Sheehan. A major point was that there are certain ports to be
avoided.
The next article I noticed was mercifully more upbeat. An SCM staff writer
vactioning in England accidentally found a great deal on a low mileage original
vintage Land Rover on indoor display and not even for sale. His detailing of
his "roll on roll off" shipment was a hitch free and was very inexpensive
experience.
The third story I saw was back in the negative. It detailed a Portland
collector whose Mini Moke was crushed by port authorities for not having the
proper paperwork. The emphasis of this story was that if you can prove the car
is 25 years old or older you have less to worry about.
A friend of a friend just shipped a Mercedes 450sl from CA to Germany and it
arrived soaked inside and out by seawater.
My comments may raise more questions than it answers. If it was me
interested in shipping I would ask as many people as possible who have recently
shipped a car from the country of origin to the destination country. Sports
Car Market magazine has an ad from an overseas shipping specialist whose name I
can get if anyone is interested.
Hope that helps,
Eric Hoffman
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