The DKW Arrives

The Tijuca arrived in Fremantle in the early hours of 2 February 2012. She stayed in port long enough to unload her cargo before setting sail for Melbourne that very day. I was quite surprised at the speed of the turnaround as I see plenty of cargo carriers parked dockside for days. I had intended to ride down and see the ship unloading but it wasn't to be.

Cargo Online handled all the import paperwork, Customs and the obligatory Quarantine inspection. Quarantine can request vehicles be steam cleaned and this can take up to a week to arrange. Fortunately I had arranged with Marcelo to have the car thoroughly cleaned before it was shipped so Quarantined passed the car.

Only authorized drivers are allowed dockside so Jason from Cargo Online organized for the car to be delivered directly to our house. It was dropped off on Tuesday 7th February 2012.

Rolling down the ramp

This is my first view of the car as I arrived home after work.



The walk around. Although there are some little flaws in the paintwork the car DOES look as good as it did in the pics from South Africa.

The interior is all original and unrestored.

Settling in behind the wheel. It still has that old car smell that I remember from my old EH Holden (1963); the smell of real leather upholstery.

The moment of truth! The transporter driver said the battery was flat but clearly he didn't know how to start it. I inserted the key, turned it to 'Fahrt', pressed the starter button and the engine whirred into life. I was surprised how quiet the engine was. It simply purrs.

DKW Shipping: https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2012/01/das-auto-kommt.html
DKW Repairs: https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2012/02/dkw-repairs-and-spares.html

Das Auto Kommt

After almost three months the DKW is finally on its way. The lengthiest part of the process was obtaining the import approval from the Commonwealth Department of Infrastructure. The usual timeline for processing an application for import approval is between four and six weeks. In my case it took slightly longer at seven weeks, but I guess that's within an acceptable margin.
http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/vehicle_regulation/bulletin/importing_vehicles/general/index.aspx

The time it takes to turn around an international car sale certainly makes it an unattractive proposition for the seller. Without Marcelo's patience and willingness to help this process would have been impossible. He assisted with organising the South African police clearances, insurance, vehicle inspections and valuations as well liaising directly with the shipping agents. Thanks Marcelo for all your help.

For shipping I used Cargo Online, who were also very helpful. Thank you Scott for your advice. http://www.cargoonline.com.au/. Most of the legwork was done by Maurita of Lochhead White and Womersley Pty Ltd in Durban, who co-ordinated things on the South African side. Thank you Maurita for all your good work.

The cost of shipping from Johannesburg was almost half the price of the car as vehicles need to be shipped in a container, which inevitably requires specialised handling with all associated costs. It's much cheaper to ship as 'roll-on,roll-off' cargo from ports so we arranged to transport the DKW on a car carrier from Johannesburg to Durban. The car was picked up in Johannesburg on Monday 16th January and dropped off in Durban on Wednesday 19th. As long as there are no delays with the ship, she will be loaded on the MV Tijuca on Thursday or Friday.

A week prior to pick up the DKW was steam cleaned to remove any dirt from the underside.

The final inspection before shipping at Marcelo's house.

Photographs and a vehicle condition report noting any scratches and scrapes were provided to the shipping agent for insurance purposes.



Two boxes of spares and manuals in the boot.

Steam cleaned engine bay. This should satisfy the Australian Quarantine Services.

The car goes onto the carrier. It's with no little sense of irony that she shared the journey with a new Audi! Now I just hope and pray that the Tijuca doesn't hit a rock or an iceberg.