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new chassis and now requires Q plates


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Met a friend of mine who has a Bugatti and a member of that club, they have advised the DVLA are insisting that if you replace a chassis or restore a large part of the vehicle with replacement parts.

Has anyone else heard this or can prove it's incorrect.

If true i assume it could affect a lot of vehicles and possibly provenances

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From the DVLA website (Google is your friend):

 

"A rebuilt vehicle can keep its original registration number if you can prove you’ve used:

 

  • the original unmodified chassis or bodyshell (car or light van)
  • a new chassis or monocoque bodyshell of the same specification as the original (car or light van)
  • the original unmodified frame (motorbike)
  • a new frame of the same specification as the original (motorbike)

You must also have 2 other major components from the original vehicle from the following lists.

For cars or light vans:

 

  • suspension (front and back)
  • steering assembly
  • axles (both)
  • transmission
  • engine

For motorbikes:

 

  • forks
  • wheels
  • engine
  • gear box"

 

Andy

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From the DVLA website (Google is your friend):

 

"A rebuilt vehicle can keep its original registration number if you can prove you’ve used:

 

  • the original unmodified chassis or bodyshell (car or light van)
  • a new chassis or monocoque bodyshell of the same specification as the original (car or light van)
  • the original unmodified frame (motorbike)
  • a new frame of the same specification as the original (motorbike)

You must also have 2 other major components from the original vehicle from the following lists.

For cars or light vans:

 

  • suspension (front and back)
  • steering assembly
  • axles (both)
  • transmission
  • engine

For motorbikes:

 

  • forks
  • wheels
  • engine
  • gear box"

 

Andy

 

Many thanks, get 2 seconds of streaming on internet here so could look properly

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This all seems to be old news from 2 or 3 years ago.

 

The - Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs , had a meeting with the DVLA and all was explained copy/pasted in many Club Forums.

 

ISTR that Bugatti was selected for 'special attention' , in fact something that could have been / continue applicable to any marque.

 

IIRC the main issue was that from statistics / Bugati factory records there was / remains many more Bugatti cars 'out-there' than the said factory ever manufactured. The reason(s) - are not so very complex , many cars / bikes having both a 'frame No.' and a chassis No. In the past there has been the odd court case to determine actual title to ownership of Numbers. Was it not the fact that there was a famous case of a Bugatti in the USA and a Bugatti in the UK claiming to be the self & same car (distribution of parts following a racing circuit wreck)..

Edited by ruxy
spelin
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Google 'Pur Sang Bugatti'

 

They are Argentine replicas and are fantastic. The only problem is that in Europe at least they are only legal for use on private land. They are new and cannot pass Single Vehicle Approval. The trouble is that one or two of them did make it onto the road using the identity of genuine pre-war cars.

 

It may well have been the case that the relevant owners club had approved and accredited these new builds but that may be hearsay.

 

There seems to be an acceptance at DVLA that ex-military chassis were frequently swapped by a Government agency prior to sale but it is the case now (and strictly speaking long has been) that the registration number relates to the chassis it was issued to. This means that if the chassis is scrapped, the number dies with it. It ought to be possible to go down the 'Reconstructed Classic' route and gain an age-related number if all other components are historic.

 

Better to repair than replace.

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The way I understand it the "reconstructed classic" thing is for when you make (and want to register) a "fresh" vehicle using appropriate old parts and new parts. As far as the DVLA is concerned the vehicle is dated as from the newest component used.

I am not so sure with a restoration which needs a new chassis; personally I would patch up the existing chassis no matter what that takes, get it registered as such, then as follows:

However I still believe that if you have an up and together vehicle with an existing registration which by reason of deterioration or damage needs a new chassis then a new chassis can be provided and the chassis number carries on; it is just a repair part.

Obviously problems may show, if subsequently it is found that the old chassis is not so bad after all and then used as the basis for another reconstructed classic.

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