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I'll answer the question for Tony; It's easy and cheap to ship cars. I just shipped my wifes 3 ton Mercedes 450 SL to Florida from Wisconsin so she could drive it over the winter. Cost less than $700. I've had a car shipped from South Africa for less than $2500!! You should contact Frank Howard in Minneapolis, he can answer all questions pertaining to Lotus and Minnesota motor vehicle regs. I seriously doubt that street licensing a
Caterham or Birkin is any problem as there are several in Minneapolis. The Caterham's are really nice if price is no object but the Birkin's are a much better buy because of the exchange rate. Very well made cars (you can look up my article on the Birkin Factory in Lotus ReMarque, I believe it was published in 2001. You really should drive both of them before deciding. Attend the LOG in Birmingham in May and I'm absolutely certain people will let you try out their cars if they know you're interested in buying one. Dick Brink (Birkin) almost always attends and brings a demo car. A side note. Caterham is the only company licensed by Lotus Cars to build a Seven. Team Lotus (the then racing division of Lotus Cars) visited South Africa in the '60's for a race and saw a replica that was built by John Watson.They gave him permission to build replica Sevens to be sold in South Africa as import restrictions were so tight that it was not economically feasible to import them from the UK. There was a considerable internal row about that seemingly innocent on the spot decision back at Lotus headquarters. Caterham later sued Birkin in South Africa to prevent them from building replica Sevens but Birkin won the case in South African court. Controversy still exists over there "right" to sell the cars in other markets. Birkin is a great company and build a first rate product. It used to be that if you called the factory, they would accomodate special requests and custom options...Dave
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