Classic Registration on a homebrew question

[Classicbodge]

Hi,

I new here, so I hope ive put this in the right place. I've had an idea and i wanted to see how people think it would work legally before i plan too much further into it.

According to the Rebuilds and the law section on this site you can register a "rebuilt" car as the original as long as you hit 8 points on the list of

chassis or body shell (body and chassis) = 5 points

suspension = 2 points

axles = 2 points

transmission = 2 points

steering assembly = 2 points

engine = 1 point

from the original, and according to this site about the V765 Process you can reclaim an old number plate if "Your vehicle was out of use when computerisation happened and therefore not registered at the DVLA"

Could I get a classic car,that's sat in a barn 30 old years, strip it of everything except the chassis, axles and suspension and then basically do what I want with the rest of the car and still be able to claim its original registration number back?

Seems to good to be true, the look of the classic but potentially modern reliability.

Am I missing something basic here?

[TooMany2cvs]

Classicbodge said:

Could I get a classic car,that's sat in a barn 30 old years, strip it of everything except the chassis, axles and suspension and then basically do what I want with the rest of the car and still be able to claim its original registration number back?

Seems to good to be true, the look of the classic but potentially modern reliability.

Am I missing something basic here?

No, not really.

Beetle, Herald, 2cv, Land-Rover based kits have been doing exactly that for decades.

Horse's mouth - https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-registration/radically-...

But surely if you bin the body and everything bar chassis/axles/suspension, you're binning the "look of the classic"? All you've got is a car that basically handles like an old car, but has more power than it can really cope with.

The only difference is whether it ends up with the ID of whatever donated those bits, or a Q plate after an IVA test.

<light dawns>
And free VED/MOT exemption/CC exemption/ULEZ exemption...

[Carfield]

Possibly a dim question, but what (apart from it not being in the spirit of the thing) prevents you from:

1st: Rebuilding the car using enough of the original to reclaim the old registration.

Getting it registered and then afterwards

2nd: Swapping out other bits to the extent that you would not have qualified for the old reg (i.e. just 5 points from the shell)

Is there some kind of obligation to keep the car in the state it was when registered to maintain the status?

[leginigel]

I would like to know the correct answer as I'm just about to start a Land Rover build ,chassis going to be galvanized late TD5 engine,axles and discovery auto box ,uprated seats etc on a 1986 90 petrol van and I hoping to put a soft top over a roll cage.So not many points here !

[aeropilot]

Classicbodge said:

Could I get a classic car,that's sat in a barn 30 old years, strip it of everything except the chassis, axles and suspension and then basically do what I want with the rest of the car and still be able to claim its original registration number back?

Seems to good to be true, the look of the classic but potentially modern reliability.

You mean like these.........?

http://www.frontlinedevelopments.com/vehicle/mg-le...

[PositronicRay]

Classicbodge said:

Seems to good to be true, the look of the classic but potentially modern reliability.

Am I missing something basic here?

Much tosh is often spoken about reliability, during the 70's I ran cars from the 60's, they were reliable as long as they were maintained.

Since the end of the century I've also run 60s and 70s cars, no problem with reliability, where reliability is complained about it's down to poorly maintained vehicles.

The advances in the last 50yrs have been, less labour intensive/longer service intervals, NVH, performance, safety, comfort, handling, economy and longevity.

But everyone always bangs on about "reliability"

[davepen]

Classicbodge said:

chassis or body shell (body and chassis) = 5 points

....strip it of everything except the chassis, axles and suspension. Am I missing something basic here?

The DVLA have been saying that chassis and body are one item. So if you change the body you loose 5 points. Also suspension and axles are one (either or) item. An Austin 7 was refused recently as it had a different body style to original. Tread carefully - or do you want a Austin Sherline with a Jag running gear .

[Slidingpillar]

davepen said:

An Austin 7 was refused recently as it had a different body style to original.

I know DVLA have been tightening down but that is ridiculous.

[TooMany2cvs]

Slidingpillar said:

davepen said:

An Austin 7 was refused recently as it had a different body style to original.

I know DVLA have been tightening down but that is ridiculous.

I suspect it's codswallop - or a half-wit dealing with it, who's going to get a slap when it goes to somebody with a clue.

[lowdrag]

Having been involved with Jaguar replicas for years, I haven't ever seen one refused registration. My XKSS is happily road legal built from the remains of a LHD 2+2 E-type for example. I have been following events since the Pur Sang débâcle several years back the DVLA have intimated that if the car isn't what it says on the V5 it will have to go through the IVA test. However, the more they thought about it the more ludicrous it bacame, since Half the Bentley Le Mans cars around are replicas built on a Mk VI chassis, all the Austin specials are originally Sevens, and just how many C, D, XKSS and SS100s there are out there I wouldn't like to guess. If you are making a completely one-off special you'll probably have to go the IVA route, but if building a Jaguar replica you'll need a V5 that is from a Jaguar.

The one cloud on the horizon is the proposal to implement a 40 year rolling exemption for cars, but in this proposal it specifically states that the car must conform to the original specifications so all replicas would fail on that premise. But words are fine; how the hell will they know? Will every car that is 40 years old have to be inspected? Another nice mess you've got me into Stanley.

In closing, I'd suggest you discuss the matter with any one-make club that has a person authorised by the DVLA to help recover registrations and get the "barn find" car back to a legal status. This applies to cars that weren't on the road when the records were computerised in 1983.

[TooMany2cvs]

lowdrag said:

The one cloud on the horizon is the proposal to implement a 40 year rolling exemption for cars, but in this proposal it specifically states that the car must conform to the original specifications so all replicas would fail on that premise. But words are fine; how the hell will they know? Will every car that is 40 years old have to be inspected?

Same story as age-relating imports. The inspection and approval will be done by the V765-list clubs, I would expect.

Of course, that raises other issues around impartiality - to which the only real sanction is removal of an offending club from the V765 list.

[Rich G]

TooMany2cvs said:

Same story as age-relating imports. The inspection and approval will be done by the V765-list clubs, I would expect.

Of course, that raises other issues around impartiality - to which the only real sanction is removal of an offending club from the V765 list.

Import inspections are done by a company called SGS - who may or may not, be able to tell the difference between an Austin 7 and an Austin Allegro.

[Classicbodge]

TooMany2cvs said:

But surely if you bin the body and everything bar chassis/axles/suspension, you're binning the "look of the classic"? All you've got is a car that basically handles like an old car, but has more power than it can really cope with.

My Fault, I meant keeping the full body and chassis so it would keep the look.

Carfield said:

Possibly a dim question, but what (apart from it not being in the spirit of the thing) prevents you from:

1st: Rebuilding the car using enough of the original to reclaim the old registration.

Getting it registered and then afterwards

2nd: Swapping out other bits to the extent that you would not have qualified for the old reg (i.e. just 5 points from the shell)

Is there some kind of obligation to keep the car in the state it was when registered to maintain the status?

This would have been my next question.

davepen said:

Tread carefully - or do you want a Austin Sherline with a Jag running gear .

On an unrelated point, how many bass speakers and blue neon underlights can you fit on a Austin Cambridge? (Thats what the kids do right? speakers and underlights? )

[aeropilot]

Classicbodge said:

TooMany2cvs said:

But surely if you bin the body and everything bar chassis/axles/suspension, you're binning the "look of the classic"? All you've got is a car that basically handles like an old car, but has more power than it can really cope with.

My Fault, I meant keeping the full body and chassis so it would keep the look.

What construction type...?

Separate chassis/body, or a monocoque bodyshell...?

Did you have any particular make/model in mind, or are you just in general hypothetical question mode..?

[Classicbodge]

aeropilot said:

What construction type...?

Separate chassis/body, or a monocoque bodyshell...?

Did you have any particular make/model in mind, or are you just in general hypothetical question mode..?

Just hypothetical at the moment, planning out what to do when semi-retirement kicks in.

[aeropilot]

Classicbodge said:

aeropilot said:

What construction type...?

Separate chassis/body, or a monocoque bodyshell...?

Did you have any particular make/model in mind, or are you just in general hypothetical question mode..?

Just hypothetical at the moment, planning out what to do when semi-retirement kicks in.

Plenty of resto-mods (I hate that term, but hey ho) around, with people putting modern engines into classics etc., but, it will depend on what 'classic' interests you and what its perceived value is in restored OEM spec compared to butchered resto-mod spec.
In many cases, you might be severely devaluing the car, but in others it won't make much difference. All depends on what you want to do, how far you want to take it and what it is you want to do it to.

Probably best to come back with the question when the times comes and you've seen something you want to take on

[tortop45]

Best thing to do first is to get it regestered if its not on the DVLA system.