Classic cars in France?

[Old Merc]

I`ve been told that there are restrictions in various parts of France regarding using classic cars on the road.Anyone heard of this and know details?

[benjj]

That sounds like total bo llocks to me

[Le Pop]

Good idea to post this in the 'France' thread...

I have a French registered classic imported from the UK and I live in France. If your classic is on UK plates the rules are different. There used to be a clause in classic car insurance in France that prevented you using your classic in anything other than your home department and those immediately adjoining. This has since changed and I can now use my Pop anywhere in France or abroad on my AXA classic car insurance. It's a very good deal too, only about 80 euros per annum including breakdown cover...

There has recently been talk of a restriction being implemented in central Paris on the use of classic cars. There's actually a PH thread on it here. I don't know if this has actually been implemented yet, but personally there is no chance I'd ever take the Pop into central Paris anyway!

Another thread on it here...

Edited by Le Pop on Thursday 4th July 20:24

Edited by Le Pop on Friday 5th July 08:42

[v8250]

benjj said:

That sounds like total bo llocks to me

Ditto, I've been driving classic cars in France for 20+ years. Only time I've had problem in France was during a rally, in Southern France, where the AC de Monaco 'arranged' for an excessively large 'Flic' reception with police dogs and vans to ensure we were all keeping to the speed limits; "Putant, les miserables!" Didn't stop us blatting away to our hearts content, though

PS Hello Ben, we should catch up sometime. PM me with some news...

[benjj]

Agreed, I've rallied about 7000km in France during the last 12 months in a miscellany of old cars, never had an issue.

Andrew, will drop you a line next week, have something fun to invite you to.

[Riley Blue]

A friend who lives in France has just written to say there is a form of registration a bit like the 'H' (Historic) plates in Germany - not quite sure how it works but it is things like restricted mileage etc, the pay-off is less strict CT (MoT), lower insurance etc. Once you've registered your car for that system it can't be reversed so consequently it is not very popular as obviously it's a bit of a restriction if you want to sell the car.

There's no restriction on foreign registered cars.

[LordBretSinclair]

Ditto, never had a problem on any of the rallies we've done in France, or anywhere on the continent.

Lady S looking somewhat pensive before the off last June - she'd just seen all the directions were in French and all the distances in kilometres - made for some interesting regularity sections

[Old Merc]

benjj said:

That sounds like total bo llocks to me

Thought so,only last month I was in Normandy on a classic tour.

This "story" came from a classic dealer who is interested in my LHD French classic,when I told him I could get a better price for it in France.I have a number of French people interested and it looks as if the dealer wants to "nick it" ?

Thanks for all the replies guys.

[benjj]

I think that's precisely what the cheeky scamp is trying to do.

As Mother Theresa said, "fk him right in the fking eye."

[Le Pop]

Old Merc said:

This "story" came from a classic dealer who is interested in my LHD French classic,when I told him I could get a better price for it in France.

Car prices are silly here (France).

[aw51 121565]

"Oldtimer" plates mean cheap "historic rates" road tax and a limit on driving a classic - 30 years or older - vehicle within what is effectively one's own county, both in France and Germany...

We really do need to be careful what we wish for, when a few of us are making and many of us are signing government petitions for free road tax for cars over 30 years old in the UK .

[lowdrag]

Seems that someone is touting the old law about the use of a French registered classic. There are two types of V5 here, one normal and one for cars over 25 yrs old, and the basic difference is an MOT every two years or every five years. However, under current legislation (or is it now repealed - not sure) a car registered as a classic can technically only be driven in the department of registration and those that surround it. Going further afield require the permission of the prefecture where you are going to. A car over 25 yrs old does not have to be registered as a classic though so you aren't forced to follow this rule. Having said all that, it is one of those archaic laws that is observed in the breach. I know that for a while my French club stopped giving us rally plaques in case we were stopped, but that is now behind us, and in the days gone by when we rallied with the british club they did write to each prefecture but not any more. So in answer to the OP's question - forget it. It has about as much truth about it as the old saw of being timed between péages. Oh, and did you go to church yesterday in the UK? If not, you broke the law.

[ertyuio]

The law has changed recently in FRANCE concerning classic vehicles :
If you have a car which is 30 years or more, then you can ask for an Historic vehicle V5 ( called Carte grise collection ) the MOT will then be every 5 years.
If you have an accident and the repairs are dearer than the value of the car, then you are allowed to keep it and make the repairs, beacause it is consedered as a piece of history.
You can travel wherever you want without any authorizations like in the past...