Geting a 1950's car back on the road

[silverfoxcc]

Now, a car bult in 1955 does not

Need to be Mot'd
Be taxed, but the DVLA be advised it is on the road


but needs to be insured


I may have a chance of getting such a vehicle. However it has been laid up for 36 years ( pre sorn as far as i am aware)

So does anyone know what hoops i need to jump through before i can drive it on the road,(assuming i have given it the once over for being road legal etc etc)

1) Or do i just send of the paperwork to transfer into my name and request that the reg be re activated and get it insured
2)Or must it have an MOT before all this, even though by law it doesnt need one

What i intend to do is trailer it to my house and if 1) applies get it insured and therefore legal to be left on the public highway

[TooMany2cvs]

silverfoxcc said:

Now, a car bult in 1955 does not

...
Be taxed, but the DVLA be advised it is on the road

It needs to have current VED, but that VED is zero cost. Same as for a modern bunny-hug car.

[Mound Dawg]

I'd bung off a request for a new V5 to the DVLA just in case the reg number got sold off in the past and is now on a Range Rover* double parked outside a primary school 100 yards from the owners house.

• Other gigantic Urban Assault Vehicles are available for the school run.

[Spangles]

silverfoxcc said:

Now, a car bult in 1955 does not

Need to be Mot'd
Be taxed, but the DVLA be advised it is on the road


but needs to be insured


I may have a chance of getting such a vehicle. However it has been laid up for 36 years ( pre sorn as far as i am aware)

So does anyone know what hoops i need to jump through before i can drive it on the road,(assuming i have given it the once over for being road legal etc etc)

1) Or do i just send of the paperwork to transfer into my name and request that the reg be re activated and get it insured
2)Or must it have an MOT before all this, even though by law it doesnt need one

What i intend to do is trailer it to my house and if 1) applies get it insured and therefore legal to be left on the public highway

It would have to be roadworthy to be left on the road. I very much doubt something dragged out of a shed after 36 years will be.

[silverfoxcc]

Spangles,
The reports i have had, ( car not seen myself) is that it was a good runner when it went in, so normal fluids change and gentle test drive before venturing further.
Aparrently is is an 'oily rag rub' resto. small bit of rust hither and thither but nothing that would fail an MOT, However all five tyres would be changed

[Riley Blue]

All the seals are likely to have perished, in fact anything rubber ought to be replaced - that's just the start of recommissioning a car after so long off the road.

[jagracer]

silverfoxcc said:

Now, a car bult in 1955 does not

Need to be Mot'd
Be taxed, but the DVLA be advised it is on the road


but needs to be insured


I may have a chance of getting such a vehicle. However it has been laid up for 36 years ( pre sorn as far as i am aware)

So does anyone know what hoops i need to jump through before i can drive it on the road,(assuming i have given it the once over for being road legal etc etc)

1) Or do i just send of the paperwork to transfer into my name and request that the reg be re activated and get it insured
2)Or must it have an MOT before all this, even though by law it doesnt need one

What i intend to do is trailer it to my house and if 1) applies get it insured and therefore legal to be left on the public highway

If you have the old V5 then just send it off, you wont need to sorn it even when the new V5 comes back as it'll be off the system so to speak, I had an old Land Rover that was never sorned and kept off road. If you are keeping it on the road, as you know, you need to get it insured and taxed, I paid £88 pa for my MGB, added a 1955 Bel Air with mods to the policy and the renewal is £183 so It's cheap as chips, tax is nil and you don't need an MOT, DVLA recognise this when you tax online but unfortunately the police are a bit dumber as I found out last year so It's easier to get it MOTd if you intend driving it around as it'll save getting pulled up.
One other thing is that if it has an old green type log book and not a V5 I'd hold on to it and apply for a new V5 as if the old one is lost, yes it'll cost £20 but it's worth it to keep another bit of history. If the old reg has been given to someone else the DVLA will probably want to inspect the car and they'll give you another age related plate.

FFS, what car is it????

Edited by jagracer on Thursday 26th March 11:16

Edited by jagracer on Thursday 26th March 11:20

[Spangles]

silverfoxcc said:

Spangles,
The reports i have had, ( car not seen myself) is that it was a good runner when it went in, so normal fluids change and gentle test drive before venturing further.
Aparrently is is an 'oily rag rub' resto. small bit of rust hither and thither but nothing that would fail an MOT, However all five tyres would be changed

Pictures would be interesting. Even 36 years of inactivity on a brand new car would have caused various issues.

[BritishRacinGrin]

You seem to be underestimating the amount of work a car unused for 36 years will require to be functional.

[TooMany2cvs]

BritishRacinGrin said:

You seem to be underestimating the amount of work a car unused for 36 years will require to be functional.

There's two angles...

There's "back on the road" - that's quite likely to be fairly easy, but I'd definitely put it through an MOT, whether it needs one or not, just as a sanity-check.

Then there's "reliably usable" - and only time will tell on that one...

[Mound Dawg]

BritishRacinGrin said:

You seem to be underestimating the amount of work a car unused for 36 years will require to be functional.

This.

There's usually a good reason why a car was taken off the road in the first place too.