Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia Forum

Hi there

My Name is Darren Winter and I have owned (and worked on) my '81 Spider for three years now. I have converted it from Left to Right hand drive, and spent hours of blood, sweat, but few tears making it perfect for me. It can now transport my wife, my 2 children (3 and 6 years old), and I safely and relatively reliably. Here's the thing. I am emigrating to Australia and REALLY want to bring my car along. Has anyone moved their car over? How easy is it to get an imported car registered in Australia? Should I sell my car in SA, buy another in Australia, and start all over again? My car is nowhere near concourse, but it is a fantastic machine that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Input please

Darren

Sounds like a fantastic car, if you do import it I would love to see it at Spettacolo some time!!

The requirements for importation are many and varied as you would expect with Government departments, but I have attached a flyer which I got from the Aust Customs website which is a reasonable guide to what you will have to do (and the charges involved), it also has a good contact list on the last page where you should be able to get in touch with the right people.

That's Brilliant

I really don't want to lose my car after all the work I have put in.

Hopefully I'll see you soon.

Darren,

A good mate of mine runs a customs brokerage and freight forwarding company here in Australia and has had a lot of experience with importing cars. His email address is adam@sunstatecustoms.com.au

Adam tremendous bloke and will be only too happy to help you out.

Good luck with it,

Brent

Hi Brent

Thanks so much.

I have mailed Adam so maybe you will see an '81 Spider with 4 seats (2 customised) on the Australian roads sometime soon (paperwork dependent).

Cheers

Darren

I also run a freight forwarding company and have worked in the industry for 25 years.
From experience ( as the forwarder, not the customer fortunately) but you absolutely MUST get your import permit from DOTARS first before it leaves the country.

I recently shipped an Audi back to the UK that had been sitting on the docks for 8 months as it was rejected by Customs from being accepted into the country because the owner failed to obtain a DOTARS permit.  Total cost for import, storage and re-export - about $10k.

If DOTARS issue you a permit, the car can be registered and driven in Oz.  If not, it can never be used.

The import process after that is simple.  Book it and ship it.  You (our your appointed import agent) will need your proof of ownership and registration etc and the DOTARS permit for Customs purposes.

I can personally assist.  If so, email me directly - edward@selectfs.com.au