RE: SER1 Another odd ball....

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Whilst I thoroughly applaud the retention of UK registrations numbers
for vehicles such as ours (and was the instigator of the LRSOC making it
a policy with their small ads not to foster the idea that registrations
have a value separate from the vehicle), I HAVE had the same number on
all my other cars since 1968.  My first car was due to be traded in when
I was temporarily living in Northern Ireland.  I didn't want a NI
registration (similar to mainland UK in those days, but subtly
different), so I transferred the original (which is now on my RR
Classic).

The big problem came some 10 years ago when it was on my Lightweight -
it had become a 'basket case', and needed someone else to buy it and
care for it (which has since happened, with a full restoration to
military glory).  The trouble is, in order to get the number off and
transferred to my Peugeot, the LR had to have an MOT certificate, and to
be presented for inspection 17 miles away.

I won't go into the details of how an MOT certificate was obtained for
an un-driveable vehicle, but I then had to hire a trailer and haul the
Lightweight into town. The inspection took all of 10 seconds, with a
reading of the number on the bulkhead plate.  As that was only fixed on
with self-tapping screws I felt that I could have saved myself the cost
of hiring the trailer, and just driven in with the plate in my hand.

It would have also saved all the panic that the inspector would notice
that a small area of chassis rail (clearly visible inside the
Lightweight's huge wheel-arch) was in fact a piece of cardboard covered
with underseal.  [Before anyone goes all moral on me, I had NO intention
of evading safety requirements... but equally had no intention of
letting petty bureaucracy deprive me of MY number.  The MOT certificate
was destroyed immediately afterwards.]

BTW, I've tried to look at the picture of the vehicle that started this
thread, but it seems to have been removed from eBay.

Regards,
 
GRAEME ALDOUS
South Lane Farm, Moorsholm
SALTBURN, Yorkshire  TS12 3JE,  UK
Phone: +44(0)1287 660515  Fax: +44(0)1287 660255
www.teeafit.co.uk/sxf



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