Whats the deal with age related plates?

[Paul Bowman]

Its confusing me, and i've been through the process.

This what I did to get a 'H' Suffix plate on my Cobra rep.

Built kit using granada donor (J reg) with V5
Used a 4.0l RV8, Letter from heritage centre, gaydon to confirm age of engine,

put it through SVA got MAC cert.

went to DVLA with V5, Mac Cert, all receipts for the build. completed their paperwork (build up form, and application for registration, tax etc)

Nice man from DVLA inspected car, for chassis no., engine no, and the donor parts.

in reality he just wanted to see the chassis number stamped on the chassis and look through the receipts.

Was then given a 'J' prefix registration to put on car.

I then bought a 'H' suffix plate at DVLA auction, which included all fees.

Went to DVLA gave them my entitlement to registration form and they gave me a new tax disc, and a piece of paper to get the plates made up.

Probably still as clear as mud

BTW the DVLA are clamping down on the donor engine change trick, and may ask to inspect the donor to see the engine in it.

 

[lee]

Its confusing me, and i've been through the process.

This what I did to get a 'H' Suffix plate on my Cobra rep.

Built kit using granada donor (J reg) with V5
Used a 4.0l RV8, Letter from heritage centre, gaydon to confirm age of engine,

put it through SVA got MAC cert.

went to DVLA with V5, Mac Cert, all receipts for the build. completed their paperwork (build up form, and application for registration, tax etc)

Nice man from DVLA inspected car, for chassis no., engine no, and the donor parts.

in reality he just wanted to see the chassis number stamped on the chassis and look through the receipts.

Was then given a 'J' prefix registration to put on car.

I then bought a 'H' suffix plate at DVLA auction, which included all fees.

Went to DVLA gave them my entitlement to registration form and they gave me a new tax disc, and a piece of paper to get the plates made up.

Probably still as clear as mud

BTW the DVLA are clamping down on the donor engine change trick, and may ask to inspect the donor to see the engine in it.

Ok that sounds straight foward. Problem i have is there is no set donor car for my kit. Engine is any old 302, transaxle is from an audi, sterring coloum and uprights from a granada, or a mustang!!

SO buy me reckoning if i went your route it land a Q plate!?

One thing im interseted in now is the Dvla auction you mention, as i guess the plate you purchased has the same use (it is effectivly) a private number plate??????????

 

[Brett James-McCall]

Ok that sounds straight foward. Problem i have is there is no set donor car for my kit. Engine is any old 302, transaxle is from an audi, sterring coloum and uprights from a granada, or a mustang!!

SO buy me reckoning if i went your route it land a Q plate!?

Lee,
No not neccessarily. If you can 'prove' that the transaxle, steering column, uprights etc are new as well as everyhting else, you can submit a certificate of newness and then get a new plate.

My best advice. Read all the documents and then then 'read between the lines'

Brett

 

[Paul Bowman]

SO buy me reckoning if i went your route it land a Q plate!?

One thing im interseted in now is the Dvla auction you mention, as i guess the plate you purchased has the same use (it is effectivly) a private number plate??????????

Unless as Brett says you have paperwork to say they are new parts, and they look new.

The DVLA website has a section for their auctions, which are held at various places throughout the year DVLA Personalised registrations

 

[Mark]

The law states that any car 1st registered after whatever date in 1973 has to have front and rear numberplates with reflective backgrounds, white at the front, yellow at the rear.

I once challenged this information, as I could not find any specific mention in any regulations, that insisted that the front plate should be white and the rear yellow. So with a recently restored black car, (of 1983 vintage) I decided to put front (white) plates front and back. Looked kind of cool, if only because it was different.

Anyway, approximately 2000 miles later I got stopped by plod. He asked why I had a front palte on the back etc and I said that there was no legal reason why I couldn't. Anyway, long story short, he kept me there at the side of the road for over an hour, while he checked in his book, called the station to check etc etc.

Finally he came back and accepted what I had said, and asked "Have I made you late"? I said "yes, just a little". He laughed and suggested that I would regularly be late as I was now on the hit list and was likely to be pulled over often!

Lesson learnt. Yellow plate went on the rear as soon as I got home.

 

[Dave Bilyk]

Mark,
this is clearly an essential piece of legislation as without it, us crazy motorists would be driving backwards at speed, and without the colour coding how would plod know???

I painted my reg number on my rad grille, and put the white plate on the back because I thought it looked better. Just call me a rebel, and I got away with it, but I later read this rule, so enough rebellion, I will rectify both issues before next use.

 

[Mike Drew]

I just said Sod the lot of them, and ran my GT350 clone with a single Oklahoma plate on the rear for the two years it was based in England. Perhaps strangely, I was never once stopped by plod (although I was routinely stopped by French police, all of whom were car enthusiasts and just wanted to get a better look at the Shelby!)

From reading this thread, it sounds to me like it would be easier to move to the USA, attain US citizenship, register your GT40 in the USA and then move back to the UK than it is to put proper-looking UK plates on the car--sheesh!