West Coast Shipping

11/03/2026

Tazio Nuvolari led the 1947 Mille Miglia by eight minutes at Modena with 60 horsepower, then lost it to ignition trouble in the rain. Second overall, with two more Cisitalias behind him.

The car was the Cisitalia 202: Piero Dusio's money, Giovanni Savonuzzi's engineering, an 1,089 cc Fiat four on two Webers, 60 bhp at 5,500 rpm, and a tubular frame often called the first space-frame sports car. About 20 of the open SMM spiders were built. The Pinin Farina coupe on the same chassis entered the Museum of Modern Art's Eight Automobiles exhibition in 1951.

Prices: $385,000 at Gooding in Monterey in 2006, 425,600 euros at RM at Villa Erba in 2013, and one asking $495,000 at a dealer now. Americans have imported them since 1949, when Dr Samuel Scher brought in chassis 0011.

The red spider in the photos is crated in our own warehouse, loaded by our own team. A car this light and this old gets a crate of its own, so nothing touches the body between the forklift and the door.

We ship collector cars door to door by ocean and air, through our own warehouses in California, New Jersey and Florida.

10/25/2026

January 2024 was the month the R34 GT-R became legal in the United States, one build month at a time.

Nissan started building the BNR34 in January 1999, so the first cars cleared the 25-year rule in January 2024 and the last ones, built in 2002, clear in 2027. A car built in March 1999 was still not eligible in February 2024. NHTSA counts to the month.

The one in the photos: a BNR34 with a carbon bonnet, a Top Secret front bumper, TE37s and Bride seats, and the RB26 twin-turbo straight six under the bonnet, on the warehouse floor.

What it costs to bring one over, from our 2026 Japan cost guide: Yokohama to California about two to three weeks on the water, Yokohama to New York about $3,050 a car in a shared container and 45 days via Panama. Collection in Japan $200 to $500. Over 25 years old, it needs no EPA or DOT conversion; the duty math is in the guide: https://www.wcshipping.com/blog/how-much-does-it-cost-to-import-a-car-from-japan-to-the-us-in-2026

Our own team unloads it in California, and the same people handle the paperwork.

We ship collector cars door to door by ocean and air, through our own warehouses in California, New Jersey and Florida.

10/24/2026

24 October 1976. Fuji Speedway. One point decides a world championship, in the rain.

Niki Lauda, weeks out of hospital after the Nürburgring, led James Hunt by three points going into the first Japanese Grand Prix. Standing water, mist, 73 laps. Lauda pulled into the pits on lap 2 and climbed out. Hunt led, then a tyre problem dropped him to fifth with the race running out. He passed two cars in the last laps for third, four points, and the title by 69 to 68. Mario Andretti won the race in a Lotus 77.

The cars have scattered. Lauda's 1976 Ferrari 312T2, chassis 026, the car that won him Belgium and Monaco that year, lives in the United States now and headlined the Formula 1 display at Pebble Beach in August 2025. Hunt's M23 chassis 8-2 went from McLaren to a Swiss collector and then into Bernie Ecclestone's collection.

Every car on that grid was freighted to Japan and freighted home. Fifty years on, a collector's race car crosses the ocean the same way, by air when the date is tight and by ocean when it is not, and it enters the US under its own rules with no EPA or DOT conformity to chase. Our race car import guide: https://www.wcshipping.com/blog/race-car-import-guide-how-to-bring-competition-vehicles-to-the-us

We ship collector cars door to door by ocean and air, through our own warehouses in California, New Jersey and Florida.

Calculate how much it costs to import a car to the USA in 2026. Get instant door to door rates, duties and fees with West Coast Shipping’s US car import calculator.

10/23/2026

23 October 1970. Bonneville. Gary Gabelich runs the flying mile at 622.407 mph.

The Blue Flame was a rocket on four wheels, built by Reaction Dynamics in Milwaukee for the American Gas Association. Hydrogen peroxide and liquefied natural gas, pressurised with helium. Rated at 22,500 pounds of thrust, run at 13,000 to 15,000 for the record. 38 feet long, about 6,600 pounds.

The flying kilometre went at 630.388 mph, the first car past 1,000 km/h. The record stood 13 years until Thrust2 in 1983, and no American car with an American driver has held the outright land speed record since.

Then it left the country. The Blue Flame lives in Hall 2 of the Technik Museum Sinsheim in Germany.

A 38-foot American record car in a German museum is the biggest version of a lane we run all year, US to Germany. From our calculator, a car in a shared container runs $1,100 from New Jersey to Bremerhaven and $1,850 from California. US-built and over 30 years old, it enters Germany at 0 percent duty. The guide: https://www.wcshipping.com/blog/how-to-ship-car-to-germany-usa-guide

We ship collector cars door to door by ocean and air, through our own warehouses in California, New Jersey and Florida.

Learn how to ship a car to Germany from the USA. Complete guide to shipping methods, costs, documentation, and customs requirements for vehicles in 2026.

10/22/2026

22 October 1969. The Pierre hotel, New York. Nissan shows the American press a $3,500 sports car with a 2.4-litre straight six.

Four days earlier it had been the Fairlady Z in Tokyo. Yutaka Katayama, Mr K, president of Nissan USA, held the dealer shipments until every car wore a Datsun badge instead.

L24 engine, twin carburettors, 151 hp. More than 45,000 sold through the 1971 model year, more than 50,000 in 1972 alone. Around 550,000 S30s were built, and nearly 84 of every 100 went to the United States. Every one of them crossed the Pacific on a ship.

That is the logistics story. The 240Z proved a Japanese sports car could sell in America at volume, and it did it through West Coast ports, one shipload at a time.

Fifty-seven years later the cars that never came here officially, the Fairlady Z432 and the 240ZG, are decades past the 25-year rule and enter with no EPA or DOT work. From our 2026 Japan cost guide: Yokohama to California is about two to three weeks on the water; Yokohama to New York about $3,050 a car in a shared container and 45 days via Panama. The guide: https://www.wcshipping.com/blog/how-much-does-it-cost-to-import-a-car-from-japan-to-the-us-in-2026

We ship collector cars door to door by ocean and air, through our own warehouses in California, New Jersey and Florida.

What it costs to import a car from Japan in 2026: 12.5% duty on 25-year classics, 15% on modern cars, $3,050 ocean freight Yokohama to New York, plus fees, documents and a step-by-step guide.

10/21/2026

Bought at RM Sotheby's London on 31 October. Now what.

The catalogue: a 1988 Ferrari F40, chassis 78623, at £1.8 million to £2.4 million. A 1991 Honda NSX with Ayrton Senna provenance at £500,000 to £800,000. A 2004 Carrera GT at £2 million to £2.5 million. A 1963 300 SL Roadster from £1.1 million. A 2022 Daytona SP3 development car at £7.5 million to £9.5 million.

Over 25 years old, a car enters the US with no EPA or DOT conversion, so the F40, the NSX and the 300 SL qualify. The Carrera GT is 22 years old; a European-delivered example needs a federal compliance route before it can be registered.

From our UK cost guide: Southampton to New York about $2,750 a car in a shared container, about 26 days on the water. The West Coast adds about a week. The duty math is in the guide: https://www.wcshipping.com/blog/how-much-does-it-cost-to-import-a-car-from-the-uk-to-the-us-in-2025

After the hammer it is simple. We collect the car at the sale, document it for export, containerise it at the port and clear it on arrival through our own warehouse in New Jersey or California.

We ship collector cars door to door by ocean and air, through our own warehouses in California, New Jersey and Florida.

10/20/2026

One of 523,836. Most went to America. This one is going back.

Abingdon built the MGB from 1962 to 1980, and the United States took the bulk of them. The 1.8-litre B-series, 95 hp, a four-speed with overdrive, and a parts supply so deep you can still order a new bodyshell.

From 1974 the US cars grew rubber bumpers and a raised ride height to pass federal rules, which is why the chrome-bumper roadsters from 1962 to 1974 are the ones collectors ask us for.

It is also one of the few classics still priced like a first classic car. A good chrome-bumper roadster trades between $15,000 and $25,000. Rubber-bumper cars start under $10,000. That is why so many go back to the UK and Europe, where a chrome-bumper MGB is still a car people drive on Sunday.

From New Jersey, Europe is a straight Atlantic crossing. From California, the route runs through the Panama Canal, now back to 33 transits a day, and for the distance covered it is still a fast way across.

This one leaves in a shared container through our own warehouse, with our own team loading it.

We ship collector cars door to door by ocean and air, through our own warehouses in California, New Jersey and Florida.

10/19/2026

84 centimetres tall. You get in through the windscreen.

Turin, 1970. Bertone shows a wedge drawn by Marcello Gandini and built on the running gear of a crashed Lancia Fulvia: a 1.6-litre V4, 115 hp, behind the seats. Lancia bought the idea, and the Stratos HF that followed won the World Rally Championship three years running.

The Zero stayed with Bertone for 41 years. On 21 May 2011 RM sold it at Villa d'Este for 761,600 euros when the collection was broken up.

Then it crossed the Atlantic. Phillip Sarofim of Beverly Hills showed it at Pebble Beach on 18 August 2024: first in class, the Gran Turismo Trophy, and one of four cars in the running for Best of Show. Since July 2025 it has lived in The Wedge Revolution exhibit at the Petersen in Los Angeles.

A 1970 build enters the US like any other classic, no EPA or DOT work. The rest is a container and a customs file.

We ship collector cars door to door by ocean and air, through our own warehouses in California, New Jersey and Florida.

It's your dream car. Let's bring her home.

10/18/2026

Every 90s sports car is now past 25 years old. What they cost in the US in 2026, low to high (CLASSIC.com and Hagerty, September 2026):

Mazda Miata NA, about $12,000
Toyota MR2 Turbo, about $23,000
Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo, about $28,000
BMW E36 M3, about $29,000
Mazda RX-7 FD, about $41,000
Acura NSX, about $84,000
Toyota Supra Turbo Mk IV, $97,000 to $107,000
Porsche 993 Carrera, about $99,000 for a manual coupe
Ferrari F355 manual, $137,000 to $183,000
Porsche 993 Turbo, about $257,000

Mileage and originality move these more than anything. A 31,000-mile 1996 993 Turbo sold for $306,000 on Bring a Trailer in September. A 73,000-mile 1997 brought $220,000 at Mecum the same month.

Buying one for Germany? An H-plate needs 30 years, which in 2026 means 1996 and earlier builds. An early NSX or a 300ZX qualifies. An S2000 does not yet.

All 20 cars with recent sales: https://www.wcshipping.com/blog/best-90s-sports-cars-by-price

We ship collector cars door to door by ocean and air, through our own warehouses in California, New Jersey and Florida.

20 of the best 90s sports cars grouped by what they cost in 2026, from a $12,000 Miata to a $257,000 993 Turbo, with recent US sales for each.

10/09/2026

Zoute Grand Prix Car Week ends on the Belgian coast this weekend, with two sales three days apart.

Broad Arrow sells today at Approach Golf in Knokke-Heist: 82 lots, led by a 2015 LaFerrari estimated at €4 million to €5 million, a Guards Red Carrera GT, one of 80 in that colour, and a 918 Spyder Weissach. Bonhams follows on Sunday with the Keller Collection: 12 cars, every one without reserve.

Three of the weekend's cars would look right in an American garage.

A 1970 Miura P400S, chassis 4578, one of 114 late cars with ventilated discs, believed bought new by Swiss racing driver Toulo de Graffenried. Bonhams, estimate €1.6 million to €2 million, no reserve.

A 1965 AC Cobra 289, one of 45 leaf-spring COB cars built in right-hand drive. It was later converted to left-hand drive, painted red and exported to California. This car has done the Atlantic before. Bonhams, €700,000 to €900,000.

A 1984 Countach 5000 S, one of 321, black over red and black leather. Broad Arrow, €500,000 to €700,000.

All three are well past 25 years old, so they enter the US with no EPA or DOT conversion. The hypercars are a different file: under 25 years old, a European-delivered car needs federal compliance or a Show or Display exemption before it can be registered in the US.

After the hammer it is simple. We collect the car at the sale and it goes into a container. Ocean freight from Europe runs from $2,750 to New York and from $3,350 to California.

Guide: https://www.wcshipping.com/blog/where-to-buy-classic-cars-in-europe

We collect the car wherever the hammer falls and ship it door to door by ocean or air, through our own warehouses in California, Florida and New Jersey on the way in or out.

It's your dream car. Let's bring her home.

Import a classic car from Europe in 2026: UK classics now clear at ~10%, EU at 12.5%. Best marketplaces, auctions, and events, plus shipping costs from $2,750.