Retaining an original registration number on an exported car and notifying DVLA of an engine change

This NEWS item reproduces a report in the recent newsletter from the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC).














Posted: 150410
Ian Edmunds at the FBHVC provides an update in the latest FBHVC newsletter of his correspondence with DVLA on a couple of topics that had been raised by member clubs.

Retaining original UK registration on a classic car exported from the UK
A member one-make club, whose chosen vehicles are quite few in number and thus tend towards being high value, was concerned about vehicles sold abroad and exported losing their British registration and with it a part of their history. I checked this with DVLA and am very pleased to be able to report that in the normal course of events the UK registration will be retained and automatically reassigned to the vehicle if or when it returns to the UK. It is not necessary for either the old or new keeper to take any particular steps to ensure this happens. Of course, if the keeper of the vehicle has, prior to export, removed the registration from the vehicle, a subsequent importer will not be able to restore it. I have copied their exact response below:

The DVLA has clear operating instructions in place for a vehicle that was originally registered in the UK and then exported out of the UK, then returned to the UK at a later date.

1. Exported marker noted on our record.

2. When the application is processed for the import back to the UK, the chassis number provided (as long as it is the original) will link to a vehicle record and vehicle registration number that was originally registered at the DVLA. The original number would then be allocated to the imported vehicle to the UK.

3. The original registration mark may have been transferred off the vehicle as we sometimes find that before a vehicle is exported the keeper at the time decides to retain the registration mark for themselves (to put on another vehicle at some point), or to sell on due to its own value - if this happens, the vehicle, on its return, will be allocated an appropriate age related mark rather than the original.

Notifying DVLA of an engine change on a classic car
The second question related to engine changes in historic vehicles. This subject has been discussed with DVLA in the past but over a period memories tend to dim so a reaffirmation of the situation is useful. An engine change in a vehicle in the historic tax class should be notified to DVLA to enable the record to be updated and a revised V5C issued but, provided there are no other changes, it is not necessary to provide any supporting documentation for the engine because the change does not impact on the rate of duty. This remains the case even if changing from petrol to diesel or vice versa.