Leaving Queensland
Leaving Queensland

Here's my car at the docks in Brisbane.

Some spares were stashed inside, some can be seen on the pallet. Engine, gearbox, suspension and steering were all temporarily back on the car, so it was a rolling chassis to make it easier to handle.

I'd never imported a car before. The process of booking space in a container, and sorting out the various paperwork, was made very simple by my shipping agents. Many thanks to Kingstown Shipping (in Hull) for that.

Import Duty and VAT on modern cars are a significant cost, but there is an exemption for historics. Using the Certificate of Authenticity from Porsche and a few other documents, Kingstown helped me to get the required exemption from the UK tax authorities. Total import duty and VAT were about 5% of purchase price. 

2014Richard Fryporsche, 911, 1970, Restoration, history
Australian eBay
Australian eBay

I live in the UK, own a couple of Porsches, and was looking for an early 911 as a restoration project. Preferably an S, preferably RHD. 

As you know, the condition of these cars can vary enormously, so it's important to see the car in the metal and get an expert inspection. So... buying this one on Australian eBay was probably not the wisest thing I've ever done.

There was a lot going for it though, in my rose-tint-obscured eyes.

  1. It's an S
  2. RHD
  3. Matching Numbers (chassis, engine and gearbox), with Certificate of Authenticity from Porsche
  4. Not ridiculously rusty, not obviously mangled
  5. Original colour: Signal Orange. We like. You might not! But it is a proper 70s colour. A Safety Colour, in fact, in Porsche terminology. Hence the name of this website.
  6. As well as the engine and box, most of the important ancillaries seemed to be there: Original MFI system, Oil console etc
  7. Came with some interesting spares, including a couple of NOS parts that are not easy to find

A UK car, exported to Australia quite early in its life. Unlike a lot of resto projects found in the UK, it doesn't look as if it's been in a swamp for 20 years - road salt kills our cars. No road salt in Australia. 

The vendor was super-helpful and had posted an extensive set of pics of the parts included in the sale. He had intended to restore it but the project had stalled. He'd got as far as stripping it down, had some work done on the front pan, sills and rear wings. The usual areas. Engine and gearbox untouched. I think they last ran sometime around 2011.

Deal done, time to think about shipping.

2014Richard FryPorsche, 911, Restoration, History, 1970