imports

[sean davis 67]

hi, I'm new to this forum having joined only a few days ago, so I apologise if this topic has already been covered.

 

as I stated in my "newby" introduction I don't currently own a classic ford and it will be a few more years yet before i'm in a position to purchase one as values keep going up and up.

 

in the meantime I'm trying to gain as much knowledge as possible. in the short time I have been on here I have got the impression that owners are now more content to own an old ford, be it a 4 door variant as opposed to "its got to be a 2 door", particularly with the escorts as decent 2 door escorts are fetching silly money.

 

this brings me onto the question of imports? 

 

1. what are the general thoughts on these?  there seem to be 2 main sources of imports, south African (right hand drive) and the maltese (left hand drive)

from what I have seen on internet sites both seem to be very sturdy and rust free requiring minimal resto, clearly a good base to start with?

 

2. they are considerably cheaper, why? are there any unexpected pitfalls when it comes to insuring them (subtle differences for example)

 

3. would anyone consider a left hand drive car and still consider it a classic ford? or would it be viable to convert it to right hand drive?

 

4. how about importing a car yourself, without the use of an agent?  I have looked at this briefly last night. there's a guy on ebay down south who imports escorts from south Africa, mainly 1600 sports and from the photos these look very good for the money, £8500 or there abouts. I then looked on classic fords for sale in south Africa on the net. loads of mk3 escorts and quite a few mk2's and a lot of them were 2 door. average asking price 35000R which having looked at currency conversion equates to approx. £1450.00- £1500.00 for a tidy mk2 2 door escort. I then looked at shipping costs, randomly picked a firm,  and for the sake of getting a quote opted to have a car shipped from cape town to felixtowe. container freight, fully insured, total shipping came in at just shy of £2400.00, then an additional £900 ish for the various taxes/duties etc once on uk soil.    so that's basically a tidy 2 door escort mk2 for 5k, saving a good £3.5k by doing it yourself.  has anyone done it? or considering it?     takes buying blind on ebay to a whole new level, or would you sooner have peace of mind and buy off some guy who imports them and takes the hassle/worry out , someone to take the risk out of it?

 

just wondered on peoples views on this as the £3.5k saving by doing it yourself would pay for a nice quality respray and be well on the way to a real nice car.    

[Vista]

Pretty sure most Maltese Escorts are RHD, they have the added benefit of having UK based vin numbers and chassis plates as they were UK export cars rather than locally built SA cars. This means they're a lot easier to verify the age of and get registered in the UK. The South African cars don't have VIN numbers that we can interpret in the same way and the South African vehicle registration process is a lot muddier than ours so cars can and do come over from South Africa with paperwork that suggests, incorrectly, that they are much later cars than they actually are. This complicates getting an age related UK plate and registering your import with the DVLA.

 

Maltese RHD Classic Fords

 

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C541164

 

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C406204

 

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C699242

 

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C698319

 

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C642941

 

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C694973

[jackbarnes60]

Hi Sean, 

 

i was in the same Boat as you for a while, however i took the plunge and bought a SA import as it was the only realistic way for me to afford a 2 door mk2 escort without a mortgage , to be honest im not sure if i could have imported a car and shipped it back myself purely for the risk of what would turn up! but there are a few people as you say who import them and you can have a right good nose around the car before you go jumping in. i have completely fell in love with my car the shell is fantastically solid and needed no welding, the only unfortunate aspect was the Zeebart under the bonnet which is not to my taste but i have stripped it back with some thinners and repainted the engine bay.

 

as for the price im not exactly sure why Imports are cheaper than UK cars would love to know myself but for me its still a 2 door mk2 with a solid shell, i think there are slight difference between the imports and UK cars but i guess its people preference 

[robert maguire]

Check our New Zealand/Australia.I have mk2 1.6 crossflow Ozzie import and its mint excluding the rotten green colour .No welding required just good paintjob and upgrades as required incl Zetec conversion ,ongoing at moment...

[sean davis 67]

I suppose it comes down to the individual at the end of the day, if you are happy with it, then you are not bothered about other peoples thoughts about it. I just wondered if there was a kind of "stigma" to having an import?   a bit like the jap car scene was/might still be with grey imports and the small differences between them and uk spec cars. I know when I used to have American cars, every now and then you'd see someone with a "right hooker" and they were always valued less and not seen as a "true yank" as they weren't left hand drive.

[chrisl]

funny enough I actually work in the shipping and freight forwarding industry and I have noticed a massive increase in particular South African imported vehicles and its not hard to see why. Prices in ZA vary between £500.00 - £3000.00 for 2 door examples and there are plenty about.

 

I am actually interested in this myself, to make it worth while, for not much more money on the freight and duties, taxes, you could fit 2+ vehicles in 1 x 40ft container

 

The only snag I can see is, you need eyes on the ground or an agent out there to source the vehicles, its all well and good making a deal on the net but would you risk the money on paying/arranging transport/freight etc for a car/s you haven't even seen?

[DT36]

Friend of mine has a MK2 Escort South African import and it's in good condition body wise.  It needs a lot of TLC on the interior etc, but that's just pure wear and tear due to age, which he's slowly sorting.

[sean davis 67]

as already mentioned it will be a couple of years before i'm in a position to buy, but with prices as they are and will probably continue to be I don't think I'd snub an import. personally I would not import myself unless I knew of a reliable contact/agent that is trust worthy to help with things that end.   having had left hand drive yanks, I would not want a left hand drive escort. they are just a pain, particularly if trying to use a ticket machine at the carpark barrier, or maccy's drive through, you either need a friend or have to reverse!

 

the main bonus I think from a good sourced import would be the bodywork, a rust ravaged car will soon run up thousands in welding which is money that can be spent elsewhere 

[skeeter]

For me, it depends if you are buying as an investment or to own/drive/enjoy. If it is for an investment than personally I would avoid.

 

If not, so long as you have your eyes open you can get more car for your money.

[colr6]

Who cares if it's an import or not, if it's the car you want and can come within your budget go for it. The imports I don't think get the highest residual values but if it a way of getting a good shelled car why argue. Doesent bother me and don't suppose it would bother most unless it was trying to be sold as a uk car

[khanlad]

As above to me it's about enjoyment, the cars tend to be better body wise, some strange tastes in colours and interiors but who cares it can all be changed or sorted? Plus escort wise they are the heavy duty shells, rs spec over here. Plus plus, they are cheaper! So it's a win all round! Don't know if I'd have the balls to buy something blind and have it shipped, think I'd rather pay someone a few quid extra and have a poke around before handing over my readies!

[Rally Pack 2000]

Check our New Zealand/Australia.I have mk2 1.6 crossflow Ozzie import and its mint excluding the rotten green colour .No welding required just good paintjob and upgrades as required incl Zetec conversion ,ongoing at moment...

 

Evil Empire (British this time) plunders treasures of the outer colonies.

 

Mystically waves hand "There are no Australian Escorts here these arent the cars your looking for..... Move along.... Move along"

[robert maguire]

I will give you a shout when I am coming over.......ah too late already have escort mk2 Aussie 1.6 crossflow(now Zetec) 2 door ,mint shell, never been welded but needs repaint as its horrible  green minty metallic but badly faded.Cream interior ,leathetette hi back seats, with rear seat belts, handbrake light, brake fluid warning lamp and long range fuel tank under boot floor with some crazy filler neck behind rear number plate.And yes heavy duty RS type shell.Lovely car just needs reapint, black interior and currently swopping to 2.0 zetec with type 9 box etc

[Rally Pack 2000]

I will give you a shout when I am coming over.......ah too late already have escort mk2 Aussie 1.6 crossflow(now Zetec) 2 door ,mint shell, never been welded but needs repaint as its horrible  green minty metallic but badly faded.Cream interior ,leathetette hi back seats, with rear seat belts, handbrake light, brake fluid warning lamp and long range fuel tank under boot floor with some crazy filler neck behind rear number plate.And yes heavy duty RS type shell.Lovely car just needs reapint, black interior and currently swopping to 2.0 zetec with type 9 box etc

 

Ford Australia made a few modifications that were improvements (and a few mistakes) over the European models. One of the most notable ones is the long range tank under the boot floor. Not only did it allow longer distances between top ups but it also made the interior boot space incredibly large with the side tank removed. It also prevents the boot floor rusting out from being exposed to water splashed up from the wheels. The rear filler behind the number plate allows you to go any side of the pump also. Many advantages all in one. If you have that tank it should be a 77 to 80 model. While all Australian shells are RS type (for our crappy roads presumably) Your car will also have really thick side intrusion bars welded into the doors. So an Australian door will always be heavier than one made in Europe, however the drawback is our cars suffer more from door sag over time especially the 2 doors. (New door pins always good restoring an Australian car)

 

The unique colour of your car is called Satin Spruce. Its surprising how many cars I see that have survived the decades are actually that colour and the shells relatively unscathed. Its like the demographic that bought that colour hardly ever drove them and locked them up in garages most of the time. I was the passenger of a 2 door car just like yours on a dirt road and rounded a corner and went under a cattle truck into its side fuel tank. That car was actually repaired and it had to be fully resprayed under insurance as they couldnt match the new paint on the replaced panels to the faded original parts (That colour paint faded from new) Ahhhh memories.

[Rally Pack 2000]

For me, it depends if you are buying as an investment or to own/drive/enjoy. If it is for an investment than personally I would avoid.

 

If not, so long as you have your eyes open you can get more car for your money.

 

Unless your investing in a genuine 4 door MK2 RS2000 or Flat front 2lt Mexico Equivalent.

[robert maguire]

Probably the very same car....... I am delighted with the shell as no rust on sills, arches ,floors etc. Zetec just dropped but but not connected etc

[Rally Pack 2000]

Nice engine. Do they usually mount with that tilt? Not the same car though as it was a 2Lt GL.

[The Transplanter]

 

 

The only snag I can see is, you need eyes on the ground or an agent out there to source the vehicles, its all well and good making a deal on the net but would you risk the money on paying/arranging transport/freight etc for a car/s you haven't even seen?

This ^^^

 

I have experience in importing from the States. Having someone on the team in the country of origin is crucial. Anything else is a calculated risk!

 

Without help, you could get lucky and snag a bargain, but it is also just as easy to buy a lemon and be up to your neck in do da

 

Just be careful