1988 Chevrolet Camaro Iroc-Z - American Muscle! anyone interested?

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Mon 29 Oct 2012 07:08
1988 Chevrolet Camaro Iroc-Z - American Muscle! anyone interested? - Dutchmaster

i am from America, and have a international race of champions camaro for sale. i have a lot of money put into it with a lot of upgrades and is a beautiful car. the list of work ive done is to extensive to list on here, but if someone is interested, i will give the list along with pictures.

i am interested in getting involved with overseas sales of American muscle cars, and i was wondering if anyone would be willing to point me in the right direction. from what i understand europe has a big demand for muscle cars, just as japanese import have become quite popular over here. i am an honest person and would like turn this into a business, i just dont know the rules for exporting.

can anyone help?

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Mon 29 Oct 2012 09:16
1988 Chevrolet Camaro Iroc-Z - American Muscle! anyone interested? - tony g
Hi
I'm not sure whether the the same EEC rules apply to older cars that you own.
However a car dealer I know tried to sell American imports in Marbella Spain .

Because legislation in Spain is more complicated in than the uk he imported the cars into the uk first and registered them here before exporting to Spain .

He bought about 10 cars via us e bay ,mainly from Florida ,then shipped them via Galveston to Southampton .The cars were about two years old and were ford mustangs,Sebring convertibles and a Toyota off roader model with a 4 litre petrol engine that we don't import to the uk .

Cars from the usa are great value compared to European cars ,a mustang costs the same as a ford focus .

Once you buy the car ,additional costs are the problem .shipping from Galveston is about £1000 ,to register the car in the uk ,you have to pay three lots of taxes ,first car tax that was about £1500 ,then vat ,20% of the purchase price and the car tax ! Finally £100 car registration tax .

The end result is that a mustang bought in the states for £5000 would cost the importer about £10,000 when it arrives in the uk .

The car dealer who imported the cars sold two in Spain ,he then brought the cars back to the uk to try to sell them here ,they sold eventually ,but in the end he lost over £20'000 .

So a poor proposition ,whether there would be any interest in older muscle cars I don't know .I suspect that with the dismal state of the uk economy they would be difficult to sell

Regards

Tony g




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Mon 29 Oct 2012 13:44
1988 Chevrolet Camaro Iroc-Z - American Muscle! anyone interested? - galileo

Not to mention that petrol over here is about £7 per (imperial) gallon ($9.45 per US gallon). Muscle car fuel consumption (and high insurance premiums) therefore rules them out for most drivers except the really affluent or enthusiasts only doing low mileages/track days.

Where the roads are good enough and clear enough of traffic, there are speed cameras. If I had a muscle car I'd be seriously frustrated by being unable to make free use of the performance.

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Mon 29 Oct 2012 13:57
1988 Chevrolet Camaro Iroc-Z - American Muscle! anyone interested? - unthrottled

That's not really true. Those muscle cars are actually capable of semi-decent fuel consumption-certainly better than their more expensive European counterparts. There's still a sizeable niche of drivers that are willing to endure sub 20mpg real world economy (RX8, most of the BMW 'M' cars, MB AMG, Range Rover petrol, etc)

The problem with muscle cars in the UK is really down to lack of kudos and parts availability. Parts for a small block chevy are ubiquitous in the US, not so in Europe.

Late 80s Camaros are not highly sought after though. Not all that powerful and pretty stodgy handling. Such traits add 'character' to a late sixties or early seventies car, but by 88 was pretty old hat.

At the track, a C6 Corvette will embaress German cars twice its price...

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Mon 29 Oct 2012 16:55
1988 Chevrolet Camaro Iroc-Z - American Muscle! anyone interested? - craig-pd130

Japanese imports became popular because the cars were either fun, cheapish roadsters that couldn't be bought here (Honda Beat, Suzuki Cappuccino) and suited UK roads; or a cheap way to get high performance (300ZX, Mitsu 3000GT etc) without having to pay typical European dealer prices for used examples.

Also, Japanese cars are right-hand drive, which makes their appeal wider.

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Tue 30 Oct 2012 13:14
1988 Chevrolet Camaro Iroc-Z - American Muscle! anyone interested? - davecooper

Oh! fond memories. Had the use of an IROC Z back in 1990 when I was in the States with my company for a while. The car looked so good and still does. The bare horsepower figures do not tell the whole story, this car felt quick, masses of torque that would light up the rears without even trying. Had to play the "dumb Brit" a couple of times to avoid a motoring penalty. Some may slate the car but I loved it. True American Muscle.

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