ADVICE NEEDED - TLC _ troop carriers

[PJC]

Is it possible to register one of these vehicles in the UK? I am interested in buying one at auction in OZ and then either shipping to SA and driving to the UK/ or shipping to Inida nad then driving to UK.

I have spoken to Toyota in Gib who still do the troopies for UN, NGo's etc and the sales staff reckon that you can not register it in the UK?? Any ideas

[Roman]

With a few simple conversions (if required, eg dim/dip beam, calibration in miles vs km, etc.) there shouldn't be a problem to register it as private import. The fact is that this model is virtually non-existent as far as the Toyota UK dealer network is concerned. This still is not a big problem as most low volume parts normally need to be imported from the Toyota European depo in Bruxelles. Whether it is done by Toyota UK or privately does not make much difference. IMHO this is a small price to pay for a great car like the 78!

Rgds,
Roman (UK)

[Chris Scott]

Australia in RHD so no dip hassles but I do wonder about the emissions thing - its a non turbo - I know its killed them in Europe but the UK is not so strict, all you have to do is get an MoT at the right place.

Warning - they are quite a juicy on the fuel but of course go on forever. For all the hassles tho, I think I'd sooner by a nice 80 in the UK. They're not so bad either.

I should have a feature on 78s (+ a Discovery Td5) in Aust in Link House 4x4 magazine in a few months

Ch

[Toby2]

Bought a Landrover in Aus and imported that back to the Uk, guess it will be fairly similar to importing a Landcruiser.

1) You don't need to change the speedo from kms to miles, its perfectly acceptable to have a vehicle in Uk running on km speedo. I did at one stage get told that I had to and it cost a bit to buy a replacement unit. Its not necassary unless you personally want to.

2) Because Aus is right hand drive, you shouldn't have to change anything else either. I think the only change I had to have was either a rear fog light or a reversing light. The LR didn't have one but LC may have these as standard.

Potentially the showstopper is round emissions. Aparently one of the reasons Toyota don't sell the 75 / 78 series in the UK is that they use to much fuel to be able to sell them in significant numbers to justify the cost of Toyota making them meet UK standards including emissions.

However individual imports don't have to meet the requirements that general manufacturers have to meet and therefore it might be possible. To resolve that you need to get onto a MOT testing station, ask about their emissions testing.

[PeterM]

With EuroIII-Standards becoming mandatory, the 1-HZ engine is gone. There are still possibilities to import single vehicles under "personal belonging"-exemptions if you meet specific criteria (living abroad for min 12 mths, keeping the car for a certain period after returning, etc). Check these rules aut in advance.

Peter

[PJC]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I am looking at a couple of HJ60/61's this weekend (87 & 89 models) with a view to getting it prepped for a trip early next year.

Regards

Paul