REME 245

The fact that they are illegal has always been the position, but if the Police are now nationally going to starting enforcing the law this could be a problem.

Unfortunately the newer the truck the more expensive. For my purposes I ideally need the previous owner to prove the unladen weight of the truck by putting it on a weight bridge. I assume most beavertail trucks have been converted from standard trucks and the owners would not normally know the new weight of their vehicle. I note there is a Ford Cargo version being advertised local to me. Quite what the spares backup for these vehicles is I do not know. To put a Windsor Carrier on a Bedford TK the cargo body must have been seriously lightened as you mention.

No problem with female names on vehicles in 43rd Recce.

There was a very good article in Wheels and Tracks on the airportable version. If buying one avoid airportable trucks with hard top cabs as they would have been fitted during post-war rebuilds.

That was the silly thing, they put the dischargers on the same licence as the 76mm gun. Even the Police don't know what they are doing.

Original Smoke Dischargers on vehicles are now classed as illegal firearms but hundreds of vehicles were sold prior to this decision being made and I am not a where of any current retrospective action being taken against owners. It would be a major excercise if they decided to go down this road. When I brought one of the last Cyprus Saladins out of Ludgershall the police insisted that I put the dischargers on my licence.

You are looking at 58 pattern webbing, steel helmet and the older pattern of DPM clothing i.e. not the current 95 pattern kit.

Certainly in 43rd Recce which I have connections with there was a squadron painter who did all the tac signs. For vehicle numbers I cut stencils and apply the paint using a piece of foam.

Mike 80% of the carriers in the UK are actually Canadian produced Mk11*. Quite why this is no one has ever been able to give me an answer. I would suggest a batch of crated examples survived some where. British Carriers, particularly Mk11 are rare in the UK. Bodger, if you have microsoft editor or equivalent you can lighten your picture and re-post so we can see it better.

If anyone does find a way to pursade Simex to sell 9.00-16 tyres in the UK please let us all know.

Lee Enfield As you are probably a where Simex Tyres purchased the old Dunlop Moulds and still make the T24 Tread pattern. Unfortunately they are a very difficult company to deal with and unless you want to buy a complete container load, I think you will be out of luck. Whilst most military vehicle owners are quite happy to fit tyres with inappropriate tread patterns, no company is going to invest in authentic tyres. Supplies of both 9.00-16 and 11.00-20 Track Grip Tyres are now rapidly drying up.

I believe a company called Mitas now manufacture them. The tread pattern is not 100% correct for a war-time vehicle, but they don't look too out of place. If you want Track Grips Wallace Wade in the states has had some made up. I believe he is waiting for the US Department of Transport to complete their tests before he can sell them.

Thanks for the replies. I do have a HGV Licence but obviously I did not want to buy anything larger than I had to. I have heard of people using trailers before, but you obviously you then have to buy and store two items of equipment. The legality in some cases is also questionable.

I have been considering purchasing a 7.5 ton winch equipped transporter to move my Carrier about. An unladen carrier weighs between 3.5 to 3.75 ton, so providing the truck itself does not weigh in excess of half its gross weight, it should be ok. Does anyone have any experience / comments on the suitability of such a truck? How much is the annual tax and testing for such a vehicle?

Alan Try asking your question on http://www.mapleleafup.org/forums

The MLUP Forum has an extensive thread on the Otter LRC including many unpublished photographs.

A small number came out of Portugual about 20 years ago. The chances of any more appearing must be practically zero. Its not the sort of thing any army would retain in storage.

Chris As you state the problem arises when the person behind the desk tries to put your vehicle into a taxation group where Construction and Use Regulations preclude its registration. This at first appearance seems to be the problem with this FV432. If the owner takes your advice hopefully there should not be a problem. They have used their discretion in allowing your vehicle to be registered as a 'Special Vehicle', but they could have forced you to register it as a tracked vehicle. If there was then a 'Construction and Use Regulation' applied to that class which precuded its registration, you would then have had the greatest didfficulty in finding grounds for appeal. Its just an example of what can happen to the unwary. Regarding the Saladin, as I stated in my original post both the DVLA and the Vehicle Inspectorate told me at the time (1994) that no more FV600 vehicles were going to be registered. This position was obviously unsustainable and after taking advice I got my vehicle registered. I assume people don't have problems with these vehicles today?

Chris Just because you have be able to blag your way through a few registrations does not mean that there are not pit falls out there which the unwary vehicle owner can fall into, particularly as you comment, if you give the person behind the counter too much information or worse still ask them a question. I have now found the form I received from the Vehicle Inspectorateafter the DVLA refused to to tax my Saladin on the basis that it was to wide. On it they state my vehicle is now being classed as a 'Motor Tractor / Locomtive'. When I went to tax it the DVLA just confused the situation more by taxing it as a PLG. This was before the days of the 'Historic Vehicle Class, and at the time the DVLA were trying to ban Stalwarts or any vehicle on that chassis off the road. Every Taxation Class including 'Historic Vehicle' must have a set of 'Construction and Use Regulations' which should in theroy be applied at the time of registration. The fact that the DVLA most of the time have no ideal what they are registering, and the majority of our vehicles never see the inside of a testing station, in some cases is probably very benefical. Regarding my comments /rummors on the mechanics of the FV432 range, there is no possibilty now that it is leagal to manufacture a vehicle which uses the same set of braking bands to steer and brake (including hand brake). I quired in my post when the law changed and if it could be applied retospectivly e.g., vehicles manuactured before the legal introduction of seat belts are not subject to this law. I am a long serving REME TA soldier and every instructor will tell you that the army have an excemption to use these vehicles on the road. I apply no more credence to this story than any others, but the fact the DVLA are still licensing these vehicles does not mean they know what they are doing. As you state the best way to ensure a trouble free registeration is do some research prior to visiting the DVLA office and tender the correct forms giving Historic Vehicle as the Taxation Class.

When I tried to get my Saladin registered about ten years ago I had a similar problem. I was told it was over 2.5 metres wide and there was no possibilty what so ever of me ever getting it registered. They even gave a phone number for the vehicle inspectorate who said the same thing. Luckerly for me I was able to get some advice from Chris Davis which resolved the problem very quickly. What the DVLA were forgetting was that before you can applie Construction and Use Regulation you have to decide what class to put the vehicle in. Every class has its own set of regulations including in some cases a 2.5 metre width limit. I dont know what the limit is for the tracked vehicle class, but in my case I was succesfully able to argue that as there was no specific taxation class for a turreted armoured car, it was unfair for the DVLA to pick one which precluded its use on the Road. Within a week I had a letter back informing me that it was now classed as a heavy road tractor or something similar. The Construction and Use Regulations for this class allowed a greater width. I would suggest you obtain a copy of the Construction and Use regulations concerning tracked vehicles. In the past DVLA inspectors were willing to excercise a lot of flexability in taxation classes but dont expect it now. Of course if the DVLA actually knew what they were doing they would have queried the fact that the FV432 range steer and brake using the same system which I thought was illegeal for road use. Perhaps others can confirm this. Perhaps the regulations are not applied retrospectivly.