Transporting Cars

On another post, JDW talked about getting a rig & moving cars around...then y'day a guy came by my place to look at one of my GT's tha's for sale...he has just brought his old high school car down from Chicago to restore & its body is shot...said he paid a Memphis trucking company $1700 to bring it from Chi-town to Huntsville...told him I wish I'd known he needed it moved 'cause I would've moved it for quite a bit less!!

Both got me to thinking...I've got my small trailer that's designed for Midgets, A's & B's...& my large trailer that'll haul any size car....all I need is a new full-size diesel truck & I can go anywhere to pick up a car....hmmmmmmmm

let's see $1 per mile with a minimum $250 pickup fee...hmmmm...whadda ya think, JDW?

Tony: Not a bad idea, but (being the wet blanket that I am) have you checked on insurance for this venture, yet? AL Bradley

If I had going what you do I wouldn't even consider it. A buck a mile is a little steep. When I had that 914 I nearly bought one without an engne or tranny, but a solid customized body out of California. The dealer told me he could ship it to me for $700.00; that's about 2,000 miles. Transporting stictly for hire is a grind you down business and won't leave you any time for your LBCs, believe me, I see these transport guys every week. What I was talking about is more of an opportunity to travel and see the country with a motorhome and trailer or a dovetail diesel and a camping trailer. I would charge total expenses, insurance by the day and everything, plus a little extra for people on this board and a little more extra for strangers. I count everyone here as cyberfriends, at the least, and therein lies the difference.

That's the guy you E mailed me about. He desided he wanted the car closer to home so he could monitor the progress. I think he took it to a place called the toy store. The driver told me he was afraid there wasn't going to be anything left when he got to Bama. He said it was falling apart.

Tom...that's the guy...I tried to talk him out of The Toy Store but he wanted it nearby....he's already seeing the problems I told him about...yes, they've got it running pretty good & did suggest he go find a donor bodyshell (he's gonna buy one of mine)...but, they quoted him $7000 for the paint & that's after they disassemble! I gave him the name of a good bodyman & told him to tell them to use his choice, not theirs! $7,000 is too much to paint one of my bodyshells that dsoesn't need anything except floors (& they're charging him extra for floors & rust removal!)...

I have followed some of their work. He had better keep a good eye on them, and do some reading so he will know what to look for. I have restored cars for people in Ohio and Fla. They just had to trust me and believe I would live up to my reputation. By the way both of them picked their cars up and drove them home trouble free. I put 1000 miles on the cars to get all the bugs out, and there will be some, before I give the cars to a customer that far away.

Tony, when I was buying the A in Houston, the cheapest I could find was 700 to 800 dollars. As for insurance, I seem to remember it was my responsibility. Luckily I was able to pay the seller to deliver it..for a fee of course, but not as bad as the transporters.

See. David...another reason why that A coupe needs to become part of "theAutoist MG Museum" collection!