Car Transport to France, One Car at a Time

One car, one crew, door to door

Most cars sent to France travel the cheap way: consolidated onto a multi-car transporter, dropped at a depot, transhipped between vehicles and handled by whoever is on shift that day. For a daily driver that is perfectly sensible. For a car that matters, every one of those touchpoints is a risk — a strap in the wrong place, a tight loading angle taken by someone in a hurry, a fortnight parked in a yard while a full load is assembled.

SKORTA does the opposite. We move one exceptional car at a time, on a single dedicated movement, with the same crew from collection to delivery. There is no shared load, no depot, no changing hands and no sub-contracting the French leg to a local partner. The people who watch your car onto the trailer in Britain are the people who roll it off in France. That continuity is the whole point: nothing is lost in a handover that never happens.

It also means the run is built around your car rather than a transporter's route. Collection and delivery are arranged to suit the addresses and the timing that matter to you, not the depot network's convenience.

How your car crosses the Channel

There are two honest ways to get a car from Britain to France: the ferry crossings from Dover to Calais or Dunkirk, and Eurotunnel Le Shuttle from Folkestone to Calais. The Shuttle carries the transporter — and the car inside it — in an enclosed rail wagon for a crossing of around thirty-five minutes, sheltered from weather, salt spray and sea air throughout. The ferry is longer and, on some decks, more exposed to the elements. Which we use depends on the schedule, the trailer and the conditions on the day.

What does not change is that the crew stays with the vehicle for the crossing. Your car is never left unattended on a strange deck or parked in a marshalling yard overnight. When it travels in our enclosed trailer, it is sealed away from wind, rain and the salt that a Channel crossing throws at everything — which is precisely the kind of exposure a concours finish should never have to meet.

France is also the gateway to the rest of the Continent. The same crossing that reaches Calais reaches Paris, Lyon and beyond, and continues into wider European car transport — down to Monaco and the Italian border, east to Germany and Switzerland, or south towards Spain.

Enclosed or open: choosing for the French run

Every SKORTA movement uses one of two trailers, and the choice genuinely matters on a long Continental run.

• Enclosed — a sealed, weatherproof trailer, out of sight. The car is protected from motorway stone chips, road film, weather and curious phones for the entire journey. This is the right answer for supercars, classics, concours cars and anything where the paint is part of the value.
• Open — an aluminium tilt-bed. Still a single dedicated movement with one crew, still soft-strapped and condition-reported, simply carried in the open. It is the practical, lower-cost choice for robust prestige and everyday-usable cars where full concealment is not essential.

The distances involved sharpen the decision. A trip to the Riviera or the Alps is many hundreds of motorway miles, and open carriage on that kind of run means real exposure to grit and weather. If the car is low-slung, freshly detailed, historically significant or simply discreet by nature, enclosed is worth it. If discretion and paint protection are not priorities, open keeps the estimate down without compromising the single-movement principle.

Paperwork and customs after Brexit

Since the end of the transition period, any movement of a vehicle between Great Britain and France is an international one, and it carries international paperwork. This is real, and it is where a lot of cheaper transport quietly comes unstuck.

The transport itself travels under a CMR consignment note — the standard international road-haulage document under the CMR Convention — which records the consignor, the consignee and the condition of the goods in transit. On top of that sits the customs treatment of the car, and that depends on why it is crossing. A car going to France temporarily — for a concours, a rally, a track weekend or a summer at a second home — and returning to Britain is a different customs case from a car being permanently exported or sold. Temporary movements typically rely on temporary admission into the EU and returned-goods relief on the way home; a permanent export is declared as such.

We handle the transport documentation as a matter of course and will tell you plainly what the customs position looks like for your particular trip. For the fuller picture, including the traps around temporary versus permanent movement, read our guide to taking a car from the UK to Europe after Brexit.

Where in France we go

France is not one destination but several, and each has its own character on the road.

• Paris and the Île-de-France — the most direct run from Calais, and a common delivery for dealers, collectors and buyers. Tight city addresses are handled with the same care as an open forecourt.
• The Riviera — Cannes, Saint-Tropez, Nice and the coast, busiest through the summer season. A long southern haul where enclosed carriage earns its keep, and the natural staging point for continuing to Monaco.
• Le Mans — for the 24 Hours and the Classic, we move race, track and heritage cars with the event calendar in mind, so arrival is timed around scrutineering and paddock access rather than a depot's schedule.
• Alpine routes — Chamonix, Megève, the Trois Vallées and the passes. Gradients, low approach angles and winter conditions all matter here, and loading a low car for a mountain address is a considered exercise, not a rushed one.

Wherever the address, the movement is planned end to end so that a supercar, classic, EV or track car arrives ready, not road-weary.

Care, condition reports and discretion

The details are where a specialist earns trust. Your car is secured with soft straps over the tyres, never ratcheted across the bodywork or suspension, so nothing bears load that was not designed to. Ground clearance, loading angles and tie-down points are checked before the car moves an inch.

At both ends of the journey the crew produces a signed photographic condition report — a documented record of the car's state at collection and again at delivery, so there is never any ambiguity about how it travelled. For low-mileage, concours and high-value cars, that record is as valuable as the transport itself.

Discretion runs through the whole service. An enclosed trailer keeps the car out of sight; the crew is small and consistent; and we do not advertise what we carry or where. Cover for the vehicle in transit is in place [GOODS-IN-TRANSIT AND LIABILITY COVER TO CONFIRM], and the specific terms are confirmed with you before collection rather than buried in the small print.

Planning your move and getting an estimate

Car transport to France is a movement worth planning a little ahead — the Channel crossing, the customs treatment and the collection and delivery windows all reward notice rather than a same-week scramble [LEAD TIME TO CONFIRM]. We move in both directions with equal care: out to France for delivery, or back to Britain to bring an auction buy, an event car or a returning purchase home.

Pricing depends on the real variables — the two addresses, the distance and crossing, and whether you choose enclosed or open carriage — so rather than quote a figure that could mislead, we let you see an indicative number for your own route. Use the on-site calculator to get an indicative estimate; it is a genuine guide, not a fixed price. A firm written quotation is confirmed by the crew before collection, once the car, the addresses and the timing are known.

From a first movement to France to a full itinerary across the Continent, the principle does not change: one car, one crew, carried the way it deserves.