'86 Monte Carlo SS from the Netherlands

[DutchSS]

I want to introduce me and my new '86 Monte Carlo SS.

My name is Antoon and as you can see from my nick, I live in the Netherlands.
After having sold my two '78 Cadillac Seville Elegantes, I have been looking for something new to fill the empty space.
For some time I had been looking for a black Monte Carlo SS and in August last year I found this one close to Dallas, TX.
Technically I'm the second owner. The first owner owned the car from new until his death and his widdow sold the car to car dealer, from whom I bought the car.

The sale was made and I had it transported to Buffalo, TX by Dutch people who run a transport company, specialized in transporting cars and parts to the Netherlands.

There it was stored until all the paperwork was ready and they had space in a container.

December 15, the car was loaded in the container. After almost 4 months finally on it's way to Europe!

Three weeks later it arrived in a rainy Holland.

Then it was time to pick up the car from the shipper and bring it to it's new home.

Now the car is stored in a garage, waiting until it's 25th birthday next August. Over here in the Netherlands a car is considered an 'oldtimer' when it is 25 years old. For an oldtimer you don't have to pay road tax and insurance will be cheaper. Because I have some other cars as well, I will wait registering the car.

The interiour look (almost) new and under the hood everything is original. I'm sure this car will draw some attention on the Dutch roads when I'm driving it.

I'll keep you updated!

 

[Qdub24]

Welcome to the board and that is a b-e-a-utiful SS you got there. I hope you enjoy it.

 

[DutchSS]

@Qdub24: Thanks!

What I forgot to mention is that the car only has 50.800 miles on it. From everything on and in the car you can see that the previous owner babied the car very much.

And because I'm a documentation idiot, I bought the 'Service Manual' and 'Parts and illustration catalog' as well.
The 'Parts and illustration catalog' is about three times thicker than the 'Service Manual'
Normally it will cost a fortune to ship 7.5Kg of paper from the US to the Netherlands, but the shipper allowed the books in the trunk of the car for free

 

[SonOfRDgear]

That's really cool to see people passionate enough to have a car shipped to Europe! I certainly bet it will turn a lot of heads .
By the way if that car is as clean underneath as it is on top, then all I can say is that is one pristine SS. I guess you wouldn't have gone through all the trouble of shipping a rust bucket. Looks like its found a good home and I hope you enjoy it.

 

[kuruption109]

:shock: :shock: very nice ride.. good score welcome aboard.. enjoy ur new toy

 

[brettlaage03]

It will definitely turn some heads. Are you gonna leave it all stock? It looks too nice to mod.

 

[Longroof79]

Welcome aboard Antoon. Very nice Monte SS. Good score. Buying the service manuals was also a smart move.

 

[trevorjm]

That's a really nice car, welcome! That's really cool it's in the Netherlands too, I know of a clone someone made in France. Are American muscle cars popular there?

 

[kornball426]

Wow that is awesome bet you'll be the only person on your block to have one of those. :lol: Welcome to the boards hope to see you around!

I'm just curious so tell me if I'm out of line, but how much did it cost to ship a car to Europe? I thought about going to Europe and starting a business to ship old American muscle cars there because I know there's interest in them. Plus if I was going to live in a new place I'd have to bring a piece of home with me... Namely my cars.

I'm sure that Monte SS is going to turn some serious head over there I'm sure it's not everyday people there see something like that.

Edit:

Are people in Holland big time motor heads/petrol heads(British term) like Americans?

I don't know if you get American Tv channels over there but if you do, those Dutch shippers are they the same guys that were on Desert valley Car Kings? There's these two Dutch brothers that run a company that brings a lot of American classic cars and car parts to Holland that were featured on a Tv show here. I forget their names but they seemed like pretty cool dudes, and the show is filmed in Phoenix Arizona which isn't all that far from Texas so I'm just curious... then again I live in the North East USA not the South West so maybe there's a lot of Dutch people down there I don't know. Seems like a pretty big coincidence though.

Second edit: Do you have any pictures of that 73 vette? My brother had a 74 vette, my uncle had a 68 convertible, and I had a 72 for a very short time I wish I still had it I should never have sold it but I needed money. Of course I'm sure a classic vette is a lot more special in Holland than the USA. :lol:

 

[DutchSS]

Wow, thank you for so many warm welcome messages!
This will be a lengthy answer to answer all your questions.

@SonOfRDgear: Infact a lot of cars are shipped to Europe or Holland specifically. To ship, import and register an American car over here is not as difficult as it looks. It just takes time and some money.

@brettlaage03 and kornball426: I like to drive 'different' cars than others. Over here I only know one other Monte Carlo SS, so I will not be the only one in my block, but one of the only ones in Holland. 8)
I found my '92 Eldorado in Norco, CA. Strangely we have many Cadillac Seville STS and SLS over here, but almost no Eldorado's.
I don't know if it is appropriate to post pictures of non-g-bodies here. Please accept my ignorance......

brettlaage03:

@trevorjm: We have a pretty big American car scene over here (compared to the size of our country of course). Please take a look at the pictures of one of the bigger meetings over here.
Edition April and May
Please click on the yellow links on the left to see more.
This meeting is held once per month in the middel of Holland and on a beautiful day, over 800 cars will be present.

kornball426: To ship a car is between $1000 and $2000, depending on the location in the US (distance to an harbor and if the harbor is on the East or West coast) and the length of the car (how many will fit in one container).
My '92 Eldorado was delivered to the harbor in LA by the previous owner, so shipping was only the container cost, $1600.
The Monte had to be picked up just south of Dallas, but was shipped from Houston, also $1600.
Roll on/roll off is cheaper than a container. From Jacksonville, Fl, Roll on/roll off is available from $1000.

As I wrote a bit higher, for sure we have some motor heads over here. I don't think as much as in the US, but quite some. In general, Dutch motorists will go for cheap, high milage standard cars, but you always have some idiots (like me :wink: )

It's funny that you talk about the Desert Valley Car Kings. We don't have American TV chanels over here, but luckily most series are offered for download (usenet) and I just downloaded some episodes of Desert Valley Car Kings. I watched 4 of 5 episodes now, but I didn't see the brothers that you talk about. Maybe in one of the later episodes.
The company that I used this time is USA2Ned, they are based on the Holland Ranch in Buffalo, TX. They are a Dutch couple, so no brothers.......
If you want to see what they have shipped to Holland, please click here.

This is my '73 Vette:

About this car I can write many pages, but as this is a G-body forum, I'll stay with the highlights.
When I was a young boy, I already knew that one day I wanted to own a Corvette!
In Feb. 2001, (we just bought a new house with garage in Oct. 2000) I was layed off and I was given some compensation money. From this money I bought my Corvette
This car made me a petrol head and I had great fun with it and still have when I drive it, which is not too often......
Then in Dec. 2004 our daughter was born. Then we had a problem, the Corvette has only two chairs :?. Then you can sell the Corvette and buy a bigger car or just buy an extra (bigger) car. That is what I did. I bought a '78 Cadillac Seville Elegante.
This car I loved so much that I build a website: http://www.cadillacseville.org
Because I drove the Seville every day, it became worse very quick. (I also didn't check the car too good before buying.....), so I went looking for a replacement.
That is when the '92 Eldorado arrived with 72K miles(Dec. 2008).

Then in the beginning of last year I sold my Seville (from which I also had a parts car) and my wife wanted an SUV. After some time we found the '95 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited 5.2 V8 with just under 100K miles, but that was the wifes car and I had one empty garage, so I went looking for........ See the top of this page :wink:

When you watch the pictures of the meetings above, you will notice a lot of (classic) Corvettes. Normally on the streets you don't see them too much, but on meetings, I think the biggest population is Corvettes. Next to that Mustangs. The man from USA2Ned told me that Mustangs are most popular (based on his shipping numbers).