I bought two land rovers 110s today from www.ebay.co.uk  paid dearly for them. but nice rust FREE examples..

yes. I did..  but markets change.. this is the BIG thing now.. 110s from the UK

I remember you yanking my chain in a jovial manner about the '83 110 I imported back in 2009...That was a fun vehicle, which I even took to the mini meet the same year.

Are you still looking for a California registered mini?

 the big ticket item to import from the Uk now is used Land rover defender 110s..

just bought nice BRG racing green G reg. for 3250 quid..  nice ones still there.. dont listen to HAS been dealers like cheeky pete

I bought my '73 Leyland Australia Mini Window Van in early 2010, drove it in Australia in 2011 and 2013, shipped it Brisbane to Vancouver (Roll On-Roll Off or RoRo) for just over $2,600 - then came Canadian duty, Canadian GST (5%) and B.C. provincial sales tax (12%), then faced B.C. Safety Inspection etc., which items may not apply to you.

BUT, the Van has no important rust issues, needs no panels replaced.

In order to make a purchase I contacted the Mini Owners of Queensland Club, became a club member and worked with club members in Queensland to find the Mini for our Australian travels.  In the end, two of the MOCQ board members joined us for a 70-day road trip around OZ in Classic Minis and we went back a year ago for a month long trip to Tasmania with 3 other older couples also in Classic Minis.

Membership has benefits...

I'm still here. Still eyes on the game. 

Do not entertain the thought of buying a UK mini. They have x6ed in value in the last 5 years. You will pay a premium for some shize. 

I picked up my blue one (66) for £1500 and it was like new in 03. 

Everything car wise has gone silly over here. Forget it. 

I'd look at Aus, SA, etc. 

There are STILL  plenty of  VERY nice classic minis still left in the UK. just check out www.ebay.co.uk or even better.. www.carandclassic.co.uk  even ones that are pre 90 or G reg or older..

An auction just happened here in the UK today

A pretty plain clean early 850 sold for 8k pounds. An early cooper for 13k.

I think I will start bringing them back here.

My 1967 Mk1 is for sale in Toronto, Canada. It would be easier and cheaper to bring it down from here. I upgraded to a 1293 with a 3.44 remote gearbox. No rust.

Just another option for you.

My email has changed, but the Mini Mania site will not let me change it or I can't figure out how to change it. I changed service providers. From one thief to a cheaper thief. : )

Regards Todd

I spent the last 3.5 yrs rebuilding my shell very slowly

but I was quoted 1150 GBP to ship my shell from Southampton Uk to Port Hueneme CA, from a company called //www.seakargo.com/

im going to pick it up at the port and then tow it to Tucson AZ

I have to turn in my paper work 4 days ahead of shipping time, and then have the vehicle to Southampton 2 days before the boat leaves

is the mki '59 mini in dc, alex's blue mini?

It's a friends.

Cheers. Peter

Thanks everyone for the responses...yea california beauracracy can be a pain in the ass...  lots of sound advice (of course I've never been known to actually follow sound advice..lol) and good information, and in this case it seems like the prudent course of action..

Cheers!

Greg

Good advice. What Pmustang neglected to mention that for years he was in the business of acquiring Minis for export to the US for sale there. He got out of it when the supply became too thin (and rusty) and uneconomical to get a decent Mini stateside.

Nice minis are few and far between. Nearly everything has rot. Especially the MPI ones

If you found a decent calif legal one it would be 8-12k UKP. A real MK1/2 Cooper would be 15-20k pounds

Fifteen years ago I felt the U.S. market had become self supporting. I see US cars coming back here as you don't see one from one month to the next. Put it this way, I see more Mustangs than minis on the road

what a can of worms to try to figure out  California DMV now.. I have seen folks recently import as early as 73   mini and could NOT get it registered due to the new ARB law VIN 2014.14.. and you NOW need letter of compliance from the MANUFACTURE.. now for cars 1966 and newer . according to this new law which came in effect on 15 june 2014..( I have the letters from DMV there .. )  lots of classic minis for sale on www.ebay.co.uk and www.carandclassic.co.uk  . It might be different if you buy from another US state and then try to bring to Calli.. but then again.. you might NOT be able to register it since it does NOT conforming 17 digit vin numbers.  Take the advise of the other guys on this post BUY one already in California with California title.. then you know you are OK..

I also believe there are sufficient nice minis stateside to avoid the problems of importing one... as said, there are a LOT of very rusty and very bodged up minis living in the UK.

dr dave