128 TradeUniqueCars.com.auGARAGEGURUS
INTHETHESHEDSHEDWITHWI
JON^ FAINEA ’93 TRITON WITHCLUBPLATES LOADEDWITHLADDERS.REALLY?
ARE CLUB permits the best
thing to happen since ratchet
handles?
So why do the pen pushers
make it so complex? And why
do the selfish knuckleheads
who rort it think they are
doing anything other than
threatening its future?
Just about every jurisdiction
has a version of the system
that allows you to drive your
old car without handing
over the approximately $850
registration for a car that only
goes out for a spin every now
and then.
Some state governments
(SG’s) have gone AS (ape shit)
about OCs (old cars). Take
WA (West Australia) where
someone in the DoT urgently
needs PERE (Plain English
Re-Education).
Under the WA DoT rules, a
permit will require a CEO at
the DoT or a visit to the DVS
with an IBC from ASIC with an
ACN or a CMC1 from WADoC.
The ‘Vintage, Veteran, Post
Vintage, Invitational Class
Vehicle Application’ (Form
E81) must be presented
along with the ‘Certificate
of Financial Membership’
(CMC 1 Form) from an
approved club that must have
a minimum of thirty (one
more than twenty nine [29])
members. You cannot use the
vehicle for general transport
or to work (DR AT).
In Victoria, where someone
in the bureaucracy clearly
won an award at the plain
english workshop, you are
required to fill in a ‘Permit
Application’ and show proof
of membership of an eligible
club and proof of safety.
PERMISSION TO DRIVE
Which is exactly the same
as in WA. Except in Victoria,
owners of old cars are driving
to and from work and to the
supermarket every day and
use the $150 a year permits
(good for 90 days of driving) as
a way of avoiding nearly $850
plus of registration each year.
You have to fill in a log book
each time you go for a drive.
If you are checked by the
police and the log book is not
filled in, you are charged with
unregistered and uninsured
driving, losing points and
copping a minimum and
mandatory $1200 fine. If you
have a prang when the log
book is not filled in, you are
uninsured, even if your policy
is up to date. Yet people do it
every day.
In Queensland, the ‘Special
Interest Vehicle’ scheme has
similar restrictions to WA.
The car must not be used for
general purposes – going to
or from work – or for hire or
reward. You can only use the
vehicle on rallies, club events,going to or from a repairer, or
for road testing within 15km
of home but not for everyday
use. Fair enough, and clearly
explained. But widely
exploited by the simple ruse of
taking a screw driver with you
to the supermarket or on the
drive to work and telling any
inquiring plod that the carbies
needed adjusting in time for
next weekend’s club drive.
These cheaper permits and
reduced rego schemes have
revived the entire old car
community.
Owners of multiple old
cars can keep a f leet, all legal
and running around, without
going broke. I renewed one
permit last month and when
I checked the log book I had
used the car three times in
twelve months. Apart from
feeling ashamed, I also felt
grateful it had not cost me 20
times more in fees for a rarely
driven car to be legally but
occasionally on the road.
The f lip side is the tradie in
the ’93 Triton twin cab withclub plates on the freeway,
loaded with conduit and
ladders who goes past me
every day in a f luoro f leecy.
Not just risking his own
pockets but putting the
credibility of the system at
risk.
And so is the local
‘entrepreneur’ offering
membership of an eligible
club (his private one) for $100,
no questions asked, vehicle
neither checked nor even seen
and club permit applications
signed on payment of
the cash. Genuine club
participation is irrelevant,
and old car enthusiasm not
required.
So what do we do, those
of us who want the schemes
nurtured and retained, to
counter the prospect of the
regulators and bean counters
getting so cross with the
scammers that the entire
system is scrapped? Bringing
back the stocks and public
f loggings seems just a bit
excessive...