what is an historic car

[Tim]

Copied from another forum......

I read in latest issue of Practical Classics that the above body (Federation Internationale des vehicules Anciens) has come up with a definition of an historic car to satisfy the eurocrats who will no doubt use it to legislate (fairly?) for older cars and their exemptions/exceptions from such legislation.....

It must be at least 30 years old on 1.1.2010 (by date of manufacture), preserved and maintained in an historically correct condition and not used as a means of daily transport.

So, it looks like any car from 1980 onwards will just be... a car... and not worthy of any special status.

It is believed that period modifications and accessories (i.e. those that were around at that time) can be accepted as historically correct condition.

However, they still cannot decide what they mean by daily transport. My thoughts are that restricted mileage (verified by MOT?) will be considered.

If this definition is accepted it could be that older cars (1980 onwards) will be subject to compulsory scrapping, which is something the current politicians and RAC have been talking about.

What do you think?

[rwdrs]

This is how the Germans deal with it.
Cars have to be 30 years old to qualify for the "H" (historic) plate which qualifies it for very very cheap tax and insurance. No compulsory scrapping though

[RS2000EXPRESS]

This is how the Germans deal with it.
Cars have to be 30 years old to qualify for the "H" (historic) plate which qualifies it for very very cheap tax and insurance. No compulsory scrapping though

If this definition is accepted it could be that older cars (1980 onwards) will be subject to compulsory scrapping, which is something the current politicians and RAC have been talking about.

After 1980, so no classic cars for the future?

[Rallyman72]

This something that the FBHVC have commented on via their website. I think that the quote Tim has got doesn't tell the full story:

December 5th
INCENTIVES TO SCRAP OLD CARS
FBHVC is strongly committed to preserving the right to continue to use our classic vehicles on the road as freely as modern vehicles may be. We deliberately do not get involved with any matters concerning more recent vehicles, because this would tend to dilute our efforts and our influence. We are able to negotiate concessions from various requirements, particularly nowadays environmental requirements, on the basis that there are limited numbers of classic vehicles, and they cover only a low mileage. Similarly, the international body Fédération Internationale des Véhicles Anciens (FIVA) have been told by the EU that at the present level of historic vehicle numbers they are prepared to continue to grant concessions, but would be concerned if the numbers rose significantly. Partly for that reason, FIVA have raised the age in their definition of historic vehicle to 30 years. In the normal course of events the vast majority of mass market cars are scrapped, perhaps to be re-cycled, when their economic life as everyday vehicles is ended, with only a limited number being kept by enthusiasts to become classic cars, preserved examples of our motoring heritage. Specialist cars, produced in small number, are always much more likely to survive.
A House of Commons select committee, the Environmental Audit Committee, in its report on VED as an environmental tax, has proposed a cash incentive for scrapping old cars on environmental grounds. This has been supported in a paper prepared for the RAC Foundation suggesting an incentive to scrap cars that are 17/18 years old, the last tranche not fitted with catalytic converters. Effectively this is intended to speed up slightly what is anyway the normal cycle of use and disposal. FBHVC does not object to this in principle, but would be concerned to examine the precise details of the proposal if it should be adopted by the government. We do wish to see a reasonable number of cars surviving to become the classics of the future, and we would be very strongly opposed to any element of compulsion, if that were ever to be suggested. (The RAC Foundation paper was misreported to have proposed compulsory scrapping, but thankfully that is not the case) We should also of course object to any more widespread incentive that would apply to older vehicles which we would already consider to be historic, or nearly so, which might encourage the scrapping of what would be potential restoration projects or source of spares.
November 21st
The following press release has been sent to us from RAC Motoring Services:
It has recently been reported that RAC Motoring Services is in favour of the compulsory scrapping of cars over the age of 17. We would like to confirm that this is a misquoted story from the RAC Foundation, an independent charitable trust think tank, that is entirely separate from RAC Motoring Services.
RAC Motoring Services does not support the wholesale compulsory scrapping of cars over 17 years old and certainly not classic cars which are an important part of Britain’s motoring heritage. However, we do support the principle of a voluntary scrappage scheme where motorists with old, inefficient cars are given a financial incentive to scrap their car and replace it with a newer, more efficient model. This would be a voluntary Government funded scheme created to give a helping hand to those that want to change their old car but are struggling to do so due to the current economic climate and potentially limited resale value of their vehicle.

[rwdrs]

vehicle must be 30 years old from DOFR, i.e. a rolling date, and no compulsory scrapping

[RS2000EXPRESS]

Thanks Richard for clearing this up.

Tim.