David Boniface advertised
his RV8 Oxford Blue 1589 on the V8 website on 2nd March and then in
the early hours of 10th, David sent an email to say it had been sold.
So this attractive RV8 had sold in less than 8 days through an RV8s
for Sale advert |
on
the V8 website. Surely a sign that good V8s move fast when advertised
on the V8 website! But who was the mystery buyer? Well
later that day Al Barnett contacted the V8 webmaster to say he had
bought this RV8!
So the mystery was solved!
We felt many members would be interested in a series of running
reports on Al Barnett's experiences with reimporting this RV8. So
Al will be sending a series of reports of how he has organised the
export arrangements, freight and insurances, reimport procedures,
collection from the UK docks and preparation for UK roads. This
is the first of his reports.
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What
sort of person would buy an RV8 sight unseen from the other side
of the world?
What
sort of person would buy, from someone he does not know, sight unseen,
a 12 year old car from the other side of the world, paying in a
currency he is not familiar with and being subject to an import
tax and VAT regime which seems pretty harsh. Well, the answer is
me! A week ago I looked at the advert on our website for Oxford
Blue 1589 and thought, wow that looks a nice car. The more I read
about the low mileage, less than 10,000 miles, the engine mods -
expanded to 5 litres and heads gas flowed etc - the more I liked
the prospect of owning the car.
My current RV8 (BRG 1839), bought new in 1995, has taken my wife
and I all over Europe, crossing many of the great Alpine passes
with the characteristic ease that typifies the powerful V8 engine.
It has only ever let us down once, when the bottom hose frayed through,
and so has been a much loved friend. It is running beautifully at
the moment but the attraction of a low mileage replacement and the
prospect of another 10 years of trouble free motoring were too strong
to resist.
This last week has seen a flurry of emails, some technical, some
haggling, between current owner David Boniface and myself, culminating
this morning in an electronic handshake to confirm the deal. So
on Monday some of my hard earned pounds will be transformed into
Japanese Yen and will set off across the oceans to Tokyo. In many
ways of course this will only be the start of the story because
I will have to arrange for an export agent in Japan, shipping, export
paperwork, UK reception and registration etc.
Now, if I wasn't a member of the V8 Register I think this would
be all too daunting but, in true "Marque of Friendship"
style, I have already received truly generous advice and assistance
from both Clive Wheatley near Bridgnorth and Chris Watkins. Chris
used to run HS imports in Somerset and although he is no longer
active in reimporting RV8s he was still happy to give invaluable
information on import tax, VAT, local agents etc. As to Clive, well
he has been servicing my RV8 for years and has fitted his super
shockers, his exhaust, a new hood and lots more. So, Clive will
buy my present RV8 from me for resale, unless anyone out there fancies
a smart and reliable BRG car fitted with new tyres and an Optimax
chip and all for £11,000. You will have to
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BRG 1839 . (Photo:
Al Barnett)
be quick though because I am off to France on 24th March and will
be away for a few weeks.
Over the
next few weeks I will let you know how I get on and tell you what
is involved in personally importing a car from Japan. If you think
this is interesting then let Victor or I know and if you think it
isn't worth the computer space then let us know anyway.
Regards to all members,
Al Barnett - V8 Register
Chairman (11.3.07)
Diary
of reimporting Oxford Blue 1589
We felt many members would be interested in a series of running reports
on Al Barnett's experiences with reimporting this RV8. So Al will
be sending a series of reports of how he has organised the export
arrangements, freight and insurances, reimport procedures, collection
from the UK docks and preparation for UK roads. The full set of reports
is available using the links below.
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