EU to put an end to modified classics?

[Pandora]

Thi was flagged up on my facebook page:
http://www.the-ace.org.uk/armageddon/

not sure if this is an EU dictat that the UK govt may decide to 'forget to enforce' or not? surely the aftermarket accessories industry can make a strong case for the ecomomic benefits of the freedom of the individual?

be interesting to see what becomes of it, but I can't see it coming into force!

As a civil servant I keep being told that the government are all for reducing red tape and cutting down on new regulations.......

[Lord Croker]

I first heard of this over a year ago, I mentioned it around the trade & on another forum, which seemed to give rise to the opinion that I had gone mad! The consensus of opinion was that such a thing could never happen, It is already in force, if my memory serves me right, in Cyprus.
Not only will it affect the aftermarket & tuning industries, costing thousands of jobs, it may well place many people in a situation of losing their means of getting to & from work. It's probably more expensive to bring a vehicle back to standard than it was to modify it in the first place. I certainly wouldn't want to bear the cost of doing that with my Mini, particularly as many of the modifications are to enhance safety.
Not wishing to be political, but a British Govt reducing red tape???
We should all do our best to find out as much as possible about where this is going & make appropriate protest.

[surfblue63]

If the people at ACE actually read the document they would realise that this will not affect modified older cars.

From the document.

(9) Vehicles of historic interest are supposed to conserve heritage of the époque they
have been built and considered to be hardly used on public roads, it should be left to
Member States to extend the period of periodic roadworthiness testing for such
vehicles. It should also be for Member States to regulate roadworthiness testing of
other types of specialised vehicles.

2. This Regulation shall not apply to:
– vehicles of historic interest,

(7) ‘vehicle of historic interest’ means any vehicle which fulfils all the following
conditions :
– It was manufactured at least 30 years ago,
– It is maintained by use of replacement parts which reproduce the historic
components of the vehicle;
– It has not sustained any change in the technical characteristics of its main
components such as engine, brakes, steering or suspension and
– It has not been changed in its appearance;

(9) ‘roadworthiness test’ means a verification that the parts and components of a vehicle
comply with its safety and environmental characteristics in force at the time of
approval, first registration or entry into service, as well as at the time of retrofitting;

The full document can be found at

http://ec.europa.eu/transport/doc/roadw ... %29380.pdf

No where in the document does it mention that modification will result in the failure of a vehicle test. The only referance to modifications is what constitutes an historic vehicle. Obviously a car which has been modified will not be deamed an historic vehicle, thus it will require a safety test. Also note that when a vehicle is tested it will be tested as per it's original type approval.

[Lord Croker]

Thanks for your information, I have looked at the document, yet again we see the philosophy constantly promoted by governments that it's vehicles that cause road deaths. They should come & observe some of the driving standards around here, some of which can be explained by the ridiculous antics of driving instructors! It seems a bit ambiguous, what happens if you have modified a vehicle that is much less than 30 years old? Is an ex-Abingdon rally Cooper S such as GRX311D classed as standard because the manufacturers turned it out with that spec.? They talk about 30 years, but cars here will only be MOT exempt if registered before 1960. This is no criticism of you & the information, for which I am grateful, but I can understand why ACE may have mis-interpreted the proposal.

[carbon]

The Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC) have just put a news item about this on their website.

http://fbhvc.co.uk/2012/08/23/eu-roadwo ... s-testing/

[surfblue63]

The Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC) are members of FIVA, who are pushing their International Identity Card as a means of registering historic vehicles.

http://www.fiva.org/EN/LatestNews.htm

FIVA INTERNATIONAL IDENTITY CARD

FIVA defines a historic vehicle as a mechanically propelled road vehicle:
•which is at least 30 years old
• which is preserved and maintained in a historically correct condition
• which is not used as a means of daily transport
• and which is therefore a part of our technical and cultural heritage

This has already been used as a means of allowing historic vehicles to be used in certain countries, and also bear a similarity to what is mentioned in teh EU proposal. I would guess for works cars, ex race cars and cars modified in period (Radford, W&P) that if you can prove the provenance then you will be granted a FIVA ID-Card.

[814CWE]

if the car is pre 2001 and not type approved they have not got a cat in hells chance of enforcing it.,..as the parts could have been retro fitted donkeys years before this stupid rule##

no bob hope,,,it will crash and burn-trust me

[pad4]

Very interesting - if that happened i would be making at least 6-8 people redundant

nice - not

[814CWE]

this crap will shut down almost every motorists accessory shop in the uk

we will not be CLONES



they are trying to take away our freedom of choice

this government is starting to become a dictatorship

this started with road tax banding on emissions


what gives them the right to tax the atmosphere?????????

the bloody government DO NOT OWN IT!!!!!!!!!!!!
nobody does

we are just being fleeced at every oppertunity

[Chalkie]

You guys do know In the Uk they won't accpet this as Modified cars and restoretion brings in Alot of money to the ecomany

its a stupid idea its what we have MOT's for to make sure a car is safe. Also at the end of the day we own the cars its our right to mod them

[mab01uk]

Who says it can't happen here......some interesting comments below from a Belgian classic car enthusiast on similar topics on AROnline:

"In Belgium we had a new registration system introduced nearly 2 years ago which means we can’t no longer keep our old reg numbers and now we are issued with huge plates that totally ruin the appearance of classic cars. There are no provisions to get period related regs, nothing. Our classic cars can be fully Moted and then issued with a “normal” reg (something now starting with 1-DRA-725 or similar) and usable as everyday cars or get through a basic test and be issued with an “oldtimer reg such as this example “1-OBE-467″.That means we can only use the cars in a 25 km radius from home (question is what happens when the car is garaged elsewhere from where you live!), only for tests, we can’t take such a car to go to work or shopping, can’t really use it unless for duly approved meetings by the local federation of clubs. Which means not a lot, of course! Some police officers are real wankers and stop people driving “O” reg cars, check you haven’t been to the local Tesco’s and that there are no bags with food inside… I know a guy whose number plate was taken off the car, he got fined and had to call a rescue truck to get the car home! Then you do see cars that are quite unroadworthy being rusted through and used as “rats” on the roads while honest people get annoyed… And then don’t even try to modify a post 1968 car (before then there was no type approval in Belgium), if it doesn’t conform to its type approval any more it is failed by the Mot testers… don’t fit any braided brake hoses to it you’re sure to fail as… they can’t see any crack in it! Don’t try to fit rear discs to a MkI Golf, they don’t care it makes it safer, it is no longer conforming to its type approval so… that’s no good. I know this is totally stupid but then, what are doing our representatives? You’d better not ask I’m afraid and, yes, Europe is really a creeping dictatorship, nothing else!"
http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/2012/07 ... -classics/

http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/2012/08 ... to-action/