Classic vehicle consultation - call for evidence

Saw this on the BBC website, have your say on the way the government manages classic vehicle renovations and registrations:

https://www.gov.uk/government/calls...icles-converted-to-electric-call-for-evidence

I've not had time to read all the documentation, but might be of use to people on here with modified vans and particularly those considering electric conversions.

 

Anyone recall that Van that was converted to electric in the 70's by VW that was on ebay a few years ago?

I wonder how they'd view that?

My Subaru conversion is now entering its 14th year - unsure how that would be treated.

 

The news seems to give a positive spin on this.

 

In France they only allow you to have a classic registration if its unmodified. And you have to send pictures off to a classic car body who approves or disapproves it, the pictures include the engine in the vehicle, shots of numbers and interior etc and all have to have a current newspaper visible in shot to stop them being old ones.
Classic registration here brings mot's every 5 years or none at all after a certain age, no restrictions in ZFE (clean air zones in cities) and no restriction on use apart from no commercial use, so its worth having. But it does smack of the hardcore classic lobby pulling up the drawbridge and not even allowing sensible modifications.
For a modified car, its basically illegal now. They used to have a scheme called carte grise typ originale (french V5 with no model type), where you could register artisanal built vehicles after inspection a like SVA in the UK, only that stopped about 14 years ago, and despite being taken to the EU twice in contravention of the requirement for such a scheme, the car and bike hating gov in Paris still have nothing in place to replace it, so if you have a modified vehicle there's a healthy trade in chassis with originale paperwork.
But, since a couple of years you cant buy or sell a car without a CT (mot) because even if you do, the system will only allow you to transfer the registration to yourself if it has a valid CT within 6 months, OR you are a motor trader who are exempt. If your a seller, without a CT you can only sell to motor traders or authorised vehicle dismantlers, and if you break the vehicle for parts yourself its illegal to sell the engine etc. A lot of very restorable useable tin has disappeared into crushers because of this nonsense. Of course people still ignore the law and sell cars with no paperwork for parts, but then if you buy a parts car you have to figure out how to dispose of the remains as you have no carte grise to hand the VHU centre for its disposal and normal tip's arent allowed to take car parts. A friend bought a discovery a while back as a axle & engine donor for a landrover and we had to cut the shell and chassis up with a plasma cutter until it was in small enough bits that the scrapyard would consider them not a car and accept them.

So be very careful how you interpret words because it sounds inspired by how things are done over here. Which suck.

 

@MrF It’s a bit of a pain here isn’t it. I had no problems registering my (almost) standard T2 and I have found a CT station that turns a blind eye to the suspension and steering mods – lowered a couple of inches, coil-over front dampers, air lift rear dampers and EPAS – the engine looks standard on the outside and somehow it passes the emissions test, but I have to take it to a lower altitude, my local CT place at 600mt in the Mont du Lyonnaise said it was off the scale.

My heavily modified MGB was non, non, non by FFVE, it wasn’t much of a problem as I left it registered in the UK and took it back every year for the MOT. Then Covid stopped me from travelling and the MOT ran out, so for more than three years it’s been left in the garage. This year I decided to take it back and sell it so I bought a car transporter trailer off eBay in the UK and towed it home with the T2, then I discovered that if a trailer weighs more than 750kg it has to be registered, and I’m sure that would open another can of worms.

Now I have a car I can’t use and a trailer I can only use unloaded.

 

If the trailer is a make and not homemade (eg a ifor or similar), it should be possible to get a euro certificate of conformity (for a fee, IFOR charge nearly 200 quid for a printout, thieving gits) and then its a simple thing to register at the DRIRE. If its homemade or the manufacturers refuse to give you a CoC, then yes, its a massive faff. You can forget registering a homemade trailer is the impression I get & quite a lot of "car trailers" on leboncoin are just caravans with the body removed still saying caravan on the carte grise. But that's ok because most the recovery trucks are still flatbed or even worse vans on the carte grise...
Oh irrc its under 500kgs for not needing to be registered. 500-750 they have to be registered & have braked axle(s) but I dont think you need a CoC to do so, so its just a simple process but it still gets its own numberplates and carte grise & you have to take out separate trailer insurance above 750kg on the trailer itself (its not expensive though, about 60e when I checked).
I have two trailers I cant legally use laden to their capacity, a homemade car trailer I've had since 2001 and that came over with me, and a commercial 1.5t box trailer, that the manufacturer (Pace trailers) refused to supply paperwork for.
But its ok for now, I only have a 3.5t license with a 750kg trailer permitted, until I do a B96 then I can tow up to 2.5T behind the landrover legally. I'll probably try to register the Pace at some point in the future & buy a French registered car trailer at some point in the future.
We bought a lhd ducato camper in the UK and took that through the self built process because the coachbuilder Lord Munsterland didnt legally exist to issue the original CoC even though it was originally german registered. That involved engineering drawings, gas & electricity inspections and a inspection at the official DRIRE inspection site, although they were pretty helpful and it went fairly smoothly once I stopped listening to people telling me it was impossible...
Bikes I have even more problem with, there its really a lot easier to just buy a new frame with a carte grise and rebuild the bike into it, except a few months ago they introduced CT for bikes against everyones wishes and now you have to have a CT on a bike to sell it...
For a while I joined a organization here called CALL (Custom Association Liberty Legalitie) that were going to campaign for modified vehicles to be registered legally, but all our subs seemed to be used for was to sponsor lunches and evening meetings between a DRIRE rep and the president with 0 progress.
Yeah its a mess for sure...

 

It’s no laughing matter I tell yer . I bought the trailer and collected it from Worcester, towed it up to Aberdeen to visit my family, back down to Troon to see friends, across to Newcastle. Paid a small fortune to put it on the ferry, towed it through the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg to home near Lyon in France. Stopping many times to fill up with fuel. Then I find out I can’t legally put anything on it and if I do, and get caught, the fines are surprisingly high.

 

The trailer is a Brian James A series, four-wheel braked car transporter, 500kg unladen, 2000kg gross. I probably could get a euro certificate of conformity and I probably could get it registered but I’ve been here long enough to know that nothing is simple and I'm not going to try.

 

The trailer is English. Pfft. There's your problem

Can you not decorate it with scenes from the Battle of Waterloo?

 

The problem is I’m towing it with a French registered bus and the only car I have registered in the UK is the MGB but it’s in France, and it’s the car I need to get to the UK.

 

Bit of a conundrum

Worst case, could you not get a UK recovery company to bring everything back (apart from the bus)?

 

I could, and probably should but the plan is to convince a friend with a Landy that he needs a holiday in France. Then convince him that he should tow my trailer with my MGB back to the UK. It’ll be all right in the end, and if it’s not all right it’s not the end.

 

An admirable attitude

 

Be £1500 ish to get trailer and car back to uk with anyone half decent.

 

Jay Jones. 07831954972 https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100056653578987 always comes higly recommended !

 

Do you know anyone half decent? Free accommodation if you are interested. Incidentally, the trailer cost more than £1500.

 

I messaged Jay this morning the £1500 is his price, I had been in contact with him a couple of weeks ago regarding another job. Somemone tagged him in a request I had back to the Island (iow) he was returning to Ireland, so it was not a lot of use to me lol He does a lot UK to Ireland and Europe