If you ship your vintage car, it does not matter whether you ship your vintage car within the country or internationally. Both national and international transport requires your classic car to be carefully prepared for its journey on a van and in a container. If you follow our steps to prepare a classic car for shipment, you can avoid damage during transportation by land, sea, delays and lost documents.
Who transports your vintage car?
You wouldn’t just entrust your valuable vintage car to any freight forwarder or best shipping from us to singapore company, would you? First of all, you should take a close look at the company to ensure a safe and smooth vehicle transport. Start searching for company ratings on Google and check out other online platforms such as Yelp, Facebook, and Auto Online Forums.
Most shipping companies transport cars with partner companies in your area that have been thoroughly checked. These carriers work directly with the shipping company to collect all their customers’ cars. These forwarders usually have experience in transporting classic cars, know how to handle them, and know how to handle them carefully to avoid damage before and during transport. Other shipping companies simply hire brokers, who in turn look for the cheapest transporter in your area.
As you may have guessed, the cheapest vans may not be the best solution for your valuable vintage car. The carriers who hire brokers tend to be the ones who frequently transport salvage vehicles from auctions and rarely touch a classic. Very few shipping companies operate their own trucks and trailers due to the immense cost of covering the entire United States.
Will your insurance cover your car during transportation?
Most classic car owners don’t own a millionaire Ferrari that requires special insurance for transportation. But classic cars worth over $100,000 can already reach the insurance limit of most car carriers. Therefore, it is safer to use a transporter that specializes in vintage cars. Vintage car transporters will most likely have insurance coverage of approximately $500,000 to over $5 million. However, keep in mind that the insurance limit covers all cars on your trailer, not just your car.
Contact your forwarder and ask what the company is taking over. If your vehicle has a higher value than your carrier’s insurance would cover, you may want to take out a special oldtimer insurance policy – this also needs to be clarified with your carrier.
How is your classic car transported?
Almost all new and used cars are transported on open carriers. As the name suggests, these are vans that transport an open trailer that can carry between 1 and 6 cars. This is the most economical way to transport a car. An open trailer will expose your car to the weather, rocks and dirt. While this may not be a problem for new cars that are still covered with plastic, or used cars that have already experienced a lot, it is possible that your vintage car may be damaged.
A safer method of transporting a classic car is closed transport
Your classic is in a closed trailer that provides cover and protection under harsh environmental conditions. It also keeps the sun and stones away from this pristine paint. An enclosed carrier is always more expensive than an open carrier because less of it is available, and usually they carry the most valuable cars. Closed trailers are preferred for vehicle transport at auctions, concourses and by vintage car collectors.
But how do you transport a vintage car that is no longer functional and can no longer drive?
If your vintage car does not start, you must inform the driver. If the vehicle does not start due to an empty battery, the transporter can carry a jump start battery with it, with which it can start your classic car. However, if there are mechanical problems with the vehicle, the carrier will not attempt to start your vintage car. Instead, he will use a winch and attach it to the vintage car’s chassis and then pull it onto the trailer.
Normally all forwarders specialising in vintage car transport have such a winch with them, but we recommend that you contact your forwarder beforehand and tell them that your car needs a winch. As soon as your car arrives at its destination, the transporter will use the winch again to slowly transport it down from the trailer. If a van insists on using a forklift truck to pick up and unload the car, you know that it is not an experienced classic car carrier. Forklift trucks tend to damage the fragile underside of classic cars, and in normal cases they cannot be used to transport a classic car. But there are a few ways a forklift can help.
If the shipping company uses a forklift to support wooden blocks or a pallet under the vehicle against the metal forks, you can lift the vintage car undamaged. Some project cars or heavily rusted vehicles are moved to avoid damage. Another way a classic car can be moved with a forklift truck is a wheel suspension. This allows the shipping company to move your car by simply lifting the front or rear tyres and moving the vehicle while it is idling.
