UK looks to change classic car parameters

26 September, 2016

As it stands in the UK, any car built prior to 1960 is exempt from the MOT (the equivalent of our WOF) process. Effectively, the powers that be have entrusted those in the driver’s seat of old cars to keep them in such a condition that they are roadworthy — as one might with their own classic car. 

These same powers have recently announced a move to shift this bracket forward 17 years, and make exempt from MOTs all vehicles over 40 years of age. Let that sink in. All vehicles over 40 years old could be driving around on the roads of England with bald tyres, and featuring rust as the main adhesive between body and chassis. I’m just imagining what might occur in New Zealand if these same rules were put in place — actually, it mightn’t change much. The majority of early and mid-’70s cars that don’t growl or turn heads are on their last legs, being driven on country roads without WOFs in place anyway.

What do you think the impact of these rules will be? Do you agree with them? Tell us in the comments below.

Image: BoostCruising

A second dose of Dash

When the car arrived in Wellington in December 2018 it was duly taken along for entry certification. Vehicle Inspection NZ (VINZ) found some wrongly wired lamps and switches — not too bad — but, much more significantly, some poor welding repairs. As the structural problems were probed more thoroughly, we realized the previous owner’s restoration would not do and we needed an upgrade. Dash had made it into the country but it would take some time and money before he would be free to explore any of New Zealand’s scenic highways.
We took the car to our new home in Johnsonville in the northern suburbs of Wellington and I pored over the car in detail to figure out what was next. There were lots of new parts on the car and a very perky reconditioned drivetrain but the chassis needed serious work.

Lunch with… Jim Palmer

In the 1960s, Hamilton’s Jim Palmer won the prestigious ‘Gold Star’ four times and was the first resident New Zealander home in the New Zealand Grand Prix on five consecutive occasions. He shared the podium with Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren, Graham Hill, Jim Clark, Denny Hulme, Jackie Stewart, and Chris Amon. The extent of his domination of the open-wheeler scene in New Zealand will probably never be matched or exceeded. Yet he’s always been modest about his achievements.