Registering military vehicles in UK?

[Sisu]

Hi,

 

I have the option of moving to UK on next few weeks and thought what options I have registering my Sisu-trucks. They are all made on 1976-1977 so they are over 30 years old, and all are with Leyland-turbodiesels (6.6L). I would like to register one truck immediately, this is a truck I would need for transporting my personal belongings etc. from Germany and use it in UK for carrying some stuff for my business. This truck is optically really far from perfect, but technically its in very good condition (only 55k kilometers) and its original (similar condition as in the pic). The gross weight is 8.800kg.

 

 

In Germany, registering this truck means heavy "road tax" to pay, as the looks are not perfect I wouldn't be able to get the historical licence plates. Of course the trucks are "Euro 0" :-D so you can imagine what is the punishment here.

 

Is it the same in the UK? I know there are no historical licence plates with certain regulations, only the normal ones. Can anyone estimate the costs I would have to pay per year for such a truck?

 

Cedric

[Sisu]

Ok, now the option is confirmed and I'm moving to UK. Still have to solve the Sisu truck registeration problem - so if anyone has any info what are the procedures regarding old army trucks and how expensive it is in general.

 

I bet most expensive is to get a full tank of diesel!! LOL!

[sirhc]

Cedric,

 

Unfortunatley your vehicles are not old enough to qualify for historic status in the UK, so you will need to pay full tax and register them as goods vehicles. If you have dating evidence registering them should be easy enough. They will need insurance and they will have to pass an MoT test first though. Have a read here http://www.dvla.gov.uk/

 

Chris

[Sisu]

Thanks for the link & info!

 

I checked from the DVLA-site and they say:

- Private HGV tax (exceeding 3500kg revenue weight), 12 months rate = £165,-

- M.O.T. for 2-axle truck, £49,-

 

I can tell, that is not expensive - if I found the correct numbers. Here I would pay much more, a truck also has to pay tax based on its pollution! I guess I get some sort of Classic Insurance, even if my truck is build later than 1973 - can't be too expensive for truck that has unbreakable in case of an accident, haha.

[Nick Johns]

Its going to be a bit more complicated to register your Sisu, as its too young to be historic you will need to contact VOSA to get a goods vehicle test where a plating certificate is issued, it will help if there is the manufacturers plate on the vehicle which states the axle loadings etc, you could pay the private goods rate to run it privatley but you say about using it for your business things then would get very complicated, as its over 7500gvw do you have the equivilent of a uk goods vehicle driving licence? it would need a tachograph if not already fitted if it is it has to be re calibrated then you or your business would have to apply for an operators licence, quite expensive and very involved,, have a maintenance contract or own facilities , keep records and on and on..... just stick to private use...all the best

[Sisu]

Thanks for the hint. I've already been running my own UK registered business for over 5 years now, and the trucks are on "Directors Account", meaning not really the company's property. So, reading your post it seems its better to keep things simple and use it only for my own personal use. The "business use" would be actually very occasional, mainly to collect some metal profiles etc. once a month.

 

I have the manufacturers plate in the cabin, but I have to check whats written on there (I remember all capacities were there). Anyway, I'm quite sure Sisu (factory) will be able to send more information as required. I just hope I don't have to fit wheel arches/fenders to cover those wheels, the trucks came just like you see in the photo. Also the headlamps are close to each other, I always say Hummer copied them Trucks will be completely original, and I just don't want to make any modifications on them. I hope this will be okay for VOSA.

 

Many thanks for all the help, I really appreciate all the information I can get. I'm used to seeing many forms, I guess Germans taught me how to fill them...

 

Cedric

[Nick Johns]

I'm sure you will have to fit some sort of mudguard around the rear wheels and those headlamps likewise look to be too far in from the edge of the vehicle. Landrover had to move their headlamps from the grille out to the wings back in 1968 to comply with UK regulations !

[Tony B]

I would check the lights. After all she complies with the country in which she was manufactured, like importing an American car with no side lights etc. If you have trucks over here check with the local testing centre, they are supposed to have all the answers. Looking forward to seing you in the flesh and truck in the metal.:clap:

[Sisu]

Thanks for your input. The Sisu's headlamps have a special permit in Finland, only some trucks with fire vehicle specs had the lamps closer to the edges. I guess they wanted to protect the headlamps inside the chassis bars. Not everyone likes them, but I think they look great - and they are well protected there. When I was a kid my father used to have an old Land Rover and it had headlamps close to each other - I still prefer that style.

 

Anyone know a good M.O.T. Center or garage at East Anglia that specializes in military vehicles and has a good reputation?

[Sisu]

...I just received a message from another forum and the poster is a guy who runs a garage at Norfolk, and he's able to get the Sisu's registered quite easily, he says. I keep my fingers crossed everything's going ok! He's a fellow 1957-1959 Dodge Enthusiast as well, so I can trust him.