A local restorer said that cars being exported out of the USA must have the original motor, or possibly the original type motor.

Do freight forwarders handle this ? How can an original motor be identified ?

That sounds just about impossible to prove.

I would guess that it's the country where they are being imported into that cares. Why would the US care what leaves?

I'm not sure how it matters, based on Wheeler Dealers episodes. . but probably varies from country to country.

I shipped one with no motor, but it had a 2.7 in the front trunk.

No issue about motor or not. Germany was the destination, Jim.

I do know you must have only a registered car, unless you have a US DOT permit for a racecar.

Must have a US plate and registration.

How would anyone know the original motor number? Unless it was a conversion?

I think it may be BS.

John

Did the restorer have an "original" motor to sell you?

There have been many vehicles shipped complete and by the Radar O'Reilly method that I am aware of. Some with motors and some without. Many have been shipped in multiple parcels. Usually if the car is papered correctly and no hidden surprises pop up from a vehicles past transit and quarantine are brief.

I only know of one car that got tied up and that was a gray market car shipped from Germany to the USA and then back again in a 10 year span. All were done by the original owner. Due to some odd misunderstanding the car received a valid title in California along with CHP inspection and signoff but never went through Federal EPA/ DOT certification. It just fell through the cracks. It regularly passed state emission testing and inspection. Upon shipment back to its country of origin the EPA/DOT certification was requested by the Germans to confirm its previous Federal citizenship (not state of Calif). They also would not accept the original German paperwork of origin.

It took two years to get that one resolved only because the USA authority insisted they must have EPA/DOT records somewhere in some file somewhere that never actually existed or a title never could have been issued upon entry. (head hits desk go bang)

Short story is anything can happen so expect the unexpected.

I shipped a BMW motorcycle to Munich as my personal vehicle.
I did not sell it there.

I spent two months with the customs guys who insisted I needed paperwork to prove the country of manufacture...

Just to review, it was a BMW motorcycle shipped to Munich (home of BMW).

I ended up getting the country manager from BMW to help me out...
Unreal.

rich

About 10 years ago I sold my last MGB to a guy that was going to ship it to Norway. And the engine numbers was the one thing he didn’t try to sweat me over…

I imagine that was probably his buyer's requirement, something he needed to make it easier to license the car in his country. It isn't required by anyone here, all they want to see is the title and VIN, to make sure the car wasn't stolen.

its not an issue shipping here

There is a heap of stuff I need to do at this end ( fluids, tyres, seat belts, globes etc etc ) , but as long as the engine is of the original type it is pretty easy.

Cheers

Dale

Nope. I've exported two. One to Norway that did not have it's original motor or even the same number of cylinders, the other to Germany. The only thing it required was its registration and title.

I'd say that this guy was BS'ing me. I was going to have him do some work for me, but this export story he told me sent up a red flag.

+1, the other story smells like BS.

I shipped a 68 911 to Germany last year. It was the original (not running) engine, although I had no proof or documentation, other than the fact that it was a sandcast alum case.

Probably the buyer just wanting to insure it's a numbers matching car.