6 car transport

I am currently looking into buying a 6 car collection of cars.  Here is the problem.  A tree came down in the last big Fl Hurricane and crushed or damaged 4 of them.  None of them have been on the road in years.  They are restoration/parts cars/vin donors.  There is also a barn full of parts.  Any thoughts on whether I could hire someone with one of those double stacker transporters to move all 6 of them from Fl. to Ma.  At the very least, I would have to fly down and make sure they are all at least able to roll and then load the spares in a big box truck for the return trip.  I would also have to send out a plea for help from any and all local GRMers.  Am I nuts, or would I be a fool to let them get away just because of logistics?  Not sure how the wife take it if I dragged home 6 more.

Umm, the last question is the first one I would want answered.

Maybe your situation is different. Or is about to be if you don't address that.

Just some thoughts.

Sounds like a lot of work - and expense - for parts and VIN donors. They'd have to be approaching exotic level for that to be worthwhile I would think. 

And yeah, the domestic side of your question needs answered first.  

Idea.  For parts cars drive down with your tools, strip everything, chop up, toss in box truck, scrap down there, drive box truck back with parts and whatever you drove down on trailer.  

What type of cars are they. 

Here is a Jacksonville, FL based independent shipper that I met through uShip that moved a car for me in the past, mentioned in this thread .  I would just contact him directly.  I know for sure he has both open and closed two car trailers.  He might have larger.  If not, he certainly knows people in the industry.  

Note: it cost a lot more to ship non-running car than it does for cars that really run.  The non-runners create a real problem for loading and unloading so expect to pay for these "problems" and the extra work they create.  

I'll second the idea to cut them up down here. That's a long way to haul a car when you're not going to be using it anyway. With a weekend's worth of work you could turn six cars into two and a uhaul. 

Also know that a Uhaul box truck with car hauler trailer behind it, moved one way, will cost in the range of $1k, before fuel.  

I shudder to think what it would cost to get 6 non-running cars from FL to MA.  Those VINs and parts better be pretty valuable. 

I'm assuming you're looking at an old collection of TR7/8's?  

I don't think it's worth it, unless these are rare and valuable cars.  

please stop using the phrase "VIN donors" even if that's what you're going to do with them there's no need to post that on a public forum

If they are TRs, then they are worth it!

How big are these cars ?

they make 40-45ft long sea containers , 

9 1/2 ft high for the high cubes , 

we put  6   VWs in a container one time by taking off the rims  etc  and building a 2nd floor.

None of these cars ran , but they did roll and we used come-a-longs to pull them in  , 

We also put the container up to an unused loading ramp , 

You could rent a flatbed tow truck for the day that could drag out each car ,  back up to the container and then winch it into the container ......repeat , repeat.......then throw in the parts and build 2nd floor wirh paltet racks and plywood , we used 4x4s and plywood since my buddy did construction.....

Its a hell of a lot of work !  But you can do it 

This was before Covid ,  you are going to need some strong day laborers  and no idea how you do this 6 ft away from each other.....

Patrick (Forum Supporter) said:

Idea.  For parts cars drive down with your tools, strip everything, chop up, toss in box truck, scrap down there, drive box truck back with parts and whatever you drove down on trailer.  

This is what I was going to say. Maybe rent a garage for a couple days (any local friends?) pull all the parts you want, take the leftover shells one by one to the scrapyard (get cash), load all the stuff you actually want into a box truck and trailer. 

irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:

Patrick (Forum Supporter) said:

Idea.  For parts cars drive down with your tools, strip everything, chop up, toss in box truck, scrap down there, drive box truck back with parts and whatever you drove down on trailer.  

This is what I was going to say. Maybe rent a garage for a couple days (any local friends?) pull all the parts you want, take the leftover shells one by one to the scrapyard (get cash), load all the stuff you actually want into a box truck and trailer. 

Oooh, I'll enable the shop space for a couple cars at a time inside (plenty of space outside for more) if it's close to Clearwater.  Where is it?

The cars are 3 TR8 coupes and 3 TR7 coupes.  As fas as rarity, they made less than 400 TR8 coupesand they are highly sought after worldwide.  Maybe 225 are known to still exist.  5 of them are in my garage now.  2 of the Florida TR8s are damaged and 2 of the TR7s are damaged.  Could care less about the TR7s.  They are parts cars unless they are in extremely good shape.  The TR8s are worth restoring if at all possible. If not, then they become parts/vin donors for TR8 race cars.  I have 3 of those already.  Rules allow you to build a TR8 out of a TR7, you just need a real TR8 VIN for the logbooks.  Real TR8 parts are extremely hard to find.  Things like power steering racks, battery boxes, V8 tachs, subframes, only come up for sale when a TR8 dies.  You want to do a proper TR7 V8 conversion?  Somewhere along the line a TR8 had to die to make it happen.  You can fake it and use repro parts in some cases.  You can take a TR7 tach and change a resistor on it to read 8 cyl instead of 4 cyl, but the red line is in the wrong spot.  They make repro subframes, but they are not as good as the originals.

In reply to tr8todd :

That's kinda what I figured you found. You know as well as anyone what the values of them are and whether the expense will be worth it. Hard to say much more without knowing the condition and the quality/quantity of the additional parts stash.  

The idea of a shipping container (or maybe two) has some merit.  Could load the containers and then have them trucked up to MA.  Should be easier to load up than a wheeled trailer, although I do understand you need to secure everything well for when it gets loaded (dragged at an angle) onto the truck.

This is what I'd think about doing, put all six on one trailer..  ;)

Where in FL are they?

tr8todd said:

The cars are 3 TR8 coupes and 3 TR7 coupes.  As fas as rarity, they made less than 400 TR8 coupesand they are highly sought after worldwide.  Maybe 225 are known to still exist.  5 of them are in my garage now.  2 of the Florida TR8s are damaged and 2 of the TR7s are damaged.  Could care less about the TR7s.  They are parts cars unless they are in extremely good shape.  The TR8s are worth restoring if at all possible. If not, then they become parts/vin donors for TR8 race cars.  I have 3 of those already.  Rules allow you to build a TR8 out of a TR7, you just need a real TR8 VIN for the logbooks.  Real TR8 parts are extremely hard to find.  Things like power steering racks, battery boxes, V8 tachs, subframes, only come up for sale when a TR8 dies.  You want to do a proper TR7 V8 conversion?  Somewhere along the line a TR8 had to die to make it happen.  You can fake it and use repro parts in some cases.  You can take a TR7 tach and change a resistor on it to read 8 cyl instead of 4 cyl, but the red line is in the wrong spot.  They make repro subframes, but they are not as good as the originals.

All those words boil down to: you have 3 vehicles (TR8's) to move. Don't mess with moving the 7's

Mexican train.  It’s the only game.  All other solutions just seem lame.  Hook em all up one by one.  When you get home you’ll have loads of fun.  Drive at night to avoid the troopers.  You’ll need to stay stealth and avoid any bloopers.  When the time comes, we’ll all know.  The Mexican train is the way to go.

yes.  I’ve had a few.

In reply to A 401 CJ :

Most logical so far.  

I'm always up for an adventure.  PM or text me F250 then 6003 of the 904 area.  

Time for one of these:

Lots of car haulers sitting idle right now,  it's going to cost a lot though to move all of that. A couple box trucks with trailers can get it all home though....