stupid one make car clubs !!

814CWE · Post by **814CWE** » Tue Sep 25, 2012 6:58 pm

after recently recommissioning 2 mk1 mini 850s (both long time off the road in a private storage),,some of us have to do the laborious job of getting the cars inspected and get the old folding log books changed to a v5c

go through the clubs.....

yer right!!

the "well regarded" mini register(who im not quoting here) refuse to authenticate my car.....

why???

because it had an engine change in 196os due to crank failure.

"now its not original" they say ,,so they cannot process my application so ive got a car in limbo and they refuse to do it

strange this because dvla do not stipulate the car still has to have the original engine..

i wonder if it was a 970 cooper s after 40 yrs in storage they would be so quick to reject it..

to add insult to injury,,the person responsible for the application and mandatory inspection never got back to me,,so after 3 months waiting,so i was plagued with ignorance from day one..

its about time these clubs started smelling what they are shovelling ..

a replacement genuine bmc engine fitted when the car was practically a new car,IS NOT grounds to refuse application for a well deserved v5c

hence to say this club has lost another member...not that they are bothered,,,as it is only an 850 and not a mk1 cooper s

end of rant!

Pandora · Post by **Pandora** » Tue Sep 25, 2012 7:05 pm

DVLA accept the word of 'Marque specialists' in such matters (engine swaps) so i'm sure someone on here might help. My local mini specialist provided a letter to confirm my cars details and they were happy to acept it.

I also always found Mike Worthington-Williams excellent on such matters - he is on the list as an 'independant' i.e non marque expert, and as long as the info you give him is reasonable and honest, he's helpfull and efficient. I assume he's still about? he wrote for classic car weekly, monthly or mart.

Hope this helps

Al

814CWE · Post by **814CWE** » Tue Sep 25, 2012 7:15 pm

ive contacted mike today-
steered me in the correct direction...very helpful

as for the one make mini club-CONSIDER MY RENEWAL FORM IN THE SHREDDER !!!!

godamn set of "shufflers"

its the jobsworths / anal anaraks like this that ruin the pleasure of the mini

no doubt they will continue to take other members renewal subs and offer the members nothing while they go to fancy evening collar and tie meals and historic " works rally" meets

id rather have a genuine car and "ruff it" in a curry house anyday-

Post by **Pete** » Tue Sep 25, 2012 8:22 pm

Not sure exactly which club you're referring to Brooky but if it's the MCR (reading between the lines it is ?) there's only a couple of people that deal with this in a car club not the whole club ! Whether it is or not I can't see how you can slate an entire car club on the poor experience you've had of one person ? You'll be writing to Anne Robinson next !

I've done a few of these for the MCR over the years and never had a problem whether there's been a change of engine , 'base unit', or colour, so long as it's essentially the same car. The only application I ever refused was a 1071 S in the form of a bog standard Mini Clubman and even then he got it through (someone else) eventually !

814CWE · Post by **814CWE** » Tue Sep 25, 2012 9:18 pm

im not slating any club as a whole!!- im friends some of this clubs members and some of the registrars and they are top guys.

what im getting at is the fact that the officials REFUSE to authenticate it coz its had an engine change.

the godamn thing still has its original body number attatched to the slam panel!!!!!!!!! unlike most mk1 these days..

so some officials in this particular club either cant be bothered or just talking crap,,or dont know enough about minis in general to authenticate it!!!!

or maybe im just the wrong side of watford gap??

Post by **Pete** » Tue Sep 25, 2012 9:30 pm

brook shaw wrote:im not slating any club as a whole!!.

No, just that they're stupid.

Might be able to help, sent you a PM

814CWE · Post by **814CWE** » Tue Sep 25, 2012 9:41 pm

pm sent
now you will see what im up against,,,,

THE REVEREND · Post by **THE REVEREND** » Wed Sep 26, 2012 10:36 pm

its a funny ole world . when your pride and joy gets slated by one person and your view on a certain club will change forever. my ole mini was at beaulieu some years ago when the cooper club run the show and some bloke with a hat ripped my pride and joy to shreds

i vowed then i would not join them as a member but did some 10 yrs later realized there purist views on classic minis haven't changed and when the membership renewal came it to went in to the bin. so brooky i feel for you

Post by **Pete** » Thu Sep 27, 2012 12:36 am

Ay, ye can't beat a good old sweeping generalisation. Same with one make forums folks, we're not all purists (quite difficult when you've got a sooped up Hornet) and there is no party line. (I do hate Webastos though.

)

814CWE · Post by **814CWE** » Thu Sep 27, 2012 12:19 pm

basically this club is only interested if you own anything of historical importance,,,even if its a buff log book and a bag full of sweepings up.......

a complete original car sadly isnt in the criteria for dvla registration..

what annoys me they couldnt even be arsed to look at the cars,,and the "bull" they tried flanelling me off with.

for a" well respected club" they should be godamn ashamed of themselves.

1071 S · Post by **1071 S** » Thu Sep 27, 2012 12:55 pm

From 12000 miles away I can feel your pain.. The club may be great but generally you don't deal with the club - just the turkey with the official "chop".. There are similar organisations out here - won't recognise cars for 'concessional " rego until you've been a member for a year.... Thankfully there are other options.

But the real reason I've commented concerns your sig line.... You must be joking. When your girlfriends Datsun 1000 feels like a sports car (away from the lights anyway) you just know that there has to be something better out there... like a 998

Cheers, Ian

mk1 · Post by **mk1** » Thu Sep 27, 2012 4:26 pm

To reject a V5C application because there has been an engine swap somewhere in the distant pastis pretty dumb, and certainly NOT what the current legislation is there for, but to condemn a whole club for same strikes me as a bit pre-emptive.

As has been said, you haven't said which club you are referring to but the assumption seems to be that it's the MCR. Speaking for my self I have many good friends who are members & I am what can only be described as an on off member but the whole club was not involved in this one decision.

You have I am sure many other angles to approach re your V5C, there have been some excellent suggestions on here. I suggest you put this one down to experience, but please don't tar everyone with the same brush.

Good luck, I'm sure you will get your V5C sorted soon.

M.

Post by **Simon776** » Thu Sep 27, 2012 5:50 pm

Re: stupid one make car clubs !!

There are also stupid members. And let us not forget we have only heard one side of the story, so who knows how the club was approached?

Like Pete, I've inspected a few cars for the V765 scheme and have never heard of one rejected one simply because of an engine change.

Post by **Pete** » Thu Sep 27, 2012 9:50 pm

brook shaw wrote:basically this club is only interested if you own anything of historical importance,,,even if its a buff log book and a bag full of sweepings up.......

a complete original car sadly isnt in the criteria for dvla registration..

what annoys me they couldnt even be arsed to look at the cars,,and the "bull" they tried flanelling me off with.

for a" well respected club" they should be godamn ashamed of themselves.

As someone who wears a number of hats within the MCR and owns some quite humble Minis I don't agree with any of that whatsoever. As Mark says and I'll repeat myself again you can't justify sweeping statements about a whole car club like that based on one bad experience, which I'm looking into.

Well you can but it don't mean it's true.

youngres · Post by **youngres** » Thu Sep 27, 2012 10:57 pm

The V675 system has been successfully run by one person in the MCR since its inception and he has dealt with hundreds of applications. That person often delegates the inspection to local knowledgeable club members, two of which have responded here. I can categorically say that no V675 would ever be refused because of just an engine swap. It may have been refused for other reasons but that's not what is being said here. In fact the number of refused applications from the many hundred that have been applied for is just a handfull. So all I can say is that our angry friend either had something else other than the engine swap to worry about or it was not being administered by the MCR - perhaps he would be brave enough to say which it is.

Robert Young - Chairman Mini Cooper Register

814CWE · Post by **814CWE** » Fri Sep 28, 2012 12:51 am

its a mini thats had a engine replacemrnt in the 60s

rest of the car is standard.

they aint even seen the bloody car...as they wont authenticate it so my side of story is 100 percent accurate

somebody is trying to brush this under the carpet.

ive been into these cars long enough to see im been spun a yarn

im not slating the club as a whole or any of its members....

what im saying is DONT JUDGE MY CAR TILL YOU HAVE SEEN IT.

my car has nothing to hide...and i know every nut and bolt on the wretchef thing...

814CWE · Post by **814CWE** » Fri Sep 28, 2012 1:22 am

[quote="youngres"]The V675 system has been successfully run by one person in the MCR since its inception and he has dealt with hundreds of applications. That person often delegates the inspection to local knowledgeable club members, two of which have responded here. I can categorically say that no V675 would ever be refused because of just an engine swap. It may have been refused for other reasons but that's not what is being said here. In fact the number of refused applications from the many hundred that have been applied for is just a handfull. So all I can say is that our angry friend either had something else other than the engine swap to worry about or it was not being administered by the MCR - perhaps he would be brave enough to say which it is.

Robert Young - Chairman Mini Cooper Register[/quote]

i am brave enough....
it was yourself and don who made the decision not to inspect the car
a fone call or some correspondance would have been helpful

i had to find out from another registrar what was going on with the ap
plication
dont try and cover your tracks or make out its a fraudulent application

mk1 · Post by **mk1** » Fri Sep 28, 2012 8:29 am

Brook,

I think it will probably be more useful if you sort this matter out off the forum. You have received some very good answers & I suspect that nothing more than a minor misunderstanding has occurred.

I hope that you find a resolution to this matter.

M

Post by **steve1071** » Fri Sep 28, 2012 10:03 pm

So who granted all the 'works' cars their identities?

618AOG · Post by **618AOG** » Sat Sep 29, 2012 3:00 pm

Whilst I have a fairly low opinion of Mr Farr, this sounds like a simple clash of 'personalities'. Pretty much the reason I don't bother with car clubs - too many bumptious old farts, basically!