[GSP]

Hi Folks,

Next spring we will be moving perminently to our house in The Aveyron and we want to bring our 1959 Triumph TR3a over with us. It is fully taxed and tested in the UK but given its age can anyone advise us on import issues specific to classic cars please and would also be grateful if someone could point us towards specialist insurance companies.

Thanks in anticipation

 

[Guest]

A mate gave me the name of a specialist, whose sheet says that the 1st vehicle , if made before 1969, is just €19. Not a misprint, thats nineteen euros.

Thats SM3A Assurances Jacquot 69500 Bron 0478766733 www.sm3a.fr

The probable kicker is that you will have to have the TR reg'd as a 'Voiture de Collection'. There's good news - only an initial MOT needed, none subsequently; and bad news - a VdC is limited to its home department and the adjacent ones, and I think (not sure) that includes when you sell it.

Tip: buy a set of 'continental ' headlamps in teh UK, they are a lot cheaper there.

If you choose to have the TR reg'd as a 'normal' car, obviously you will be free to travel where you like, but the MOT (Controle Technique) will be every 2 years and you might not get cheap insurance.

I have a 1958 Series 1 Landy which I must get round to doing something with......

 

[GSP]

Thanks for that excellent link, there are some limitations to the cover but it may meet our needs, Aveyron is pretty large and the surrounding departments extend far enough for the old girl on a trip out! I'm guessing that such an old car would not be expected to have a construction conformity certificate any experience with such matters anyone?

Funnly enough I was thinking about a series 2 Landy ........

 

[Guest]

I have no direct experinece, but even a fonctionaire would be silly to demand a piece of paper that didn't exist until 40-odd years after the vehicle was made...

<Later> I'll retract that; the situation is ideal for a functionaire to flex their powers .....

Series 2s are getting pricey, folk suddenly twigged that they didn't make that many and they got all possessive like.

Landies of any breed are eye-wateringly expensive here; my wife uses an old 98 Disco ES, leather, air, auto, all the toys, she couldn't buy a LHD 1991 3-door manual 200tdi Disco here for the same money that we could get for it back in teh UK.

 

[GSP]

Ironically there is a huge glut of them in the UK currently (all breeds and years) and you can not give a Freelander away! The bottom fell out of the 4x4 market, excluding the high end Range rovers and older series have been rediscovered in turn re-establishing a trend for Off Roading and Winching!

Thanks again for the excellent link.

 

[GALLUS]

Dear classic cars lover

They are 2 magazine (one is a newspaper format) for classic car lovers,
It would be wise to have a look as they contain lots of insurance and specialised adverts.
Gazoline
auto-retro or retro-auto (check your nearest newspaper kiosk)

websites
[anciennes.net] Petites annonces gratuites pour collectionneur de véhicules anciens
Retro passion, le magazine des passionnés de véhicules de collection

depending on your carte grise (you have 2 options) the insurance cost might change
Obtaining carte grise (regitration certificate) at the Prefecture
option 1- carte grise collection (Classic car registration)
or option 2- carte grise normale (standard registration)
for both, you would need
a- a roadworthiness certificate (French, less than 90 day old)
b- a RTI (reception a titre isole) certificate obtained form Ministry of Industry (called DRIRE) in Rodez (Infos pratiques DRIRE) which in facts certifies that you car is up to European industry standards.
Just be extremely careful as the later certificate might me extremely tricky.
I strongly advice you to contact a Local Triumph club in France to check with them how your vehicle can meet these standards, before applying for it.

By the way, you can use your British plate number and insurance for a year. After this delays, change of registration must have been fully completed . Plan ahead.

Drive safely

 

[GSP]

Many thanks and all very good advice, especially the links to the various sites which have already proved benificial.

Again many thanks indeed.

 

[Green Acres]

Hi Folks,

Next spring we will be moving perminently to our house in The Aveyron and we want to bring our 1959 Triumph TR3a over with us. It is fully taxed and tested in the UK but given its age can anyone advise us on import issues specific to classic cars please and would also be grateful if someone could point us towards specialist insurance companies.

Thanks in anticipation

GSM -- I wanted to see how your registration process went for your TR3. I have a TR4 that I plan on shipping over from the U.S. this summer. We have a house in the Vaucluse area of Provence. Any recommended tips would be appreciated.

 

[GALLUS]

new rules for classic cars

New rules have been recently introduced on Classic Cars in France (carte grise Collection) , they are now subjected to initial and regular Controle Technique as well. "till now they were not.

This will cause a lot of havoc in the business putting a lot of "non road worthy" (according to their standards) vehicles out of the road.

In addition to that controle technique has been reinforced with the introductions of new scrutinies such as on the driver seat movements and
list can be found here (in French but you can google/translate it)
Points de contrle

Best

 

[maxmeabh]

TR3 insurance.

I am new to this site. I wonder if you managed to insure your TR succesfully. I have a friend with a TR6 who will be importing it to the Aveyron soon and I have a 1989 morgan which is insured here but for huge money. A reply would be welcome. Thank you.

 

[GALLUS]

You may want to purchase classic cars magazines in French wehre they are thousands of adverts for classic cars insurances , contacts, clubs and so on....