Classic
cars stay on the road after EU U-turn
The
European Commission has backed down over plans which would have
seen owners of classic cars being forced to take them off the
road if they had been modified in any way.
What was the concern for classic car enthusiasts?
The major concern for historic and classic car enthusiasts over
the proposed European Roadworthiness Directive was it might
require older cars to be in a largely 'original' state. That
could have meant that vehicles with up-rated brakes or an overdrive
unit fitted to the gearbox could have fallen foul of the new
rules and as a result be blocked from being used on the public
roads.
See the Daily Telegraph article by David Millward, transport
edittor, released today at 3pm UK time. More
See our earlier NEWS items. More
Update: 130104
Update: 121221
Posted: 121220
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Tony
Lake spotted a report in today's Daily Telegraph
that "Stephen Hammond, the roads minister,
secured the deal in Brussels after hearing representations
from car enthusiasts. The Commission had drawn up
plans for a “roadworthiness test” directive
which would have required all components on a car
to conform with those on the vehicle when it was
first registered.
According to the EU document the move was justified
because “Vehicles of |
historic
interest are supposed to conserve heritage of the
époque they have been built”, but it
was feared this would create havoc, especially given
the number of carmakers who have disappeared over
the last 50 years. This would have hit owners of
classic marques, such as Alvis, Triumph, Wolseley
and Sunbeam, which have long since disappeared –
making spare parts almost impossible to find as
a result.
The agreement means that UK testers will be given
greater discretion to assess the roadworthiness
of classic cars built after 1960. Historic vehicles
built before that date are exempt from the MoT.
Mr
Hammond has also persuaded the Commission to drop
the requirement for more than one million caravans
and trailers to undergo an MoT.
Had
the EU pressed ahead with the original proposals
it was feared this would cost Britain over £1
billion over five years. The modified version is
likely to cost only £18 million."
Nic Houslip notes there is
interesting snippet at the end of the report in
the paper of the the decision not to test caravans
and trailers. Good news for those who move a
car on a trailer. Chris Hunt Cooke feels that "probably
one of the major factors for the government is that
to test caravans and trailers you need to have a
register, and the cost of setting up such a register
to include all of them would not be insignificant!"
A brief report in the Daily Telegraph on 21st December
2013 notes the Minister "has also persuaded
the Commission to drop the requirement for more
than one million caravans and trailers to undergo
an MOT."
Important Note
We have had this important clarification of the
current situation from a V8 member who is following
these matters closely who says "the Daily Telegraph
item is in fact misleading, there has never been
any question of older vehicles being forced off
the road, the point was whether they could still
be categorised as historic if they had been modified.
If they could not, then they would not be exempt
from MoT testing, and would have to be tested in
the same way as other vehicles.
The news from Brussels that the Minister reports
is encouraging and it is good to see him on the
side of the historic vehicle owner over this, but
nothing has yet been finalised, this is simply another
stage in the EU process, and not the final outcome."
As we have further news we will post it as NEWS
item on the V8 website. |
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