HMC BMW coupe meltdowns

[adw1977]

I remember Ken Clarke introducing the 25 year exemption, but didn't know about the previous half price for pre-1947 cars.

Do you know when the half price rate was introduced?

[lesapandre]

7 hours ago, HMC said:

Chummy News….

If you recall earlier i had written to a retired judge, using an old address from the early 1980s, and with the expectation that if M’lud was still around, he must be 90 or thereabouts…..

Well the retired Judge, and sometime keeper of PG1007 is indeed still alive; and has replied to my letter….

 

 

Lovely to see a good handwritten letter. A long long tradition to keep alive in this age of electronica (said me writing with electonica).

But you get the message...

[lesapandre]

4 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

did you actually tax it as such? if so do you recall what the amount charged was? 

 

im about to go Full DVLA/Vehicle Licensing  Nerd so bare with me

 

but basically *before* Historic Vehicle tax as we know and love was introduced in 1995, for Motor cars produced before 1947 and Motorcycles before 1933, a concessionary half rate was charged

and I have always wondered do they still do that? if you decided to leave a vintage prewar vehicle in the PLG taxation class, do you still get the concessionary rate? 

so I would love to know if you did or did not with your Austin Seven  

do you know the DVLA history of the Seven? its only actually fairly recently they recorded the actual "Date of manufacture" on vehicle records and for vehicles which have been sitting dormant for many years, this info only gets automatically added once the vehicle is taxed/brought alive again

see how in the first screen shot "Year of Manufacture" is Missing but then pops up once the vehicle is taxed  (only older versions of the DVLA checker would show you this insight, newer versions just automatically populate a year of MFG from the Date of first registration field)

 

this whole retroactive addition of a vehicles Date of manufacture

is why you get shit like this!

"Date of first registration 5 November 1976"

"Date Of Manufacture 30 December 1976"

 

because I have the one and only time travelling Invacar, either that or whoever programmed the DVLA computer needs a slap....

 

if you have an account with the DVLA I would add your Seven to it and see what it reports back for Date of of manufacture  

 

it might just take a day or 2 for the systems to update, and worth trying again now perhaps 

Some risk the rolling VED exemption will again be paused I feel - as the government looks down the back of the sofa for loose change.

I doubt very much rolled back though.

MoT exemption will I am sure continue with the raise of electric in place of IC cars etc.

[LightBulbFun]

1 hour ago, adw1977 said:

I remember Ken Clarke introducing the 25 year exemption, but didn't know about the previous half price for pre-1947 cars.

Do you know when the half price rate was introduced?

in 1948 a new flat rate system was introduced, so I think thats where the distinction for pre 1947 comes from, but when exactly that became a half price thing, I am not sure 

 

[BorniteIdentity]

6 hours ago, lesapandre said:

But you get the message...

Yes I do. Electronically. 

I’d much rather a typewritten letter which has been forcefully struck out on the keys of a Remington Rand, personally - but to each their own.  It’d be legible too! 

[lesapandre]

8 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

in 1948 a new flat rate system was introduced, so I think thats where the distinction for pre 1947 comes from, but when exactly that became a half price thing, I am not sure 

 

1953  - £12 10s = £12 50 decimal.

[MorrisItalSLX]

17 hours ago, HMC said:

Chummy News….

If you recall earlier i had written to a retired judge, using an old address from the early 1980s, and with the expectation that if M’lud was still around, he must be 90 or thereabouts…..

Well the retired Judge, and sometime keeper of PG1007 is indeed still alive; and has replied to my letter….

 

 

I thought my Great Grandmothers letters were difficult to read, this is next level. Excellent to receive a response however.

Can anyone translate?

[Mr Livered]

33 minutes ago, MorrisItalSLX said:

Can anyone translate?

Dear [HMC]

Firstly, my apologies for the delay in my response.

Unfortunately our postal deliveries have been unbelievably unreliable over the last couple of months.

Apologies, also, for my handwriting, which has deteriorated from 'appalling' over the last couple of years.

Anyway, thanks for the letter and for the unnecessary generosity of a stamped addressed envelope. Most of my current correspondence, since my final retirement five or so years ago has been via email from my highly computer-literate and indulgent wife, I even had to go out and buy a tablet of writing paper!

I was very interested to learn of your Austin 7, which I did indeed own in the 1970s and 1980s. I bought it after I had acquired a house (our first marital home) in 1973, after which we expanded our garaging space and had room for another 'toy' - my previous stable, which became a bit unsuitable for a newly-wed, being a Morgan Plus 8 and a Porsche 911T. But we soon started a family as I was quite an aged bride-groom (36) and had three lovely children over the next 10 years, which took up a lot of time, available funds, and space.

This all resulted in the Austin 7, which all the children loved, getting very little use - particularly with long-distance journeys. I felt it was wasted, and deserved to be owned and used by a vintage car enthusiast, who would perhaps have more time  energy and enthusiasm. 

We were all fond of it, and it brings back happy memories. But they are all personal, and it would not be at all informative to you or your club members. Sorry!

PS. a bit of irrelevant personal information- I think I bought it - possibly through "Motor Start" - because of its registration number, as in my pre-marriage and early marriage years, I used the not very complimentary nickname - Pig!

With warmest regards etc

[HMC]

Updates…. #1

I bought a nice citroen c5 that was great, well looked after all its life etc- except some boredom did begin to creep in, alas!

This was further fuelled by a jag xj6 that was on my radar- and when a lowball £650 offer was accepted- i did a buy and the c5 made (sold to a shiter)  way for a 1997 xj6 3.2-6 “executive”

I always feel i walk with a bit of a swagger when i get out of a jag- expecially if its a bit ropey. But so far its better than i was  ever hoping and expecting for just over a monkey’s worth of slightly ropey old jag….

 

[lesapandre]

Nothing beats a shabby Jag...

[HMC]

updates #2

Id mentioned something incoming had this former owner…

Think Bruce Mclaren- except that this budding racer didnt get as far as binning the body and making a special- which was the plan-  and instead theres (another) 7 in the fleet…

[loserone]

Oh for the garaging space and available funds to buy the inevitably for sale Austin 7 toy.  

[Schaefft]

Love the XJ6 (obviously), the correct wheels on it, too!

Is that 2 Austin 7s in the fleet then?

[Sigmund Fraud]

42 minutes ago, HMC said:

and instead theres (another) 7 in the fleet…

Is there much difference in the way the later Sevens drive, compared to the early ones ?

Also, are they useable at all in modern traffic ? 

[Weird Car]

1 hour ago, HMC said:

updates #2

Id mentioned something incoming had this former owner…

Think Bruce Mclaren- except that this budding racer didnt get as far as binning the body and making a special- which was the plan-  and instead theres (another) 7 in the fleet…

First refusel please🙏

 

A later 7 has been on my list of must owns for a good while now 

[wuvvum]

1 hour ago, HMC said:

Updates…. #1

I bought a nice citroen c5 that was great, well looked after all its life etc- except some boredom did begin to creep in, alas!

This was further fuelled by a jag xj6 that was on my radar- and when a lowball £650 offer was accepted- i did a buy and the c5 made (sold to a shiter)  way for a 1997 xj6 3.2-6 “executive”

I always feel i walk with a bit of a swagger when i get out of a jag- expecially if its a bit ropey. But so far its better than i was  ever hoping and expecting for just over a monkey’s worth of slightly ropey old jag….

 

Must be one of the very last AJ6-powered cars on an R-plate?  My X308 was on an R.

[barrett]

3 hours ago, Sigmund Fraud said:

Is there much difference in the way the later Sevens drive, compared to the early ones ?

A Ruby like that is almost twice as heavy as a 1922 Chummy, with no significant change in performance, so take from that what you will. Obviously the gearing is quite different to accomodate the extra heft but again, you can probably work out what the result is there. There's a reason an early Seven is three times the price of a Ruby...

[wuvvum]

When did they go from 696 to 747cc?

[Westbay]

😍 Lovely ... well done...

[barrett]

10 hours ago, wuvvum said:

When did they go from 696 to 747cc?

Almost straight away, late '22 or early '23. Essentially a pilot run of cars, and I think only a couple survive

[HMC]

After a once over, the WBOD (which by coincidence seems to have new pirelli sottozero 3 winter tyres fitted all round) was pushed into daily use. These dont like flakey batteries- so the first cold (and sub zero) crank I was half expecting some drama. There was none. Actually the battery is massive and new looking; and nestled beside a toroidal LPG. tank in the spare wheel well. The lpg system i could see in the pics but wasnt mentioned in the ad text.Im assuming its not working but we will see.

The commute was fine, although it wants a new thermostat. 

Lets look at the ropey jag’s paintwork in more detail…

Fruity! but seems solid enough. Those light metallics really are a pain to match.

I thought -LO was a london plate (iirc @Six-cylinder T464ALO was from a london dealer) and it looks like this still has its dealer plates….

[HMC]

22 hours ago, wuvvum said:

Must be one of the very last AJ6-powered cars on an R-plate?  My X308 was on an R.

Yes when i first glanced at the ad i assumed it would be an early 8 cylinder.  I fancied going back to the 6 after a series of v8 jags more recently (xk8 xj8 S-type- R)

[HMC]

UPDATE from former owner via text….

Yes it works, should have some gas left just move switch across to gas.  It will always start on petrol then when warmed up enough will automatically switch over to gas. If it runs out of gas while driving it will automatically change back to petrol. One green LED means quarter tank of gas, two Led means half tank of gas

 

[Schaefft]

Silver seems to be a fairly uncommon color for the X300, not so much for the later V8 X308 as consumer tastes clearly moved away from colors (I blame Mercedes) in the late 90s and 2000s. The wood steering wheel is a nice touch I'd still like to find for my XJ6.

[HMC]

2 minutes ago, Schaefft said:

Silver seems to be a fairly uncommon color for the X300, not so much for the later V8 X308 as consumer tastes clearly moved away from colors (I blame Mercedes) in the late 90s and 2000s. The wood steering wheel is a nice touch I'd still like to find for my XJ6.

If it goes wrong in a big way ill post it to you for free.

ps i think its a sort of light green colour but ill check the colour code.

[Schaefft]

3 minutes ago, HMC said:

If it goes wrong in a big way ill post it to you for free.

ps i think its a sort of light green colour but ill check the colour code.

I much appreciate that! And yeah, it seems to be a light blue hue, it actually makes it look like a more recent car than the solid dark green paint on mine.

[Six-cylinder]

Good choice. I have had two X300s and really like them.

[TheIsleofShite]

I’d really like a ropey X300, from what I’ve read they seem to be mechanically pretty robust but like to dissolve 

[Schaefft]

30 minutes ago, TheIsleofShite said:

I’d really like a ropey X300, from what I’ve read they seem to be mechanically pretty robust but like to dissolve 

Ahem...

You are right though, the drivetrain is robust, it's usually the bodywork that kills them off.

[barefoot]

On 20/11/2025 at 19:21, wuvvum said:

My X308 was on an R.

Mine too.

21 hours ago, Schaefft said:

it's usually the bodywork that kills them off.

When I last had it MOT'd, the tester made me promise never to bring it back to him.