Hey guys, I fell in love with my Calais, no doubt like many of you, and have the intention of keeping the car for a very-very long time and modify/do it up like I always dreamt of. Its nothing special at the moment (for me it is!), a n/a Calais in good condition, nice wheels and a neat interior (all new switches, upgrade to a S.2 which is nearly complete and a decent sound), but I want to make the car as good as it was, if not better, than in 1986, ! After I�m �finished� with it- body, engine (turbo), suspension, and all other mechanical stuff, which is going to take years and not just 3 or 4 coz I just got into uni this year and wont be able to afford all I have planned with it (itz a lot!!) in a shorter period and I don�t wanna do a half-arsed job on it!!! Now, my main goal is to take it overseas to Germany, where I have spent most of my life (10 years), and now that the car-scene over there is not nearly as good as it is here in Australia, the ppl are just gonna trip-out when they see a Full Sic Vl Calais (something they never seen before)! 8) Btw, don�t forget the Autobahns (no speed limit)!!! Haha So that is my grand plan, but I�ve got a few things which I�m not too sure about, can anyone help me out: What is involved in shipping a car to Europe? :? Do they have similar cars to the VL in Europe (cant remember) ops: , in case a part breaks? Btw, what is your honest opinion on all that ^^^ Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Quote: Originally Posted by Fly_by_vl What is involved in shipping a car to Europe? :? A sh*tload of paperwork, insurance hassles, time, energy and money. Firstly Id be looknig into whether or not the Europeans would even let you drive a non-complianced car before anything else. If so, then proceed from there. In England they have imported a few HDT VK's and there is a company over there that privately imports HSVs etc. So yeah, England would be the place to check I would say. There are Skylines over there so I dont think similar parts would be too hard to get. Quote: Originally Posted by Fly_by_vl Btw, what is your honest opinion on all that ^^^ Its not that far fetched, it would just cost a bit and you would want to spend more than two weeks there for it to be worth it. Hell, I always wanted to ship a Walky to the USA and show it off. They would flip over a Walkinshaw. Everyone in the USA who I showed the Calais Turbo site too loved the VLs, espcially since they had V8's and Turbo 6's. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

hey i donno if they have anything similar to a vl. however when i was in italy a few years ago there was a manufacturer called 'opel' and they made family sized sedans exactly matching the vn-vr commodores, not sure about pre vn as i didnt see the old shape there. i dont know what motor or anything but cosmeticaly they were very similar. good luck anyway, youll be able to have some fun with bmw's or porsches on the autobahn Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

I'd get everything sussed out fully before you set your heart on this. The German authorities and the red tape is like nothing you've ever dealt with here. After checking out the registration and insurance costs it may all be easier to buy something over there. Also, emissions are a huge part of their inspections. I bought an Opel Kadett in Germany when touring Europe a few years back and the hassles involved in an "auslander" (foreigner) registering and insuring a car there was almost not worth the effort. Opel and Vauxhall manufactured their Senator (and a cheaper option who's name I forget) in Europe about twenty years ago. In profile they look similar but as the VB-VL Commodores were widened and kitted out with different engine/trans combinations I doubt you'd find anything but a few detail parts that would fit. Guys I met in South Africa seem to get on pretty well by mailordering parts for their old Holdens from Australia. You may be a bit luckier with the VL as far as the Nissan engine goes but I can't think of anything that ran the 3.0 six over there, let alone the turbo. One thing you may not have thought of is that all German cars are left hand drive. It doesn't take a lot to get used to (driving a right hand drive car in a left hand drive world) but it could be another stumbling block for the German authorities. On this same trip I was not far away from moving to Sweden and started to think how cool it would be to have a one off car over there (my VLT was still in storage at my brothers place) but my first winter there cured me of the whole idea. Big, unsophistocated, rear wheel drive cars like VL Commodores are not the easiest to handle daily on snow covered roads and don't underestimate what the climate and acid rain will do to you beloved VL. It will end up a POS in no time I'm afraid.

hahahah Yeah they sold an exact clone of a VL in Europe under Opel running a mighty 2 litre non turbo so if you rock up with an RB30ET under the hood you're gonna turn some serious heads as you leave people standing on the Autobahn. Can I come?

Won't be so funny when the VL runs out of legs at 200 and the Audi's are still closing at an unbelieveable rate of knots. ops: You've really got to hunt for open speed sections of the autobahns these days. Due to traffic most are speed limited to 130km/h or less. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

I loved going to Europe when i was younger. Especially Germany with the beer (i went accidently at the time of the october fest) so that was good. Yeh the autobarns are mad but ur Vl will do 200 and u have ferraris and stuff doing 300. I've heard u can hire exotic cars and take them along tha uto barn not sure if this is true but.

I'd say if you were going to do it, you would want to stay over there for quite a while, shipping your car overseas is some pretty major stuff... :roll: