Looking for information/leads on where to store my Corvette for three years while I am on assignment in England. I will be returning to Florida upon completion of this assignment. Should I consider taking the car with me? Anyone out there have any experience with this? TIA, John.
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Re: long term storage
Certainly, the UK chapter members of NCRS can be expected to welcome you into the 'fold' if you decide to take your car across the 'pond' while you're stationed in England!!!! You'll want to check out the cost alternatives for transport of the car AND you'll want to consider how/where you'll store the car in the UK (garage space is a premium factor in most major metro areas)....
To register the car and drive on public highways, you'll need to make a few minor modifications (use correct lamp color for various functions, remove 'faceted' headlights that direct the beams in a LH drive biased manner, comply with seat belt regulations, Etc.). I think you'll find your local NCRS 'brothers' can give you the leg-up hand holding you'll need on these minor issues.... -
Re: long term storage
If cost of transport and the availability of garage space isn't an impossible hurdle, why not consider taking your car with you? You'll find the NCRS UK Chapter is alive and well over there and I'll bet they'd be tickled pink to have a 'temporary' Yank member come and 'play' with them!
There are some minor modifications you'll have to do to make the car 'streetable', but they're not really big deal items. Things like replacing faceted headlights that direct beams in a LH drive biased manner, changing a few exterior lamps to agree with national color code standards (white, red and amber have distinct application meanings), and making existing seat belts agree with legal requirements are a few of the 'change' items. I gotta believe your UK NCRS brothers will be tickled to pitch in an help you get the car 'street legal' for use....Comment
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What no one mentioned
is that if you are military, you can bring the car in under the NATO agreements without too much hassle. It of course, must leave with you, or can only be sold to another exempt person, unless you pay all of the import duties and taxes on it first.
If you are a civilian, or you are in a non-military position there, such as moving with your company, you are subject to paying the taxes and import duties on the car, regardless of if you take it home when you leave. These are not cheap. There are some ways around keeping the car there under a year, however, if you are living and working there for three years, don't expect to get away with it. I knew people who used to drive out of the country every few months and take the ferry to France or the Netherlands for a weekend, then return. At that point, they claimed their one year period in country was starting over. But I think that is really only for the passport and they were just asking to be in trouble over the cars.
You will be subject to UK insurance, so your nice friendly low US rates won't apply. A Corvette is after all, a "foreign" exotic in the UK.
Lamps. As Jack said, white, red, and amber all have meanings. That also means that you must have amber turn signals, red tail and stop lights, white running/parking lights, and white headlights that dip to the right. Unless the law has changed. A Corvette does not have a separate turn signal circuit for the rear, so you could be forced to do like many I saw there, run a pair of turn signal wires to the back and install a second set of lamps to be turn signals.
BTW, all of these items must be done and ready when it gets off the boat or you don't go anywhere with it. If you send it to France or Germany, you might get away with driving it to England and entering on International plates and getting it to your home or favorite garage to have the modifications done. However, those countries have their own importation laws. Also, since your passport will probably have a long term resident alien stamping instead of a 6 month visitor stamp, they will know you are not just driving in for a holiday.
You need to get current information on importing a car to the UK, and gauge how much the cost will be vs. the fun factor. I left mine behind, insurance on it, and licensed, so that my dad could drive it occasionally to keep it up. Trust me, I really wished I had it with me often, but at the time, it would have amounted to more money spent on transporation over, back, and taxes than I paid for the car. With the wild prices today, that is not likely, but it still won't be cheap.
If you are on the coast, I'd find a place well inland to store it. The best bet is a trusted friend who will start it up and maybe take it for a short drive occasionally to keep it all up.
This is where normally I offer you a great opportunity to leave it with me, but my garage is full.Comment
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Re: What no one mentioned
I am a civilian employee of the U.S. Army so I believe the shipping and tax issues go away. The items I am most concerned about are auto insurance rates, the likelyhood of the car being stolen and the possibility of getting housing with a garage. I can handle changing the "colour" of lamps and hanging a few required lights from the bumper bolts. By the way, this is a freshly restored '61. Wondering how the expense of storing it in a secure environment compares to the expense of taking it with me. John.Comment
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Re: What no one mentioned
Check carefully on the tax issue. Military are exempt, regardless of time there. However, civilian contractors are not, or were not when I was there. I don't know where an actually military employee falls.
For storage prices, you can get a Public Storage 20x10 for roughly $100 / month so you'd have $3600 in storage fees, not counting increases.
Shipping is on the order of $1000 each way, however, if you are a military employee, then shipping may be a different animal. I don't know what duty would be.
Being a 1961, you may not have all the lighting issues, although many British cars of that time did have the different colors.
You need to check with your office to get info on shipping and taxes and also the British embassy can fill you in on taxes and regulations.Comment
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Re: What no one mentioned
Thanks one and all for your comments. Jimmy Blakely made contact with me off line. He is feeding me current information since he is working in the UK now. I am leaning toward taking the car with me at this time.
John.Comment
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Jimmy's a good guy!!! *NM*
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