Reply To: Newish Returning Member

[ChrisParticipant]

Welcome back Richard,

There are a few TOC members on the west coast – nearest one may be the owner of a blue Light 15 in Healdsburg which is not too far away from you – contact John (membership@traction-owners.co.uk) if you would like the contact details – he may ask the member first.  There are a few others further away.

We used to live near you a long time ago and shipped a car (not a Traction) back which cost us about $3500 back in 2004. We avoided any question of paying tax on it because I had owned it for over a year. That’s not to say you would have to pay tax if you imported one that you had just bought, but there would be more strings attached as it would not be obvious you are not going to sell it immediately. It took a few weeks to get here and I wasn’t sure what state it would be in when it arrived – but actually it was fine.  There are a fair few – but not that many –  TAs in the states – both Slough and French. They’ve almost all come from somewhere else because not many were sold there in the first place, so whilst they are having an easy time in the California sun now they may not have done in their earlier life. I mention this so you can factor that in to your thoughts. I would expect to get a better choice in Europe and, as Bernie says, France would provide the best selection of LHD cars.

We have a number of ex-pat TOC members in France – again, John could put you in touch.

Have a look at the buyers guide – you’ll see your choices are:

• Big boot (1952 on) or small boot (up to ’52)
• Slough (probably RHD, chrome, leather, 12V, sunroof) or Paris (probably LHD, austerity spec, 6V)
• Wide body (Normale /Big 15) or narrow (Legere / Light 15). The wide body has more room, including more rear legroom and is easier to work on. The narrow body is prettier.

It gets more complicated and there is less to choose from if you go for pre-war (which includes roadsters) or the even longer Commerciale / Familiale or the 6 cylinder cars.

Chris