A car you would not replace rides differently
Most tows begin with something broken. A lot of classic car moves begin with nothing wrong at all. The car is headed to a show, a paint shop, a buyer, a new garage or a restorer on the far side of the state, and the owner would rather not put miles on it or trust an old cooling system in Florida traffic. Imperial has been moving cars for Brevard County drivers for 28 years, and the collector version of the job comes down to planning, patience and a flatbed. Here is how it goes, and how to get your car ready for it.
Why a classic rides on the deck
A wheel-lift picks up one end of a car and rolls it along on the other two wheels. That is perfectly good for a daily driver with a dead starter. It is the wrong tool for a car whose drivetrain, suspension and bodywork are original, hard to find parts for, or simply loved. On a flatbed, the whole car rides on the deck. The wheels do not turn, the transmission does not spin, and neither end of the car is hoisted to an angle it was never designed to hold.
The flatbed also takes the guesswork out of how an older car behaves under tow. Plenty of vintage cars have no proper tow points. Chrome bumpers and trim will not survive a hook, and a rear-wheel-drive car pulled with its drive wheels on the ground can hurt its transmission over a long distance.
Imperial runs flatbeds, wheel-lifts, wreckers and lowboys. For a collector car, the flatbed is the answer on nearly every call, and dispatch will send one without being talked into it.
What dispatch needs to hear about the car
Say it is a classic when you call, before anything else. Then give the year, make and model, and whether it starts, steers and stops under its own power. A car that drives can usually creep up onto the deck at walking pace. A car that does not gets winched, which is gentle when it is done slowly but needs a solid attachment point.
Mention how low the car sits, whether it has been lowered, and whether it has a long front overhang or a spoiler, because all of those change the loading angle. Mention wire wheels, knock-off hubs or anything unusual at the wheels, since the tie-downs work there. A fuel leak, a brake that grabs or a parking brake that will not hold all belong in the conversation.
Give both addresses, and describe each end honestly: a tight driveway, a gate, a slope, soft grass. A flatbed needs room to tilt its deck and a straight line to the car. Money is settled on that same call, a straight, no-surprise price on your tow before the truck rolls.
Getting the car ready the day before
Take photos of all four sides, the roof, the wheels and the interior, in daylight, the day before or the morning of the move. That is good practice for any car that is changing hands or changing addresses, and it gives the owner and the operator the same record of condition.
Clear anything loose out of the cabin and trunk. Car covers, show binders, tools and spare trim pieces all shift over bumps. Fold down or remove an antenna, and mention any mirror you are nervous about. If the car has a soft top, secure it before the truck shows up, since a loose top catching wind at highway speed can tear.
Leave enough fuel to drive it on and off the deck, and no more than you need. Check tire pressure, because a soft old tire can roll off its bead during a winch. Make sure the battery will start the car at the other end, or tell us it will not. Hand over one key and keep the spare in your pocket.
On the deck and down the road
Loading is slow on purpose. The deck tilts down, the operator checks the approach angle against the nose of the car, and the car comes up at a crawl. If the front end looks close to the deck, the angle gets changed before anything touches, rather than finding out with a scrape.
Once the car is level on the deck, it is secured at the wheels, with straps that wrap the tires instead of pressing across bodywork. Parking brake set, transmission in gear or park. Nothing ratchets down over a fender, a bumper or a strip of chrome. The operator walks around the load before the truck moves.
Across town, that is most of the story. Across the state, the same rules simply apply for longer. Imperial handles long-distance hauls start to finish, with the car delivered anywhere in Florida, and unloading at the far end runs as loading in reverse, just as slow.
When the car is headed to a buyer or a show
A classic that just sold brings an extra person into the conversation. Tell dispatch who will be at the pickup and who will be at the delivery, and make sure both of them know the day. If the buyer lives on the other side of Florida, the delivery end needs a name, a working phone number, and a place where a flatbed can unload without backing toward a ditch.
For a show, a restorer or a paint shop, ask ahead of time where trucks unload. Show grounds and shop lots tend to be tight, and the easy spot to set a car down is rarely obvious to somebody pulling in for the first time. If there is a gate code, a contact at the entrance or a set unloading window, pass that along too.
If nobody will be at the destination when the car arrives, tell dispatch early and pick a delivery time when someone can meet the truck and look the car over as it comes off the deck.
Questions collectors ask before the truck comes
My car does not run. Can it still go on a flatbed?
Yes. A car that does not run gets winched onto the deck slowly from a solid attachment point, then secured at the wheels the same way a running car is. Tell dispatch whether it rolls freely, whether the steering turns, and whether the brakes hold. A car with seized brakes or a locked steering column needs a plan before the truck arrives.
How do I keep the interior safe during the move?
Clear the cabin and trunk of anything loose, close every window, and leave the steering and parking brake reachable for the operator. If the car has a soft top, secure it before the truck arrives. Photos of the interior taken the day before give you and the operator the same record of how everything looked when it left.
Is a flatbed ever the wrong choice for a classic?
Rarely. The exceptions are places a flatbed physically cannot reach, like a very tight garage or a steep, narrow driveway. In that case the car may need to be rolled or winched a short distance to where the deck can meet it. The operator will explain that plan before anything moves, so nothing about it comes as a surprise.
Put the car’s next trip on the calendar
Classic moves go best with a little notice. Call (321) 499-4610 any hour to talk it through, read how flatbed towing in Cocoa works, or look over the trucks in the photo gallery. For an everyday car that only needs a ride to the shop, light towing covers it. You can also send us the details of the car and both addresses.