Importing a Caterham into Germany and LHD conversion
Discussion
Does anybody here have experience of importing a Caterham into Germany?
I am keen on getting a ca10 year old caterham but they are quite expensive here and in limited supply.
So I am thinking of getting a UK car and getting it road legal in germany ( TUV & emmisions etc ) with the intention of converting eventually to LHD.
TUV is quite strict with the paperwork, has anybody here done this ?
Assuming I source a self-built car, what documents are need other than the V5?
Anybody have experience on the RHD to LHD conversion?
I am keen on getting a ca10 year old caterham but they are quite expensive here and in limited supply.
So I am thinking of getting a UK car and getting it road legal in germany ( TUV & emmisions etc ) with the intention of converting eventually to LHD.
TUV is quite strict with the paperwork, has anybody here done this ?
Assuming I source a self-built car, what documents are need other than the V5?
Anybody have experience on the RHD to LHD conversion?
MasterBlaster said:
Does anybody here have experience of importing a Caterham into Germany?
I am keen on getting a ca10 year old caterham but they are quite expensive here and in limited supply.
So I am thinking of getting a UK car and getting it road legal in germany ( TUV & emmisions etc ) with the intention of converting eventually to LHD.
TUV is quite strict with the paperwork, has anybody here done this ?
Assuming I source a self-built car, what documents are need other than the V5?
Anybody have experience on the RHD to LHD conversion?
Don't have any experience in importing it to Germany, but do have in driving a RHD car in europe.I am keen on getting a ca10 year old caterham but they are quite expensive here and in limited supply.
So I am thinking of getting a UK car and getting it road legal in germany ( TUV & emmisions etc ) with the intention of converting eventually to LHD.
TUV is quite strict with the paperwork, has anybody here done this ?
Assuming I source a self-built car, what documents are need other than the V5?
Anybody have experience on the RHD to LHD conversion?
I first had the same thought about converting it, but after about a week or two I dropped it. RHD is much better in Europe.
Reason1:
Since your driving on the right lane you always have perfect view of the wheel which is closest to the edge of the road. Makes it much easier on countryroads.
Reason2: trackdays are mostly clockwise so sse reason1.
Reason3: the car is so narrow, that peeking around a car to overtake isn't different from your regular car.
Reason4: Whenever you get stuck in a traficjam on the highway, get in the left lane. That way your closer to all the nice ladies sitting in the lane next to you.
If you buy a UK car, make sure you make a copy of the complete V5 before it is being sent to the vehicle registration buro in the UK. They are known for loosing paperwork.
Normally you will get the exportdocumentation mailed to your home address. This is a legally required action, but also means you don't have access to the ORIGINAL V5 anymore. The export document isn't a Fahrzeugbrief. You really need to inform beforehand what the Flensburg office will accept as a legal document.
Make sure that the Chassisnumber correspondents with the V5, because I've had a Caterham from the UK, that didn't match. It was not a rare case that a chassisnumber had a V or 5 and the V5 had a U and S. In my case I delt with a sensible Technician who corrected this during registration of my vehicle.
You will not be able to produce a COC, even easier if the car was registered before 1993, because then the COC didn't exist,
so you will need to pay for a TUV/DEKRA certificate of exhaust emission testing (AU-bescheinigung)
I know for Germany you will need a "current vehicle insurance document" Make clear if this is the insurance document from the brittisch registration, or one you will need to arrange yourself, which will be difficult, because offically it has no registration, since you had to sent in the V5 for export, and hence the redtape to get an insurance can be a pain in the ....
Edited by harry b on Wednesday 25th April 18:36
harry b said:
Don't have any experience in importing it to Germany, but do have in driving a RHD car in europe.
I first had the same thought about converting it, but after about a week or two I dropped it. RHD is much better in Europe.
I disagree that RHD is better in Europe. I first had the same thought about converting it, but after about a week or two I dropped it. RHD is much better in Europe.
Edited by harry b on Wednesday 25th April 18:36
I have had my MG Midget with RHD for 15 years now in Norway, and raced in historic racing. On the road LHD is much safer when you overtake. I also prefer to shift with my right arm. On the track no big difference. If you can't hit the apex in LHD, RHD won't help you...
Is RHD a big problem? No, you get used to it, but don't expect to be able to reach door openers, parking meeters etc which are mounted on the left side. I myself never bothered to convert the MG. Might do it some day...
When I bought my Lotus last year, the first thing I did was to convert it. Realy easy job which is done in a weekend. You can see all the pics in this thread:
http://pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
CanAm said:
Pat H said:
The driver and passenger footwells are completely different lengths in Caterhams of this age.
No they're not. Generally speaking, only racing versions have the short passenger footwell. Here's a photo of the chassis of my 1977 Caterham. You can see the different length footwells and the completely different chassis tube arrangement.
I think that you are right about later cars, which have symetrical chassis. When I've got a bit more time I will check when the chassis was changed.
Pat H said:
CanAm said:
Pat H said:
The driver and passenger footwells are completely different lengths in Caterhams of this age.
No they're not. Generally speaking, only racing versions have the short passenger footwell. Here's a photo of the chassis of my 1977 Caterham. You can see the different length footwells and the completely different chassis tube arrangement.
I think that you are right about later cars, which have symetrical chassis. When I've got a bit more time I will check when the chassis was changed.
My 2 tin tops and Seven are RHD. I have never had a problem in Belgium. In the S3 it is academic as the car is so narrow and if you position yourself on the road properly, look when well back then the acceleration takes you safely by.
In a six car blat my British reg Caterham was RHD. All the Belgian registered cars were RHD except one one which was driven by another Brit - go figure!
In a six car blat my British reg Caterham was RHD. All the Belgian registered cars were RHD except one one which was driven by another Brit - go figure!
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