Sea-freight:
Shipping a car on a boat across the Atlantic costs between £600 and £1400 depending on the size.
Air-freight:
The journey takes about two weeks.
Lufthansa cargo (020 8990 7766) are automotive air freight specialists who regularly ship the F1 circus around the globe.
The Smart car travelled by lorry from Heathrow to Cologne (Lufthansas freight 'hub') and flew overnight in a McDonnell douglas MD11 to New York (I would have thought a CC could travel on the same a/c but would need a double pallet instead of a single the Smart could fit on)
Once stateside a rigourous post-September 11th search is required.
Weeks before the car flew a customs expert (Gordon Palmer of Autofreight - 01628 671070) was employed to handle the necessary paperwork. (around £700 for UK-US paperwork required).
A UK car can enter the US on a 'tourist' entry which means you can drive for a limited time (potentially 12 months) on UK registration providing US insurance was in place..
All in, the cost of flying the smart car to the states was around £2100 from LHR to JFK and £2500 back from LA (they drove it across the US) plus the £700 for paperwork.
So, in summary, if you have to do it, take a boat. I have a wealth of experiance in shipping private cars by air, and lets just say, they don't get treated as well as you might think. At least with a container, you can watch the loading process and restraint and be safe in the knowledge it won't be abused. As air-freight you can never be sure........
Greg S
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Creator of the Top 2 posts, based on number of replies.
And neither are CC related! Sorry.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: GregS on 2002-07-16 18:21 ]</font>