C1RBE goes to Belgium....

[longbow]

Well folks my Cerb has sold and will shortly be going home with its new Belgian owner Claude (Milka2700). It will be heart wrenching to see her drive off, but Claude is a true Cerb and TVR enthusiast, having owned 3 Cerbs before, and I know it will be very well looked after. The whole experience of Cerb ownership has been fantastic. The car is epic however this forum and the collective input from other owners over the years made possible much of my own tinkering - without it I would have been truly stuck on many occasions. The reason for selling is that I'll be emigrating to Canada in the next 12-24 months and as much as I wanted to take the Cerb with me I felt it was just too much of a risk to ship the car over with no precedent of Cerbs having made it through the various safety tests. No doubt I'll keep lurking on here and offering advice where I can, but to all those I've met and conversed with over the last 10 years or so, a massive thankyou and

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TVRinBFG said:

longbow - I think there's a business importing TVRs into Canada......

James, I totally agree. I have done some research, and cars over 15 years can be imported subject to meeting some fairly basic tests. There are a handful of TVRs in Canada at present, but mainly the older ones such as Griff and earlier. The early Cerbs have just tipped over the 15 year limit and therefore 'could' be imported, and the Tuscans are currently just about to. I would love to test the market - maybe when I move I might look into it! Of course there is the import duties to consider too and shipping costs, which would price them into quite a competitive market.

I was in Vancouver last week and although it is quite an affluent area I think a Cerb/Tuscan would be highly desirable, if not just for rarity and presence. I genuinely lost count of the number of C63 AMGs that drove past during the 4 days I was there - they do sound very good though. On the drive to Whistler (amazing road by the way from Vancouver to Whistler - smooth wide winding roads with a Pacific view) I was passed by a convoy of an R8, F430, GT-R and SLS AMG Black. At a guess I would say all the drivers were in their mid 20's. Perhaps if I'd been in the Cerb (as oppose to the Corrola hire car) I might have tagged along lol.

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spitfire4v8 said:

Best wishes Windsor ! Hopefully once settled in canada you will buy something special to drive around in

Thanks Joolz. I'm thinking I'll finally treat my self to a C6 Z06. They are good value over there, left hand drive and sound very good with cams and headers!

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Darren, hope all is well. That pic brings back memories!! I look so much younger though

Well, the deed is done. Unfortunately my last drive this morning to Heathrow was tainted by heavy rain combined with the wipers deciding not to work! I'm hoping to hear later today that Claude got back home to Belgium ok without the car throwing any tantrums. Who knows, maybe the next owner can resurrect this thread when C1RBE changes hands again....





Bon voyage C1RBE!

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Mark, very nice car you have there!! It's genuinely one of the very few cars that appeal after Cerb ownership.... but I must wait until I move else the wife will crucify me lol

I have 3 years left to serve before 'retiring' but have applied to serve my last 2 years in BATUS starting from next summer. I find out in 4 weeks if I've got that job. If I don't get it there is another job going in Ottawa which I'm eligible for. So fingers crossed I'll get my last few years serving over there which will really help the transition.

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Yes, you are right about the owners. I'm playing around with tuning my Evo - like the Vette it is a lot less fiddly to work on due to the way its built and very rarely anything needs to be tweaked - but whilst MLR is an excellent technical resource the owners do seem a bit 'clicky'.

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mac315p said:

I might be mistaken but if the C1RBE numberplate was still assigned to the car when it was officially exported then it will disppaear. I imagine Windsor will have retained it though?

Well I haven't sent off the V5C/4 yet as I'm awaiting a DVLA reply on behalf of Claude ref the First Registration date which is incorrectly shown on the V5 as 2005. This is because I bought the car from Guernsey. Claude will get hammered on import duty unless it can be shown the car was registered in 1997.

As a result I will apply to take the plate on retention before I declare it as exported. If anyone would like to make an offer, please pm me, noting that FUBAR has 1st dibbs and phillipbrown123 has 2nd dibbs. Once on retention the asking price will be circa £1k.