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European DeTomaso Meeting in Modena 2009 - How Much North American Interest?

G Guest
For those who haven't yet heard, Mats Gorski, ex-president of the Swedish Pantera Club is 'testing the waters' for an international meeting in Modena, Italy in late Spring of 2009. Long-time Pantera owners may know that the Swedes along with the Brits, Germans and Swiss do this every other year - usually involving renting a Gran Prix track for fun & games and its always very well organized. But 2009 will be special 'cause the factory is in legal receivership (think 'bankruptcy-Italian-style') and no one expects it to exist much past the date of the meeting, including Santiago DeTomaso! So after the date, there literally will be nothing to see and no one to talk to re a DeTomaso factory.

The cost will depend on how many of us put up their hands - in '96 when 180 Americans went over (to join up with 150 Europeans!) the cost was only $250 which included 4 days of hotels, meals and transportation once you were in Italy. Mats thinks the price could be about the same depending on devaluation of the dollar and a host of other long-range guesses.

Y'all IN??
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C charliemccallMember
quote:
Originally posted by deeb:
Me too! Where do we go for a package deal to ship all our cars???

Don't know if you are serious or not, but if you aren't you may want to think about it!

I shipped my old ´72 Pantera to France and back and it was a lot less expensive than I thought it would be. I used a RORO, but if you put a couple cars in a container you can split the cost and it may surprise you.

The process itself is surprisingly simple and hassle-free, and from experience these meetings are a WHOLE lot more fun driving a Pantera than being stuck on a bus... Sure would be an adventure, wouldn't it?
bosswrenchbosswrenchMember
It used to be pretty easy to get a temporary International drivers license, but dunno what the rules are now. We used to need one to rent a car, or to get road insurance. I always got by with my Navy ID card and usually wound up renting a 'beer-can'- a kinda cheap & tinny SEAT 500 (Spanish-built FIAT). Charlie? Any late word on the requirements?
markcharltonmarkcharltonOld enough to know better and still young enough not to care. My '71 Pantera
quote:
Originally posted by deeb:
You are right! I just checked and it's way cheaper than shipping my car to Vegas! Carmen is in. I just need to find one more car to split the container.

Mark? Michel? Robert? Will? Andy? Derrick? Gavin?

I am so in. I bet we can get two or three containers. At least we have time to plan for this.


When you mentioned this, I thought you were talking about THIS spring. 2009 may be possible. Gives me a long time to plan and save. Only thing about shipping the Pantera is being without it for almost half of our driving year. Now if I could find a good Mangusta that I could (afford to) buy there and ship back after... then I'd really be interested.
bosswrenchbosswrenchMember
snip....Now if I could find a good Mangusta that I could (afford to) buy there and ship back after... then I'd really be interested.....

If you're seriously considering a 'Goose for ANY reason, do it NOW! I know of three that have migrated from CA to England in the past year or so; two were basket cases. Estimates are that MAYBE 150 are still in running condition in the world.
bosswrenchbosswrenchMember
snip....makes me think I should buy a spare Pantera and ship it over there, drive it around and sell it afterwards to pay for the trip and another car to bring home......

Unless things have changed radically, there's a declaration you sign when you enter a country with a car that you WILL NOT sell it there. Sales tax, value-added taxes and a host of charges we Americans know little about, are a major part of some countries' budgets. One Swede lived in CA for a few years, bought a Pantera here & shipped it over when he left, and he said there were all sorts of regulations he had to overcome, including residency requirements- which are different in each country- before he could finally sell the thing. He drove it in Europe for several years in fact. Euro-owners, any comments?
C charliemccallMember
quote:
Originally posted by Bosswrench:
It used to be pretty easy to get a temporary International drivers license, but dunno what the rules are now. We used to need one to rent a car, or to get road insurance. I always got by with my Navy ID card and usually wound up renting a 'beer-can'- a kinda cheap & tinny SEAT 500 (Spanish-built FIAT). Charlie? Any late word on the requirements?


US Driver's license is good for 6 months... if you'll be living in Europe for more than that you need to do something, but for a month you don't need anything.

There exist International Driver's Licenses, which are issued by the AAA, but they really don't offer any advantage and aren't required.
markcharltonmarkcharltonOld enough to know better and still young enough not to care. My '71 Pantera
Thanks Jack. I knew it sounded too easy... Smiler It was fun thinking about for a while. I still think it would be cool to go there and buy an older car to enjoy there and bring back after the trip. It would have to be something worth more here than there, which these days is pretty slim pickings.

Charlie is correct based on my understanding. The only real purpose of the AAA International Licences is to translate your driving information into various languages as a courtesy to foreign (local) authorities.
davidbdavidbMember
1 - I got a "temporary import" status visa to send one of my cars to LA for some work, promising to visit customs on my way back into Canada - in effect proving that it was returned within the year of the visa. As it happenned, I ended up selling the car for US$ which at that time were considerable higher than ours. I just paid some taxes and fees to change the status and get clearance to sell it. Very minor and just required a few phone calls and faxes of paperwork.

2 - An Int'l driver's license is easy for anyone to get from AAA or here in Canada through CAA. It has a very important hidden use. If / when you lose your license for a bad speeding offense, you simply switch over to the Int'l license and if you get stopped you mention that you are in the process of moving. It was a great help to me in the past.
bosswrenchbosswrenchMember
snip.... - An Int'l driver's license is easy for anyone to get from AAA or here in Canada through CAA. It has a very important hidden use. If / when you lose your license for a bad speeding offense, you simply switch over to the Int'l license and if you get stopped you mention that you are in the process of moving. It was a great help to me in the past....

Yup. WAy-off-topic but when we lived in the Chicago area, a Korean co-worker got out of innumerable tickets that way. When stopped by the infamous Chicago cops, all he would say in english is. "I want to go to the Embassy!" Then he would recite a poem or a lunch recipe in Korean. The cop would look at the (expired) Korean license, listen to god-knows-what in Korean, swear at him and yell 'GIDDOUDA MY AREA!" with no ticket, assuming he had diplomatic immunity. 'Course, many Europeans still think all Americans are rich so this may not work as smoothly as it did for Kim.
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