Done dreaming. Time to find me a Speedster

I think David Stroud lives near Ottawa.  He would be a good resource.

Giday....( produce a first name, eh ? ) . I live in North Gower and had my Speedster wrecked on Prince of Wales Dr. three weeks ago. Still buggering around waiting for the insurance company to finish up their gyrations.

 

I recently looked at an older FiberFab Speedster which is for sale just over in Gatineau. It needs some love but he's only asking $12K. Basic VW engine and tranny, door gaps need fixing and he's buggered up the dash thru lack of attention or knowledge. I drove it and it goes ok. Needs paint and a good going over. Registered as a 73 VW...not sure how that would work in Ontario. This is a bogus plate on his car...The hood is not closed on the first photo.

 

Email me if you want direct contact...dwstroud  at xplornet.com   I've done a low bux Soob conversion too which you may find amusing to look at.

 

Cheers...

Thanks for the lead David! I will send you an email to get the Gatineau owners info.

 

Sorry to hear about your Speedster ... hope you get out for another rip before the roads get salted. I'm a VW guy so I think I will stick with the aircooled power plant, but it would be interesting to have a look at your conversion.

 

Are there many owners in the Ottawa area?

 

John

John

 

I'm near Guelph, but I get to Ottawa a few times a year.  Hope you end up finding a good car/project.

 

Bob

Thanks Bob! Nice looking IM =)

...and it's for sale.

 

Hmmm ... my pockets aren't deep enough for that one. Good luck with the sale Bob.

Does anyone here have experience importing a car from the US to Canada? I am consulting the Transport Canada (TC) and CBSA sites and will contact the Canadian Registrar of Imported Vehicles (RIV) ... but would appreciate any info from first hand experience.

John,

 

This site has a SEARCH function that works well.  If you tried that and failed to get an answer, you may get a better response if you alert others that at least you tried. This is an issue that has been discussed a lot on this forum.

"Use the search John. Use the search."

 

Sorry about the noob request. New-to-me forum and I completely forgot about the search function.

Giday, John. The process is relatively simple. I'm not trying to nit pick here....but the details are very important. If you are talking about a replica speedster here, and you didn't say that but you likely are, you are not importing a car, you are importing a REPLICA car and as such, it must have been built over 15 years ago. You must be able to prove this. If a replica vehicle is titled in the States as a 1973 VW for example, it will not qualify for import into Canada. The Canuck Border minions will know ( should know ) that it is a replica and it must be imported as such.

 

That being said, you'll have to find a replica with a clean title and proof that it was built over 15 years ago. If you do find this, you can then buy the car, collect all your documentation and submit it to the US side of the border crossing of your choice 72 hours prior to you attempting the crossing with the car. After 72 hours have passed you can approach the same US border crossing location and go through some paperwork for you to EXPORT  the car from the US. No charge for this.

 

With the vehicle and all paperwork in hand you proceed to the Canuck side and do some paperwork to IMPORT the car into Canada. All your paperwork must be in order and the sales receipt showing the value of the car must reflect a close resemblance to what the Dork at the border thinks it may be worth. If he gets onto Ebay for instance and sees some overinflated $$$ examples, and you bought a lower priced item like I did, you may have some difficulty convincing him of the price you say you paid for the vehicle. You might do well to have a few other ebay sales examples on hand of what cars like the one you bought actually sold for.

 

When I imported my car four years ago, the Canuck border people charged my the Federal tax and when I went to get the car licensed in Ontario, the Provincial tax was charged. You must have a safety check in hand as well as all the other paperwork when you go to the License Bureau here. They will issue a new ownership ( title ) for the car in your name. You'll need proof of insurance there too.

 

The RIV is not involved in this process. The 15 year rule is still the law.

David and John:

 

It's been a number of years since I imported an old IM into Ontario from Michigan.  I agree with everything you said, except that my Speedster was titled based on the VW pan and  VIN, and I got it across the border as that.  A young female border worked did have problems with it being titled as a VW, but an older male came along, looked at the car on the flatbed, and said 'no problem'.

 

I had some printouts regarding the car as it was advertised here on SOC with the price, etc. and that was sufficient.  I also had some documents from the local Fed. office to substantiate what I was doing.  The border people knew less about importing these cars than I did, and that was to my advantage.

 

So maybe the rules have changed since then, or maybe I was lucky to have someone there who clued in.

 

 

Yep to what you said above, Bob. What I stated above are the current rules. It's my understanding that they get bent or broken from time to time.

 

My concern about bending the rules is that if one gets caught at the Canadian side of the border, the vehicle will likely become impounded, you will face serious charges and you won't have the option of just saying I'm sorry...I didn't know that, turn around and go back into the States with it. The rules are clear, you are supposed to know and operate within them. You'll receive little sympathy if you don't.

Thanks for all the info David & Bob. It all matches with what I have learned, and heard when I spoke with RIV and CBSA. Any replica built on a VW Beetle chassis is now to be imported and registered as a VW Beetle built at least 15 years ago. I now have no worries about importing from the US, as long as I have all of the required paperwork and proof, as mentioned.

 

Thanks gents for sharing your experience of importing a replica ... that's what I was looking for.

Sorry John, but you have not got it right. Your third sentence above says " ...any replica built on a VW Beetle chassis is now to be imported as a VW Beetle built at least 15 years ago". That's incorrect.

 

The correct way is:   any replica built on a VW chassis will be imported and registered as a replica and it must have been assembled a minimum of 15 years ago.

 

For instance, my ownership has this written on it. Brand...none

          Make    INTR ( Intermeccanica )

          Model   KIT

 

etc, etc..There is no reference to VW Beetle.

I will enquire about this again with all agencies as I am not sure which agency told me today that it would be registered as a VW Beetle. I must have been talking with the agent that Bob saw a number of years ago. Haha

This is like one of those old radio dramas:  "Stay tuned next week, for the dramatic conclusion..."

 

Hope you get this sorted out, John.  Of course, it's easier if you can find a good one closer to home.  I do see them advertised on Autotrader, kijiji, once in a while.

 

Best.

Thanks Bob. I'm not in any rush so finding one already in Canada may take longer, but would definitely be easier.

 

I've been looking at the replicas for sale on eBay and notice that there's one bidder who is bidding, and leading, on most of the replicas if not all! Is there really such a person who would buy all of these cars? Why?

 

Damn those super wide bodies sure do look nice

Did you look at the one just over in Gatineau, John ?

Not yet David. I will try to have a look in the next week or so depending on when he is available. I see that he built the kit in 2011 so it will be interesting to see the quality or lack of after only a short time on the road. From the photos I already see several areas of concern that need to be addressed. It looks like the body is in the original black gel coat from the manufacturer. Weird.

Last week a nice and shiny, pearl white, 100hp, beautiful cruising machine decided to come home with me. It was a dream ... comfortable seating, silky smooth responsive engine, loads of power, awesome handling, unbelievable brakes, enough storage for future weekend road trips and it is much wider than I had expected. It begged to rip along the highway, scenic twisty back roads and city streets the 500km home. It needs an oil change today before hibernating until spring when new tires get mounted, ready to roll when the snow, salt and cold are only a memory.

 

I can't wait for spring!

Didn't happen without pictures, John. 

Congrats! Winters are tough, but the fact that your Speedy is waiting for you when Spring pops makes the long winter more bearable.

Welcome To The Madness, John! I'm in the Vancouver (Burnaby) area. Al

Excellent, John....What did you buy ? Like Lane says....a few pics please.

Thanks everyone!

I hope you're all up for a little joke

 

This is what I bought ... a Honda VFR800.

 

 

Although I've seen a Speedster that I like, I want to make sure I find the right one for me.

I couldn't see the photo.  Not sure if it is Google Chrome or some other reason.

I can't see it on Chrome or Safari.

Considering the title or subject line you started with John, I guess the joke's on us.

 

A few people put some time into your request for info thinking you were serious and for one...I won't do it again.

Sorry the picture didn't work ... this is the VFR800 that I purchased.

 

@ David - Please read my entire post and you will see that I have not bought a Speedster YET. Thank you for your help directing me towards the one in Gatineau, but I am not sure it is the one for me ... so I will keep looking.  With the extremely limited selection here in Ontario & Quebec I am not going to rush into buying a vehicle because one is for sale. I was just having a little fun about my purchase and wanted to update my thread ... lighten up =)

 

^ Nice choice! Enjoy the ride…and be safe!