Anyone familiar with this 3200GT??

[Phil H]

I don't think so Emtee.

The Australian authorities seem to be very rigorous with their compliance; when Scarlan bought my AC it went with almost new tyres which were to be replaced on arrival, and even the aircon had to be drained as I had no documentation to prove that it contained R134. Taking a car into Oz is a very expensive business, but apparently still cheaper than buying locally. The present strength of the Aus$ against the £ can still make UK sourcing an attractive option for the right car.

PH

 

[Andyk]

Tyres....whats wrong with the ones on the car PH....Must be a nightmare for you...

 

[Parisien]

Sounds as if Oz.......is governed by Victorian standards...........why so strict, miserable....................an awful system by the sound of it!




P

 

[Scarlan]

Governed by Victorian standards?
Well Melbourne is in the state of Victoria, so in a way you are correct!
The compliance process is somewhat bizarre, but by the time the work is completed a UK import should be in exactly the same condition as a factory delivered Australian specification car would have been.
After market alloy wheels need to be replaced by genuine factory rims, stainless steel exhaust need to be replaced etc.
It sounds painful, but if you manage to find a car that is factory original, as was Phil's beautiful AC, then there are savings to be made.
As only 10 AC's were sold in Australia & New Zealand, they are a lot harder to find here and rarely come up for sale.
The tyres issue does not make much sense though, as a supplier here said he could replace Phil's tyres with exactly the same tyre and all would be OK.
The problem is the tyres on the car need to be destroyed regardless.
I am sure the Australian Government only has our safety and best interests at heart, and would not be making such things mandatory for the sake of revenue!?!
Gary, sorry the sums did not work out well for you, but I do think Jezza's beautiful GT would still be good value for someone in Australia ar $43k.
Regards,
Stephen.

 

[Parisien]

Victorian in a right or absolutely wrong way......rigid enforcement , no discretion.....so by sticking high import duties onto foreign cars.......NOT revenue driven???!!!!

The question you ask yourself is ....Is every other high value foreign sourced import also taxed at a high level? If not ...you're being shafted...................


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[Gary687]

Guys I think there is no doubt that 'protectionism' is going on here and maybe back in the day there was logical reason for it, i.e. to protect the Oz-based car industry. However to me there is no longer any real Oz-based car industry to speak of and yet the draconian (and revenue-raising!) rules and regs still exist so surely only one logical conclusion can be gleaned from this....

It is incredibly sad that the choice of nice cars over here when there is a strict budget involved is so poor - in the UK the choice for the money is astronomical and maybe I'm guilty of the old 'rose tinted glasses' here (but this would be the only area that applies I can assure you!) and I really don't know what the answer is....

Scarlan is bang on the money when he talks of Jezza's car still being a great buy and I maintain it is. To be put into context, if you could find a car that even came remotely close to Jezza's in terms of mileage, history and condition over here then you'd be looking at the thick end of $50,000 at the very least and potentially up to mid-$60,000 so for $43,000, as Scarlan says, it is still the most attractive of propositions. It's just right here and right now the timing isn't great financially for me and I have to let this pass mores the pity. I got excited as I 'thought' I'd found a company that could do the business for about $10k less than the others and then the figures did add up but alas...The Dream still lives though guys and you may not have seen the last of me yet ha ha ha!!

 

[Parisien]

Gary.....even if you've just seen a Maserati in the street that pleased you....its enough for us, all and every enthusiast welcome!


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