Britain may be America’s poodle, but for some reason unfathomable to most mortals, the pound is currently savaging the dollar on the foreign exchange markets. Last week the pound was trading at around $1.80, making everything American, from holidays to designer clothes and cars, seem very cheap indeed. Growing numbers of British eyes have started peering over the Atlantic with an acquisitive gleam.

Combine the favourable exchange rate with the rash of exciting new American cars unveiled at the Detroit Motor Show in January, and it’s little wonder that interest in importing vehicles to Britain has never been higher.

What really made people sit up and take note was when Ford announced at the Detroit show that the expected price for its gorgeous new Mustang sports car would be about $20,000 in V6 form and $26,000 as a V8. In other words, a glorious rear-wheel-drive coupé, with arguably more power to turn heads than a Ferrari, will have a list price of around £11,100, about the same as the cheapest Ford Focus here. It was hardly surprising that many car buyers here did a double take.

“Whereas it used to be mainly for enthusiasts, the appeal is now far wider,” says Anthony Cohen, chairman of the American Import Agents Association. “People are thinking they can have something exclusive without having to pay Lamborghini money.”

Also fuelling the trend is the fact that the growth in popularity of people carriers and off-roaders here has narrowed the gap between US and European cars. No longer are US vehicles laughable gas-guzzling monsters compared with small economic British cars.

So how do you set about getting your own slice of American iron? The first thing to do is to decide whether to use a British importer, who will do all the work for you, or go for a DIY version. Obviously the former offers ease — it is no different to going to any car dealer — the latter offers bargains, but potential headaches.

Just how easy DIY importing is depends on who you ask. Some will say it’s straightforward, as long as you devote a little time to the paperwork. Others will tell horror stories of cars going missing on the high seas, turning up damaged; bureaucratic nightmares and massive bills for conversions.

Mike Etherington, a publisher from Basingstoke, Hampshire, returned to Britain after working in America in 1998 and brought his Ford Explorer with him. Now he is importing a Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer, a huge top-of-the-range off-roader. “I am not a petrolhead at all,” says Etherington. “I’m just a normal guy who needs a car to drive his family around. But importing means I can buy an enormous thing, with a button you press which makes a third row of seats pop up electrically so you can seat nine. I don’t know of any European car at any price that offers that.”

Etherington expects his private import to cost just over £30,000 for the 4.6 litre V8 Expedition, which includes air-conditioned leather seats. As with all big-engined American cars, fuel bills will be steep, but he expects it to return about 20mpg.

Etherington has also been so inspired by the challenge that he has set up a website (www.import-car.info), complete with discussion board, giving advice to would-be DIY importers. Advice is also available from the American Auto Club International (www.aacint.com, 01948 830 136), an enthusiasts’ club based in Shropshire.

The main costs to add to the American price of a car are shipping, shipping insurance, 10% import duty and 17.5% Vat.

Shipping is far easier to arrange than you might imagine, and there are numerous firms that will give you a quote and manage the paperwork. Look at Auto-Marine Shipping’s website (www.shippers2000.com) for an example of prices. Also, if you buy a car from a dealer on the East Coast — say Miami, New York or Boston — you shouldn’t need to pay for someone to drive the car miles to a port.

Import duty and Vat are the biggest costs, but what puts most people off is the vagaries of the Single Vehicle Approval (SVA) system. Since 1998 every non-European vehicle imported needs to undergo a test to check it conforms to safety standards for British roads. The test itself costs just £150, but most people are in the dark about how much work will need doing to their particular car to get it through the test and whether they can do the labour at home.