Hello Ivo!
Welcome to Maine! When you get here anyway!
For a mechanic I recommend New England Imports on Danforth St. here in
Portland - the owner/mechanic, Carl, owns both a TR-6 and a Spitfire and is
very knowledgeable and reasonably priced at $50 /hr.. He works on my
Spitfire and my two Peugeot 505's. It's a small two man shop.
I'm afraid I can't help much with the issue of importing your car. I am
sure it is not a problem if you are bringing it in for a vacation and
planning to send it home again. I think you can bring in a car for one
year. Maine being a major tourist destination I see a fair number of
foreign registered cars in Portland every year. I am equally sure that you
WILL have a hard time bringing it in if you plan for it to be here
permanently. You will have to research the rules and regulations - the US
is RIDICOULOUSLY strict about bringing in foreign cars that were not
originally sold here. This is the Federal Government at work.
That said - if you can get it into the country at all you should have no
problem registering it in the State of Maine. Registration/licensing is
done on the State level - Maine requires minimal documentation for cars
older than 1984 - just a bill of sale and proof of insurance. We have NO
emissions testing, and the safety inspection is fairly minimal.
In any event - look me up when you get here - I would love to talk Triumphs
and show you around. Hope you're heater works - Maine is starting to get
COLD in November! ;-)
Kevin Rhodes
Portland Maine
Freddy the Spitfire
> Hello,
>
> I just bought an Triumph TR7, in his first paint of 1977. Since I'm coming
> to the states in november I would like to take the car with me ofcourse. I
> will collect it in december. Now is my question where I could go for
> maintenance since I'm not a mechanic, preferrably in the Portland area
> (Maine).
> The car is an TR7 build in 1977, full option, sprayed British lawn green,
> and absolutely rust-free. The motor just completed 123.000km's and had an
> rebuilt 2 years ago. The car is original, apart from the seats, wich are
> replaced with newer ones.
> Is it easy to ship the car to the states and get the paperwork right?
>
> Thanx,
> Ivo.
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