In the early eighties I used to import Mercedes, Ferrari, Porsche, Maserati,
etc. because the dollar was super strong.
During the same period, though, due to a fluke in British import taxation, I
sold many slightly funky cars into England.
I suspect your Australian took part in this little crack in taxes, too.
If a car was imported as a parts car, taxes were significantly lower than on a
nice and complete car.
In the early eighties, the dollar reached an exchange rate of 3.58 German marks
per.
The lira...well, I used to joke that if you wanted to feel like a millionaire,
pay for breakfast!
Money was made on Mercedes primarily because MBNA had agreed to pay a set
number of dollars for cars, so as the worth of the dollar climbed, the dollars
paid bought more DM. Mercedes was making out like bandits! A 500SEL sold
through a dealer here was priced nearly 20k more than a better equipped 500SEL
brought in, esp. if you used a personal one time exemption. MBNA HATED it.
International classic car selling is basically money speculation. (The
American dollar is so weak now, other currencies are being considered for
reserve currency status for the first time in 80 years.)
So, if the want maximum numbers of dollars for your car, now's a good time to
sell overseas. If you're overseas, and want to pay less numbers of euros or
pounds for a classic, now's the time to shop America.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless Phone
----- Reply message -----
From: "TeriAnn J. Wakeman" <tjwakeman@gmail.com>
To: <triumphs@autox.team.net>
Subject: [TR] Au/He 3000 mk3 for sale
Date: Sun, Aug 18, 2013 12:19 pm
On 8/18/13 9:45 AM, spook01@comcast.net wrote:
> The collapsing dollar is beginning to attract overseas buyers by the boatload.
> I sold two sunbeam tigers, one to Switzerland and the other into France for
> money well above the US market.
> So, enjoy 'em while you have 'em!
>
Beginning? In the 1980s there were a lot of people making a living by going
around and buying every British sports car and Porsche they could find and
reselling them overseas. For at least a decade exporters were vacuuming up any
British sports car they could find and making good money after all the export
and sales fees were paid. We went from British sports cars being everywhere
to rarely seen in a decade.
In the late 1980's I decided I could not keep 3 cars so decided to sell my 1968
MGBGT. The BGT had a near fresh engine and overdrive gearbox. The suspension
and steering was in very good condition. The interior was complete and in good
used cosmetic condition. The body was dent free and without rust. BUT the
paint was wearing thin. You could see the primer showing under the colour in
places. Because of the worn paint no one who looked at it wanted to pay more
than $1000 for the car. I ended up selling it to a retiring Australian
university professor for almost twice my original asking price. He saw the
straight rust free body and nearly fresh drive train and thought it a good buy.
I would have preferred to keep it in the States but no one wanted to pay for
the car and for having it painted.
Most of our cars are already in Europe, Australia and Japan.
TeriAnn
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