Just off the boat

[Drewtee]

I thought i'd share some pictures of my US car being unloaded after its long journey from Brian at MI via LA to Thamesport in the UK. The pictures are actually from the bonded warehouse in Chatham Dock. The car was unloaded about 3 weeks ago, I’ve finally managed to get around to loading the pics!

[Drewtee]

I arranged to go to the warehouse to witness the container seal being broken, as did the owner of the Cadillac which shared the container with the Merc for a month.
 
I was unsure whether to take a trailer to get the car back home as it involved hiring one so i decided to risk driving the Pagoda home under its own steam, it was only 40 minutes drive. If it didn’t start I would just have to go off, hire a trailer and come back.

[Drewtee]

The day before I was fully prepared with jump leads, can of petrol, tyre inflator, oil and jump start pack. Unfortunately on the big day in my excitement, I forgot the jump start pack, i only realised on arrival at the warehouse. I was filled with dread as I had read a story on this forum from ‘Nix colley’ saying that she got a jump start at the docks from a fork lift which caused her car a few problems. I checked with the other guys at the warehouse and they seemed confident that this would not cause a problem as they do it all the time.

So, when the car was unloaded ,we jumped it from the forklift. Two turns and she fired into life after a month at sea. it sounded so smooth straight off.

[Drewtee]

Customs was cleared by the forklift driver while the car was parked outside the warehouse and then i drove her home. A great drive indeed although I realised I needed to get a right hand mirror quickly so that I can overtake safely!
The car is just so smooth, the gearbox and engine sound and feel like new. I ‘m so very happy with the car. It exceeds my expectations after looking at the pics for 3months. It’s already passed it’s MOT and British plates should be on it in a matter of days.

[Drewtee]

I have never shipped a car before and after looking into it I decided to do it without insurance!! i cannot tell you the relief and joy once she was parked as 'snug a bug' in my garage. 

[Drewtee]

Unfortunately the pictures do not portray my excitement on the day (as i'm not in them!) so do not do the experience justice, but it went without a hitch so i would not hesitate to import a classic from another country again. i used a shipping agent for customs clearance which was 'Kingstown Shipping' and would use them again too.

[Drewtee]

All in all a great experience which turned out to be far less complicated than i anticipated. What was really putting me off in the first place was that i just hate filling out forms! It turned out there were not many to fill out!

[waqas]

Nice looking car!  Glad to hear you had a good experience.

[JamesL]

Why are you only doing 60 on the A2?

Congrats

Looks like you have a good car, and had a good experience. Hope to catch up and see what your $ gets you!

[treedoc]

Beautiful clean looking 280, congratulations from "down under" on a successful homecoming, I know how stressfull an exercise it can be, we shipped our "new" 280SL out of LA to Australia mid July. How did you come by your "Australian" 280?
Geoff

[Drewtee]

Why are you only doing 60 on the A2?

i was trying to be low key and blend in so as not to get 'pulled over' by the 'boys in blue' driving with American plates, whitewalls left hooker and mobile phone taking a pic!
i was just in such a euphoric state i could just as well of been doing 20MPH!

How did you come by your "Australian" 280?
Geoff

That was much simpler. A dealership in the UK had the car. It was shipped to the UK in around 2001. I'll post some pics once i've taken some decent ones.

Looks like your car had more breathing space than mine.

[treedoc]

"Looks like your car had more breathing space than mine"
Drew,
Ours came over in it's own 20 ft. container, expensive but we were terrified of having such an origonal car damaged should someone else's piece of junk break loose, wooden stops where nailed to the container floor and the car was strapped down front and rear with heavy duty ratchet straps.
Like you I was tempted to drive it home from the customs clearing shed, 125 km, but "chickened out" in the end and brought it home on a tilt tray, see below.
I look forward to more pic's and specifications of both your 280's
Geoff