Classic cars · USA

How to import an American muscle car or pick-up to the UK

A car or pick-up built in the USA pays 10% customs duty and 20% import VAT, because the UK has no trade deal that cuts duty on American vehicles. An original classic can pay 0% duty and 5% VAT instead, but only if it is at least 30 years old, unmodified and of a model no longer in production, so restomods and engine swaps usually miss out. Over 10 years old it needs no vehicle approval, but the lights often need work to meet UK rules.

Updated 27 September 2026 · Published 5 August 2026 · 8 min read

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1. What you pay: 10% duty and 20% VAT

On the UK tariff, a used petrol car over 3,000cc, the typical V8, pays 10% third country duty. Pick-ups classed as goods vehicles also pay 10% (for example 8704 31 39 00). There is no preferential rate for goods of US origin on these codes. The 2025 UK and US Economic Prosperity Deal set a quota for UK-built cars going into the USA; it did not lower UK duty on American cars.

Import VAT is 20% and it is charged on the total cost of the vehicle plus delivery and extra charges and the customs duty (GOV.UK). So shipping is taxed too.

Whether a pick-up is a car (8703) or a goods vehicle (8704) depends on its features, such as permanent rear seats or an open load bed longer than half the wheelbase (HMRC's vehicle classification guidance). The duty is 10% either way, but the classification carries through to the DVLA body type and tax class.

2. When a muscle car counts as a collector's vehicle

The 0% duty and 5% VAT rate is for collector's vehicles under heading 9705. note 1 to chapter 97 of the UK tariff sets three conditions, and a car must meet all of them:

• Original state: no substantial changes to the chassis, body, steering, brakes, transmission, suspension or engine. Repair and restoration are allowed if the car is kept historically correct.
• At least 30 years old.
• A model or type no longer in production.

HMRC's vehicle classification guidance is blunt about muscle cars: heading 9705 "excludes modernised, 'hot-rodded' or modified vehicles". A 1969 Camaro with a modern crate engine, disc brake conversion and new suspension is a standard import at 10% and 20%.

The third test is the grey area. Names like Mustang, Corvette and Charger are still on sale, and HMRC does not publish whether an early car counts as a different "model or type". Its guidance recommends an Advance Tariff Ruling before the car is imported, and the ruling cannot be issued once the car is already at the border. For a valuable car, ask before you buy.

3. Approval, and when a pick-up is a lorry

The GOV.UK exemptions list says cars and light goods vehicles (3,500kg maximum weight or less) over 10 years old do not need vehicle approval. A newer American car needs Individual Vehicle Approval (IVA).

Heavy-duty pick-ups are different. Above 3,500kg maximum weight a vehicle is a heavy goods vehicle: it is exempt from approval only when over 25 years old, it needs an annual test instead of an MOT, and a car licence does not cover it (category C1 covers 3,500kg to 7,500kg). Check the weight on the plate in the door pillar before you buy.

4. Lights and speedometer on an American car

For a vehicle used abroad before it was imported, "first used" in these rules means its date of manufacture (regulation 3 of the Construction and Use Regulations).

• Red rear indicators: allowed only on vehicles first used before 1 September 1965 (Lighting Regulations, schedule 7). Later cars with red flashing brake lights need amber rear indicators.
• Headlamps: on vehicles first used from 1 April 1986, dipped beams must be designed for driving on the left (schedule 4). The MOT manual accepts masks or converter kits on left-hand drive lamps.
• Rear fog lamp: required on vehicles first used from 1 April 1980, on the centre line or the offside.
• Speedometer: from 1 April 1984 it must be able to show mph and km/h (regulation 35 of the Construction and Use Regulations).

Left-hand drive itself is legal. There is no requirement to convert the steering.

5. Paperwork and DVLA registration

After the import declaration you must tell HMRC within 14 days (NOVA); the DVLA will not register the car until that is done. Then you apply on form V55/5 with the £55 first registration fee. The DVLA wants the original foreign registration document to show when the car was made, and keeps it; without one it may accept a dating letter confirming when the car was made, which we obtain for you (GOV.UK registration guidance). The DVLA gives a registration number and you have plates made up.

US vehicles from the 1981 model year onwards carry a 17-character VIN; older cars have shorter numbers, so check that the number on the car matches the title exactly. A vehicle recorded as seriously damaged cannot be registered, so check the title for salvage or non-repairable brands.

6. Tax and MOT on older cars

A car built before 1 January 1986 pays no vehicle tax from 1 April 2026, but you must still apply for the historic tax class (GOV.UK). A car built or first registered more than 40 years ago needs no MOT if there have been no substantial changes in the last 30 years (MOT exemption criteria). An alternative original equipment engine is not a substantial change; a change in the type of suspension or steering is. It must still be roadworthy.