50 replies to this topic

[Cooperman]

I sent a 1963 Cooper 'S' Mk.1 to California and there was no problem. However, it is a genuine 1963, as restored by me for historic motor-sport and my best friend was the guy who imported it and he still has it. There were no issues and it was very easy. He had driven it in competition in Europe and even had the documentation to prove he had owned it for over 12 months in England, so no duty was payable.

 

The value of a Mini in the USA is no higher than here and most car thieves/car 'ringers' who are just doing it for profit will not bother as the profits will be small in relative terms against the risks. More money can be made shipping harder-to-identify antiques to the USA or elsewhere.

 

When a Mini is stolen, it will make more money with less risk if it is stripped and the parts sold over a period of time. A good body-shell will always fetch good money here, as will all the other parts.

 

Not every Mini sent tot he USA is a stolen car, most are either genuine cars which meet the regulations, or are 'age-altered by owners returning to the USA after being based in the UK or Europe and getting into Mini ownership. This 25-year rule and making later cars appear to comply has, IMHO, very little to do with car theft and more to do with stupidity.

Edited by Cooperman, 20 December 2014 - 01:01 PM.

[CityEPete]

Ther4e is some cross-over here between the USA Customs crushing an illegally imported car which has been made to look older than it is, and stolen cars.
There is little to connect those two situations.
Cars are stolen for profit. Either this profit comes from stripping the cars down and selling the parts, or from 'ringing' them into different vehicles for a variety of reasons. In this country the use of V5's from pre-'74 cars is done to avoid road tax. For export to the USA, but probably no-where else, the 25-year rule is the reason.
I know that if I had stolen a classic car and changed its identity into an older and one I would not sell it into the USA, but rather to another country which did not have a 25-year rule. Whether stolen or simply age-altered, sending to the USA is now not going to seem as attractive and that is what this very public crushing will have achieved.

Thats all well and good but its still illegal in every way to clone the donor for its documents and to alter the identity of the new car with another identity, both cars were fine with the ones longbridge gave them.

The second problem is that once you use a fake ID it becomes FAR more tempting to stick it on a stolen sportspack for a few grand than just altering what was a legit one worth exporting for 10k or more doesn't it?


Its 100% wrong on all counts and just ruined a perfectly good mini and probably already destroyed a project car that could have been legitimately repaired or re shelled here in the UK.

[The Matt]

...When a Mini is stolen, it will make more money with less risk if it is stripped and the parts sold over a period of time.  A good body-shell will always fetch good money here, as will all the other parts.

 

 

Which is why you should never buy a second hand shell UNLESS you know exactly where it has come from.  In fact, I try and avoid second hand parts in general these days unless I know the seller well enough to know it's not going to be something from a stolen car.

[mab01uk]

The USA is a big country and with the re-introduction of the New MINI in 2002 this has now created the MINI's biggest export market in the world........inevitabily interest and demand for classic Mini's in the USA has also increased as a result but with the 25 year rule there are not enough older classic Mini's to satisfy the demand from US Mini enthusiasts interested in the heritage at a reasonable price. Perhaps the law should be adjusted to 15 years like Canada.......sadly government departments rarely listen and move very slowly on such matters, so the practice will no doubt continue...and also with Land Rovers.

Edited by mab01uk, 20 December 2014 - 11:27 PM.

[MaxAndPaddy]

It is an odd system and in some ways down to the interpretation of "officials" in the states. They do have a pre-approved list which includes the Cooper S, which coincidentally was what was recorded on the V5 of my Cooper Sport 500 S Works which I sold to an american serviceman who wanted to take it back to the states.

 

Wonder where that car is now

[zinzan]

Apparently in Canada they can legally import non-conforming cars like the Mini and Land Rover after only 15 years as opposed to the US with 25 years.

 

That's correct.

 

This type of crushing on illegal imports happen to Skylines, etc. too.

 

Here's a bit on the whole 25 year rule in the U.S. from Jalopnik.com: http://jalopnik.com/...rule-1670467959