Ariel cars in New Zealand (am importing a Nomad)
Discussion
It's been a while, so i thought I'd update on where i have got to on the Nomad importing-to-NZ project. The car was finished in late November and was put on a boat immediately (I didn't even get to see it as we needed to make a particular sailing). Ariel insisted on arranging the shipping themselves to make sure that the VAT/GST exemption would be smooth here in the UK. After 8 weeks the car arrived in Auckland last Sunday and was delivered to Scott at Fraser Cars for certification on Thursday just gone ... so the first Nomad has eventually made it to NZ !
Shipping costs were £4,170 inc VAT, door to door, including managing the import process and local delivery within NZ. GST of about £7,500 on top of the car, ex-VAT, at around £45,000. Quite a lot, I agree, but we are only on this planet once.
Two minor bits of damage in transit (bent rear bumper and a clip on the nose cover went missing) but it could have been a lot worse.
The roof rack you can see below is an Ariel one-off design for me (but I guess they will do it for any one else that asks!). Wasn't that expensive, and I think it integrates the spot-lights well. Handy for any touring. I arrive in NZ on Feb 8th for two months, and can't wait to see the beast in the metal !
Photos courtesy of Scott at Fraser Cars.
![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/J06wkaj1.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/knRyvgOV" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/knRyvgOV.jpg)
Shipping costs were £4,170 inc VAT, door to door, including managing the import process and local delivery within NZ. GST of about £7,500 on top of the car, ex-VAT, at around £45,000. Quite a lot, I agree, but we are only on this planet once.
Two minor bits of damage in transit (bent rear bumper and a clip on the nose cover went missing) but it could have been a lot worse.
The roof rack you can see below is an Ariel one-off design for me (but I guess they will do it for any one else that asks!). Wasn't that expensive, and I think it integrates the spot-lights well. Handy for any touring. I arrive in NZ on Feb 8th for two months, and can't wait to see the beast in the metal !
Photos courtesy of Scott at Fraser Cars.
One fewer Ariel atom on NZ roads now 
https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/other/auction-1527449139.htm?rsqid=d8a7e896bfca49e8b517f4f71bdb93ab
Be careful out there!
https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/other/auction-1527449139.htm?rsqid=d8a7e896bfca49e8b517f4f71bdb93ab
Be careful out there!
A Hermit said:
Do you intend to do any driving around Auckland or shall it be heading South to meet you? I can suggest a pretty damn good "shakedown route" I did on my motorbike which is mostly gravel and takes you North of Auckland, from the East to West coast then back to the Puhoi pub.
I'll also be getting my Evo IX MR off a ship from Japan on the 16th Feb.
Mansells Tash said:
Awesome! That is just around the corner from me (I'll resist the temptation to go see it and sit in it before you).
Do you intend to do any driving around Auckland or shall it be heading South to meet you? I can suggest a pretty damn good "shakedown route" I did on my motorbike which is mostly gravel and takes you North of Auckland, from the East to West coast then back to the Puhoi pub.
I'll also be getting my Evo IX MR off a ship from Japan on the 16th Feb.
Hi there MT - It will probably be March before the car gets through LVVTA regs, so your Evo IX will have arrived by the time I get it on the road ... but when it is I plan to do the 1,000 mile run in around North Island and then take it back to Fraser Cars for the first 1,000 mile service before then driving it down to QT. Probably take me a weekend ? Do you intend to do any driving around Auckland or shall it be heading South to meet you? I can suggest a pretty damn good "shakedown route" I did on my motorbike which is mostly gravel and takes you North of Auckland, from the East to West coast then back to the Puhoi pub.
I'll also be getting my Evo IX MR off a ship from Japan on the 16th Feb.
So, yes, I'll get in touch and would be very grateful for all suggestions of a shakedown route ! Got a lot of organising to do before coming out to NZ in early Feb, but i'll be in touch nearer the time. Cheers !A Hermit said:
Hi there MT - It will probably be March before the car gets through LVVTA regs, so your Evo IX will have arrived by the time I get it on the road ... but when it is I plan to do the 1,000 mile run in around North Island and then take it back to Fraser Cars for the first 1,000 mile service before then driving it down to QT. Probably take me a weekend ? So, yes, I'll get in touch and would be very grateful for all suggestions of a shakedown route ! Got a lot of organising to do before coming out to NZ in early Feb, but i'll be in touch nearer the time. Cheers !
Sweet! The run I did was over the hill tops on gravel roads and was like a 300km loop. There are a couple of apps you can download which will be worth having like the entire topographical maps of NZ which I have, it shows you terrain info etc. So, yes, I'll get in touch and would be very grateful for all suggestions of a shakedown route ! Got a lot of organising to do before coming out to NZ in early Feb, but i'll be in touch nearer the time. Cheers !I'd also recommend going through the Rimutaka range if you can which is in the South of the North Island, here is why...
SimoninSingapore said:
Just wondering how it is all going in NZ. I am thinking about bringing a Nomad down myself. Overall thoughts from you?
Hi Simon ... I STILL can't tell you ! The situation is as follows. The car landed on 23rd Jan (as per above) ... and I have been trying to get LVVTA certification ever since. I still do not have it. The short version of the problem is that the car is being certified using kit-car regulations. The LVVTA has very specific regulations regarding a number of areas of the car, particularly suspension. If you are building a kit car or one-off car in NZ you know this, so you build accordingly. Obviously Ariel built the Nomad to their own specs and did not consider NZ kit-car rules. So the car falls foul of a lot of the LVVTA rules, and we have been trying to address these issues and potentially get exemptions ever since. Another issue is that the relevant team in the LVVTA only meet once per month, so they meet, they decide they need more info, we send it, they meet ... etc.
Frankly, it is still not 100% certain I will ever get full certification. I truly hope so, and Scott Tristram at Fraser Cars in Auckland has been a complete star in wading through the process, and helping me get through the disappointments. I have my fingers crossed.
As and when (or if) I ever do get certification and the Nomad is allowed on the road in NZ I will definitely post an update with the process (and the cost).
The good news for you is that I am the guinea pig. If (still a big IF) I do get certification then Scott at Fraser Cars will have all of the required information to hand and he will be able to get you through the process much quicker and cheaper. He is very much THE MAN on the Nomad in NZ now. Although he might have become sick of the car by the time we are finished given that it has been in his garage for over three months !
I will keep everyone posted ...
Hey there Zadkiel
Short answer is that we're not there yet, but having spoken with the LVVTA a month or so ago I think we can get there ... eventually.
As previous posts said, the Nomad falls foul of various LVVTA rules regarding suspension and steering. We initially spent some time trying to get exemptions from the rules, but have given up as they were not forthcoming. The LVVTA was (perhaps understandably) not prepared to set a precedent of giving rule exemptions.
So now we are in the process of getting a number of pieces of the Nomad remanufactured to LVVTA rules. This includes:
The biggest work is needed on the A-arms: The LVVTA insists that all wheels have camber adjustment and it strongly advises toe adjustment. The Nomad has neither, so we need to get new end-pieces for the A-arms made that enable camber and toe adjustment. This involves Fraser Cars designing the relevant pieces, submitting to the LVVTA for approval and then getting them manufactured. A-arm end pieces also need to be TIG-welded on, not MIG-welded (or the other way round, I can't remember ... whatever Ariel use is not up to snuff and so we have to do the other method - pretty sure it is TIG welding).
Steering column: the Nomad has a welded end-piece where the seat for the steering wheel joins the column. This is not allowed, so we need to get a single-piece column milled.
Steering rods: the Nomad has end pieces welded onto the rods. This too is not allowed so i need to get one-piece rods manufactured with no welding.
Those are the main issues (the A-arms and camber/toe adjustment is THE big issue, really). I think Scott at Fraser cars had all the drawing done for the remanufacturing work in time for the LVVTA meeting that was held today, so hopefully we can get those signed off soon and then get everything made up. There are a few other minor adjustments required as well, but I have my fingers crossed that the Nomad will be on the road for late-July. Might be August ... but then i'm not back in NZ until next year, so the urgency I had earlier on this year is gone.
I'm not in a position to shares costs of all this yet - mainly because Scott hasn't worked them out yet (!) - but will share here once I get everything done. Including shipping, etc, my guess is that the total cost of import and homologation will be +/- £10,000 / NZD20,000, but this will be abnormal because there has been a chunk of costs relating to getting drawings done of the car as is, which the LVVTA insisted on and Ariel would not provide (so Scott had to do them front scratch). We have also been down a few dead-ends with the LVVTA which any other person would be able to avoid.
I will let you know when we get there !
Short answer is that we're not there yet, but having spoken with the LVVTA a month or so ago I think we can get there ... eventually.
As previous posts said, the Nomad falls foul of various LVVTA rules regarding suspension and steering. We initially spent some time trying to get exemptions from the rules, but have given up as they were not forthcoming. The LVVTA was (perhaps understandably) not prepared to set a precedent of giving rule exemptions.
So now we are in the process of getting a number of pieces of the Nomad remanufactured to LVVTA rules. This includes:
The biggest work is needed on the A-arms: The LVVTA insists that all wheels have camber adjustment and it strongly advises toe adjustment. The Nomad has neither, so we need to get new end-pieces for the A-arms made that enable camber and toe adjustment. This involves Fraser Cars designing the relevant pieces, submitting to the LVVTA for approval and then getting them manufactured. A-arm end pieces also need to be TIG-welded on, not MIG-welded (or the other way round, I can't remember ... whatever Ariel use is not up to snuff and so we have to do the other method - pretty sure it is TIG welding).
Steering column: the Nomad has a welded end-piece where the seat for the steering wheel joins the column. This is not allowed, so we need to get a single-piece column milled.
Steering rods: the Nomad has end pieces welded onto the rods. This too is not allowed so i need to get one-piece rods manufactured with no welding.
Those are the main issues (the A-arms and camber/toe adjustment is THE big issue, really). I think Scott at Fraser cars had all the drawing done for the remanufacturing work in time for the LVVTA meeting that was held today, so hopefully we can get those signed off soon and then get everything made up. There are a few other minor adjustments required as well, but I have my fingers crossed that the Nomad will be on the road for late-July. Might be August ... but then i'm not back in NZ until next year, so the urgency I had earlier on this year is gone.
I'm not in a position to shares costs of all this yet - mainly because Scott hasn't worked them out yet (!) - but will share here once I get everything done. Including shipping, etc, my guess is that the total cost of import and homologation will be +/- £10,000 / NZD20,000, but this will be abnormal because there has been a chunk of costs relating to getting drawings done of the car as is, which the LVVTA insisted on and Ariel would not provide (so Scott had to do them front scratch). We have also been down a few dead-ends with the LVVTA which any other person would be able to avoid.
I will let you know when we get there !
My understanding is that none of the Atoms in NZ are 100% stock - they have had some hardware tweaks to get them through LVVTA rules. That said, none of them will have been modified as much as my Nomad will be. The biggest issue with the Nomad is the suspension set-up, and of course that is completely different to the Atom.
Once I have got my one over all the hurdles, it should be a lot easier for anyone else to bring a Nomad in.
You can get it shipped door-to-door from Ariel to Fraser Cars, including getting the shipping co to manage through customs, etc.
Once your car is on the boat, call Scott at Fraser and he can get the parts made up during the 8 weeks on the sea.
Car arrives and could probably be modified within 1-2 days if Scott has all the parts pre-ordered.
The only delay would be the need to wait for the next monthly LVVTA meeting, but that should be a formality as they will know the car and the modifications made by Fraser Cars by then.
Once signed off by LVVTA, Scott registers car and gets plates and you a are on your way !
As you observe, my problem is that I have been the guinea-pig. I've had to get all sorts of drawings done for the Nomad as is. We have had to partially dismantle the car and send parts to the LVVTA for them to study ... then we have had to have a series of negotiations with the LVVTA about what needs to be done, and now we need to get new parts designed and drawn up ... and made ... and LVVTA approved ... etc.
Ah well, it will be worth it in the end !
Once I have got my one over all the hurdles, it should be a lot easier for anyone else to bring a Nomad in.
You can get it shipped door-to-door from Ariel to Fraser Cars, including getting the shipping co to manage through customs, etc.
Once your car is on the boat, call Scott at Fraser and he can get the parts made up during the 8 weeks on the sea.
Car arrives and could probably be modified within 1-2 days if Scott has all the parts pre-ordered.
The only delay would be the need to wait for the next monthly LVVTA meeting, but that should be a formality as they will know the car and the modifications made by Fraser Cars by then.
Once signed off by LVVTA, Scott registers car and gets plates and you a are on your way !
As you observe, my problem is that I have been the guinea-pig. I've had to get all sorts of drawings done for the Nomad as is. We have had to partially dismantle the car and send parts to the LVVTA for them to study ... then we have had to have a series of negotiations with the LVVTA about what needs to be done, and now we need to get new parts designed and drawn up ... and made ... and LVVTA approved ... etc.
Ah well, it will be worth it in the end !
A Hermit said:
My understanding is that none of the Atoms in NZ are 100% stock - they have had some hardware tweaks to get them through LVVTA rules. That said, none of them will have been modified as much as my Nomad will be. The biggest issue with the Nomad is the suspension set-up, and of course that is completely different to the Atom.
Once I have got my one over all the hurdles, it should be a lot easier for anyone else to bring a Nomad in.
You can get it shipped door-to-door from Ariel to Fraser Cars, including getting the shipping co to manage through customs, etc.
Once your car is on the boat, call Scott at Fraser and he can get the parts made up during the 8 weeks on the sea.
Car arrives and could probably be modified within 1-2 days if Scott has all the parts pre-ordered.
The only delay would be the need to wait for the next monthly LVVTA meeting, but that should be a formality as they will know the car and the modifications made by Fraser Cars by then.
Once signed off by LVVTA, Scott registers car and gets plates and you a are on your way !
As you observe, my problem is that I have been the guinea-pig. I've had to get all sorts of drawings done for the Nomad as is. We have had to partially dismantle the car and send parts to the LVVTA for them to study ... then we have had to have a series of negotiations with the LVVTA about what needs to be done, and now we need to get new parts designed and drawn up ... and made ... and LVVTA approved ... etc.
Ah well, it will be worth it in the end !
HiOnce I have got my one over all the hurdles, it should be a lot easier for anyone else to bring a Nomad in.
You can get it shipped door-to-door from Ariel to Fraser Cars, including getting the shipping co to manage through customs, etc.
Once your car is on the boat, call Scott at Fraser and he can get the parts made up during the 8 weeks on the sea.
Car arrives and could probably be modified within 1-2 days if Scott has all the parts pre-ordered.
The only delay would be the need to wait for the next monthly LVVTA meeting, but that should be a formality as they will know the car and the modifications made by Fraser Cars by then.
Once signed off by LVVTA, Scott registers car and gets plates and you a are on your way !
As you observe, my problem is that I have been the guinea-pig. I've had to get all sorts of drawings done for the Nomad as is. We have had to partially dismantle the car and send parts to the LVVTA for them to study ... then we have had to have a series of negotiations with the LVVTA about what needs to be done, and now we need to get new parts designed and drawn up ... and made ... and LVVTA approved ... etc.
Ah well, it will be worth it in the end !
We are also in the process of getting our Atom certified, a bit of a process.
Also working with Scott, he is a top bloke. We found a guy in Hamilton who is doing the drawings for us, we don’t have any of the suspension woes thankfully, but we do have the steering shaft issue, approached a local engineering firm to mill a solid one for us.
We are hoping it will be on the road by December 2018.
Link to the thread of the rebuild:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Good luck with the certification process, we have found LVVTA nice to deal with, we have been through the process before with a SPF GT40.
Regards
Gerrie
Well, it took over a year, but my Nomad is eventually on the road in New Zealand as of February 19th !
To update on everything since my last post of June 2018, we got the drawings for all the alterations required by the LVVTA signed off by August, and it took about a month to get them all manufactured by third parties. The project then went to sleep for a few months as I did not get back to NZ until mid-February just gone. We then had a last minute problem with the evidence for the seat belt tests, but after some last minute panics I was on the road on Feb 19th.
Other major alterations / costs required over and above those I have listed before on this thread are:
The car (ex-VAT): £46,400 (N/A engine, all the off-road kit, Fox shocks, pretty high spec, custom roof rack, roof lights, etc)
Shipping: £4,700 (door to door, inc managing through customs)
GST on arrival: £7,400 (NZ VAT)
Drawings, etc £3,200 (inc all the to-ing and fro-ing with the LVVTA)
Parts, labour £13,400 (the cost of all the conversion, parts, etc)
Certification /reg. £2,200
Anybody else doing the same thing will be able to avoid the £3,200 for drawings, etc, and some of the cost of conversion, but not much. It would be hard to bring in a Nomad to NZ even now for much less than £72,500, unless you go for a very low spec vehicle.
So was it worth it ? I only got to play with my new toy for two weeks before having to come back to the UK, but the short answer is "oh yes!!"
I picked the car up from Fraser cars in Auckland and spent 8 days driving 3,000km to take it down to Queenstown via Coromandel, Gisborne, Napier, the ferry at Wellington, Nelson, Arthur's Pass and QT. There were so many great, empty roads that I could not even remember them all, let alone list them, but the drive from Opotiki to Gisborne along SH2 was spectacular, as was part of the drive from Nelson to Arthurs Pass. The car is so much fun - accelerates so easily for overtaking when needed, and once you get used to the initial lean in on the Fox shocks on cornering, it grips very well too. I spent a day on the gravel tracks around the Coromandel peninsular - again, a complete hoot ... although I discovered I did not know how to use my GoPro, so as opposed to 40 minutes of footage of me rallying, I got one photo of the road at the start. Oh well, lesson learned for next time. I did not have time for much off-roading once down in Otago, so I will be out and about to learn all that on my next trip over.
All up, yes, it is a complete toy and yes it cost way more than i had planned and took so much longer than I had planned too, but we are only on this planet once, and I'm so glad to have got the Nomad let loose into a country for which in my view is was actually designed (without Ariel knowing it).
Gravel Ben - I will be in touch when I know i'm next going to be heading to QT and hopefully we can meet for a drive or two.
To update on everything since my last post of June 2018, we got the drawings for all the alterations required by the LVVTA signed off by August, and it took about a month to get them all manufactured by third parties. The project then went to sleep for a few months as I did not get back to NZ until mid-February just gone. We then had a last minute problem with the evidence for the seat belt tests, but after some last minute panics I was on the road on Feb 19th.
Other major alterations / costs required over and above those I have listed before on this thread are:
- Roof lights are illegal in NZ unless they are for working purposes, so the guys at Fraser cars had to rewire the roof lights onto a separate circuit to the main headlights so we could tell the regulator that they are not used on the road.
- Even though Ariel claims that the seat belt mounts for the Nomad comply to EEC rules, they don;t have any documentation to prove this - they have self-certified this fact. Unfortunately the LVVTA would not accept this, so we had to get new seat belt mounts made, tested and installed.
- There was then a long list of other small alterations that were required.
The car (ex-VAT): £46,400 (N/A engine, all the off-road kit, Fox shocks, pretty high spec, custom roof rack, roof lights, etc)
Shipping: £4,700 (door to door, inc managing through customs)
GST on arrival: £7,400 (NZ VAT)
Drawings, etc £3,200 (inc all the to-ing and fro-ing with the LVVTA)
Parts, labour £13,400 (the cost of all the conversion, parts, etc)
Certification /reg. £2,200
Anybody else doing the same thing will be able to avoid the £3,200 for drawings, etc, and some of the cost of conversion, but not much. It would be hard to bring in a Nomad to NZ even now for much less than £72,500, unless you go for a very low spec vehicle.
So was it worth it ? I only got to play with my new toy for two weeks before having to come back to the UK, but the short answer is "oh yes!!"
I picked the car up from Fraser cars in Auckland and spent 8 days driving 3,000km to take it down to Queenstown via Coromandel, Gisborne, Napier, the ferry at Wellington, Nelson, Arthur's Pass and QT. There were so many great, empty roads that I could not even remember them all, let alone list them, but the drive from Opotiki to Gisborne along SH2 was spectacular, as was part of the drive from Nelson to Arthurs Pass. The car is so much fun - accelerates so easily for overtaking when needed, and once you get used to the initial lean in on the Fox shocks on cornering, it grips very well too. I spent a day on the gravel tracks around the Coromandel peninsular - again, a complete hoot ... although I discovered I did not know how to use my GoPro, so as opposed to 40 minutes of footage of me rallying, I got one photo of the road at the start. Oh well, lesson learned for next time. I did not have time for much off-roading once down in Otago, so I will be out and about to learn all that on my next trip over.
All up, yes, it is a complete toy and yes it cost way more than i had planned and took so much longer than I had planned too, but we are only on this planet once, and I'm so glad to have got the Nomad let loose into a country for which in my view is was actually designed (without Ariel knowing it).
Gravel Ben - I will be in touch when I know i'm next going to be heading to QT and hopefully we can meet for a drive or two.
Edited by A Hermit on Saturday 9th March 16:37
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