>That was what confused me, I assumed all cars would need that, irrespective of age.
I think it depends on the year of first registration and what standards and regulations a vehicle first registered in the EU on that particular date would comply with. For example, a 1960s vehicle would not need rear fogs but a 1990s vehicle would.
What is the vehicle and age that you are thinking of importing?
>Marker lights?
Sorry, aka parking/side-lights. The ones on the Z28 are integrated into one unit which curves around the front and acts as indicators and combined front and side marker/repeater lights with a single amber lens. In the EU, front-facing side-lights must be white so I needed to add white lamps at the front. Easy enough to do now with the range of white LEDs available.
The rear lights were just changed for Euro spec units I bought from a Chevy dealer in Austin before I shipped it. It's a single plastic unit secured with three nuts so dead easy to replace and only cost about $40 per side IIRC.
A couple of tips:
My car was shipped to Folkestone and I called the agent the day after it landed. I had to wait a few days before it was released because another car in the same container did not have the correct paperwork so the whole container was held. So, be prepared for holdups at this end. If you don't have it trailered from the port to home/workshop take a small toolkit, bulbs and jumper leads with you to fix anything minor resulting from a few weeks of shipping. And give it a check (fluid levels/tyres/lights etc plus any damage) before you take it away. Mine had a piece of rope hanging from the front subframe and one rear tyre down to 10psi but everything else was good.
When I collected it I insured it on the phone in a few minutes with Adrian Flux Insurance who specialise in unusual vehicles. They understood exactly what the car was, that it was just imported and on US plates. No problem. All they needed was the VIN until it was registered. Try that with your average insurance company and you'll be out of battery before getting it insured.
>Also, how has it been with an LHD in a RHD country?
Driving it over here hasn't been a problem. Like everything, there are some advantages and disadvantages and you subconciously adapt to them. No thinking required. Advantages are that you can see all the way down the inside when following other vehicles. Handy on motorways when everyone else is staggered over to the right trying to peer down the offside. Similar on left hand bends. Doesn't really make much difference either way in today's traffic procession though. Insurance is cheap. Parts are US prices and can be shipped from the States in about a week.
Disadvantages are barrier protected carparks. Invariably the ticket machines and intercoms are on the RHS. Have you got long arms?
The only other things I can think of aren't due to it being LHD but due to it not really being designed for cramped European cities. The car is wide so it's tight getting in to the average parking space. That's compounded by the very wide doors on my car.
The wheel and tyre combination on mine is unusual in Europe in that the tyre acts as part of the suspension so it has 16" wheels with a 50 profile tyre. I couldn't have the OEM Goodyears shipped from the States because they don't have an "EU" stamped on the sidewall so I had to look around for an "EU" equivalent that was also rated for 150+mph. Fit new tyres before shipping it, they're probably cheaper outside the UK anyway.
Importing and running a LHD car in the UK isn't as difficult as many people believe and you've now got me thinking of importing a ragtop before we move to somewhere warm and sunny.
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