FEV 1H

Sparky · 29 Jan 2001, 23:01 (Ref:61080)

I'm sure a lot of you know I'm a bit of a Mk1 Escort fan, and my favourite is FEV 1H - The Ford Escort of Hannu Mikkola and Gunnar Palm, who won the Daily Mirror World Cup Rally with it in 1970.

I was pleased to see a replica built a few years ago to contest Classic rallies. For nostalgia reasons, the registration of this car was H1 FEV. Based on a 1970 Twin Cam, this car was accurate to the last detail.

Here are the two cars together:

My question is this: I realise that Ford must have some clout when it comes to vehicle registration rules, but how on earth did Ford manage to get an 'H' registration for the car?
Obviously not new, even if most of the components within are, as far as I'm aware, so called 'cherished' registrations are not to be applied to vehicles older than the year letter identification suggests.

Any idea how they did it? Special dispensation?

SL · 30 Jan 2001, 20:17 (Ref:61184)

Could a forward thinking Ford employee have arranged for an Escort to be registered in 1991/2 ? But only recently has it been finished off.

Simon

Sparky · 2 Feb 2001, 00:07 (Ref:61826)

Hmmn, It would still be too old even for a 1991/92 registration number.

I reckon there must have been a certain amount of 'blind-eye' going on here...

I just wondered if anyone knew how!

TimD · 2 Feb 2001, 00:50 (Ref:61833)

I'm unable to find the copy of Thoroughbred and Classic which I'm convinced has the story of the build. But I'm fairly sure the reasoning went something like -

The shell got itself a brand new build number. The bits were all either new from the factory, or left over on the shelves from AVO.

Thus, the car built up enough "points" for itself to be classified as "new build", and not cobbled together from parts, which would have necessitated a Q registration, which is non-transferable. Once your car has a Q, you're stuck with it.

The clincher, I think, was that the paperwork was presented to the DVLA by the actual manufacturer. Whether by sleight of hand, or whatever.

I should perhaps mention that in one of my previous employments, I was tasked with registering and taxing brand new cars for dealers. Speaking to people in the queue who worked for other garages, I was made aware that a glossy looking V53 form could cover all manner of slip-ups, including one Ford Sapphire I heard about which got registered for someone who backed out of the order and was thus stuck with an "E" registration, sat around on someone's compound for two years and was eventually sold on as an August '89 "G".

Not my doing, I hasten to add - I worked for Rover!

Sparky · 2 Feb 2001, 01:00 (Ref:61834)

Thanks Tim.

The thing that threw me throughout this saga was that I was told the car (H1 FEV) had originated from a genuine 1970 TwinCam. Your explanation is the most plausible.

One more thing...

How come I can't find a brand-new Ford Escort Mk1 type-49 RS bodyshell...?

...S'not fair!