17 replies to this topic

[Dan]

It's simply one of the things that VOSA never bothered themselves with. It has been a part of the European VIN laws since they were introduced in 1980 that VIN is supposed to be a secure system and properly administered but nobody has ever bothered with it.

[Cooperman]

I have to replace the screen scuttle panel on an MPI shortly so I guess I'll cut out the VIN number portion and weld it into the new panel in its correct position.
As for the above about the re-shelling of rally and race cars, this has always gone on with just about every make of vehicle. The body shell is a part number like any other component or sub-assembly. If crashed it is logical to replace the damaged part or assembly. I fully agree that to use a Mk 4 shell with a Mk 1 VIN to avoid road tax is a real no-no, but to repair an old Mini with a like-for-like, but rust-free shell has always been accepted as OK by enthusiasts. The same applies for Mk 1 Escorts, Cortina-Lotus's, etc..
If anyone seriously thinks that a competitor in Historic motor sport is going to scrap, say, a Mini worth upwards of £25k to £30k because it needs another Mk 1 shell due to a competition accident then they must be in another world.
Even the original 'works' cars, now worth up to £100k, have almost all been re-shelled, sometimes several times.
It's hard to see how DVLA could begine to check on this anyway, since the Mk 1 Mini has no stamped-in body ident number.

Edited by Cooperman, 18 December 2009 - 05:35 PM.

[Sherlock]

It's not so much of a problem if you damage your car & repair it yourself without involving an insurance company who will notify the DVLA that it's been written off. If that happens the V5 is revoked & then you have to rebuild it into a new heritage shell to get the registration re-instated without going through IVA. Before anything is said, I do realise that technically, 'doing this work in secret' could be illegal, but as Cooperman rightly says, who is going to ditch a car of that value when it can be repaired competently & result in a perfectly sound & safe car again?
I used to work for a local rally driver, he bought a 3 month old shell from a Mini which had suffered a low speed roll, which had been fully repaired & we built a 1400 Cooper 'S' rally car into that shell. Two Police vehicle inspectors came to inspect the car & also all the receipts for the many components. They were most complimentary about it & it was issued with a brand new registration. That to me seems sensible, but that was in 1970, where have we gone? What is the point of all these regulations? it won't make the roads any safer, as the danger comes from the attitude of the driver of the vehicle, not the vehicle itself, making new laws will not deter the 'ringers', they break the law anyway, a few more will not stop their activities. I can only conclude that it's another 'back door' method of getting rid of older vehicles.