“While the UK is on lockdown from Coronavirus measures, I thought I would take a look back through the history of our company. I hope all of our clients, staff, friends and families are well and stay safe during these difficult times”

Nick Roach – Director

Growing Up

The shock of everything coming to a sudden halt and the time spent in the transporter gave us a chance to re-group and come back stronger. The leads coming from the new ShipMyCar website were growing in number, but we had to find a way to convert more of those into shipments.

The fact we could provide people with an instant quote for their car shipping needs meant we were already ahead of most of the competition, but we lacked a brand identity that reflected our vision of the company and where we wanted to be.

A new logo was created and our photoshop skills were tested to the very maximum in order to get the name ShipMyCar to bend round that arrow

Our first proper rebrand begun, and once we started, we couldn’t stop – we branded everything that moved and became obsessed with ensuring the brand remained consistent across all online / offline media, uniforms, paperwork, in fact anything that could be ‘ShipMyCar Blue’ was repainted, reprinted or resewn

The website was moved onto a WordPress setup, which meant we could keep posting regularly and keep the site looking dynamic. The Instant Quote System had a couple of tweaks to fit with the new site but still largely remained the same

The new logo and brand identity started to pay off. Clients felt more confident that we were a reputable and established brand that they could entrust their vehicle with, and we started to work with some very high-end machines

Things started to get busy again, only this time we didn’t have the worry of our funds being tied up in purchasing vehicles and waiting for their arrival. We were becoming the place to turn to if you needed to ship a car to the UK and didn’t want to have to get involved with any of the process.

We were shipping a much wider range of vehicle now, rather than just Mustangs and Corvettes and every iteration of each make, we were starting to see classics, European marques, supercars and more. The learning curve for modifying each different model was steep but we ensured that for each vehicle we worked on we added imagery, details and costings to a new database.

We also started to come up with even more innovative ideas in ways to modify imported vehicles, our goal was always the same – to keep the original look of the car intact whilst ensuring all modifications did not affect the vehicle’s original and sensitive electronics.

When a car is imported from countries such as the USA, the lighting systems have to be heavily modified to satisfy UK requirements (the IVA test, formally SVA), each car under ten years of age has to go through testing to check on these lighting systems, some of these are extremely complex to achieve and can badly damage a car’s ECU if done incorrectly.

We developed a custom Light Control Module that could safely control new circuits needed to add new lights, for example on a US import we need to separate the brake lights from the indicators and change the indicators to amber – in the US, the indicators flash red and the brake light flashes when the indicators are on!

Developments like this gave us even more kudos within the importer community and the workshop started to fill up, overflow and become a problem.

We needed bigger premises, which is never easy to organise, especially once we received a call from the offices of Gumball 3000….

Keep reading – Chapter Six – Moving House

The post Chapter 5 – Growing Up appeared first on Car Shipping and UK Import Specialists.

“While the UK is on lockdown from Coronavirus measures, I thought I would take a look back through the history of our company. I hope all of our clients, staff, friends and families are well and stay safe during these difficult times”

NIck Roach – Company Director

Chapter Four – Global Recession and Selling Cars

Our Cervinis builds were popular, not only could we now build and sell full Cervinis cars here in the UK we could also create hybrid Mustangs with the Cervinis look but with Roush Performance upgrades.

We took our selection of Cervinis vehicles to all the big motoring shows and from this extra media visibility we started to become one of the trusted American car importers here in the UK.

While exhibiting at one of the annual shows at Earl’s Court, we were spotted again by the team at Top Gear, this time for Top Gear Live. After some brief discussions we lent them one of our cars to use in the live show.

The C-300 Cervinis was the one with all the bodykit, suspension, wheels and exhaust but on a standard engine performance build. Shame at the time we did not have a spare IMV800 that they could have put in the show, still the shots we obtained and the publicity helped to grow our brand.

At this point we were busy, we were constantly having cars collected from port, driving them across to London where we used to have them modified for the SVA test, getting the train back, answering emails, valeting cars, driving to London, getting the train back, developing the website, and on and on.

We needed to bring services in-house, we employed a valeter, an auto electrician and started taking cars more locally to Leighton Buzzard test station. It worked well, the modifications to each car could be watched over by us much more closely – ideas we had for lighting systems could be made into reality.

A permanent demo car was purchased and full Roush kit fitted. This car had a very brief appearance on Pimp My Ride UK.

We purchased our own transporter, this would allow us much greater flexibility and efficiency to collect cars from the port. One problem, due to the weight of the cars we carry, we needed a HGV, which meant we needed an operator’s license and somebody to drive it.

I had always fancied being a truck driver, so took myself down to a HGV training centre and spent the next couple of weeks taking extensive HGV lessons in a huge ‘proper’ lorry, all to enable us to drive a Citroen Relay, much to the amusement of my HGV instructor.

Kingsley went back to school to pass the necessary exams so that we could obtain our operator’s license.

Licenses obtained and we hit the road.

Moving cars around ourselves made life easier. We knew exactly when they would be with us, and we could deliver vehicles personally to clients.

Becoming a HGV operator should be one of those happy times in your life, sadly in 2008 there was a situation developing that may put the brakes on our ability to sell imported cars. The following graph gives a good clue:

The credit crunch. Now let this be a lesson to anybody starting out / experiencing a nice growth curve with your business. One day, the revenue stream can just stop. Not just start to slow with some slim hope of recovery, but literally just stop. Like a tap being turned off, but instead of water was the ability for our clients to find finance to purchase a Mustang / Corvette / any vehicle we were trying to sell.

It really was that sudden.

We were faced with a good few months of payments for contracted advertisements in magazines / online popular car purchasing sites with our main source of income gone in a flash.

In order to survive we stopped paying ourselves, the staff and rent had to come first in order to keep going. We branded the transporter ‘TransportMyCar’, got a website going, and won a few contracts with local car dealers to move their stock.

This helped, we could be on the road before the sun came up, deliver some cars to pay the bills and get back to the office to work on the promising ShipMyCar site.

They were long, hard days, with all that time cooped up in the truck it was hard not to get frustrated that we were so close to making it, but it was a great time to think up new ideas, eat McDonald’s breakfasts and consume coffee.

ImportMyVehicle had slowed to the point where we could do no more with it, we gave it a shiny new logo but focused all of our attention on ShipMyCar

Was it going to be enough to keep the ship afloat? Keep reading, Chapter Five – Growing Up

The post Chapter 4 – Global Recession appeared first on Car Shipping and UK Import Specialists.

“While the UK is on lockdown from Coronavirus measures, I thought I would take a look back through the history of our company. I hope all of our clients, staff, friends and families are well and stay safe during these difficult times”

Nick Roach – Company Director

Chapter 2 – The White Roush

If you haven’t been to an American main dealer, it is like nothing you have ever experienced in car sales. They are vast, hundreds and hundreds of cars over acres of space, with sales people that seem to pop out of anywhere.

For two car entusiasts, we were in heaven. Seeing Mustangs, Corvettes, Ford Trucks etc in the flesh was eye opening. We had enough funds to buy a few cars to stock up our anticipated new showroom (more on that later), so a difficult decision had to be made.

Do we go for basic V6’s to suit the UK market and have more available to spec up options? No, that didn’t sit right when we heard the V8’s rumbling past.

So V8’s it will be, we could get three sensible GT’s with a good spec and sell them in the UK fairly quickly….. Then we saw it, a brand new Stage 3 Roush Mustang – it was white, it had blue stripes. We needed it.

Realising this one was the first, and signed by Jack Roush made us throw out all of our previous sensible plans and decide we should buy this one, plus a standard GT with what we had left. The “man maths” agreed that the marketing potential was huge.

The deal was done with the fantastic people at www.brandonford.com and at an exchange rate of nearly $2/£ we were happy boys. Time to head home.

The Showroom

Now we had a couple of months while the car was being shipped and SVA (as it was then) tested. The race was on to find a suitable premises for a showroom.

Unit 62 Tanners Drive in Milton Keynes was the one. It could fit around three cars in a showroom, a few out the back for valeting. What more will we ever need?

At the time we were still out and about with CleanMyCar.com so it was tricky sorting solicitors etc, but finally we got hold of the keys. We decorated the warehouse and built a wall to section the valeting bay from our showroom. Just in time, the cars arrived from the USA and it looked magnificent.

The Publicity

So now it was time to get out there to some shows, Earl’s Court and the NEC shows looked the place to go, we made up some signage, packed the Roush and drove to a weekend in Birmingham. Then we realised, events are hard work, hard on the feet and hard keeping cheerful for that length of time, but it worked – we got the call from BBC Top Gear

BBC Top Gear

The crew at Top Gear wanted us to bring along the Roush so they could do a feature comparing it to the Shelby GT500, we happily agreed and spent a great day filming with Clarkson, May and Hammond. Seeing the Roush being driven round, and round, and round, and round the track by The Stig was a worrying time for us but it looked stunning.

Once they were done, we drove away – almost into a wall the brakes were that worn, but almost as soon as the show was aired, we received a call from somebody who wanted to buy the Roush and just like that, it was gone.

Time to restock and move forward.

Carry on reading: Chapter Three – Roush and Cervinis Dealers

The post Chapter 2 – The White Roush appeared first on Car Shipping and UK Import Specialists.

We have seen an increase in electric cars being imported into the UK, and if any are over ten years of age and do not need an IVA – it is very straightforward for us to test and register them for you.

However, if they are under ten years of age, they will require an IVA test.

We had imported, tested and registered a number of electric cars under the IVA scheme without issue, but now the DVSA have made things much harder.

In order to apply for an IVA test, the DVSA now require a statement from the manufacturer that must be specific to the exact VIN of the vehicle you are importing, proving that the car complies with electric safety EU directive ‘ECE Reg. 100.01’

The DVSA accept many foreign standards as acceptable. For example, you do not need to provide documentary evidence on a car imported from the USA in relation to fuel tanks, brakes etc as the US ‘FMVSS’ standards are deemed acceptable .

Which means the DVSA are saying, if it is good enough for US standards, then we are OK with that.

ECE Reg. 100.01 is different though…

Cars imported from Japan are fine, the DVSA will accept they meet the same regulations.

From the USA / Canada / Other non-EU countries, this is not currently the case and documentary evidence will be required from the manufacturer.

For most manufacturers that should not be too much of a problem as they have compliance departments and can quickly produce you a Statement of Compliance, but some newer manufacturers such as Tesla are proving much more difficult to get what is needed from them.

With Brexit coming and potential re-writing of IVA standards, we do not see the DVSA adopting ECE Reg 100.01 into acceptable standards anytime soon either.

I’m shipping my Tesla, what should I do?

We would strongly recommend anybody planning to ship their Tesla / any other electric car from the USA to the UK to obtain written proof that it complies with ECE Reg. 100.01 before booking any car shipping package with us.

We hope that Tesla and other manufacturers realise the difficulty in registering an imported electric car to the UK soon and improve their customer servcie in respect to people who have already made the environmentally friendly option of moving their electric car back to the UK with them when they relocated.

Alternatively it will be a case of waiting for the DVSA to adopt the appropriate FMVSS standards in regards to electrical safety.

For any advice on importing a vehicle into the UK, from shipping to customs, testing or registration please contact us on 01908 887917 or email info@shipmycar.co.uk

The post Importing an Electric Car to the UK appeared first on Car Shipping and UK Import Specialists.

Even the base model C8 is going to be as fast as the current C7 ZR1 with 0-60 times expected to be under three seconds.

The C8 is not an improved C7 however, in fact it only carries over one single part from the previous model.

While there will be a UK right hand drive model it can still be advantageous to import one to the UK from the USA if the spec is not available or you expect to drive onto the continent.

The engine is an all-new build known as the LT2 and is now visible through the rear hatch window

The roof is fully retractable and hardtop which only ends up weighing 77lbs more than the coupe version.

The quality and finish of the interior from the images looks to be of exceptional quality

We are very excited to see what the interior looks like in the flesh, with the wrap-around driver’s panel catching our eye immediately

The 1LT has a starting price of $59,999 with the 3LT rising to $71,945

If you are looking to ship / import a Corvette C8 into the UK, please enter the details below and we will price everything up including car shipping, UK import costs, IVA testing, DVLA registration, import duty & VAT all in seconds:

The post 2020 Chevrolet C8 UK appeared first on Car Shipping and UK Import Specialists.

In this article we will price up a car from the USA to purchase, ship to the UK and then register ready to drive. We will use an example of a 1965 Mustang that is currently for sale at Beverley Hills Car Club (www.beverlyhillscarclub.com) – we have assisted many clients over the years from BHCC and have always been exactly as described and the guys there are a pleasure to do business with.

There are of course other places to source your classic car, for example www.ebay.com (click USA site when asked) and www.classiccars.com

The vehicle we are using in this example is listed at $16,750 which at today’s rather poor exchange rate of $1.22/£ is coming in at £13,730 – so first let’s discuss how you can save some money on transferring the payment to the US seller.

Car Shipping Quote
This is where we come in, we have spent many years developing our Instant Car Shipping Calculator – it will price up all US transport, customs, shipping, marine insurance, unloading, UK taxes and duty, testing and registration and works for all makes/models of vehicles from classics to brand new vehicles.

Try it out here: Car Shipping Quote

Paying for the car
Before paying for the car we always recommend doing some basic checks to minimise the likelihood of fraud, buying from a reputable and recommended dealer such as Beverley Hills Car Club is strongly recommended but make sure you keep yourself safe by taking into account the following: Avoid Car Shipping Fraud

The main aim of transferring funds is to get the best possible exchange rate as a small fluctuation in rates can make a big difference in how much you have to pay, the banks will give you one rate but using a broker can save a lot of money and even make the transfer to the USA quicker. Our sister company SMCFX can manage the transfer of funds to the seller at the best possible rates, far better than a bank (save on average £200 on transferring $10,000 for example) – sign up quickly and easily and use our online portal here: www.smcfx.co.uk

Instructing us to proceed
We have developed a fully online Client Portal area that can be accessed here once you have received a quotation from us: ShipMyCar Client Portal

This is a secure area where you can accept the quotation from us and complete our short application form online. We take payment upfront and the remainder of any additional costs / upgrades on completion.

What next?

Once you have made your booking with us, our experienced team get straight to work on securing the collection from the seller and making the booking at the port ready to receive your vehicle.

Your Client Portal will be immediately updated with a checklist where you can see all the documents that we require and a handy upload facility to provide the required documents directly to us.

Your Client Portal is the main point of all updates. Anything that happens along the way we add to your Client Portal. You can see photos of the car, online container tracking and more as well as authorising any works later along the process which we will discuss shortly.

The upload facility allows you to review all required documents and upload them directly from a computer or even directly from a smartphone.

Tracking your Car
Many container providers allow us to track the container in real-time. If this is activated for your container then you will be able to watch it travelling to the UK in real-time through the Client Portal. If not we will provide tracking to follow the vessel itself on a third-party website.

UK Arrival
On arrival to the UK we will provide you with the exact amounts that customs will require (if applicable) for customs clearance. As you would have already had an estimate of these on your original quote they should not come as much of a shock and for our example 1965 Mustang they will be 5% of vehicle value.

You will have the amounts required emailed to you, and also made available to review in your Client Portal. We provide you with HMRC bank details and a reference number for you to simply transfer the funds to them through online banking.

In our example case it would be 5% of $16,750 converted to UK pounds sterling at HMRC’s current exchange rate so around £650 in this case.

Collection / Workshop
Once customs have given the OK for collection of the container it will be moved to our warehouse in Milton Keynes for unloading and if applicable (and most popular) into our huge workshop for full UK testing and registration service.

In this example we have opted for our full import package. On arrival our team will check the vehicle in and notify you if any damage has occurred and how we plan to rectify this in the very rare case that it has happened.

Our technicians then carry out the appropriate modifications to your vehicle in order to pass the relevant UK IVA / MOT test requirements. In this case, the car is a 1965 model and so it will just need new headlights with clear sidelights and then for an MOT to be carried out. All of which would have been outlined and priced in your instant quote you had originally received.

What if it fails testing?
Let’s say the Mustang failed on a few items, not to worry, our team our very experienced in working on all imported vehicles from classics to modern day supercars. We will price up any repairs required, list them in your Client Portal and you can simply authorise them with a click of the mouse. This then gets our office into action to order the required parts ready to be fitted.

Our technicians will take photos of the issues which will be view-able in your Client Portal.

We can carry out all kinds of remedial work from simple MOT failures such as worn brake pads through to welding / engine rebuilds. No work is carried out without first explaining the issue to you and quoting clearly for the work required.

Further information no our workshop can be found here: Milton Keynes Workshop

DVLA Registration and Final Costings

We then register the vehicle for you, print the number plates (in this case on classic black / silver plates) and fit them to your vehicle. Any optional upgrades you requested will be carried out prior to collection such as servicing, tracker / alarm installation or valeting.

We have partnered with car insurance specialists Elevate Insurance, we can have them contact you for a quick imported car insurance quote

So how much did the whole process cost? Let’s take a look:

So all in the car cost you less than £17,000 – and that is an all inclusive turn-key shipment where you did not have to lift a finger (apart from to click the mouse). That included the cost of the car, all the US transport, shipping, marine insurance, unloading, UK taxes, testing, registration – the whole lot.

Even though the UK’s decision to leave the EU has hurt the value of Sterling, you can see that there are still some great cars out there and bringing them over to the UK is still a very cost effective way of owning the car of your dreams. Please try our instant quote system today at Car Shipping Quote.

The post Importing a classic car from the USA to UK appeared first on Car Shipping and UK Import Specialists.

The hand crafted 6.2L supercharged aluminium V8 ranks among the foremost engines available anywhere in the world. Its tremendous power never fails and its accurate efficiency meets the toughest emissions requirements. EQUUS BASS770’s sound signature is characteristic of 1960’s and 1970’s muscle cars, easing from soft, elegant breathiness when cruising to a raging growl when the beast is unleashed.

EQUUS BASS770’s aluminium chassis is designed to perfectly balance lightness and agility with sharp handling. The central front positioning of the engine offers the ideal weight distribution for sporty handling. The long wheelbase and wide tracks provide for accurate stability at any speed.

EQUUS BASS770 is fully dressed with an innovative superformed aluminum body, entirely lined with carbon fiber inners. This leading edge solution guarantees uniquely solid structure as well as liveliness and pep. Treasured american style is back on the road charging forward with a roar that’ll be heard East or West of anywhere.

Your daily driving experience is heightened to a thrill backed up by the assurance that comes with dependable high-caliber components. Carbon ceramic brakes provide utmost performance, stopping distance and durability as you embark upon trips of your wildest fancy. The magnetic suspension system ensures your wheels will hug the ground. As your heart races, EQUUS BASS770’s shock absorbers are calculating in the thousandths to offer you ideal comfort and maximize tire grip according to track criteria and dynamic pressures on the car.

Supercharged 6.2L (8 x 770 cm3)
90 degree V8, aluminum block and heads, titanium valves, hydraulic lifter with dry-sump oil system
640 HP at 6500 rpm
605 lb.-ft. at 3800 rpm
200 mph
0-60 in 3.4 s
6 speeds manual rear-mounted dual clutch
Magnetic Selective Ride Control, Performance Traction Management, Active Handling System, Traction Control and variable-ratio power steering
Brembo® 4-wheel ventilated, cross-drilled carbon ceramic matrix rotors with 6-piston 15.5” front and 4-pist on 14” rear calipers with ABS
Frontal and side-impact, driver and front passenger with Passenger Sensing System.

For more information on buying an Equus please visit their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pg/EquusAutomotive

Shipping an Equus Bass 770 Mustang to the UK

If you have been lucky enough to order one of these fantastic cars, we can assist with shipping and making the vehicle road legal here in the UK.

Please enter the details on our quote system below for an instant price

The post Equus Bass 770 Mustang UK appeared first on Car Shipping and UK Import Specialists.

RM Auctions expects that a 1939 Pontiac with a Plexiglas body will go for anywhere between $275,000 to $475,000 at the St. John’s auction that’s being held as part of the Concours d’Elegance of America in Plymouth, MI this July.

It almost doesn’t look real and you need to see a few angles to see that it is not just a clever piece of CGI!

Shipping a car from US Auction

We can assist with the entire process from collecting the vehicle from the auction house through to IVA / MOT testing, DVLA registration and road tax here in the UK.

For an instant quote and breakdown of all the costs involved please visit ShipMyCar.co.uk and select the make and model of the vehicle on the right hand side.

The post Transparent Pontiac for Sale appeared first on Car Shipping and UK Import Specialists.

The GT500CR was the best of both worlds with the classic good looks of the original Shelbys combined with the performance of a 545 horsepower V8 and modern suspension system. Now Classic Recreations is taking it a step further with the introduction of the Shelby GT500 CR Venom. The new high performance model pairs a ProCharger F1-R centrifugal supercharger with the 427ci V8 to produce a tire-shredding 780 horsepower.

In addition to the supercharged engine, the suspension has been upgraded, larger brakes fitted, and wider wheels and tires have been added to handle the extra horsepower. Inside, race-style bucket seats, a 200 mph speedometer, and Venom badging have been added to the standard GT500CR components

Performance is incredible with 0-60 in less than 4 seconds….

Shipping a GT500CR Venom to UK

We can handle the full import of this vehicle to the UK. Car is on a 1967 Chassis so will not require IVA testing. For more information please call 01908 887917

The post Shelby GT500CR | Awesome appeared first on Car Shipping and UK Import Specialists.

Take the steering wheel for example, well on their way to an Audi-esk type of set up and quality

The old 6.1L engine has been uprated to a 6.4L V8 Hemi which now puts out 465bhp giving this beast the power to get from 0-60 in under five seconds.

Transmission is via paddle shift which is a bit of a shame as previous paddle shifts are not yet up to Audi/Porsche spec yet and so the option for manual would have been a bonus, but still, the car looks awesome!

Shipping a Chrysler 300 SRT8 to the UK

Obtain a free, instant quote, for importing your 300 SRT8 to the UK by using the drop down on the right of the screen. Our car shipping package also includes IVA testing and DVLA registration

The post Chrysler 300 SRT8 appeared first on Car Shipping and UK Import Specialists.