UK to USA
Importing a Land Rover from the UK to the USA
This page is dedicated to tracking the progress of getting my Land Rover from England to America. (Year 2001)
This is what it took for me to go from there to here:
- May 11th: Deal made to purchase from private owner in Leeds, England.
1973 Series III 88" Land Rover, 2.25 petrol, RE-FURB in 1993, FWH, 6 seater w/ cubby box, upgraded front seats (On-Line Advertisement Picture)
- May 15th: Money wired to England.
- May 19th: My In-Laws took delivery of vehicle in Leeds, England. The vehicle was then delivered to Mark at The Land Rover Centre. Over the next week, it will have a soft top packed inside and have a new bonnet fitted so that it will hold the spare tyre.
- May 21st: I have employed an import agent and customs broker to assist me with the processing of the Land Rover through customs and all associated paper work in the United States. (see E.H. Harms) They will work directly with Mark at The Land Rover Centre in getting all of the paperwork prepared for the importation.
- May 22nd: Mark reports back a few mechanical issues with the vehicle. The starter went bad on it and he replaced with a salvage spare. (He said he got tired of pushing it around the lot!) It was decided that the remaining problems were to be fixed by me in the United States with parts supplied and shipped by Mark.
Speedometer
Window Channels (for front door glass)
2 Swivel "one shot grease" sachets (stop worn swivels from leaking as much)
Hand brake oil seal
Hand brake shoes
Spare keys
Turn signal lenses
Leaf spring bushes
Choke cable
- May 31st: The last of the paper work is ready in England. Tomorrow, Mark will begin to sort out the shipping arrangements.
- June 5th: The Landie is loaded up and ready to head to Liverpool. It should be dockside by tomorrow.
- June 6th: Transfer to docks at Liverpool, England
- June 8th: Set sail from Liverpool on Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines vessel the Atlantic Concert. Stops in Halifax, Nova Scotia; New York, and then Baltimore, USA on June 20th
- June 20th: My ship has not come in. It is supposedly due late in the evening.
- June 21th: I called again. As of this morning, my ship still has not come in. E.H. Harms is still expecting it to be ready by tomorrow afternoon for pickup.
- June 22nd: Johnny Bischoff loaned me his big Dodge truck and I headed up to Baltimore to get the Land Rover from customs and E.H. Harms. It was towed to its new home in Sterling, VA
- June 24th: New choke cable attached. Old speedometer re-hooked up to speedometer cable so I really did not need the new one. (Anyone need a new speedometer?) Next, I took it up to my local garage (the fire station) to start the soft top project. There, I was sure to get lots of on-lookers and helpful suggestions. At the end of the day I got it most of the way on and now only have to secure the bottom and install the rear tailgate.
- June 25th: Tailboard installed. It arrived with no catch chains so there is more work to do there.
- June 30th: I fianlly got it licensed and on the road. It really needs a state inspection sticker still but I will get that later on in the week. I took it for a 45 minute ride to an outdoor party - there are a few issues lurking around but it did not do too bad for its maiden voyage.
