New Toy!

[Yimkin]

Hi all,

Just got a new toy - a trials car, circa mid 1930's. 200 quid and it needs a total rebuild! It has a pre-war fiat 500 chassis, with austin 7 running gear. My dilemma is, do I restore it as a trials car (and hence get into VSCC trials - which, while I enjoy watching, vertigo kind of puts me off...) or as a VSCC racer?

Would it be eligible for VSCC racing? I don't care about forms etc, just being allowed on the track is enough. Can an A7 engine be built under the rules to at least make it vaguely competitive? Are A& race bits on the steep side? Are we talking superchargers here? (Although they appeal!)

Another question - it has an 'interesting' numberplate, but absolutely no documentation. Don't worry - I don't plan to sell the plate. But - can I get it reattached - in the legal sense - to the car? And how would I go about doing that? I fully intend using it on the road, and it will be MOT'd. It is a gloriously daft car, absolutely tiny... My 4 year old nephew hardly fits in it!

Oh, and....

Its current body (in need of replacement as it is very badly made) is classic trials style - if I remade it as a trialler, I guess it would suit a similar body, but as a racer - perhaps a mini-Riley lookalike, or maybe an amilcar? Any advice or suggestions most welcome!

(I need a diversion having managed to put a melon sized hole in the block of the 100E at Mallory
)

[D-Type]

If it was originally a trials car, that is all you can honestly restore it as.

If you turn it into a racer then all you would be doing is creating a special in the style of 50 or 60 years ago. I believe the VSCC has a category for specials in the vintage tradition.

I would think that the 750MC should be able to advise you on A7 bits and mods.

[TimD]

Regarding the number plate, you need as much documentary evidence as possible. This will be in the form of an old buff logbook, tax discs, MoT certificates etc. Failing that, you need period photos - lots of them. Above all, keep the old number plate well and truly secured to the car as it is at the moment. Should the DVLA want to inspect it, time-rusted screws and flaking plates do wonders for demonstrating authenticity.

Next, ensure that your club registrar is on your side. A motor club backing your claim is absolutely vital. It wouldn't hurt to present the story of the car to Mike Worthington-Williams of The Automobile magazine. He makes it something of a missionary quest to ascribe the original number to any barn-discovery that comes to his attention, and he's good at it.

All of this problem arises because in their infinite wisdom the DVLC as then was decided in 1983 to wipe from their computers anything that hadn't been taxed for the previous seven years. In an instant they wiped out reams of information about past owners, car identities, present whereabouts. The assumption is that they were planning to release the vacated number plates for cherished number transactions, although this has never happened.

Certainly our old family Bentley, WM4545, suffered in 1983. It was almost certainly exported in the early 1970s and the DVLA presently has absolutely no record of it.

I seem to recall a lot of 1950s trials specials having very "interesting" numbers because the shorter the number, the smaller the licence plate required to carry it. If you'd like to get in touch with the number I'd be delighted to try and find some sort of contemporary reference to the car in Autosport or Motor Sport from that era. As I say, a picture of the car with plate in situ is an important part of the verification process.

The DVLA's arm can be twisted, but where a special is concerned they may prove trickier than usual.

[Dave Brand]

Although the DVLA may have no record of the vehicle, it's possible that the local authority with which it was originally registered may still have a record. Huntingdonshire, for example, was able to supply me with a photocopy of their card index record for a motorcycle one of my uncles rode in the 1920s.

For information on which records are still in existence take a look at:

http://www.bsaoc.demon.co.uk/existing.htm

[Yimkin]

Thanks very much, in particular to TimD and Dave - the car is currently in carlisle, and I'm in Aberdeen, but am very keen on keeping the number as being part of the cars history.

It's not a short number - two letters followed by 4 numbers, but I feel it is important. The tip about local authorities is very useful (I have some mates in the Cumbria LA) and TmD I very much appreciate your offer and will forward the number once I get back home.

There is literally *no* documentation (although the numberplate screws are firmly rusted on!) - we even owned the car about 20 years ago for a couple of weeks before passing it on - its been in a barn since and hasn't deteriorated much since its original pretty poor state.