Why drive an American classic car?
For many, it is a lifelong dream to own and drive a true classic automobile. Finding the right one for you can take your search across borders and, in some cases, even oceans. Many people look to the USA in their classic car search, and with good reason. Because of the vast size of the American car market, there are simply huge numbers of American classic cars to choose from.
America has a rich automotive history, manufacturing many unique and special cars throughout the years. This means, that in many cases, if you drive an American classic, you may be the only one with that car on the road. Exclusivity certainly has allure.
Finally, if the classic car of your dreams originally comes from the USA, the benefits of buying from America, in terms of price and availability, quickly become clear. Depending on the model you’re looking for, it’s possible to save a lot of money by buying it abroad and importing it.
Shipping American classic cars to Australia
The process of shipping a classic car is much the same as any car. The majority of vehicles are shipped in a consolidated container with other vehicles as LCL (less than container load), individually on a roll on / roll off service (break bulk) or in their own dedicated 20ft FCL (Full container load)
Customs clearance for American classic cars
Whenever importing a vehicle into Australia, having the proper documentation is essential for admission into the destination country. In order to ensure a problem-free customs clearance, the following documents are required:
- Bill of Sale
- Original Title Certificate
- Vehicle Import Approval from Department of transport and roads
- Air conditioning de-gas cert (if applicable)
These documents will generally serve to get customs clearance for American classic cars. But before this can happen, import tax and duties will need to be paid.
Payment of import tax and duty for American classic cars
Any vehicle over 30 years of age can be entered into Australia Duty Free.
However GST of 10% will apply. This is calculated based on the purchase price of the vehicle in the US, any inland transport and services provided in the US (i.e. fumigation, packing , cleaning ) + overseas freight and insurance multiplied by 10%.
What Type of Vehicles are Imported from the USA.
Some of the more popular vehicle makes and models imported from the USA include;
- Ford: Mustang, Thunderbird, F series trucks
- Chevrolet: Camaro, Nova, Impala, El Camino, Corvette
- Cadillac: Seville, Coupe De Ville
- Dodge: Charger, Dart
How to arrange Shipping of your classic American car to Australia?
Dazmac offer a variety of vehicle shipping services from the USA. We have our own dedicated depots in Los Angeles, Charleston and Miami offering regular consolidations as well as contracts with all the major shipping lines offering roll on / roll off services to Australia.
To enquire about this service, either obtain a price on our INSTANT QUOTE PAGE or alternatively contact one of our sales staff on 1300 DAZMAC (329 622) or email sales@dazmac.com.au