Shipping a Kit Car: Finished, Rolling or Mid-Build

Kit cars are their own kind of shipping job. They’re often lighter, lower and more open than a factory car, they may not be finished, and the paperwork can look different. Whether you bought a finished build, sold one, or are moving a project to a new garage, here’s what to sort out before it ships.

Where the Build Stands Changes the Plan

Finished and running

A running kit car ships much like a classic. Most owners choose enclosed transport, and low builds need a liftgate or long ramps so nothing scrapes on the way up.

A roller

A rolling chassis with no engine, or an engine that doesn’t run yet, can still go on a car carrier with a winch. It has to roll on inflated tires, steer, and stop with working brakes, because the driver controls it on and off the trailer.

Still in pieces

A body off its frame, an engine on a stand or boxes of parts aren’t something a car carrier can take. Those go by freight, separately from the rolling chassis.

Light, Low and Open-Air

Fiberglass bodies, low noses and cars with no roof or doors need a little more thought:

• Tell us the ground clearance and anything that hangs low, like side pipes or a front splitter.
• Ask for wheel straps that hold the car by its tires, rather than chains hooked to light suspension or frame parts.
• Close up an open cockpit with the car’s own tonneau or a fitted cockpit cover, never a loose car cover, which flaps and scuffs paint at highway speed. Or choose enclosed.
• Remove or secure the windscreen, mirrors and anything that clips on.

Paperwork

A finished, registered kit car has a title like any other car. An unfinished one may have the kit’s certificate of origin and bills of sale instead. Keep copies with you, not just in the car. When the build is done, states handle kit cars differently: many title them as specially constructed or assembled vehicles, often after an inspection. Check with your state’s motor vehicle agency before you register.

Insurance

A carrier’s cargo insurance has limits, and a kit car’s value can be hard to prove after the fact. Keep receipts and build photos, ask to see the carrier’s certificate of insurance, and ask your own insurer about agreed-value coverage, which many collector-car insurers offer.

Before Pickup

• Take dated photos of every panel, the interior and the underside if you can.
• Fix fluid leaks, or tell us about them.
• Charge the battery and make sure the brakes and steering work.
• Take out loose parts and tools. Anything that isn’t bolted down can shift in transit.

Questions