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The DVLA’s system for retaining a car’s
plate is quite clear, if quite complicated
a
Would a Q put you
off a potential
purchase?
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The life of a lady driver
20 July 1974
TE STE R ’ S N OTE S
Matt Prior
Restomods ought to keep their old plates
X
ESTABLISHED 1895
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82 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 8 APRIL 2 020
emember Q registration
plates? This country’s
vehicle licensing agency,
the DVLA, issues theset o v e h ic le s ‘ w ho s e a ge or ide nt it y i s
in doubt’.
I believe a sizeable number of the
British home-working population
currently qualify.
You u s e d t o k now w h at a Q -pl at e
meant: some shiny new components
had arrived in someone’s garage and
been placed alongside a photocopied
set of vague instructions and a
broken Ford Cortina.
Several summers later, these
and some other used parts would
b e u n it e d , d i l i ge nt l y or ot he r w i s e ,
following a build process that
culminated in something
resembling a car – albeit not
necessarily an attractive one.
That was taken to a test centre
and given a Q front and rear. But
a kit car’s value was, and I believe
remains, higher if you could avoid
the dreaded plate.
I f e v e r y t h i n g i n a s e l f-bu i ld i s
new, a car can be given a current
registration plate. At times, you can
apply for an age-related plate, based
on how old some parts are. There
major components (the suspension,
the steering, both axles, the
transmission or the engine).
A kit-built vehicle can have a
c u r r e nt r e g i s t r at ion i f it ’s a l l-ne w
or one component is reconditioned,
s o lon g a s it ’s not t he c h a s si s.
A kit-converted vehicle needs
two original parts plus the chassis.
And a radically altered vehicle
needs to accrue eight points from
the original chassis (five, although
this can be new and unmodified),
su spension (t wo), a x le s (t wo),
t ra nsm ission (t wo), ste er i ng (t wo) a nd
engine (one) to retain its registration.
Complex, then, and something to
c on side r at pr e t t y muc h e v e r y s t a ge
of a build or rebuild. If at the end of
it a car doesn’t comply, it can still be
registered for the road (inspection
dependent), but it’ll get a Q instead.
But if deviating from original
specification means something is
cooler, better-engineered or morep ow e r f u l , i s t h at s o ba d? A s v e h ic le s
become ever more complicated and
new ones become harder to register,
I hope legislators bear in mind this
harmless hobbyist market, whether
components are Cortina or Zonda
and the plate is a Q or otherwise.
BETTY ASHMORE FELL in love in
1922, when she was lent an 8hp car
by a friend (no licence needed back
then) and drove it on a carefree
56-mile journey across country.
Writing in 1974, she recounted
how somebody had told her that
she’d soon fall out of love with it –
but “just how wrong can you get?”
After a Standard and an Alvis,
she toured in her beloved Lancia
Lambda, which “never failed once”.
Her top tips to all were: always
make clear signals; don’t hesitate;
learn about your car; trust no one
on the road; curb your impatience;
pass the IAM test; and “expect
neither courtesy nor considerationbecause of your sex, as I’m afraid
the reverse usually holds good”.
Indeed, men always seemed to
have “anxiety to pass at any price”,
although Betty did reckon women
“are far more likely to err in the
direction of exaggerated caution”.
has been additional cachet, then,
to avoiding the ‘in doubt’ plate, and
I don’t think you see Q-registered
cars as often as you used to.
T he s e d ay s , y ou’r e mo s t l i k e l y t o
spot them on eBay, accompanied
by the term ‘project’ or ‘barn find’.
Or on a Pagani Zonda in central
London. Wait, what?
Yes, there is a Zonda that, it seems,
was imported to the UK and has
been altered in specification since
it w a s f i r s t bu i lt. E it he r w ay, I doub t
the owner of Q821 GFE is too fussed
about the provenance suggested by
his or her numberplate. And perhaps
i n f ut u r e ne it he r w i l l t he r e s t of u s.
Step forward the restomod
(restored and modified), which
seems to be becoming the modern
alternative to a kit car. Rather
t h a n t a k i n g a n old c a r, r ippi n g t hemechanicals out of it and putting
them into a new chassis, you keep the
old chassis and start squeezing new
or modified components into it.
The DVLA’s system for retaining
a car’s plate in such circumstances
is quite clear, if quite complicated.
There are different rules for – deep
breath – rebuilt vehicles, kit-built
vehicles, kit-converted vehicles
and radically altered vehicles.
To r e t a i n a c a r ’s or i g i n a l pl at e , a
rebuilt vehicle must have the original
chassis (or a new replacement to the
same spec), plus two other original
R