The European financial crisis has created a flood of second-hand exotic-cars reaching our shores.
More than 800 exotic cars worth nearly $100 million have come into Australia in the last five years under the Registered Automotive Workshop Scheme (RAWS), which operates outside conventional manufacturer and dealer networks, with rules that offer the best compromise between providing safe vehicles for the Australian car buyer and allowing collectors to import rare or unusual vehicles for personal use and ownership.
The cars are imported by a handful of workshops spread across the country as well as private owners who have owned the vehicle in Europe for at least 12 months. Imported cars undergo a local compliance procedure that involve minor changes, including swapping speedometers that display kilometres rather than miles per hour (MPH).
The imported super-cars are mechanically identical to the ones sold through Australian dealerships at a much higher cost, but this price honeymoon is not going to last much longer as Europe recovers from its current recession.