Trans am,s in the UK!!!

**neal455** · 02-28-2007, 01:23 PM

Hi all my name is neal and i live in the UK near London.
I have 2, yes 2 99 WS6 black manual T/a's !!
One has an ATI procharger and 19 inch rims and the other has usual airbox lid and filter, Borla cat back a power tune and Torq Thrust 2's !!
These cars are rare over here so i get stopped every day by people wanting to know what the car is.
Friend also has a 02 Z28 auto so we make up about 25% of the uk F body LS1 gang i think ! Just remember we pay $10 plus for a gallon of fuel . . . .so think yourselves lucky over there!!

**Y2KPewterSS** · 02-28-2007, 01:32 PM

Very cool that you found your way to the site

Got any pics of your TA's?

**neal455** · 02-28-2007, 01:50 PM

Yep i sure have !!
Wanna see em?

**Tyler_LS1** · 02-28-2007, 05:02 PM

Welcome!

Thats a ton of money for gas!

**Jane_says** · 02-28-2007, 05:16 PM

too bad hardly anything else on the road over there could even call itself competition in a race

**neal455** · 03-05-2007, 02:08 AM

Hello just been to Spain for a couple of days and bumped into a C5 Corvette! Over in Europe most countrys charge road tax by either CC's (engine displacement) or horse power. He said it cost him huge amounts to have it there.
In Ireland a Trans am will cost 2500 euro's to tax or $3280 !!

And thats is just to be able to drive it with out insurance or a MOT (car test)
you guys are soooo lucky !!

**Too Fast** · 03-05-2007, 03:01 AM

WOW I thought gas across the pond was more like $5-6. Welcome to this sight! Glad to see some F-bodies over there, I know there are some others but not too many. How are the laws regarding emissions? Can you put LT headers on it, for example? Do they do visual/emissions testing?

**neal455** · 03-06-2007, 01:22 AM

Fuel in the uk today is £.93 a litre or $1.79 so 4.5 litres in a METRIC gallon (its a little bigger than Imp gallon) gives you $8.15. Damn!
The biggest problem in the uk for Trans am's are the rear lights! We have to have them flash orange not red so we either have to cut the originals up, convert the back up lamps to flash orange or what alot of guys do is stick very thin orange/yellow LED under the original lamp where the WS6 badge would go to flash at the same time. Camaro's are easy to do as they were imported with the right rear lamps, dont thet have orange indicators?
My Trans am's i have a set of UK legal lamps which i swap in for the test and go back to the normall ones afterwards. Not so legal but hey!!
On the emissions side we are lucky! If it is made after Aug 93 it should have a cat and there is a "general" rating for exhaust gasses.Its not very difficult to get through, any properly set up engine will pass. Other than that any thing goes! The MOT test here is easy to get through, specally if you know the tester!!! I got my Borla exhaust through on wide open setting as the tester couldnt find the "shut up the police are coming" switch!
another problem that is a real pain is tyres! 275 40 17 is not a uk size so that makes them expensive as they are special import for the states!

**7camaro7** · 03-06-2007, 06:28 AM

Originally Posted by neal455

Hi all my name is neal and i live in the UK near London.
I have 2, yes 2 99 WS6 black manual T/a's !!
One has an ATI procharger and 19 inch rims and the other has usual airbox lid and filter, Borla cat back a power tune and Torq Thrust 2's !!
These cars are rare over here so i get stopped every day by people wanting to know what the car is.
Friend also has a 02 Z28 auto so we make up about 25% of the uk F body LS1 gang i think ! Just remember we pay $10 plus for a gallon of fuel . . . .so think yourselves lucky over there!!

I saw a red t/a over there in london about 4years ago and one mustang.

**lrader99** · 03-06-2007, 07:49 AM

last time i was in the UK was a few years ago..how do you drive that thing on the road as i remember yall's roads arnt as wide as ours are...gotta be weird driving from the wrong side of the car...glad to have yall here

**neal455** · 03-06-2007, 10:18 AM

well it aint too bad really! my old old car (74 super Duty Trans Am) was much worse as it didnt stop or go round corners!!
Now drive a 69 Charger over here and thats a whole different story . . .

**hamburger68** · 03-06-2007, 02:23 PM

Well hello to the island!

nice to have more fellow europeans in here!
my situation here in hamburg is pretty similar to your's, although there are a few more f-bodys around (mostly v6). very few TAs, Z28s or SSs.

I've been to spain in my car fall 2005, i saw no other f-body over there and only one other us-car.
how does getting parts work for you?

**neal455** · 03-06-2007, 03:10 PM

Hi ! parts are easy i import the difficult stuff from the states as a friend has an export company but general stuff is always avalible!!
Let me know if your having problems!!

**neal455** · 03-06-2007, 03:12 PM

Enjoy your Z !!

**ColdWS6** · 03-07-2007, 11:34 AM

If you ever need parts small to large let me know as I have UK crews switching on and off over here from Calgary to Aberdeen on a monthly basis. Could save you some cash in shipping costs!

ColdWS6

**hamburger68** · 03-07-2007, 01:53 PM

Originally Posted by neal455

Enjoy your Z !!

thanks!

actually, i have the same approach on parts, i just avoid the authorized gm dealerships due to ridiculous pricing. but yeah, if you got problems to get anything, i'd be happy to help! got a couple of good sources here, too.

you keep enjoying your exotic rides!

**neal455** · 03-07-2007, 04:14 PM

Thanks to you coldws6 !!

**Too Fast** · 03-07-2007, 06:30 PM

Originally Posted by neal455

Fuel in the uk today is £.93 a litre or $1.79 so 4.5 litres in a METRIC gallon (its a little bigger than Imp gallon) gives you $8.15. Damn!
The biggest problem in the uk for Trans am's are the rear lights! We have to have them flash orange not red so we either have to cut the originals up, convert the back up lamps to flash orange or what alot of guys do is stick very thin orange/yellow LED under the original lamp where the WS6 badge would go to flash at the same time. Camaro's are easy to do as they were imported with the right rear lamps, dont thet have orange indicators?
My Trans am's i have a set of UK legal lamps which i swap in for the test and go back to the normall ones afterwards. Not so legal but hey!!
On the emissions side we are lucky! If it is made after Aug 93 it should have a cat and there is a "general" rating for exhaust gasses.Its not very difficult to get through, any properly set up engine will pass. Other than that any thing goes! The MOT test here is easy to get through, specally if you know the tester!!! I got my Borla exhaust through on wide open setting as the tester couldnt find the "shut up the police are coming" switch!
another problem that is a real pain is tyres! 275 40 17 is not a uk size so that makes them expensive as they are special import for the states!

Sounds like a Pain in the Ass about the lights. Strange how they require the turnsignals to be only orange. Seems like any flashing light on one side would indicate a turn, but that is what we are used to over here.
Gas prices have fallen a little recently here, to about $2.50/gallon for Shell 93 octane.
I hear ya about the tyre price, it is almost $1,000 for a set of Goodyear F1 GS D3 here. I don't smoke them much at that price, but it sure is fun when I do. I get almost 30k per set.