invacar LightBulbFun's Invacar & general ramble thread, index on page 1, survivors lists on Pages 24/134 & AdgeCutler's Invacar Mk12 Restoration from Page 186 onwards, still harping on...

[warren t claim]

1 minute ago, Sheefag said:

Vicious bitch.

You'd be laughing on the other side of your face if my pierced cock was up your arse mate!

[Sheefag]

Remind me how Liverpool was once nominated, European City of Culture, again?

[Inspector Morose]

42 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

"together we can stop climate chaos" please tell me that had a Gardner engine for *maximum* irony points?

I'd got it running on veg as well. Smoked like a bustard.

Not my first time doing silly things in the capital,  so much so that I'd become friends with one of the duty sergeants. He had to be part of the escort on the climate job and afterwards all he could say was "my wife is going to bloody kill me coming home smelling of chips".

[BorniteIdentity]

9 hours ago, dollywobbler said:

As someone who has actually driven an Invacar right through London and who had genuine experience of driving one in winter, I think folk are imagining issues.

I fully admit the Invacar weaknesses on fast roads, as I live amongst them, but the Invacar works REALLY well in city driving. Brisk to 30mph, manoeuvrable and, with simple ignition upgrades, surprisingly reliable. The only real downsides are safety if someone hits you, and the complete lack of over-the-shoulder vision. Extra mirrors are essential.

Being young is also about doing daft shit in unsuitable vehicles. Some never grow out of that.

How much does your 20 years +/- driving experience count for though? I imagine quite a lot. 

Nonetheless, happy to be proven wrong. The waiting’s nearly over - we should see it nailing the Canning Town flyover by the end of the month. 

[Dick Cheeseburger]

LBF - a few on here. Looks like there's one which made it to Sweden as well.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/LPMGJUmfiieRKXfz/

 

[LightBulbFun]

34 minutes ago, Dick Longbridge said:

LBF - a few on here. Looks like there's one which made it to Sweden as well.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/LPMGJUmfiieRKXfz/

yeah that chap has a couple  I did send a screenshot of that post @AdgeCutler since I know he is still very much looking for Model 70 to go with Brian his Mk12, but I think its a bit far!

its probably as close as @Dyslexic Viking is to finding an actual Model 70 in Norway apart from the one Model 70 that is said to reside in Norway itself 

 but back to the Swedish car, its been being perpetually for sale for about 10 years, because last I saw he is asking for either €11K for it or swap it for a old British sports car, (an idea for @SiC maybe?  ) but that was a few years ago, maybe he has come down a few notches hopefully?

 

 

[R Lutz]

I'm in London in mid-Oct, will it be cruising the Kings Road then?

[Dick Cheeseburger]

18 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

yeah that chap has a couple  I did send a screenshot of that post @AdgeCutler since I know he is still very much looking for Model 70 to go with Brian his Mk12, but I think its a bit far!

its probably as close as @Dyslexic Viking is to finding an actual Model 70 in Norway apart from the one Model 70 that is said to reside in Norway itself 

 but back to the Swedish car, its been being perpetually for sale for about 10 years, because last I saw he is asking for either €11K for it or swap it for a old British sports car, (an idea for @SiC maybe?  ) but that was a few years ago, maybe he has come down a few notches hopefully?

 

 

It'll be for sale for a while longer then! 😅

[UltraWomble]

Yeah, not the pink Bedford bus, but sneaking into shot on the right...

[quicksilver]

On 08/09/2024 at 20:45, danthecapriman said:

What happened to the bendy buses after they were deemed no good? They weren’t very old were they?

Apparently there is or was a yard in Cranfield full of them rotting away. They're for sale but even at a pittance nobody wants them.

[Remspoor]

11 hours ago, UltraWomble said:

Yeah, not the pink Bedford bus, but sneaking into shot on the right...

I was watching this video and that photo came up. I came here to post that too.

 

 

[LightBulbFun]

Been debating if I should even post about this given the response I have gotten previously when I posted about my plight regarding this issue, but fuck it, the DVLA's response pisses me off so much that I feel like surely of all the forum's Autoshite is one where complaining about the woeful service of the DVLA would be accepted? and really I just need somewhere to vent my anger at their latest response

to that end last month(!)I sent a formal letter of complaint to the DVLA about the whole Invacar vs Invacare issue, and how they completely miss-handled my previous correspondence with them (I never did get a response to the last email I sent them for example, all I got in regards to that, was that "duplicate" V5 of sorts, which had no cover letter at all)

and today in the post I finally get a response back thusly:

Quote

Thank-you for your correspondence of 20/08/2024 regarding vehicle ending in 451R. I have been asked to formally review your case at Step 1of our complaint's procedure.
Our records show that we have never had a make/model code for this vehicle. The code ZA is for a newer make of vehicle called INVACARE. As your vehicle is 1976 then our record is correct as G9 INVACAR and therefore I am unable to make any further amendments to our records

I have fully considered all the information available. If you feel that your complaint has not been resolved, you can request escalation of your complaint to Step 2 of the complaints process.

and you have no idea how much this infuriates me because of the way they are just refusing to look into the issue at hand.

The only reason REV is in the G9 category is because THEY PUT IT THERE on the 8th of February 2024 , after I emailed them previously about the issue, (G9 is the code for vehicles that are not in the make/model coded scheme ie your Horsey Horseless would go there see this FOI for example) They did it as a means to paper-over the issue (they just removed REV from the make code system and someone manually typed INVACAR in the manual entry G9 system, rather then fix the look up table) previously to that REV was coded with the ZA make code, as evidenced by how she went from showing as INVACAR as she had been since she was first registered,  to showing INVACARE when they messed up the ZA make code entry in the look up table around Mid 2023 or there abouts, and also how she showed up in other services and tools explicitly told me she was coded with the make code ZA (and I have photographic proof of this as they say)

but what really fucks me off, and also is quite scary, is their claim that they never had a make code for INVACAR (or for REV?) 

Quote

Our records show that we have never had a make/model code for this vehicle. The code ZA is for a newer make of vehicle called INVACARE. 

is that not *exactly* like the Post office scandal? "lets not look into it properly, lets just pretend its always been like that"
 

and I can quite easily prove them wrong  in this regard using their own tools, because when the DVLA's vehicle tax checker was first brought out in 2014, it required both the vehicle registration mark and the vehicle manufacture, and the system at the time, only accepted vehicle makes which where part of the coded system, which where presented to you by way of a drop down menu, and if you start to type INV...

https://web.archive.org/web/20141230094724/https://www.vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/

Only "INVACAR" is presented, note that other manufactures which are *not* coded with the DVLA, like "Invicta" are not presented, since as above the above only shows you vehicle makes that are in the DVLA's coded system 

so this is extremely infuriating how they are now trying to claim "its always been INVACARE" and that INVACAR never had a make code, which I know is complete bollocks, I am literally being Gaslighted (Gaslit?) by the DVLA!

 

the question is now, is how to handle it going forward, do I continue with the official complaints procedures and escalate it to step 2 

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/driver-and-vehicle-licensing-agency/about/complaints-procedure

or is there some other body/department I should contact? because I am now in doubt even if I escalate it to step 2, will I not just get fobbed off the same? 

 

I know people will take the piss out of me, for getting my knickers in a twist about all this, "oh its just an E whats the big deal" but as well being an affront to something I care deeply about (Invacars) I also find it abhorrent on principle, how they fucked up, are refusing to fix and especially now that they have actively tried to pretend "it was always like" just like the post office scandal 

 

[chadders]

People had their lives destroyed and committed suicide as a result of the Post Office scandal.

[lesapandre]

I'd go to Step 2 as that is the process they prescribe and submit all the information you have set out above. 

If there is an option I would not email them - do a full scale typed letter on some nice paper. That will be something that they can't avoid a proper written reply to.

I'd copy in with a covering letter the Chair of the Federation of Historic Vehicle Clubs and Ruth Cadbury, MP for Brentford and Isleworth, the newly elected Chair of the House of Commons Transport Committee.

Keep it cordial and 'concerned' that this important issue around motoring and disability history is properly recognised and recorded.

Should get some results. Keep letters as clear and concise as you can. 👍

[LightBulbFun]

32 minutes ago, chadders said:

People had their lives destroyed and committed suicide as a result of the Post Office scandal.

thats exactly my point, I would of dearly hoped that after the scandal, that peoples attitudes to clerical issues would of changed, and that they would not just continue to try and sweep it under the carpet pretending it was always like that

imagine you had been paying for your vehicle tax properly and on time etc, and then suddenly the DVLA hit you with a massive fine and or court action, claiming you had not paid any vehicle tax for the last so many years, and despite all your protests and proof to the contrary they claim "our records show that you have never paid vehicle tax"

whats to say that if this is there attitude towards me, whats they say this wont be their attuned to the hypothetical scenario above?

28 minutes ago, lesapandre said:

I'd go to Step 2 as that is the process they prescribe and submit all the information you have set out above. 

If there is an option I would not email them - do a full scale typed letter on some nice paper. That will be something that they can't avoid a proper written reply to.

I'd copy in with a covering letter the Chair of the Federation of Historic Vehicle Clubs and Ruth Cadbury, MP for Brentford and Isleworth, the newly elected Chair of the House of Commons Transport Committee.

Keep it cordial and 'concerned' that this important issue around motoring and disability history is properly recognised and recorded.

Should get some results. Keep letters as clear and concise as you can. 👍

well this whats all the more infuriating for me, is in my correspondence with the DVLA, I have gone out of my way to sit down and write proper letters to them, that I have made sure to keep cordial and the such like, my official complaint was a letter that I typed up and had proof read and then posted off, tracked and signed

and I explicitly kept my very first letter that I sent to  to the DVLA about the matter (back in October 2023!) short and sweet, as not to confuse the matter, but they never responded properly to that letter, and they never responded to the email correspondence that I sent afterwards (nor have they ever explained why they never responded to that)

thats why, while I think your right I should put together yet another letter and escalate it to step 2, but I hope one understands why I am also a bit glum about that, given my response or lack thereof from the DVLA so far, and am wondering if theres any other avenues worth exploring

[lesapandre]

4 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

thats exactly my point, I would of dearly hoped that after the scandal, that peoples attitudes to clerical issues would of changed, and that they would not just continue to try and sweep it under the carpet pretending it was always like that

imagine you had been paying for your vehicle tax properly and on time etc, and then suddenly the DVLA hit you with a massive fine and or court action, claiming you had not paid any vehicle tax for the last so many years, and despite all your protests and proof to the contrary they claim "our records show that you have never paid vehicle tax"

whats to say that if this is there attitude towards me, whats they say this wont be their attuned to the hypothetical scenario above?

well this whats all the more infuriating for me, is in my correspondence with the DVLA, I have gone out of my way to sit down and write proper letters to them, that I have made sure to keep cordial and the such like, my official complaint was a letter that I typed up and had proof read and then posted off, tracked and signed

and I explicitly kept my very first letter that I sent to  to the DVLA about the matter (back in October 2023!) short and sweet, as not to confuse the matter, but they never responded properly to that letter, and they never responded to the email correspondence that I sent afterwards (nor have they ever explained why they never responded to that)

thats why, while I think your right I should put together gether yet another letter and esclate it to step 2, I hope one understands why I am also a bit glum about that, given my response or lack thereof from the DVLA so far

Just keep on keeping on. It's beaucratic inertia and probably some pretty sloppy office procedures - just have to keep chipping away I'm afraid.

These 'complaints procedures' are largely designed to fob people off.  Unless you exhaust the process they will always fall back on the complaints procedure as an excuse.

I think you are a Londoner, we must meet up for coffee sometime and talk cars?

[Jazoli]

40 minutes ago, chadders said:

People had their lives destroyed and committed suicide as a result of the Post Office scandal.

Looks like it’ll only claim one victim suffering with mild annoyance at this latest ‘scandal’

[somewhatfoolish]

1 hour ago, lesapandre said:

I'd go to Step 2 as that is the process they prescribe and submit all the information you have set out above. 

If there is an option I would not email them - do a full scale typed letter on some nice paper. That will be something that they can't avoid a proper written reply to.

I'd copy in with a covering letter the Chair of the Federation of Historic Vehicle Clubs and Ruth Cadbury, MP for Brentford and Isleworth, the newly elected Chair of the House of Commons Transport Committee.

Keep it cordial and 'concerned' that this important issue around motoring and disability history is properly recognised and recorded.

Should get some results. Keep letters as clear and concise as you can. 👍

What he said. That's probably as far as you're going to take it short of finding the money for a judicial review, which for a clerical error is a bit extreme; probably worth a CC to your constituency MP also.

[adw1977]

Could you encourage other Invacar owners to complain?  Make it clear it's a systemic issue rather than one record that DVLA can say they have corrected. 

[Sheefag]

Tell 'em you've got weapons and explosives. That'll get a response out of the bastards.

[R Lutz]

4 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

 

is that not *exactly* like the Post office scandal? "lets not look into it properly, lets just pretend its always been like that"

 

GOOD GOD!

They've accused you of theft and deception? You've been arrested. They're going to bankrupt you, take you to court, jail you. Take away your family business and repossess your home? You're right, this is EXACTLY like the Post Office scandal. They're going to leave you homeless and destitute and unable to work again? The BASTARDS. Still, if you survive the next 20 years and fight the good fight, you might, if you are lucky, get justice.  And a TV show one Christmas. 

[LightBulbFun]

2 hours ago, adw1977 said:

Could you encourage other Invacar owners to complain?  Make it clear it's a systemic issue rather than one record that DVLA can say they have corrected. 

I have thought about this, but my concern is 2 fold, first I am quite worried whats to say they just wont try and bodge it all, like they did with REV's record? for example if @dollywobbler was to complain, whats to stop them just removing TWC from the coded system and improperly adding TWC to the non-coded system like they did with REV? (because now the problem I have regarding REV herself is 2 fold, I first have to get them to fix the lookup table, and then get them to add REV back to the coded system they removed her from)

and the other thing is the problem of trying to get a coordinated effort on the go, most other Invacar owners do have a life outside their Invacars and I imagine dont want to have to deal with a potentially protracted battle with the DVLA over it, but your right I have wondered if all Invacar owners where to write to the DVLA, put all their letters in the same envelope so it all lands with the same person at the same time, I wonder how they might react to that!

that being said in my letter of complaint that the above is a response to, I did that time mention MHJ22P and TWC725K as other examples that are effected the same as REV, to drive home the point I was saying that this is *not* an issue with any individual vehicle record, but its an issue with the lookup table itself so it affects *all* vehicle records 

 

I explicitly mentioned MHJ22P and TWC725K two since both of those two have latest V5's that where issued long before the cockup, so their V5's do still state INVACAR, so it would be easy for the DVLA to ask for the owners of those Invacars, for a picture of their respective V5's and see "oh yeah the latest V5 does indeed say INVACAR while the current online record says INVACARE"

I am pretty positive  @dollywobbler never asked for TWC to be called an "INVACARE" or they would of issued another V5 like when he corrected the engine size for example, and this is one of the ways I know that the issue is that someone has messed up the lookup table, since again its affecting all currently taxed or otherwise "active" Invacars (ie those that are dormant but just had a logbook applied for also ping from Invacar to Invacare)

 

another example of how its a system fuck up and not someone asking for it to be done is NNO803M

this has been dormant so to speak since the 17th of November 1983, but because its in the Not Taxed for On Road use, (in the  Not Licensed taxation class) on the back end it it is kept taxed, and refreshed, note how in the older screen shot it says "tax not due" rather then "not taxed", as such the vehicle record does get updated by the automatic tax system, and and low behold it too pinged to Invacare, despite again being otherwise dead since the *1980s* and again note that no newer V5 has been issued which would of happened if the vehicle record itself was officially updated/changed

 

and this pinging to Invacare the moment something happens with the vehicle record, in itself proves a problem for me, because if I go to the DVLA and say for example  "hey look at every other vehicle from REV375R to REV475R and see how they says INVACAR and *are* coded with the make code ZA"  the moment they actually go to look at the vehicle records on their back end, system it will of course be run through their erroneous lookup table and ping back as INVACARE instead, so rather amusingly its like Autoshite does quantum physics, observing the result causes it to change, (I am very fortunate in this regard that I always take plenty of DVLA screenshots, that I have record/proof that no they did *not* always say INVACARE....)

 

but it seems like from their response they are just focusing on REV and otherwise ignoring most of what I have said in my letters.

as I did of course did mention several times that I think its a system issue, that I have seen this issue happen to other Invacar vehicles, I have explained what I think the issue is, and I also did ask multiple times, that if I am wrong what I write, then please do explain to me why they are pinging from Invacar to Invacare, but again no response at all to any of that

 

[warren t claim]

 

Esther Rantzen. "Our first case this week begins with a letter we received from a Dez of London telling us that the DVLC in Swansea had missnamed his Invacar on the logbook as an Invacare. We contacted the DVLC for a comment and their response was".

Gavin Campbell "While we do try to be sympathetic the truth is we really don't give a flying fuck".

[chadders]

6 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

I have thought about this, but my concern is 2 fold, first I am quite worried whats to say they just wont try and bodge it all, like they did with REV's record? for example if @dollywobbler was to complain, whats to stop them just removing TWC from the coded system and improperly adding TWC to the non-coded system like they did with REV? (because now the problem I have regarding REV herself is 2 fold, I first have to get them to fix the lookup table, and then get them to add REV back to the coded system they removed her from)

and the other thing is the problem of trying to get a coordinated effort on the go, most other Invacar owners do have a life outside their Invacars and I imagine dont want to have to deal with a potentially protracted battle with the DVLA over it, but your right I have wondered if all Invacar owners where to write to the DVLA, put all their letters in the same envelope so it all lands with the same person at the same time, I wonder how they might react to that!

that being said in my letter of complaint that the above is a response to, I did that time mention MHJ22P and TWC725K as other examples that are effected the same as REV, to drive home the point I was saying that this is *not* an issue with any individual vehicle record, but its an issue with the lookup table itself so it affects *all* vehicle records 

 

I explicitly mentioned MHJ22P and TWC725K two since both of those two have latest V5's that where issued long before the cockup, so their V5's do still state INVACAR, so it would be easy for the DVLA to ask for the owners of those Invacars, for a picture of their respective V5's and see "oh yeah the latest V5 does indeed say INVACAR while the current online record says INVACARE"

I am pretty positive  @dollywobbler never asked for TWC to be called an "INVACARE" or they would of issued another V5 like when he corrected the engine size for example, and this is one of the ways I know that the issue is that someone has messed up the lookup table, since again its affecting all currently taxed or otherwise "active" Invacars (ie those that are dormant but just had a logbook applied for also ping from Invacar to Invacare)

 

another example of how its a system fuck up and not someone asking for it to be done is NNO803M

this has been dormant so to speak since the 17th of November 1983, but because its in the Not Taxed for On Road use, (in the  Not Licensed taxation class) on the back end it it is kept taxed, and refreshed, note how in the older screen shot it says "tax not due" rather then "not taxed", as such the vehicle record does get updated by the automatic tax system, and and low behold it too pinged to Invacare, despite again being otherwise dead since the *1980s* and again note that no newer V5 has been issued which would of happened if the vehicle record itself was officially updated/changed

 

and this pinging to Invacare the moment something happens with the vehicle record, in itself proves a problem for me, because if I go to the DVLA and say for example  "hey look at every other vehicle from REV375R to REV475R and see how they says INVACAR and *are* coded with the make code ZA"  the moment they actually go to look at the vehicle records on their back end, system it will of course be run through their erroneous lookup table and ping back as INVACARE instead, so rather amusingly its like Autoshite does quantum physics, observing the result causes it to change, (I am very fortunate in this regard that I always take plenty of DVLA screenshots, that I have record/proof that no they did *not* always say INVACARE....)

 

but it seems like from their response they are just focusing on REV and otherwise ignoring most of what I have said in my letters.

as I did of course did mention several times that I think its a system issue, that I have seen this issue happen to other Invacar vehicles, I have explained what I think the issue is, and I also did ask multiple times, that if I am wrong what I write, then please do explain to me why they are pinging from Invacar to Invacare, but again no response at all to any of that

 

Is it actually a look up table or is it part of the vehicle record?

Did it happen after a system upgrade or migration to a new one?

If the latter it might have been manually changed as part of the data migration exercise.

There might be no way to realistically change it. 

And why on earth would the DVLA ask the question that I've put in bold?

The media would have a field day.

[LightBulbFun]

1 hour ago, chadders said:

Is it actually a look up table or is it part of the vehicle record?

to save space there, every vehicle record stored on the DVLA computer is stored in coded form and decoded via a lookup table, this is why for example you never see the colour field with any miss-spellings int, for example "Yellow" miss-typed as Tellow or something the such like, since when a vehicle is setup many of the options are only able to be chosen from a pre-set drop down list of codes, 

only the make field has the option for someone to manually enter a custom string, to cater for all the obscure vehicles out there

this FOI response by the DVLA explicitly makes reference to them, as does this bulk data brochure 

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/how_many_avante_kit_cars_are_lef/response/538401/attach/2/FOIR4052 Dave Jee.pdf

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/253211/V995X1_Bulk_Data_Brochure__18.10.13_.pdf

for example if you have ever wondered what the "For official use" sections on the V62 and V55 forms is for, thats where the DVLA clerk would fill in the make model, colour, taxation class codes etc

I am able to further verify that this is a lookup table issue, because services which work with the make/model codes directly, and then use their own lookup table to decode them, are not as effected by the issue

for example the DVSA's MOT checker which uses its own lookup table, still correctly reports INVACAR

1 hour ago, chadders said:

Did it happen after a system upgrade or migration to a new one?

AFAIK no major system changed happened, but what I do note happen at the time was the DVLA updated their coded system/look up table with a bunch of mobility scooter manufactures, to go with updated government guidance/documentation on Mobility scooters (this is when the V55/MV form was introduced for example)

https://autoshite.com/topic/32723-lightbulbfuns-invacar-general-ramble-thread-index-on-page-1-survivors-lists-on-pages-24134-adgecutlers-invacar-mk12-restoration-from-page-186-onwards-still-harping-on/page/338/#comment-2879178

and this is where I suspect the whole thing stems from, since of Invacare is/was a Mobility scooter manufacture/supplier, I imagine that when someone went to add INVACARE to the DVLA system they saw "INVACAR" and thought, that Invacar in itself was a typo of Invacare if you follow, so they just put an E on the end and called it good, that person obviously not realising that Invacar and Invacare are completely separate things entirely 

1 hour ago, chadders said:

And why on earth would the DVLA ask the question that I've put in bold?

since a V5 is very solid evidence/proof that the make code ZA has *not* always been for INVACARE as the person who responded to my latest letter is  currently claiming (MHJ22P, TWC725K, and most other Invacars are still part of the coded system and have not had their record further messed with like has happened with REV's,)

(I have the additional issue with REV in that they pulled her from the coded system all together, so for example if you look up REV on the ULEZ checker she no longer shows up properly at all)

1 hour ago, chadders said:

There might be no way to realistically change it. 

all they have to do is just remove the E from the lookup table entry for ZA, and it would fix itself pretty much*

its really no different to how the DVLA add new make or model codes, every time a new manufacture/brand or model comes to market 

*and for REV add her back to the coded system, which is also not a problem

 

[Mr Pastry]

Dez, I am mostly sympathetic to your activities, as I think you know, but with due respect, you are taking all this a bit too seriously. 

AIUI, and I haven't read it all because I am rather busy, you are complaining because Invacars do not have a specific model code but are lumped in with other miscellaneous vehicles?  So what?  You can get your Invacar registered for road use with the correct details on the V5, surely that is what matters?

I suggest that the DVLA have reasons for doing things which are not evident to outsiders, even someone with your extensive knowledge of the system.  They are probably not even that bothered about a few miscellanous vehicles among the millions they have to deal with.

I'd also point out that nobody likes an outsider with not much practical experience telling them that they are not doing their job properly.  Maybe they are not, but rule no. 1 in life, don't piss people off.  

I hope you can get REV back on the road soon and start using it because you will rapidly acquire a sense of proportion, I can't think how else to put it.  You will discover its limitations as well as its good points, and you will find, as most of us do, that it is a full- time job keeping an old car going and the paperwork pales into insignificance.  

 

[lesapandre]

If there is a mismatch between the MoT and other records that does need sorting out.

[barefoot]

My Scirocco comes up on dvla as an automatic, do you think I have a case for compensation or should I just shrug and get on with keeping the fucker running like I've been doing for the last 14 years?

[Christine]

3 minutes ago, barefoot said:

My Scirocco comes up on dvla as an automatic

Clutch cable pulled through the bulkhead  ? 

[lesapandre]

I'd speak to the DVLA if was originally an auto and is mis-coded. The VIN should prove conclusive. I assume its declared as automatic on your insurance.