Moving my baby halfway across the world

[shakari]

As I've mentioned before, I'm moving from South Africa to Europe and taking my baby with me and I thought I'd give you guys an update on how it's going.

Everyone told me I was crazy to even consider trying to export a classic car from Africa but I was determined not to give up.

I first found that whoever registered the car in 1982 had gotten the VIN number wrong and made up a hookey engine number on the registration document, so I first had to get that corrected and once I'd done that, I got all 6 permits from various Govt bodies within 2 working days. - Nothing short of a bloody miracle and have now given her a full service and had her nether regions steam cleaned so she looks nice and tidy underneath.

I'm due to collect the Portuguese import permit tomorrow and take the car to the shippers early next week.

Shipping and customs clearances are costing about US$2000 in total and I should be able to collect her in Portugal shortly before Christmas.

As she's older than 30 years, I can import her duty free and I plan to have an LPG conversion done once she's landed. Cost of that is about another US$2K. She'll then run on fuel that costs E0.6 per litre instead of E1.7 per litre.

As to values, here, she's worthless because it's now illegal to sell a left hand drive vehicle in RSA and there, she'll be worth about US$26K ...... not that she's for sale at any price.

So, all in all, I feel like a dog with two tails about the project!

Can't wait to see her on Portuguese soil...... even if I do have to struggle with the Portuguese registration process!

[SGT-ROCK63]

Sounds exciting !! Good luck and keep us posted!! With lots of pic !!

[mud89]

Congrats it was certainly not easy !
The LPG conversion should be worth indeed
Here LPG costs 0.8€/L and gas 1.55€/L
But don't expect to sale it later for a good price in Europe, even with LPG
Here all the rigs which are not diesel with low mileage, have seen a loss of their value those last years..

[hookedup50]

Good luck on the move. I would have thought that it would be harder to teach your Jeep Portugese than to get all those permits and customs things in order. Glad it worked out with only a few problems. Nice Jeep by the way.

[shakari]

Mud,

I don't understand why but for some reason cars are obscenely expensive in Portugal.... As it's part of the EU, I'd have expected prices to be similar throughout the different countries but apparently not.

Hook,

Thanks for the compliment! .... As you say, the Portuguese is gonna be a tough one to learn but hey, if I can learn Zulu & Ki-Swahili, I (and the Jeep) can learn Portuguese!

[men in black]

X2 on good luck with the move

Nice looking GW and you got side pipes too

[710 Burner]

Luck from me as well. I would be nervous about it.
For some reason, all I can think about at the momement is the guy singing David Bowie songs in Portugese in the movie The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. I could be wrong... I think it was Portugese.

[shakari]

Yup, it's all a big worry but the move is forced upon us so we have no choice but to deal with it..... My two biggest worries are will my Jeep and our two cats make it unscathed.

The other way of looking at it is that it just might be a blessing in disguise for us. We're moving from the 118th safest country to the 17th safest and for half the cost of my house here, I can buy a 2 or 3 bedroomed, restored 18th or 19th century cottage with an acre or two of land and a trout stream in the garden.

Fortunately, we can run our businesses from anywhere in the world as long as we have a decent internet connection so at least we don't have to hunt for jobs etc........

[MartyHQ]

Congrats on the paperwork

Even if it costs something to move these things around the planet its well worth it! And yeah, the propane conversion might be the last chance for us here in Europe to actually use these rigs.

[shakari]

I first thought the LPG tank would have to go into the back of the car but it just occurred to me there's bucket loads of spare room under the car on the right hand side so with a bit of luck, it'll fit in there!

Things just keep getting better n better!

[austinaubinoe]

Its illigal to buy a left hand drive in south africa? So is there like no american cars there?

[shakari]

Typical Africa..... left hookers have been imported for donkey's years but they suddenly decided that because the higher accident rates of left hand drive TRUCKS that come in from other African countries, they'd make it illegal to import or sell left hand drive CARS and ignore the truck issue!

This means that owners of LHD cars can keep and drive them but not sell them so technically, the cars have little if any value here (certainly far lower than they're worth in Europe)...... To confuse matters even more, they don't actually check what vehicles are left or right hand drive on the inspections etc anyway.

The good news is that although it's technically illegal to sell a left hooker, it's not illegal to export them so these vehicles are available at very low prices here and even with shipping fees and import duty (if any) it's well worth buying here and shipping to Europe and/or maybe the US.

Lots of LHD, including American LHD cars here.

[Brizio]

Good luck with the shipping!

[mud89]

Originally Posted by mud89

Congrats it was certainly not easy !
The LPG conversion should be worth indeed
Here LPG costs 0.8€/L and gas 1.55€/L
But don't expect to sale it later for a good price in Europe, even with LPG
Here all the rigs which are not diesel with low mileage, have seen a loss of their value those last years..

To be accurate, i noticed that some FSJ rigs , mainly wagoneers, may still be sold for a good price in Holland though
I'd like to have an explanation, but it seems that there are more wagoneers lovers in Holland than in the others European countries ?
Most of them are LPG rigs

[shakari]

You can get an idea of classic car prices in Portugal here: http://www.interclassico.com/

SA prices are about 25% of the Portuguese prices........ often less.

[grand_wag_85]

Good looking Jeep!

How common are LPG fueling stations in Europe?

[MartyHQ]

in the Czech republic they are everywhere. 90% of regular stations sell the propane plus there are special stations just for the propane. I have like 4 places within the 10 miles reach.

[brushawg]

That baby deserves all the wolf whistles for being so beautiful! Keep us posted and congratulation on being able to get the paperwork handle so quickly.

[ROK360]

Steve,
Down here in Oz most 4WD's are converted to LPG. My Waggie has been running on the stuff for 21 years now, I have a 60 L useable tank in the location where you would normally find the spare. Best place for it I reckon - just starting to build a rear bar with a swing away carrier to get the lump of a 35 out of the rear cargo area.
All the best with the move and your Wagon looks awesome.
Cheers Peter

[Gambler68]

This is what I like to see, a truly INTERNATIONAL thread Great wag, Shak, and glad to hear you were able to take her on a boat trip to your new home.