New FJ40/FJ45 Graveyard found in Saudi Arabia

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I was joking. The Datsun has most of a Mercedes emblem on the front grill. Not interested in either of the vehicles. It’s surprising to see a Blazer that far from the US and in decent condition. Wonder how they all got over there?

I’d assume all the vehicles would need a title, showing you own them, to get in the US. Then the titles with port paperwork would be able to be transferred into the state of the new owners choice. You would need to obtain titles for all of the complete vehicles. Or they could be parted out. Parting out isn’t appealing to me since they look mostly complete and could make great drivers without a completed restoration.

Thanks for sharing the pictures.
 
YODA 88 62 said:
I was joking. The Datsun has most of a Mercedes emblem on the front grill. Not interested in either of the vehicles. It’s surprising to see a Blazer that far from the US and in decent condition. Wonder how they all got over there?

I’d assume all the vehicles would need a title, showing you own them, to get in the US. Then the titles with port paperwork would be able to be transferred into the state of the new owners choice. You would need to obtain titles for all of the complete vehicles. Or they could be parted out. Parting out isn’t appealing to me since they look mostly complete and could make great drivers without a completed restoration.

Thanks for sharing the pictures.
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What do you mean how did they get there? They sell tons of GMC, Chevrolet and Ford cars and trucks in Saudi every year and have for a long time. Not to mention Nissans and Toyotas, and just about everything else.

Saudi doesn't do titles like the US. Bill of sale along with the approved import paperwork is all you need. I assume your state would then issue a title or just a tag receipt depending upon the state and age of vehicle.
 
WarDamnEagle said:
What do you mean how did they get there? They sell tons of GMC, Chevrolet and Ford cars and trucks in Saudi every year and have for a long time. Not to mention Nissans and Toyotas, and just about everything else.

Saudi doesn't do titles like the US. Bill of sale along with the approved import paperwork is all you need. I assume your state would then issue a title or just a tag receipt depending upon the state and age of vehicle.
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The obstacle is more likely U.S. customs. Quite a bit of documentation required on eh Saudi side before any of these could be shipped to the U.S. Something that could be handled by folks in country? If it goes awry, most likely end up with a seized vehicle at the u.s. port.
 
phroger said:
The obstacle is more likely U.S. customs. Quite a bit of documentation required on eh Saudi side before any of these could be shipped to the U.S. Something that could be handled by folks in country? If it goes awry, most likely end up with a seized vehicle at the u.s. port.
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Probably easier doing a half cut like Marv Specter did years ago. I would love to get a decent 83/84 FJ45 front half cut. Condition of the engine wouldn't matter. Same with transmission and transfer case. Back half of the exhaust would nice thought.
 
WarDamnEagle said:
What do you mean how did they get there? They sell tons of GMC, Chevrolet and Ford cars and trucks in Saudi every year and have for a long time. Not to mention Nissans and Toyotas, and just about everything else.

Saudi doesn't do titles like the US. Bill of sale along with the approved import paperwork is all you need. I assume your state would then issue a title or just a tag receipt depending upon the state and age of vehicle.
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I had no idea. My knowledge of the automotive world around you has only been videos of cheatahs in the passengers seat of a Lamborghini cruising around Dubai and swapping two tires on Land Cruiser doing a high rate of speed with only two wheels on the road. And Nissan patrols turning sand dunes into glass as they scream up the steepest dunes with 1000 angry horsepower under the hood.
 
phroger said:
The obstacle is more likely U.S. customs. Quite a bit of documentation required on eh Saudi side before any of these could be shipped to the U.S. Something that could be handled by folks in country? If it goes awry, most likely end up with a seized vehicle at the u.s. port.
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I would think that all of these have been taken out of the Saudi system which means it would be very difficult to restore and register them. Difficult apparently but I have heard not impossible. That probably makes it easier on the Saudi side if you are exporting them as they are now nothing more than parts. Not sure what you would have to do on the US side. Having said all of that, I just got a quote on shipping two land cruisers in a 40' container (door to door) and it was over $26k and I am guessing it would be more if you had to load and unload inoperable vehicles, unless I suppose you handled the labor for that on both ends yourself. Thinking about it you would probably have to load and unload yourself. Not sure you could squeeze more than 3 of those in a 40' container unless you dismantled them.
 
If I was shipping ‘45’s, I’d arrange to load with a forklift. Remove the beds from two ‘45’s push one in front ways, one in backways (push me-pullyou), and one in the center on top of the two frames, with the two beds on its bed.
Dunno if it would fit
 
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aktundra said:
If I was shipping ‘45’s, I’d arrange to load with a forklift. Remove the beds from two ‘45’s push one in front ways, one in backways (push me-pullyou), and one in the center on top of the two frames, with the two beds on its bed.
Dunno if it would fit
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If I was shipping 45s I would want to be able to drive them in. Like these two. :D

46DB5331-FD93-49F4-B4F0-42A6B4C7700E.webp
 
Half cut 45 pickup. Rig a set of wheels in the back and drive in and out on front axle. I figure 13' for an FJ40. Never measured my FJ45LP-B. But would guess 17'. Not sure what second vehicle but guessing no room for a third vehicle. Half cut maybe.
 
I spent 3 years in Riyadh and shipped my 43 to the USA in 2019. The biggest issues with these are difficult to overcome.
They are no longer registered in Saudi and they don’t run therefore exporting is impossible. These are best as doners. To ship from KSA the vehicle must be registered and pass an operational inspection. The vehicle canNOT have extra/loose parts inside. Shipping parts is next to impossible. Shipping costs have doubled since Covid. Also, the cost of a FJ45 (truck) is 2x that of a 40/43 simply because it’s a “truck”.
I wish I had better news for these beauties.
 
aktundra said:
If I was able to drive ‘em, I’d ship ‘em from a port in France !!
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How are you going to get them to France? Drive them? Not impossible but would be incredibly risky today. Maybe drive to Egypt or Israel through Jordan and take a ferry to Turkey or Greece? That might work.
 
I've managed to find the owner of the graveyard, he's open to discussion. Trying to arrange a visit to the place for a vehicle by vehicle inspection and photo record. Not having any experience with FJs, any guidance on what details would be most interesting for those in the know?
Agree on the shipping difficulty; I shipped a car to Europe last year, it required a valid registration, MVPI (periodic inspection record) and insurance before the police processed the exit papers. Other than having this paperwork, no questions asked. As most cars on the lot still appear to have license plates there must be valid (if expired) licenses with them. Getting them to MVPI ready status is another question altogether...
Also concur with the high cost of shipping, a 20ft container Dammam to Rotterdam was US$4500 in May 2021.
 
AYM707 said:
Hi Fvunen - nice pictures. you obviously jumped the fence. First week in KSA....and I was too afraid to get arrested. ;)

We should get together and exchange notes
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No jumping any fences, just made sure the fence was not in the picture ;-)
 
I've managed to find the owner of the graveyard, he's open to discussion. Trying to arrange a visit to the place for a vehicle by vehicle inspection and photo record. Not having any experience with FJs, any guidance on what details would be most interesting for those in the know?


I dunno much about sun & sand damage, but I would suspect the vinyl seats, dash pad, inside door panels are blasted.

Don’t know why it would be a problem, but I’ve mainly had to check for rust
-the bottom of the doors (there is a thread elsewhere in the forum of a group importing a container of just doors!)
-floor boards & rocker panels (water runs to the lowest point and sits)
-45 beds are a horizontal surface and water just sits. Also check for scaring from whatever loads where hauled
-check for cracks in the frame, where spring hangers attach to the frame
-check for rust in the rear wheel wells

I suspect they are BJ’s, and @torfab has imported a lot of Toyota diesels and could maybe offer some things to check specific to the diesels. If I had the chance I’d bring a battery & fresh fuel & see if any could be started. At a minimum fog the cylinders & check compression on a few.

Frankly I would have a bunch of questions for the owner (or snooping through paperwork)
-is he under contractual obligations to demob after a project ? (Maybe a financial motivation to clear out)
-does he own the land or is he renting storage space (Maybe a financial motivation to clear out)
-was there any preparation to the vehicles for storage? I can’t imagine what would be done in that part of the world, but here in Alaska, when summer operations are shut down at the end of the season, vehicles left to freeze up over winter are “winterized”. If nothing else, may be a bargaining point.
-is electricity available at the yard for tools to prepare rigs for shipping ?
-why parked in the first place ?
-there is some heavy equipment in the yard, is any operational, available & would any be useful for loading containers?
 
I’ve just contacted Air Charter Services USA to come and get them.
Waiting for the quote.

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Here is the math:

16 FJ40 x 1,550 kg = 24,800kg (440.2675 cubic ft x 16 = 7,044.28 cubic feet)
10 Fj45 x 1,850 kg = 18,500kg (497.5837 cubic ft x 10 = 4,975 cubic feet)

Total = 43,399kg (47.73 US ton)
(Total = 12,020 Cubic Feet)

Fj40
L = 3,840mm Or 3.84meters or 12.598 ft
W = 1,665mm or 1.665meters or 5.462 ft
H = 1,950mm or 1.950meters or 6.397 ft

Fj45
L = 4,630mm or 4.63meters or 15.19 ft
W = 1,720mm or 1.72meters or 5.643 ft
H = 1,770mm or 1.77meters or 5.807 ft
 
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