I've found a cheap RF GT40 - can you U.S. guys legally drive a RHD GT40 replica?

[750hp]

The reason I ask is that a beautiful factory assembled Roaring Forties car has been advertised in a magazine that came out TODAY at a big discount to his previous asking price. I've seen the car at a Sports Car show previously and it stole the show! The guy seemed pretty shy, and didn't mix in with the DRB GT40 guys or the Cobra guys but that's his perogative I suppose.

Have a look at http://www.oldtimergarage.com.au/car...lica_1999.html



An important point - the car is NO LONGER being sold through the car dealer that owns the website. That may go some way to explaining why the price has gone from $105,000AUD to $85,000- in today's publication. At today's exchange rate, that works out at $45000USD for as the advert says:
"A replica of the most successful Ford racer of the 60's.Superbly built by Roaring Forties of Victoria.302 power with motec injection,Porsche /Audi transaxle,Halibrand style wheels,a/c.350BHP,990 Kg,very fast. The car tested by Jim Richards in 10/99 Unique Cars."
Todays advert goes on to say:
"1999 302W 350hp 990kg 13,500 kilometres factory turn key by Roaring Forties, engine by Rod Smith Racing, Track tested by Jim Richards, Inspected by Allan Moffat, pristine condition, video available, stunning in looks and performance Chassis 6T9PO1V97X1JGB001 Ph 011 61 7 4056 8104 $85000AUD"


My apologies if this appears as though I'm selling the car. I'm not, but I just thought that this might be of interest to you guys.

Hersh, I might even bring it over to the Fling to have a Roaring Forties pair [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Anyway, I have shipped numerous items out of Longbeach, California via a friend's shipping contact. It would be very easy for me to get him to organise shipping or airfreight for the right price. I can take as many digital photos of the car as you like, as the car is about 2 hours drive from me (judging by the phone number).

WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME????? The satisfaction of getting someone a genuinely good deal, and I get to use the Queensland custom number plates on a future car !!! [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

Let me know if you want any specific details. I can talk all day to the guy for 20 cents, which might be a bit cheaper than your costs! I'll find out if he has email.

If only my Cobra didn't cost me so much, I wouldn't even tell you guys about this car, I'd just go and buy it for myself!!!

Craig Marsh
cobraracer@yahoo.com or
marsh@gil.com.au

(I edited this when I saw my terrible spelling, punctuation and grammar - not to mention the typos....)
[img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]

[ April 17, 2002: Message edited by: 750hp ]

[jimbo]

Yes you can drive RHD over here, that's the least of the problems bringing a car in from overseas, people do it all the time with Minis etc etc. That car looks like a serious deal for someone who wants an RF. Hope someone jumps on it.

I thought you couldn't import a nonconforming car to the U.S. unless it was turnkey minus, and in that event it supposedly qualified as car parts and didn't set off the EPA/DOT alarms? But, I think there's now a limited U.S. exemption for historic vehicles that will be used very sparingly. It sure does seem to be a bargain at the price.

TT

[Bill Bayard]

My car was classified as a race car for Customs/DOT purposes. They didn't question that at all. I believe that I could have
had an engine and gearbox in the car, and it
wouldn't have made a bit of difference. Race
teams ship cars to and from foreign countries
all the time without trouble.
After my car cleared customs, who's to know whether it ever hits the road. I'm certainly
not telling!

Bill

[img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Robert Logan]

The car is our first "turn key" car and was built at our factory over a 18 month period.

The owner is a real nice guy and is a little shy (I hope you dont mind me saying this). The car was built to our highest specification at that time and can easily be upgraded to our full specifications of today. I am happy to deal with the owner directly for any prospective buyer and will not charge for my time. I believe the car is for sale because of his expansion of his business and has nothing to do with the collection of speeding fines (joke).

The car has been well looked after and has been serviced by a Ford dealership.

In my opinion this is a GOOD deal and more importantly is the ONLY RF40 that I am aware is for sale.

Best wishes,

Robert Logan

[750hp]

Hey Robert, you might be better dealing with the seller, but can I still have the number plate??? [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

The first time I saw the car was a year ago at the Mother's Day sports car show at MacLeans Bridge - just south of Brisbane - and the car looked SUPERB! The paint job looks so much better than the photos above indicate.

Craig Marsh

[ChrisL]

I'll have to have my say on this one. This car holds a special place in my life and with my dealings with RF.

Having had a look at a number of other GT40 replica manufacturers, I found that my enthusiasm was, for various reasons, luke warm at best. By that stage, I had all but decided that I wouldn't be building a GT40, but even so, an ad in a local car mag caught my eye. I decided to look up the new guy on the block (called Roaring Forties) and maybe drop in and have a sticky-beak. What the heck, I thought, at the very least I'd get a chance to see another '40.

Robert agreed to meet my partner Colleen and myself on a sunny Sunday afternoon at his now old workshop. It was barely big enough to build one car, but in the middle stood the car now in the picture above. It was little more than a space-frame at that stage, with brakes and an engine block, but WOW, there it was in all its glory. It was what I'd been looking for. The quality just jumped out from everywhere. Robert spent probably 4 plus hours with us going through the final design and componentry. I could have just stood there all day looking and talking with Robert, but eventually I had to go.

On our way home, Colleen said something about it being "a little over our budget, but what the heck, it was a nice drive to the beachside". I was actually surprised that she didn't notice the ear-to-ear grin that was still on my face. I'd made the decision at that point that budget wasn't going to be the obstacle. Needless to say, the extra money was found, and the rest is history – chassis 18.

Admittedly, given that RF had not even completed even their first car at that stage, it was an enormous leap of faith on my part, but it turned out that my faith was repaid many times over. Thanks to Robert, I didn’t have to let go of this dream.

[ChrisL]

Oops, excuse the Australian-ism [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img].

To stick ones beak into someone else’s business is to inquire uninvited. One who does this is known as a sticky beak. It's usually a tongue-in-cheek derogatory term. In this case, it means to have a casual look.

We’re nothing if not colorful with our language here in Aus.

[img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[ April 19, 2002: Message edited by: Chris L ]

Chris

One question....what is a "sticky beak"?
Sounds like a beverage containing alcohol.

MikeD

If anyone is interested in buying this car I believe that there are some things that you should be made aware of. My involvement with this car goes back to October 1999 when it was being prepared by Robert for Jim Richards to test drive. I was at Roberts factory inspecting his cars as I wanted to buy a GT40 that I could use to compete in. I had a drive in the car and it looked very nice. I did not order one because I did not like the driving position ( see below ) and I did not like all the screw heads that you could see plus the finish was not what I was after. I then drove the car in April of 2001 when its owner had it for sale and it had 10,000 kilometres and did not buy it because of the following,
* the steering column was positioned down and to the left making it very difficult to drive around tight corners at speed
* the engine management system had apparently been modified and the engine ran like a dog
* the exhaust system had been modified and was illegal
* it had deterioted since I had seen it at Roberts
* the seats had begum to wear and had started to lose their black colouring
I asked Robert the cost of modifying the above plus other items and with the cost of the mods plus the cost of the car it was way overpriced.$105,000 + $10,000
The car has been for sale for over 12 months and has not moved. In my opinion if you bought it you would give it straight to Robert and get him to install the correct dash which enables the steering column to be in the centre and at the right height. At the same time I would get him to refurbish the interior, check the mapping of the engine management system and repair the exterior bodywork plus have him polish up all the aluminium panels which were looking very ordinary.
Assuming that this would cost say $10,000 ( Robert quoted me $5,000 for the correct dash ) you could have a good car for about $95,000.
My only problem with this is that the car is two and half years old and you can get a brand new GT40 for the same price.
Roberts designs have moved on a lot since he built this car as from memory it was his first turnkey car.
My main concern in writing this email was for anyone overseas who would see this car and assume that it was equivalent to the Roaring Forties cars that are currently in the USA.

[Robert Logan]

Stephen,

You have answered my questions on a different thread on this thread, or at least the second one.

I agree with you in that the we have come a long way since we built this car and I would be happy to replace the dash at COST for the new owner. Les the owner of the car has a special place in my heart. He had the balls to place the FIRST turn key order, he had the faith in me that I was going to finish his dream and when the project went over time ( but NOT over budget) he never nagged me but constantly reassured me that he had waited 20 years for this car and another few months would not matter. For this I thank Les and his wife Ruth with all my heart and if I can help in any way to smoothen the transition of this car to its new home I will and at cost and no more.

This car is special to me and if I could have her back I would jump at it.

Best wishes to all,

Robert

[750hp]

I can't see how you'd get a really well appointed turnkey factory car brand new for $95,000 AUD.....

I rang Les (the owner) to get a few extra specs for a couple of guys who've emailed me for more details on the car and shipping. He was talking about the way the car came together, thinking that if Robert charged him per hour for the car, he'd probably have been charged closer to $500K for the build, what with all the engineers approvals and the never ending paperwork that came with build #1 [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Anyway, I spoke with my shipping guy, and he mentioned that shipping charges shouldn't be over $800USD in total!!! Many containers come over loaded and return empty, so deals are there for the negotiating...

Les is posting a video of the car to me. That should arrive on Monday. If I can get a local guy to capture some highlights onto MPEG files, I'll post them for all to see. Anyone have some bandwidth available for a week or two?

Craig

[Robert Logan]

Craig,

I have never SHIPPED a car to the US only flew them.

I guessed at US $ 1000.00 all up so I was close but could you please send me the contact details of your shipping agent.

Many thanks,

Robert Logan

[TimB]

If you can swing it I would sure like the peace of mind to bring it by air. Having been a sailor for many years I can tell you there are an awful lot of containers bobbing around out there.

[750hp]

It sounds like the containers sit JUST below the surface too, just ready to tear a hull of an unsuspecting ship apart.....

Sorry for the delay in the contact name of the shipping guy. Ron @ DieselTech is the guy that I've imported my parts through. He uses Paul Stephenson from Euro Pacific Freight Forwarders in Banyo Qld. Paul's phone number is 07 32679111. Calling from the States is 011 617 32679111 (I think....)

Les has sent a 7 minute video featuring his car. He even went to the touble of draping a scantily clad blonde over the car [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

I'm goin to get the tape transferred to mpeg and DVD if I can. Mpeg will lose a little quality, but then anyone interested can have a look straight away. I'll post a link when it's done.

Craig