JPSC Forum

Posted: **Tue May 22, 2018 12:31 pm**

Morning,

I built my Sylva Stylus 20 + years ago, ran it for a few years and when my kids arrived it was covered up in the garage and that is where is has sat since. Now that the kids are older, one has moved out, and I am thinking about retirement, I am looking at putting it back on the road.

It pre-dates IVA or any testing other than an MOT and was fitted with a East Lincs crossflow. It is a "S" reg, the log book (and DVLA website) clearly states it as a Sylva Stylus (not Ford Escort) and it was manufactured in 1/1/78.

Now with the recent changes to the car licensing rules, does it qualify for no MOT or TAX? (Even if it does, I would still always put it through an MOT, but zero tax would be handy.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

David

Posted: **Tue May 22, 2018 7:12 pm**

This is from the official guidance notes after the section on acceptable changes for mot exemption:

In addition if a vehicle (including a motorcycle):

• has been issued with a registration number with a ‘Q’ prefix; or

• is a kit car assembled from components from different makes and model of vehicle; or

• is a reconstructed classic vehicle as defined by DVLA guidance; or

• is a kit conversion, where a kit of new parts is added to an existing vehicle, or old parts are added to a kit of a manufactured body, chassis or monocoque bodyshell changing the general appearance of the vehicle;

it will be considered to have been substantially changed and will not be exempt from MOT testing.

However if any of the four above types of vehicle is taxed as an “historic vehicle” and has not been modified during the previous 30 years, it can be considered as a VHI.

This guidance is only intended to determine the testing position of a substantially changed vehicle, not its registration.

Essentially you will still require an mot, however you still qualify for historic road tax due to given date of first registration as follows:

You can apply to stop paying vehicle tax if your vehicle was built before 1 January 1978. You must tax your vehicle even if you do not have to pay.

If you do not know when your vehicle was built, but it was first registered before 8 January 1978, you can still apply to stop paying vehicle tax.

It does rely on the second paragraph, and could be removed **if** the dvla were to correct their original mistake of retaining the donor car build/registration date, but tbh i don't think they're that keen.

Dave

Posted: **Wed May 23, 2018 12:36 pm**

Thanks very much for your reply. This is what i am going to do. Driving around without an MOT would make me very nervous.

Cheers,

David

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