Faker

Too much throttle… too sharp a turn in… too much kerb!! 🤣

Enjoy the wee Clio RS 320touting. What a machine. Clio Sports are simply one of the greatest cars ever put in to production. Yes they can be a little delicate… but dear god they’re magnificent to drive. Sold my old one 7 years ago… to my nephew.. who tortured me to sell it. He wanted to try track days and needed a suitable machine (victim) to fulfil his desire and needs… with 112k on the clock and in fantastic (unbiased) condition I let it go for £900 (Jezuz wept!)… regret it every day since… especially with the track day usage outcome.. On a lighter note I bought a wee Yaris 1.8 SR a while back and I have to say…. It’s been utterly faultless. Unlike the Clio it’s not as delicate and being of Japanese origin it simply doesn’t go wrong. Wet weather handling capabilities aren’t remotely in the same league either I might add… but in the real world in dry weather it’s just as much fun, with somewhat less power. Doubt I’ll have another Clio as the price of them now is insane!

So by way of update… it ran….. for a while.. then shat itself. Fuel system had deteriorated and began to perish quite badly. Transpires a couple of flushes didn’t cut it… continually gumming and blocking up the injectors. Entire fuel system swapped out with new hoses and fittings throughout, and replacement injectors fitted. few other tweaks aside, and a small amount of welding, wheels and tyres, brakes, and a few bits and bobs… and having not actually been on the road since 1998… it passed its MOT. Further to that it’s been used competitively on a clubman rally (lent it to a motoring journalist to do his first budget entry airfield rally) only for the chap to get a third in class! result!

Love it!

Dear God in heaven!! I rest my case!!

A 40 year old Dutton Sierra or Mellos in standard trim - as in running escort running gear as per build manual and correctly registered would indeed be MOT and TAX exempt. One with say a Cossie Turbo not so much, unless the conversion was completed over 30 years ago and has documentation to prove it.

Credit where due and all that… even in my first post I stated that I thought it was a stunning car…

About the only thing that can be enforced on a private seller is misrepresentation of age - year of vehicle. Extract from .gov

I understand what you are saying, although slightly misleading, as there are plenty of lesser offences that could be more applicable (making false declaration for insurance - failing to update V5 - fraud (as in road duty) the list goes on). However it doesn’t detract from the original post… there’s loads of vehicles like this one about the place! Heavily or radically altered and modified vehicles on the roads, that have never been examined or tested by any authority…. and being used or sold as MOT and TAX exempt.

That’s been well documented to be fair. Upgraded parts from a similar model, period upgrades or swaps, and modifications that can be documented as being 30 years old. Back in the day there were tuning companies fitting Rover V8 and Small Block Chevy engines in to Capris. That’s a period modification and actually in keeping with the vehicle. In the same way as fitted RS2000 running gear in a 1.1 pop escort is perfectly acceptable. 30 odd years ago folk were fitting fiat twin cam engines in everything (custom car and street machine regulars)…. Again all period modifications and in keeping. SR20 swaps in a Morris Minor…. Not so much.. Based on the points system!! The anglia has absolutely none of the original point scoring components whatsoever…

Yeah it’s a 1litre on the V5! Original registration number from Misfit instagram page 🙄

Sierraman you are correct… but given it is “mot and tax exempt”…. It’s going to be insured as a lightly modified classic car on a classic policy with an agreed value. All well and good until something goes wrong..

Ok… so this is truly a pet hate of mine.. custom or heavily modified cars, that are sold on as road legal vehicles under the banner of being MOT and TAX exempt… This eBay Ford Anglia… whilst absolutely stunning.. has had a roof chop, chassis channelled, chassis lengthened, supercharged BMW engine fitted… with BMW back end… with the add reading “hand built from scratch”, at which point do the rules apply?! Heaven forbid it’s involved in a collision and Cops or Vosa are involved! SVA/IVA aside, it’s not an historic vehicle and remotely a period modified Anglia! It’s a total custom ground up build! Again it’s stunning…. But fenders? Bumpers, sharp edges, list is endless!! Clearly a chopped up anglia on a modified 3 series floorpan of sorts… Similarly there’s loads of old bodies welded to modern MX5 or S2000 floorpan weldathon builds that SHOULD be IVA inspected Q plate registered vehicles….. yet are advertised and sold on auction platforms as MOT and TAX exempt vehicles! Insane! Rant over… apologies

Gone are the days that I regularly buy car mags... instead I browse and will buy if there’s an article or feature that relates to me or cars I’m really interested in. I’ve gone through all the phases over the decades. Custom Car, Street Machine, Jalopy! Mini World. CCC. Performance Ford. Performance VW. Max Power. Carsport (NI publication I’ve been in a couple of times) I can go on.... but practical classics and practical performance car were always the mag to browse of late. Again I’d only buy if there was something of interest. I buy Pacenotes from time to time... however I’m a long term subscriber to Hayburner

Negative chief