Though attendant to this thread, I am not intending on buying a car here only to sell it in the UK at a profit. It’s not an impossible idea but in our current financial situation it’s highly (cubed) unlikely.
So, my question is this - what American made or sold vehicle is prized in the UK for its rarity or lack of availability in the UK? The Mustang? The various SUVs? The Corvette? Or is there a desirable classic car, like the AC Cobra or one of the muscle car variants?
I was torn between GQ and IMHO on this one, feel free to gripe that I was wrong.
there are companies that import cars from the US to UK, mainly Classics and such things as old VW’s or even UK cars re-imported like e-types, which maybe a little worn are less rusty if imported from a desert dry state. I cant think many of the current crop of US cars are very desirable, if they are desirable they are generally available here anyway , like new mustangs or vet cars etc.
When you say classics, do you mean classics such as this? Or were you thinking more along the lines of this?
Oh, the lovely E-Type. How we pine…
Here, have a good long cry.
US made cars don’t have a very high reputation in the UK. Mainly due to build quality and being somewhat underpowered, huge and thirsty. Also, we think of them as big, floaty barges and not that keen or capable of going round corners.
If you can find a nice original Cobra then that will always attract attention (ironic given the UK connection) but not much else. I think you’d have a hard sell.
If the big muscle cars could be sold here for similar to US prices then I’m sure there would be takers but import duties etc. etc. probably wouldn’t make it worthwhile. (and we’d probably need to have US gas prices as well!)
Classics would be the best bet and after that something like a modern Corvette or Mustang but you can by both of them from UK dealers and they may have better pricing than you could compete with.
I don’t see a lot of demand for an American SUV really. If you are after an American car in the UK then you likely going to be car enthusiast of some sort and I don’t see a lot of such people into SUV’s. Someone in the market for an SUV in the UK is going to have far better options on models intended for this market. This is going to be in regard to running costs.
As for making money you might have to pay import duty on a car you intend to resell in the UK. I believe there is some clause around how long you have owned the car that can effect that.
There is a TV program in the UK called Wheeler dealers where they sometimes import cars from the US but it’s always unusual cars as that is where the resell market is. For example 1940’s Willys Jeep, Delorean, 1950’s Chevrolet 3100, 70’s Dodge Charger, 1957 Chevy Bel Air etc.
I mean distinctive classics for example there is a Caddy round here with huge fins which the owner must find impractical as it simple wont fit in some of our local roads (rural Cornwall).
That’s quite a mental picture, sidecar_jon.
not least because its is pink…
US-market Cobras were badged as Fords, and are worth significantly less (I knew Dad’s lifetime subscription to Classic Car would come in handy one day.)
The Mustang GT is priced about the same in pounds (25k) in the UK as it is in dollars in the US. The exchange rate is currently $1:.6 GBP, so she could make quite a lot of money importing one, even dropping $5k on emissions compliance and shipping.
And changing the controls to the correct side?
Watching the Top Gear US special they tried to buy cars and drive south for less than a hire car price, and were presented with some awful grey porridge to choose from.
I thought VW’s would be as plentiful in the UK as here, Germany being so close. And I figured you’d get the same gamut of Toyotas, Hondas and Hyundais there as well since they’re international companies whose smaller 4 door vehicles are very popular - no?
There are actually a lot more VWs in the UK than the US. He means really old VWs - combi vans and the like - but I don’t know why you’d bother importing one.
Mustangs sold in the UK are LHD only, so converting one to RHD for import is kind of pointless.
In the Top Gear US special they were buying cars for less than $1000 (and driving west, not south). That’s about 600 quid.
Old VW’'s in the uk tend to be more holes than metal…oops on the south thing, i just registered guns and red necks and assumed wrongly, they did end up in New Orleans though. For six hundred quid here, one might get an interesting car, though probably pretty unreliable. Last week one of my neighbors rolled up in a luxury Merc estate, electric seats, satnav, etc etc one the road (MOT ETC) £350, a cracked windscreen and a water leak made it cheap, but it was going!
You mean the conversion VW ‘microbus’ or the Vanagon? The Vanagons were very cute and great for travel, I could see someone collecting those. The other were homely, utilitarian. Then again, Land Rovers are homely and utilitarian and they’re made in the UK, so I guess that could happen.
When I think of a Cobra, I think of the AC Cobra (427), not the new Mustang Cobra, which is a pony car w/ extra plastic affects. (Or the Cobra II, a more muscular Mustang of the 70’s). But if someone in the UK was desperate for an AC Cobra, they could build a replica for a fraction of the cost; same w/ the Chevy Bel-Airs, though that wrap-around windshield would be a bitch to bring over intact, I’ll wager.
Yes, I’m also referring to the AC Cobra ( 427 Shelby version) pivotal feature of many a boyhood dream over here.
I think aficionados only mean one thing when they talk about a “Cobra”
I seem to recall from somewhere that the AC Cobra is/was the most popular kit car in the UK. But my memory may be failing me there.
Why limit yourself to the UK? Surely continental Europe is a better bet as you’d avoid the righthand/lefthand drive issue. One of the Russian oligarchs might be a rabid collector of classic Americana.
Yes there are a lot of micro-bus vw’s about but also the humble beetle is extensively restored too.
Russian oligarchs can import, export or just plain steel their own cars. Luxury cars get stolen and exported quite a lot to the … newly “free market” economies of the east. Competing with that is hard.
Do you get fiat 500’s over there? they are mega trendy amongst the bright young things…
We do get those darling wee things here! Do your Fiat commercials have that stunning model chastising a guy in Portuguese or something? It made me laugh out loud the first time I saw it.
Yeah, man, Russian oligarchs don’t need my help. They swing on over here and pick basketball franchises for giggles. They could have a car factory making one of each unique vehicle ever made - Tuckers even - w/o their accountants breaking a sweat.
The VW Bug struck such a chord w/ the Baby Boomers around the world and they’re just beloved to pieces. I like them, but they don’t signify whatever the heck they signified to my folks. Freedom? Accessibility? Equality? I don’t understand. If I were going for a cute Veedub I’d get a Karmann Ghia hardtop (so it would be pastel).
I was shocked to bits yesterday to see a Chevy Tahoo Hybrid. I thought the Cadillac Escalade was the only big hybrid. Here in Utah it’s popular to convert your large truck or SUV to burn compressed natural gas. Are there many CNG vehicles in the UK?
She’s speaking Italian, 'cause she’s, you know… Italian. 
NB: the Cobra was bypassed by Lotus Seven clones a long time ago, but some of them aren’t “replicas”, strictly speaking.
Lotus/Caterham 7’s are awesome.