Historic Vehicles

[captainjimbo]

Hi - I have read up on the current rules for classics and tax - basically the rolling exemption from tax. What I haven't been able to find out is how this relates to the number plates you could display.

Does this new(ish) regulation mean that cars falling in the new exemption period are now classified as historic vehicles and hence eligible for black and white plates or is this still limited to <1973 vehicles?

[spoodler]

Number plate reg's and the rest of the m.o.t type reg's are entirely seperate from the "taxation class"... so despite being zero V.E.D. you still have to conform to the rest of the rules for that age of car.

[TooMany2cvs]

captainjimbo said:

Does this new(ish) regulation mean that cars falling in the new exemption period are now classified as historic vehicles

Yes.

captainjimbo said:

and hence eligible for black and white plates or is this still limited to <1973 vehicles?

No. The black-and-white plate is nothing to do with the historic tax - it just so happens that the two cut-off dates happened to coincide. 1973 was when new cars could no longer be fitted with black-and-whites, 1998 was when the rolling-25-year tax happened to be halted.

[nta16]

I can't remember, was there any official notice that the rolling exemption was back on?

[nta16]

OP - do bear in mind many early 1970s cars would have had reflective number plates before it became a legal requirement to make the cars at the time appear new and up to date

anything after 1 Jan 1973 would originally have had reflective plates so changing to B&W as well as technically being illegal just doesn't look right

there are many posts and threads on this subject so if you do a site search you'll find lots of info and I've put links to the DVLA info leaflets

[TooMany2cvs]

nta16 said:

I can't remember, was there any official notice that the rolling exemption was back on?

Yes.

Last year's budget officially rolled it one year forward, to 1974.
This year's budget officially put it to rolling-40.

[captainjimbo]

Perfect - that's what I wanted to know - thanks for the timely responses.

[nta16]

TooMany2cvs said:

This year's budget officially put it to rolling-40.

cheers

that's the bit I missed or more likely forgot

does this mean the old farts at the HBVC (or something like) will be moving with the rolling 40 years for the cars they allow at their events like their 'Drive-your-classic-for-one-day-of-the-year'

[vx220]

IIRC I have read the B&W plates works on the build date of the car, not registration? So that may help?

[TooMany2cvs]

nta16 said:

does this mean the old farts at the HBVC (or something like) will be moving with the rolling 40 years for the cars they allow at their events like their 'Drive-your-classic-for-one-day-of-the-year'

The FBHVC don't actually organise events. Individual clubs do. Drive-it day is just an umbrella to organise events under - and has never had any age cutoff.

(Oh, look - 1978 car in one of the pics on the Federation's DiD web page...
http://www.fbhvc.co.uk/heritage-culture-and-museum... )

vx220 said:

IIRC I have read the B&W plates works on the build date of the car, not registration? So that may help?

Nope, the "historic vehicle" class is the ONLY thing that goes on build date. Everything else is on first-reg date, because it's all just going on what applied when the vehicle was new.

[nta16]

TooMany2cvs said:

vx220 said:

IIRC I have read the B&W plates works on the build date of the car, not registration? So that may help?

Nope, the "historic vehicle" class is the ONLY thing that goes on build date. Everything else is on first-reg date, because it's all just going on what applied when the vehicle was new.

sorry TM2cvs you are wrong about this and vx220 is correct

I know because I've had two cars miss out because they were passed the cut-off date by 4 days and 1 day!!

they gave seven days grace, i.e. manufactured up to 7th January 1973 (the 1st Jan wasn't a bank holiday back then I was told)

here is an official DVLA info leaflet, see pages 8 and 10 - https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...

[nta16]

TooMany2cvs said:

(Oh, look - 1978 car in one of the pics on the Federation's DiD web page...
http://www.fbhvc.co.uk/heritage-culture-and-museum... )

if they don't organise the runs it can include younger cars, last time I looked they covered cars up to 1973 and I just wondered if they'd changed since then but I'm not burning to join them, cheers

[TooMany2cvs]

nta16 said:

here is an official DVLA info leaflet, see pages 8 and 10 - https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...

I sit corrected. Thanks for that.

[nta16]

TBH I'd forgotten and it was only vx220's post that reminded me

[Hooli]

nta16 said:

TooMany2cvs said:

This year's budget officially put it to rolling-40.

cheers

that's the bit I missed or more likely forgot

does this mean the old farts at the HBVC (or something like) will be moving with the rolling 40 years for the cars they allow at their events like their 'Drive-your-classic-for-one-day-of-the-year'

I'd missed that too. Good news as my Bonnie should be exempt by the time I get it back on the road.

[Motown Junk]

nta16 said:

'Drive-your-classic-for-one-day-of-the-year'

This bit made me chuckle, then I realised I've only driven mine one day this year, to the MOT test and back....