Slightly daft idea ....

[XJSJohn]

Now we may have had a few too many beers over the weekend but on talking about this daft idea in relative sobriety yesterday evening in still seemed like a good idea!

I havent been to Le Mans since 2006 but have come up with the potentially daft idea of having my Porsche sea freighted (ro-ro) from Singapore to Europe for 2 or 3 weeks fun touring to Le Mans, the Ring and a few other places.

The idea has been boosted by the fact that a mate has ordered a Z4 which he might be able to collect from the factory on or aroun dthe same time.

Sea freight doesn't seem too much and i assume that getting a months European insurance cover can't be that hard so am i missing anything important here?

How much will Le Mans have changed since 2006?

Where are the places to stay / what are the current camping groups / "teams" worth aligning with?

Naturally i will be a good boy RE the local constabulary and the local laws but one has to wonder, if i were to have a momentarry lapse, what they would do with a Singapore registered car and Licenced driver?

[Nick M]

The only things I would suggest you check out are:

- make sure the shipping agent understands what you're doing because the last thing you want is any confusion with incorrect customs paperwork ! It could be costly having to re-import your car back into Singapore !

- Same with the new car from Germany (which I assume is going to go back to Singapore too ?? ) - check out the customs and VAT positions because you don't want to pay anything you don't need to, and it may be muddied slightly because you want to use the new car in Europe before exporting it.

- Ensure you know what the score is in terms of how your car will be shipped, how they'll chain it down, how to avoid damage, etc. A few years back a whole load of Caterham 7s / Westfields were shipped to the US for about a 3 week tour, but they used containers rather than Ro-Ro ships. I also preferred to use a container when I shipped my Westfield to / from the US.

- Finally, also check out 'handling fees' at the docks - I ended up paying around £250 just for the car to be unloaded and collected, which was on top of the shipping costs.


Might be worth exploring different routes for the outbound and repatriation journies, e.g. into Marseille and back out of Le Havre, for example. Or whether it's possible to ship the car back from another country, e.g. start in France but ship it back from Italy, Germany, Holland, etc. Might give you a few more options in terms of planning your driving route if you don't have to end up back where you started.

[XJSJohn]

All ood poiners on the car shipping - i would be using a reputable shipping company here in Singa that i have personal and business relationships with and who have moved much more fragile cargoes for me, with complex in and outbound duty requirements

Interesting point on the container versus ro-ro and one i will look at also.

[vetteheadracer]

I shipped my cars from the USA using Wallenius Wilhelmsen who do a Ro-ro service from Baltimore to Liverpool.

Also if you are over in Europe you might want to consider this

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[blueST]

If you can, do! I can't offer any advice other than I think a guy did this exact thing from the US last year. He brought a 964 RS America over I think. It came past us on the autoroute complete with US plates. There was some discussion about it on the forums I think.

[XJSJohn]

vetteheadracer said:

Also if you are over in Europe you might want to consider this

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

lived in Norway for 2 years, driven all them roads many times!!! Plus the porker has no heater (not needed in Norway) just AC. By coincidence I do have a FB5K sticker on the windscreen though!

[XJSJohn]

XJSJohn said:

vetteheadracer said:

Also if you are over in Europe you might want to consider this

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

lived in Norway for 2 years, driven all them roads many times!!! Plus the porker has no heater (not needed in Singapore) just AC. By coincidence I do have a FB5K sticker on the windscreen though!

[Mellow Yellow]

For gods sake man, the drive there and back is half the fun of Le Mans, forget shipping it, there's a perfectly good land route from Singapore to Le Sarthe. Set off mid-May and I reckon you'll make it it time for the off, maybe allow an extra day if you're going via Munich

[XJSJohn]

Mellow Yellow said:

For gods sake man, the drive there and back is half the fun of Le Mans, forget shipping it, there's a perfectly good land route from Singapore to Le Sarthe. Set off mid-May and I reckon you'll make it it time for the off, maybe allow an extra day if you're going via Munich

hmmm seems to have been a viable proposition in 1955 However by 1967 already politics are in the way

Unfortunately Myanmar and China are the biggest issues ... (other than the fact that the car is lowered 30mmm from stock ... )

[Irish]

XJSJohn said:

Mellow Yellow said:

For gods sake man, the drive there and back is half the fun of Le Mans, forget shipping it, there's a perfectly good land route from Singapore to Le Sarthe. Set off mid-May and I reckon you'll make it it time for the off, maybe allow an extra day if you're going via Munich

hmmm seems to have been a viable proposition in 1955 However by 1967 already politics are in the way

Unfortunately Myanmar and China are the biggest issues ... (other than the fact that the car is lowered 30mmm from stock ... )

Purchase on 924/944/928 on ebay. Send to a UK specialist for fettling and have painted in the same fab blue of your 911. Join the run from the UK down....etc etc.

Stick in storage and it is there for next year.........

[Snoggledog]

Bookmarked for chin scratching.

[XJSJohn]

Irish said:

XJSJohn said:

Mellow Yellow said:

For gods sake man, the drive there and back is half the fun of Le Mans, forget shipping it, there's a perfectly good land route from Singapore to Le Sarthe. Set off mid-May and I reckon you'll make it it time for the off, maybe allow an extra day if you're going via Munich

hmmm seems to have been a viable proposition in 1955 However by 1967 already politics are in the way

Unfortunately Myanmar and China are the biggest issues ... (other than the fact that the car is lowered 30mmm from stock ... )

Purchase on 924/944/928 on ebay. Send to a UK specialist for fettling and have painted in the same fab blue of your 911. Join the run from the UK down....etc etc.

Stick in storage and it is there for next year.........

That sounds expensive, the cost of ro-ro'ing the porker is about the same as 3 weeks hire of something moderately interesting yet still dull!

[Irish]

XJSJohn said:

Irish said:

XJSJohn said:

Mellow Yellow said:

For gods sake man, the drive there and back is half the fun of Le Mans, forget shipping it, there's a perfectly good land route from Singapore to Le Sarthe. Set off mid-May and I reckon you'll make it it time for the off, maybe allow an extra day if you're going via Munich

hmmm seems to have been a viable proposition in 1955 However by 1967 already politics are in the way

Unfortunately Myanmar and China are the biggest issues ... (other than the fact that the car is lowered 30mmm from stock ... )

Purchase on 924/944/928 on ebay. Send to a UK specialist for fettling and have painted in the same fab blue of your 911. Join the run from the UK down....etc etc.

Stick in storage and it is there for next year.........

That sounds expensive, the cost of ro-ro'ing the porker is about the same as 3 weeks hire of something moderately interesting yet still dull!

Wow, I would have thought the RoRo would have been bordering on prohibititive.

Carry on!

[Freddie328]

Hi John,

Can't offer any constructive advice other than to say see you at Le Mans for a beer or 2?

Edited by Freddie328 on Tuesday 30th November 19:41