Car capers

One thing that super cars and those who love them have in common is that the former runs very fast and the latter can pull a fast one.

For someone who wants to flaunt in the country a very pricey McLaren 620R, the

commercial version of the McLaren 570S race car, it means shelling out P33 million for the price of the machine and another P17 million in customs duties and taxes. But even rich kids with a taste for luxurious automobiles get frugal in the face of dizzying import tariff. So, they become creative in cutting corners.

The McLaren 620R importer declared the car as a Porsche Cayman which has a lower price tag (P55.7 million) and tax (P1.5 million). The car was shipped to the Philippines on 16 July. Unfortunately for said importer, customs people could not be fooled by such misdeclaration and seized the car on 3 August.

Now, the car-buyer-turned-smuggler has the choice of paying the right customs bills for the McLaren 620R or face smuggling charges plus the prospect of forever losing the super car, which may likely be destroyed by a bulldozer, as what happened to other underdeclared McLarens and Lamborghinis in the past.

Underdeclaring imported items has a higherriskofapprehensionfrombribe-immune customs examiners. Maybe such smugglers may consider trying more creative modus like what an American in Florida did.

Last Monday, 42-year-old Casey William Kelley bought a $140,000 Porsche 911 Turbo from a dealer in Destin City. Two days later, however, deputies from the Walton County Sheriff’s Office arrested him for grand theft of a motor vehicle.

Kelley was also charged with issuing fake checks for the 911 Turbo as reported by the car dealer. Apparently, the checks he gave to pay for the car were just printed from his home computer. He even tried to buy three Rolex watches using the same checks he printed.

A McLaren 620R has a top speed of 322 kph while a Porsche 911 Turbo can run at 330 kph. But the abovementioned car smuggling and carnapping suspects won’t ever be using their race cars as getaway vehicles.