Importing finished car to the US?

[gyroplane]

Certainly this must be impossible, or I would have seen more of it by now, but thought I'd ask anyway - is it possible to import a finished Ultima into the US? Could it be as easy as removing the engine/tranny and bringing it over as 'parts' as you would a factory roller? My only guess is that once it is registered in the UK it becomes a different beast, but would like any input from someone in the know.

Best regards,
-Sky

[ROWDYRENAULT]

Sky: At least in California to qualify as a self constructed vehicle the car needs to come over less drive train. I will add that acquiring and installing an engine here vs the U.K. is going to save you some money. If you can't do the build yourself, which is half the fun, the factory does a great job. I would order the car less engine, tranny tires and interior. If you don't have people in Washington that can do the work I know some very competant people here in L.A.I have no commercail intrest with any of them just good folks. If you want to discuss this further E mail me and we will exchange numbers. Lee

[gyroplane]

Thanks Lee. I can and would do the build myself, and in fact have been now 3+ years in what ended up as a full house remodel, but which started out as an expanded garage/shop so that I would have a place to build/park when finished. As the house has stretched on so long, it has me considering more a built car so that I can begin enjoying it now. The question about import is because I see some used cars come up for sale in the UK that seem a great bargain, and that I would seriously consider if I were able to bring them over. Just not sure if that is possible at all, even if I have the drive train removed on that end.
-Sky

[JoulesCanAm]

Maybe a tunrkey minus i.e. roller less engine and transmission (the same as the GT40's enter the US) would be okay, not sure on the 'used' aspect of that though. I don't think you stand a chance of getting a fully built car in.

What makes you think you can save much money buying fromn the UK? A well built and spec'd UK car is going for around GBP40K or currently US$66K. You would have to have thr engine & transmnission removed and shipped separately (unless you can find a part built kit). There would be shipping and import duties etc. Then there's the conversion RHD to LHD, not hard as the Ultima is set up for either, but it will mean new dash, pedal moving etc. with potential holes and patching. I think you would soon be in the range of what you can buy a well spec'd US car for.

I think your window for a UK buy was some months ago when exchange rates hit 1.35 not the current 1.65.

Julian

[San Diego GTR]

Assuming you want a LHD, I'm not sure the conversion is easy at all. I had the pleasure (sarcasm intended) of laying under my dash yesterday and the frame is entirely different side to side and would require a lot of welding to convert from RHD to LHD and you'd have to do it with the body off, which would be a ton of work.

If there isn't a compelling financial advantage (which others have pointed out that there isn't), why bother? There are plenty of good GTR's on the market in the US and it seems to resolve so many issues.

Paul

[gyroplane]

Truth be told, RHD is actually one of my reasons for bringing a foreign car in. I want a RHD, and would build mine that way if I were to build it myself.
-Sky