Its probably about time for this thread to come to its natural end. I'd like to add one last comment to help others find their cars.
If you are a lurker, don't. I lurked for about a year picking up limited information from the website. Then I became a member and the data flow went exponential. Most importantly the data base expanded to include personalities because I was talking to people on the phone. These guys love to talk about their cars, share experiences and offer help.
Several people I talked to brought up Fran, highly recommending him both as an individual and as someone really knowledgable about these cars and how to get them into the country. So a couple of months ago I called Fran, and in short he far exceeded my expectations.
The point is when his post appeared we didn't have to go through the time consuming mating ritual that we all go through when buying something from someone we don't know and have no particular reason to trust(what is the car really like, what parts are missing, can you take less, why are you selling it and from the seller's point of view is this person a real player, etc.) I'm sure Fran got many inquiries following the above format.
Because I felt I knew Fran my conversation was very short "I'll buy it"
Now my big problem is how to get this big silly grin off my face before I go back to work monday
