CLA-2-97:OT:RR:NC:N4:433
Sara Rider
Attorney in Fact
Vintage Car Investments, Ltd.
Martin E. Button, Inc.
55 New Montgomery Street, Suite 400
San Francisco, CA 94105
RE: The tariff classification of 1929 Mercedes-Benz 710SS Team-Car, Chassis 36225 from Germany.
Dear Ms. Rider:
In your letter dated September 30, 2016, on behalf of Vintage Car Investments, Ltd., you requested a tariff classification ruling. Descriptive and illustrative literature were provided.
The merchandise concerned is the 1929 Mercedes-Benz 710SS Team-Car, Chassis 36225, Engine Number 72183. It is claimed that this race car is one-of-a-kind and built specifically to compete in the prestigious “1929 International Tourist Trophy Race” held in Northern Ireland, of which famous race car driver Rudolf Caracciola took first place.
You suggest that, the 1929 Mercedes-Benz 710SS Team-Car, Chassis 36225, Engine Number 72183, be classified in subheading 9705.00.0090 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Upon review of subheading 9705.00.0090, HTSUS, we find that the subheading does not exist in the current “Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (2016) Supplement-1.” Accordingly, the subheading of 9705.00.0070, HTSUS, provides in pertinent part for “collections and collectors’ pieces of historical interest.”
Cars present an interesting conundrum in a heading 9705 analysis, as motor cars and racing cars (even luxury ones) are generally-speaking mass-produced for commercial consumption. Goods produced as a commercial undertaking to commemorate, celebrate, illustrate, or depict an event or any other matter, whether or not production is limited in quantity or circulation, do not fall in heading 9705 as collections or collectors’ pieces of historical interest unless the goods themselves have subsequently attained that status by reason of their age or rarity, connection to a specific historical event or era, and articles which have belonged to famous persons – see Explanatory Notes to heading 9705, HTSUS.
One can find the “Official Programme, R.A.C. (Royal Automobile Club) International Tourist Trophy Race, ARDS Circuit, Belfast, 17th August, 1929,” on the internet at: “http://www.hells-confetti.com/Historical%20data/1929%20TT%20programme.pdf.” According to the Official Programme there were four Class-B (over 5000 c.c. and up to 8000 c.c.) Supercharged Mercedes-Benz sport cars in the race – the “S” denotes Supercharger fitted. Even with recognizing that Rudolf Caracciola was one of the four drivers of the 710 SS and had won the race, there appears to be no chassis numbers in the Official Programme. As such, the Official Programme does not support that the 1929 Mercedes-Benz 710SS Team-Car, Chassis 36225, Engine Number 72183, was even entered in the race.
Furthermore, at the website of “http://www.racingsportscars.com/driver/archive/rudolf-caracciola-d.html,” which contains a posting of the winner of the Tourist Trophy Race for August 17, 1929, no chassis number was provided, and therefore, again, we are unable to corroborate that the 1929 Mercedes-Benz 710SS Team-Car, Chassis 36225, Engine Number 72183, driven by Rudolf Caracciola won the race.
Information obtained from Wikipedia indicates that from 1928 – 1934, [115] production models of the Mercedes-Benz SS were built. With no supporting documentation that the 1929 Mercedes-Benz 710SS Team-Car, Chassis 36225, Engine Number 72183, driven by Rudolf Caracciola entered and won the race, we turn to other historical factors in our heading 9705 analysis. As such, we turn to the list of registered owners of the sport car, their profiles, and whether they are famous.
Provided documentation indicates for ownership history:
1929-1937: Earl Francis Howe, UK.
1937-1938: David Scott-Moncrieff, UK.
1938-1938: Robert Arbuthnot’s High Speed Motors, UK.
1938-1947: Captain Ronald Lovat Nelson Gowans, UK.
1947-X: Adrian Malcom Conan Doyle, UK.
X-1971: Carrowmore, Ltd., UK and USA.
1971-1982: Denis de Ferranti, UK.
1982-2012: Berthold Ruckwarth, Germany.
2012-present: Private Collector, Europe.
“Francis Richard Henry Penn, Viscount Curzon, 5th Earl Howe, Great Britain, (1 May 1884 - 26 Jul 1964). [Lord] Howe did not take up racing seriously until he was 44 years old but he would then become one Britain's best known drivers. Born in Mayfair, London into a famous British naval family, Richard served in the Navy during the First World War including an assignment on board the Battleship “HMS Queen Elizabeth” during the Dardanelles campaign. Howe’s first major race was the 1928 Irish TT: By 1930 he had bought Caracciola’s old Mercedes SSK and in 1931 he raced an Alfa Romeo, winning the Le Mans 24h race. He continued racing with a T51 Bugatti, a 1.5 litre Delage, MGs and Alfa Romeos until he bought an ERA for the 1936 season. Later he joined the ERA works team. He was out for most of the 1937 season after a heavy crash at the Campbell Trophy at Brooklands. After the war Lord Howe continued to be involved in racing as an organizer and as the president of the British Racing Driver’s Club. Howe’s cars were always meticulously prepared and the driver stood out with his blue helmet and overalls. Highly patriotic, Howe was forced to race foreign cars as no British cars were competitive in GP racing. Died in Amersham, Buckinghamshire 1964” – see http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/dh.htm.
Additionally, to commemorate British race car drivers, the “Earl Howe Trophy” is awarded each year at the Indy 500 for the highest-placed British driver.
In this instance, we find no further need to examine the list of other owners, their profiles, and whether they were famous, as we are of the opinion that “Lord Howe” once owner of the 1929 Mercedes-Benz 710SS Team-Car, Chassis 36225, Engine Number 72183, was a famous race car driver of his time, president of the British Racing Driver’s Club, and holder of honorary title amongst royal British lineage. Its value at $13,320,000 is considerable adding to its worth of historical importance, given the fact that the car sold for 650 pounds in 1938 by Scott-Moncrieff Motors. Therefore, the merchandise concerned is a collectors’ piece of heading 9705, HTSUS.
The applicable subheading for the Mercedes-Benz 710SS Team-Car, Chassis 36225, Engine Number 72183 will be 9705.00. 0070, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for “Collections and collectors’ pieces of zoological, botanical, mineralogical, anatomical, historical, archeological, paleontological, ethnographic or numismatic interest: Archaeological, historical, or ethnographic pieces.” The rate of duty will be free.
Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on World Wide Web at https://hts.usitc.gov/current.
This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).
A copy of the ruling or the control number indicated above should be provided with the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If you have any questions regarding the ruling, contact National Import Specialist Neil H. Levy at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Steven A. Mack
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division