Monday, May 8, 2017

Personal Vehicle Import Warning - Australian Asbestos Policy

In 2012 I imported a DKW 3=6 sedan from South Africa. Although it was a lengthy process it went smoothly enough and the car arrived safely with a minimum of fuss. Whenever people asked me advice about importing a vehicle under the personal imports scheme, I recommended it as a viable means of obtaining vehicles that are otherwise rare in Australia and explained the many of the nuances and things to consider. http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2011/10/importing-south-african-dkw.html

However, in 2017 Border Force (formerly Australian Customs) implemented a zero tolerance policy on ALL asbestos containing materials and began to actively target classic car imports. If you are considering importing a vehicle from overseas then you should immediately read up on the new regulations before committing to a purchase.

Zero Tolerance for ALL Asbestos Material
On 4 March 2017, without prior warning to shipping and Customs agents, Border Force announced a zero tolerance policy for ALL materials containing asbestos. This change of policy was a knee jerk reaction to two recent incidents involving Chinese manufactured products; one being building materials supplied for the new Princess Margaret hospital, and the other being Geely and Great Wall cars, all of which contained asbestos. I am given to understand that some Chinese companies have deliberately provided false declarations to Customs about asbestos content.

The upshot of this is that ALL personal vehicle imports to Australia are now subject to rigorous inspection and testing of all parts that possibly contain asbestos. This includes testing of brake linings, gaskets, fibrous washers, heat shielding and soundproofing materials, mastic coatings and clutch linings. As all vintage and classic vehicles may possibly have some asbestos material they are are a prime target for inspection and seizure. The penalties for failing to adhere to these restrictions are extremely harsh and can include substantial fines on each item found and seizure and destruction of the vehicle, at the importer's cost.

Details of the new policy and its implications are extensively documented here: http://www.border.gov.au/Busi/cargo-support-trade-and-goods/importing-goods/prohibited-and-restricted/asbestos



My Experience in 2017
When I saw a very rare 1953 DKW F89 ‘personenwagen’ posted for sale on an international DKW forum, my interest was piqued. These cars, the first built after the Second World War, are quite rare as most owners disposed of them as soon as better models became available in the mid-1950s. This interim model, powered by the smaller, pre-war engine, instantly became unsaleable and most of the 60,000 cars built ended up being scrapped. http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2017/04/dkw-f89p-new-meisterklasse.html

Anyway, this car, off the road for many years, appeared to be complete, largely unmolested and in reasonably fair condition. It was also very cheap and after discussions with the seller I agreed to purchase the car. The car left its home in Lisbon, Portugal in January and was expected in Fremantle on 12 March 2017.

My car arrived at the Fremantle docks the week after the new rules were introduced and was consequently subjected to asbestos testing. The rear brakes, the head and manifold gaskets and in a mastic coating on the underbody all tested positive for asbestos. The car was immediately impounded and now the real problems began.

At that time procedures to deal with this problem were not in place and neither the shipping agent nor Border Force could agree how to proceed. After a discussion with the shipping agent, I proposed that myself and my mechanic friends from Classic Gasoline (who did sterling work on my Tatra and 59 DKW) attend the depot and remove the offending material. This offer was rejected by Border Force as we were not ‘authorized’ to enter the dockside area. Border Force insisted I needed to engage a professional asbestos remover, but there were no asbestos removers who had the requisite automobile experience to work on a vintage vehicle. Further discussions were held and we then proposed to attend together with the professional asbestos remover in order to provide them the necessary technical guidance to work on the car. This offer was however refused.

Amusingly I have discovered the ABF are using this photo of my car in their Asbestos Policy briefing pack

We were forced to wait while affected industry bodies unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate some sort of workable process with Border Force. Eventually Border Force agreed to our original proposal to remove the asbestos ourselves under supervision. After completing the necessary paperwork, obtaining permits and booking a time to attend the depot, Border Force realized that conducting these repairs in a storage depot without the appropriate facilities might be unsafe and our permit was cancelled.

Discussions now turned to taking the vehicle to an offsite location where the work could be done safely. Border Force first declined and then approved a suggestion to transport the car to the Classic Gasoline workshop. Then they changed their mind again and advised the car could only be moved to a certified asbestos removal centre. After they realized that there was no such thing as certified asbestos removal centre, they relented and approved the car to be moved to Classic Gasoline. Paperwork recommenced, but once again we were thwarted at the last minute when Quarantine intervened. Quarantine advised that the car could be moved for removal of the asbestos only after it had been spray cleaned, but that it could only be spray cleaned after the asbestos was removed. Catch 22 meets Franz Kafka.

We returned to our original plan to remove the asbestos onsite and re-booked a time to attend, but once again this was cancelled at the last second by someone in the Border Force hierarchy who again demanded the work be done by an asbestos specialist. After another frustrating round of calls, it was finally agreed that the asbestos inspector, Rhys and Wayne from Classic Gasoline and I would attend the car and complete the removal of the asbestos material under Border Force's supervision. This occurred on the morning of Wednesday 26 April 2017.

Despite the less than satisfactory environment we were forced to work in, it only took us four hours to remove all the offending material – thanks to the sterling efforts of Rhys and Wayne. We were very fortunate that the DKW is a simple car with a very small engine which could be removed without the use of a hoist. Were the car something American this would have been far more problematic. Border Force certified the removal of the identified asbestos material and arranged its formal seizure and destruction. A great deal of paperwork was involved.

Mastic coating in the wheel arch to cover a bad rust repair

After scrubbing with degreaser and a wire brush

The offending material is bagged up for disposal

Lessons for Personal Vehicle Import
Please be aware that ALL privately imported vehicles are now subject to testing and the consequences for non-compliance can be serious. Do not think that you can just 'wing it' and deal with it if you are caught out. Take all necessary precautions to ensure the vehicle is certified before it is shipped. Do your research, read the Border Force website and speak to your shipping agent BEFORE committing to anything.

I believe my car was the third personal import vehicle impacted by the new rules in Australia, consequently, my experience may not be typical. I would hope that Border Force and the shipping industry formulate a coherent process for handling asbestos contaminated vehicles in the future.

A snippet from an article in Auto Talk 27 April 2017. http://autotalk.com.au/industry-news/autohub-expands-qld-operations-mvsa-decision-looms
"Another key issue for importers is asbestos in imported vehicles and changes announced recently by the Government. “A complete lack of consultation” with the vehicle imports industry over the change could impact businesses, McIntyre says. “We were caught by surprise – it’s very disappointing a change like this would be made without proper industry consultation.

The main impact is just more red tape to import a vehicle. “Many vehicles are from Japan which has been asbestos-free since the early 2000s so it should not have affected any of them, apart from more red tape which the Government said was meant to be reduced.” “The Australian Border Force (ABF) has still not released enough information for us to know how they intend to police the vehicles for asbestos, what origins if any they are targeting, which is very frustrating for importers and customs agents across Australia. “We are still are not sure of the impact on the older vehicles entering Australia via the pre-1989 scheme.

We will continue to pursue ABF for more information.” Importers will now need to declare their vehicles do not contain asbestos before receiving ABF clearance. Vehicle components of most concern are brake pads, head gaskets and transmission components.

Like Autohub, the Australian Imported Motor Vehicle Industry Association is concerned about the confusion over the change and says it will be urgently speaking with relevant government authorities to seek clarification."
Link to an article by Mike Sheehan of Ferraris-Online about the asbestos issue. The experience of the Mustang owner is appalling. http://ferraris-online.com/pages/article.php?reqart=FOC_201707_SS2

 FAQ from Cargo-online



Further Updates:
There are now a lot of articles out there about Australia's asbestos policy and the chaos it has caused. My experience has been repeated quite a few times. Border Force itself have a photo of my car in their literature!
http://autotalk.com.au/industry-news/stopping-asbestos-docks
https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/motoring/australian-border-force-detects-asbestos-in-classic-cars-owners-risk-thousands-of-dollars-in-fines/news-story/558ae57b52f7e995237f6e3193ea62b1
https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2017/08/04/crackdown-on-asbestos-essentially-halts-collector-car-exports-to-australia/
https://oldtimerdaily.com/asbestos-law-blocks-import-of-classic-cars-in-australia/
https://nswcorvettes.com.au/forum/index.php?topic=11610.0
https://www.asbestos.com/blog/2019/06/10/asbestos-classic-cars/
https://www.raidermoto.com/blog/asbestos-warning-for-all-australian-importexports/

The asbestos issue continues to cause problems across the auto industry. There is lobbying behind the scenes from a number of directions to restore a degree of sanity to Australia's asbestos policy. Border Force continues to enforce a zero tolerance rule. Their position is outlined here:
https://www.abf.gov.au/importing-exporting-and-manufacturing/prohibited-goods/categories/asbestos
The main problem an importer faces can be summed up in Border Force's comment "lists are not exhaustive and are subject to change."


Saturday, April 22, 2017

DKW F89P 'New Meisterklasse'


Auto-Union was only a little over 21 years old in May 1945 but it seemed unlikely the company would see 22. The company's factories in Saxony were all within the Soviet Occupation Zone and their empty shells, stripped of all useful material by the Soviet reparations crews, would soon be nationalized by the new East German government. The company's executives, fearing for their lives, had fled to the west after the capitulation of Germany and scattered. What remained of the company's assets was either destroyed or lost. The future looked very bleak indeed.

Auto-Union managing director Dr Richard Bruhn and deputy director Dr Carl Hahn found themselves in Bavaria after the war and a core of former Auto-Union management and technicians began to coalesce around them. The group decided to undertake an audit of the remaining assets of the company and found this amounted to a small DKW engine reconditioning plant, the sales and service office in Munich, and scattered stockpiles of spare parts. DKW's Spandau bodywork factory was located in West Berlin but this was deep inside the Soviet Zone.

North of Bavaria, in Oldenburg in the British Occupation Zone, former technical director William Werner had founded a small repair and service company for Auto-Union vehicles. This bought the legal questions of company ownership and the rights to the name 'Auto-Union' into sharp relief. In divided Germany each occupying power instituted their own legal regime. Who knew whether there would once again be a single Auto-Union for all Germany or successor companies in each of the four occupation zones? Dr's Bruhn and Hahn took immediate steps to protect their interests and registered a new company, Central Store for Auto-Union Spare Parts Ingolstadt Gmbh.

Auto-Union managing director Dr Richard Bruhn (left) is joined by motoring journalist W Ostwald, August Horch and Dr Carl Hahn (right) inspecting the new F89P in 1950.

Setting up a central parts store and service company was a logical first step in the post-war chaos. Of all Germany's automobile companies, Auto-Union had a unique advantage; due to the Wehrmacht's disdain for DKW's two-stroke powerplant, DKW cars were not commandeered for military use. Consequently, 65,000 DKW cars of all types were still registered on the road in the West Germany, and these still needed regular service and repair. Slowly but surely the new company struggled to its feet. In two years the company turned over 3 million mark in parts sales and servicing.

A later photograph of DKW Schnellasters leaving the Central Store building.

The Central Store company under Dr Bruhn and Dr Hahn was recognized as the legal successor of the old Auto-Union. Discussions were held with Werner's independent company in Oldenburg, but an agreement to consolidate the companies was not reached. Werner eventually struck out on his as a consulting engineer and his Auto-Union company dissolved.

The new Auto-Union set up its offices in a former army commissary and storehouse in Dusseldorf. The premises were spacious but not really suitable for an auto factory, but the company made do. In 1948 the East German government de-registered the old Auto-Union company and nationalised what remained of the company's assets. This opened the door for Dr's Bruhn and Hahn to register a new company, Auto-Union Gmbh, as the official successor of the prewar company. The State Bank of Bavaria advanced the company a line of credit.

The Central Store building in Dusseldorf

Things moved rapidly once the legal ambiguities were resolved. The Swiss dealership and karosserie, Holka AG, became a majority shareholder in the company and injected much needed capital. Thoughts immediately turned to building a new vehicle. The prewar dealer network had been prepared to wait, but their patience was not infinite. By August the first post-war vehicle was unveiled, the DKW F89L Schnellaster van. This was soon followed by the RT125W motorcycle.

The new DKW range on display at the 1949 Hannover trade show. The Schnellaster was the right vehicle at the right time, helping get Germany back on its feet. But once the recover had started, personal vehicles were the priority.

The Schnellaster was an entirely new vehicle concept with its forward control cab, front wheel drive and low, flat cargo tray, and was an immediate hit. The Schnellaster had been designed in early 1947 and the first 500 had been built in an open air courtyard at the Dusseldorf parts store. Nothing could have highlighted the Central Stores' unsuitability as an auto plant so the company began searching for a new location. The location chosen was a vacant aircraft factory in Ingolstadt. This factory needed extensive remodeling but by 1950 Schnellasters were beginning to roll off the new production line.

Desperate times require desperate measures. The Central Store no room for a full production line so the final fitting out of Schnellaster vans was done out in the open in the courtyard. This was only a temporary measure and by 1950 the production line had moved to newly refurbished premises in Ingolstadt.

To keep the dealers happy it was essential that Auto-Union release a new passenger car. Production of the pre-war DKW F8 was considered, but there were substantial difficulties. The first problem was that the new factory had no experience of, or machinery for, building chassis. The tooling, presses, designs and skilled workers were all back in Chemnitz working on the IFA F8. Auto-Union were forced to turn to stockpiled replacement chassis' from the parts store and reverse engineer them from scratch. Ultimately this resulted in an improved, more modern chassis with better suspension, brakes and modern telescopic shock absorbers, but it meant the new car took longer to develop. Another fundamental problem was the difficulty of accessing the Spandau karosseriewerkes in Berlin, where DKW's wooden car bodies had been built.

Spandau was primarily a wood working shop. The pre-war DKW bodies were produced on a production line capable of turning out dozens of bodies every day, but the work was labor intensive. Trade and transport restrictions between East and West Germany meant that the factory was isolated from the west.

Instead, as a stopgap, the Baur Karosseriewerkes of Stuttgart presented Auto-Union with a handsome new steel body that could be fitted to both the new or prewar F8 chassis. Available in either hard or soft top, the Baur bodied DKW F10 went on sale in 1950 and was quickly snapped up by those who had the cash to afford it.

The F10 however was to be a short-lived affair. In fact, only 200 of the new F10s would be built before Auto-Union withdrew them from sale in favor of their new flagship car - the DKW F89P 'new Meisterklasse.'


The F89 Comes Together
Although the Schnellaster and the Meisterklasse share the same designation - F89 - they are in fact quite different vehicles. The Schnellaster had a ladder chassis of a new type, specifically developed for the vehicle, while the Meisterklasse used the F8 trapezoid chassis. The F8 chassis, which widened towards the rear of the car, provided better stability and road handling than the old F7 chassis and was introduced in 1939.

Although commonly described in the literature as the 'prewar' engine, the two cylinder 700cc two-stroke motor of the F89 series was an improvement over its prewar predecessor. The new engine had an aluminum head, rather than the prewar steel head, and put out 23 horsepower, which was still quite meagre. The addition of a fuel pump and a new carburetor gave it a slight edge in performance over its predecessor. Towards the end of its production run, the combustion chambers in the aluminium head were altered to squeeze out one more horsepower. It's interesting to note that DKW's F9 prototype triple cylinder 900cc engine of 1940 only put out 28 horsepower.

The prewar motorcycle style multi-plate clutch was replaced with a single dry plate clutch. The three speed (and later four speed) gearbox was unsynchronized.

The most important feature of the new car though, was its body. Auto-Union had lost both the plans and all the prototypes of the F9 during the war, which had lead to the initiation of the FX project, to develop an entirely new, modern body for the new generation of DKWs. However, this project would be short-circuited by an astonishing piece of good fortune. In 1940, when the body style of the F9 was finalized, Auto-Union engaged the tooling manufacturer, Allgaier, to build body presses for series production. What happened to the presses was lost during the chaos of the war years. Auto-Union had begun reconnecting with its prewar parts suppliers and reached out to Allgaier. To Auto-Union's great surprise, Allgaier management advised that they had actually completed the order and DKW's panel presses were at their Uhingen plant. Like Auto-Union, Allgaier had been diverted to war production and the presses had been moved into storage. Shortage of space eventually led them to being moved into the open where they were damaged by bombing and exposure to the weather. Auto-Union engineers raced to Uhingen to obtain the presses and although they were in poor condition after ten years of weathering and neglect, they were salvageable. In short order, Auto-Union was able to manufacture F9 panels and work commenced on melding the new body to the new chassis.



The new car was unveiled in August 1950 in film and print. "He is worth the wait!" the ad men declared and the public agreed. Although the car was slightly under-powered it had all the characteristics that made the prewar DKW such a market winner - reliability, build quality, low maintenance and style to boot. The Meisterklasse came in a two door coupe, limousine and sunroof model.

Karmann built a stylish four seater convertible model, which came in a two tone colour scheme, while Hebmuller built a sleek two seater coupe.

The Hebmuller Meisterklasse was the luxury model and, given the economic circumstances of the time, did not sell particularly well. Few were built and fewer survive. The Karmann convertible fared slightly better but remained a rare model.

Although something of a compromise vehicle, the DKW Meisterklasse sold very well with almost 60,000 cars built over four years. The car originally had a three speed gearbox, but in 1953 a four speed gearbox was offered. For Auto-Union the next natural step was to begin development on the three cylinder engine the car had been originally designed for. By another stroke of good fortune, Auto-Union managed to get their hands on an engine from an unexpected source.

During the early development of the triple cylinder engine, Auto-Union contracted the exhaust specialist, Eberspächer, to develop an exhaust system. A transverse layout test engine was assigned to Eberspächer for research. Eberspächer failed to build an exhaust that met Auto-Union's expectations, so the project was reassigned to a new exhaust company, Bertram. By this stage, the triple engine's layout had been changed from transverse to longitudinal, and no one at Auto-Union thought to retrieve the test engine from Eberspächer. Back in Chemnitz in 1948, IFA were attempting to resurrect the F9 project, but unlike their counterparts in Ingolstadt, they had access to Auto-Union's archives and records. From the archives they tried to track down the pre-production engines. Eberspächer was contacted and acknowledged they still had the engine. IFA, as the successor of Auto-Union claimed ownership of the engine, but Eberspächer was in the Western Zone, and refused to return it. The new Auto-Union also weighed in and claimed the engine. Much correspondence was exchanged without result. In the end, the engine 'disappeared' but it is certain from IFA's archives that it never returned to Chemnitz. It appears most likely that Auto-Union obtained the Eberspächer engine and reverse engineered it. As IFA also found, this proved harder than anticipated (see the post on the challenging development of the F9 https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2017/07/1939-dkw-f9-prototype.html

In late 1953 the new engine was advertised as an option for the F89P. By the beginning of 1954 the three cylinder engine car received the official designation F91. Externally the F89P and F91 were virtually identical but the new cars engine pushed it into a class of its own. It became an instant rally champion and a market leader. The F89P with four speed gearbox was still continued for a few months as an entry level model in the German domestic market and for export, before it was retired. the two cylinder engine continued to be used in the Universal and city delivery van into 1955.

The DKW Meisterklasse continued to give its owners sterling if not stellar performance, but brand loyalty to Auto-Union undermined the model's survival. Meisterklasse owners were only too happy to invest in the new, improved 'Sonderklasse' and its 3=6 successors and their Meisterklasse' rapidly lost their value. Most cars were eventually scrapped and few cars have survived.


Links to related articles:
The DKW F9 prototype: http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2011/02/1939-dkw-f9-prototype.html
DKW F89 Factory photos: http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2015/02/dkw-f89-factory-photos.html
DKW's forgotten model: http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/dkws-forgotten-model-dkw-f10.html
Germany's Post War Wonder Car: http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2011/02/dkw-germanys-post-war-wonder-car.html
Audi Tradition Museum: http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2016/12/audi-tradition-ingolstadt.html
DKW F91 record breaking rally car: http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2015/02/dkw-f91-dkws-record-breaking-rally-car.html
East Germany's People Cars: http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2011/02/veb-sachsenring-east-germanys-peoples.html
DKW F89P German owners manual: http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2011/02/1953-dkw-f89p-meisterklasse-german.html
DKW F89P French owners manual: http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/1954-dkw-meisterklasse-le-manuel-du.html
1951 Meisterklasse brochure: http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2015/06/1951-dkw-meisterklasse-brochure.html
1951 Auto Union Frankfurt show program: http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2015/11/dkw-program-frankfurt-motor-show-29.html
1953 Auto Union magazine: http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2015/07/1953-auto-union-illustrated-magazine.html
1951 Motor and Sport Magazine: http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2015/11/dkw-program-frankfurt-motor-show-29.html