DVLA Fee Consultation

Editorial

Drive It Day has filled the newspapers and classic vehicle press – what a success! We have had so many reports of events from all corners of the country, some with just a couple of cars on a run out for Sunday lunch, to events catering for hundreds of vehicles. Thank you to everyone who took the trouble to tell us of their adventures, and to those who sent in their pictures. We have just a small selection here, but more on our website, and they are still coming in. It has really put us on the map.

I can report that we have an official change of address for the Federation’s Registered Office now, see above. Jim and I are still working alongside each other, and will be doing so until October. He is being very patient with me while I learn the day to day details of running the organisation.

In this issue we also give another reminder about the importance of passing on the information in these pages to club members, not just keeping it to yourselves! We have had some responses to our pleas for examples of problems with mascots on car bonnets in Northern Ireland, and also any commercial vehicle owners disadvantaged by the new London Low Emission Zone but to make a more impressive case we still need more specific cases. Please do try to find space in your club newsletters and magazines to include some FBHVC news.

Subscriber clubs and organisations may reproduce the text of items from this newsletter in their own publications provided that credit is given to FBHVC. Photographs and cartoons may be reproduced only with specific permission. Those wishing to reproduce items can receive the text by email to simplify production if they wish. Please ask the secretary at admin@fbhvc.co.uk

IMPORTANT - FBHVC HAS A NEW SECRETARY AND A NEW ADDRESS.

All correspondence and club publications should now be addressed to

Rosy Pugh, FBHVC Secretary

Stonewold, Berrick Salome

Wallingford, OX10 6JR

Telephone & fax: 01865 400845 - e-mail: secretary@fbhvc.co.uk

THIS NEWSLETTER IN BRIEF

UK LEGISLATION gives the real story on daytime running lights, and what we are doing about the London LEZ and emissions related congestion charge. There is also a consultation from VOSA on MoTs; a note on the Finance Bill; more on Private Hire Vehicles and mascots in N Ireland.

There are two items on FUELS following enquiries about ethanol in petrol, and the lack of leaded fuel around the country.

DVLA news mentions the review of the V765/1 list and explains what to do when licensing a vehicle that is exempt from the Plating and Testing regulations.

DRIVE IT DAY features with just a small selection of events and pictures.

ALL PARTY PARLIAMENTARY HISTORIC VEHICLE GROUP.

EU LEGISLATION reports on the work FIVA is doing in Europe.

Tyres and a comparison of Italian and UK events are covered in EVENTS.

ARE THEFTS OF HISTORIC VEHICLES ON THE INCREASE?

CLUB NEWS - surely something of interest for everyone.

UK LEGISLATION

David Hurley

Daytime Running Lights

The secretary received several calls following recent press reports that Daytime Running Lights were to become mandatory, apparently contradicting the note under EU Legislation in our January 2008 issue which said the European Commission had dropped proposals for compulsory use of DRL. As it happens, both reports are true, but it seems the press reports may have omitted the essential detail that such lights are to become compulsory fitments only for new vehicles.

According to Hansard for 4 February 2008, Jim Fitzpatrick, Parliamentary Under Secretary at the Department for Transport, provided the following written statement in answer to a question posed by Greg Knight, chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Historic Vehicle Group:

The UK has been successful in arguing against the introduction of mandatory use of dipped headlamps during daylight hours by drivers of existing vehicles. This outcome has been welcomed by motorcycle user groups. However, from early 2011 all new types of passenger car and light van will have to be fitted with dedicated daytime running lamps in accordance with the relevant European directive. By summer 2012 all new vehicle types will have to be so fitted.

That is good news for historic vehicle owners and all motorcyclists in the short term, but within about six years, the majority of vehicles on the road will be using DRL, so vehicles that lack such lights will become less visible.

London Low Emission Zone

At the time of writing, there had been four valuable responses to our appeal in the last issue for examples of hardship caused by the introduction of the London LEZ. We need to hear from more. To repeat the request for information from the April issue: We need to hear from owners of historic commercial vehicles who have been adversely affected by the LEZ, and especially from owners who live and keep non-compliant historic vehicles within the zone. We need to know what the vehicle is, how often it would normally be used within the zone and what it would be used for. If it is kept within the zone, we need the postcode for where it is kept. Clubs catering for commercial vehicles are asked to alert their members to the need to let us have the information, asking them to contact Jim Whyman, preferably by e-mail to admin@fbhvc.co.uk, or 01984 656995. Jim will be looking after this topic until the autumn.

Meanwhile, we have taken advantage of the recent change of Mayor of London to highlight this problem and invite Boris Johnson’s team to amend the LEZ exemption for historic vehicles to a rolling date based on 25 years - which was what was originally proposed. The suggestion has been acknowledged.

Emissions related congestion charge

It is widely known that one of the planks of Boris Johnson’s recent campaign to be elected Mayor of London was a pledge not to implement the proposed higher rate congestion charge for larger-engined cars. No doubt Londoners will keep him to his word.

Paint

No further news - it is still expected that regulations setting out the licensing system for the continued supply of non-compliant paints will be published this summer. It is obvious, however, that this is not a priority for DEFRA.

MoT Review

Early in May, the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency published proposals to amend the requirements for authorisation to test some categories of vehicles. The consultation closes on 17 June and is primarily about the equipment and facilities that prospective testers need. FBHVC will be checking the detail and responding accordingly if it sees anything potentially detrimental to the future testing of historic vehicles.

Still on MoTs, but of rather more interest to readers, we learned as a result of a parliamentary question earlier in the year that the Department for Transport is planning to issue a consultation on future plans for the MoT test shortly. This is likely to include consideration of de-regulating fees and amendments to the frequency of testing to fall into line with EU minimum requirements.

Finance Bill

The changes to Vehicle Excise duty structure announced in the budget have caused considerable concern among those who have large capacity cars built after March 2001. Earlier vehicles are not affected.

However, two measures in the Finance Bill prompted us to ask the All Party Parliamentary Historic Vehicle Group to be on the alert. Section 138 seeks to amend the basis on which a rebate may be obtained for a VED licence and 139 (with schedule 45) would amend the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act to enable the authorities to take enforcement action against VED evaders whilst on private land, a threat we reported last Autumn.

The former appears benign, but we need to be sure. The concern with the latter is that the draft does not appear to provide adequate protection for owners of vehicles that may have been parked on private land since before the SORN regulations came into effect.

Private Hire Vehicles

We now know of three people or businesses that hire older vehicles and drivers out for purposes other than weddings or funerals and who thus may have breached the regulations governing Private Hire Vehicles (PHV).

This is proving a complicated subject to research, and we would not normally devote so much newsletter space to an issue affecting so few people, but this does illustrate how difficult it can sometimes be to understand what the law actually means.

The relevant legislation for England and Wales is contained in Part II of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act of 1976. This Act has 83 sections and various schedules, and applies only to England and Wales. We have not yet begun to establish the position in Scotland or Northern Ireland, but (luckily) we haven’t heard of anyone hiring older cars with drivers out in those areas for purposes other than weddings or funerals.

Section 80 of the Act contains the definitions. The relevant one being:

‘private hire vehicle’ means a motor vehicle constructed or adapted to seat fewer than nine passengers, other than a hackney carriage or public service vehicle or a London cab or tramcar, which is provided for hire with the services of a driver for the purpose of carrying passengers.

Section 46 of the Act contains the basic rules:

(1) Except as authorised by this Part of this Act - (a) no person being the proprietor of any vehicle, not being a hackney carriage or London cab in respect of which a vehicle licence is in force, shall use or permit the same to be used in a controlled district as a private hire vehicle without having for such a vehicle a current licence under section 48 of this Act;

(b) no person shall in a controlled district act as driver of any private hire vehicle without having a current licence under section 51 of this Act;

(c) no person being the proprietor of a private hire vehicle licensed under this Part of this Act shall employ as the driver thereof for the purpose of any hiring any person who does not have a current licence under the said section 51;

(d) no person shall in a controlled district operate any vehicle as a private hire vehicle without having a current licence under section 55 of this Act;

(e) no person licensed under the said section 55 shall in a controlled district operate any vehicle as a private hire vehicle -

(i) if for the vehicle a current licence under the said section 48 is not in force; or

(ii) if the driver does not have a current licence under the said section 51.

The exemption for weddings and funerals is to be found in the first clause of Section 75:

Nothing in this Part of this Act shall -

(a) apply to a vehicle used for bringing passengers or goods within a controlled district in pursuance of a contract for the hire of the vehicle made outside the district if the vehicle is not made available for hire within the district;

(b) [removed by the Road Safety Act 2006] ;

(c) apply to a vehicle while it is being used in connection with a funeral or a vehicle used wholly or mainly, by a person carrying on the business of a funeral director, for the purpose of funerals;

(cc) apply to a vehicle while it is being used in connection with a wedding;

The complication was in understanding the meaning of “controlled district”. The 1976 Act states that it applies only if both the Police Town Clauses Act of 1847 (yes 1847) applies in a given area and the local authority for that area has resolved that the 1976 Act should apply. It transpires that Section 15 of the Transport Act of 1985 extends the application of the 1847 Act to taxis in all parts of England and Wales (except London) and that all local authorities save Plymouth (and, of course, London) have adopted the 1976 Act. The Act thus effectively applies throughout England and Wales.

The big question now is what level of discretion local authorities might enjoy to enable them to exempt certain categories of vehicles - we know of two that are considering doing so in respect of historic cars, but further research is necessary to establish whether they have to power to do so.

Readers with comments or queries are asked to contact Jim Whyman. His direct contact details are: admin@fbhvc.co.uk or Tel: 01984 656995.

Mascots

We had two responses to our request for information about cases where cars in Northern Ireland had failed an MoT because of original equipment mascots. Both confirmed that the problem has been there for some time, but neither quoted specific cases so we still have only the one instance to work with. It is understandable that this matter is low on the Department of the Environment for NI’s scale of priorities, but we are still pursuing the point if only on the principle that vehicle testing throughout UK should be to the same standard.

FUELS

Matthew Vincent

Use of Ethanol in Petrol

Some concerns have been raised recently about the use of ethyl alcohol, or ethanol, in petrol. The product added to petrol may also be called bio-ethanol to link its use with non-fossil derived or renewable bio-fuels. Bio-ethanol has been used at times over the decades, but its recent use is linked to EU directives to increase the proportion of automotive fuel derived from renewable sources, in order to reduce carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions.

Ethanol has been blended into petrol in recent years by, among others, Tesco, who use it in their premium 99 octane unleaded petrol blend. Ethanol has a very high octane quality, and so is a valuable blending component for use in the production of high octane unleaded petrol. Its use in this application is limited to 5% volume and is acknowledged by a label on the pump according to the Tesco help line, although this may not always be the case. Although the EU is believed to be considering the mandatory use of bio-ethanol in petrol in the future, at present it is to be hoped that classic car owners would not encounter the blended product without some form of pump marking. If any owners have concerns over using petrol containing 5% ethanol, it would be useful to check fuel before purchase by inspecting pump labels.

Concerns expressed have centred on possible water contamination, degradation of plastic and rubber seals and possible negative effects on foams used in racing tanks to prevent fuel fires and explosions. The position on these issues is not straightforward and is still being investigated in order to establish an accurate understanding. In general when ethanol is used at 5% volume in petrol, the chemical properties of the blend approximate to those of the 100% fossil (i.e. crude oil derived) petroleum product. In other words, the fuel system may not see the 5% ethanol-petrol blend as different from 100% petrol produced in the normal way by refining crude oil. However, (there always seems to be a ‘however’) there are likely to be exceptions to this rule and it is these which are still being checked. Also, as the proportion of ethanol in the blend is increased, so any difficulties are more likely to become apparent.

Although the 5% ethanol blend can give higher octane quality, which some historic vehicle owners may find useful for performance optimisation, volatility is also likely to be higher for this blend of fuel. Some owners are already troubled by driving problems associated with high volatility (vapour lock, fuel starvation, bad hot starting etc. in hot weather), so using a 5% ethanol blend could make such problems worse. In general, unless there is a particular reason to seek out this blend of fuel (high octane quality might be one good reason), at present it may be better to avoid it. More information should be available in a follow-up piece.

Supply of leaded fuel

Bayford, the only UK distributor of BS 4040 leaded petrol, wrote to all leaded petrol outlets last month to explain that they had lost their storage and blending facility at Harwich earlier in the year, and had not been able to make alternative arrangements. They have now distributed the last of the leaded fuel they had in stock. The letter said they were talking to suppliers as far away as Russia and Israel with a view to importing the fuel by tanker.

As an option, they have suggested to garages that they could supply 98 octane fuel although obviously this would not have the lead content included in the fuel, but if it could be stocked alongside a lead replacement additive, it would allow customers to meet their requirement.

There are several reputable additives on the market, for a full list of those tested by the FBHVC, go to the website: www.fbhvc.co.uk

DVLA

Nigel Harrison

Review of V765/1 list of Clubs

In the last Newsletter we said we understood that the invitation from DVLA for clubs to renew their membership of the V765/1 list was likely to be distributed in mid-April. Unfortunately things don’t always go as initially anticipated, but the invitation should be with all clubs shortly.

Registering Historic Vehicles

For those that don’t know, the V765 scheme is a mechanism where an owner can get back the right to display the original registration number on the vehicle. If there is insufficient documentary evidence for that, then possibly an ‘age-related’ number will be issued. There are circumstances where DVLA may allocate a ‘Q’ plate. Further information is contained in two DVLA information sheets, (V848) ‘How to register your “old” vehicle’, and (INF 26) ‘Guidelines for the registration of rebuilt or radically altered vehicles and kit cars’.

I think that some owners may not be aware of these DVLA information sheets, particularly when they have been claiming to have their vehicle registered under its original number. There needs to be a documentary link between that particular vehicle and that particular registration number. Typically this would be an ‘old style’ logbook, or a certified photocopy of the ‘original vehicle register’. These documents are ideal, because they link the chassis number to the registration number. Sometimes these original documents have been destroyed. Alternative documentary evidence could be, for example, a pre-1983 tax disc or MoT.

Some owners appear to be under the impression, (or it may be wishful thinking), that if you want to get back the original registration number, all you need is just the original registration plate attached to the vehicle, without any associated contemporary documentation. Not so. In circumstances like this, provided the conditions of the above two information sheets are complied with, you will be allocated an age-related number. As said above, some ‘original vehicle registers’ still exist, typically in the original local taxation authority archives. A comprehensive list of which records still exists is listed in a book, now unfortunately out of print, called How to Trace the History of Your Car by Philip Riden (second edition 1998). Despite the title, it is equally applicable to commercial vehicles.

Vehicles exempt from Plating and Testing

The vast majority of vehicles are required to have either an MoT, or if over 3500kg Gross Vehicle Weight, (GVW) be subject to Plating and Testing (P&T). However, there is a minority of vehicles where an MoT is not required if certain requirements are met.

For example, if a vehicle (other than a car) is steam propelled, then no MoT is required.

Another example is a vehicle over 3500kg GVW, in use before 1960, used unladen, and not drawing a laden trailer. One of the key points is that the vehicle has to be used unladen. I would suggest that if the pre-1960 vehicle is carrying another vehicle, e.g. an historic tractor, it is not being used unladen, so will be subject to P&T. For this reason, the tax disc renewal form (V11), will indicate that an MoT is required.

If the vehicle can satisfy the three criteria, i.e. age, weight, and unladen usage, exemption from P&T can be claimed by filling in a ‘Declaration of Exemption’, (V112G form), and putting a X in the exemption box on the tax disc renewal form.

There are few vehicles eligible to claim this exemption, so it will be an unusual transaction for many Post Offices. Problems have occurred where a particular Post Office counter clerk has not dealt with this particular transaction before. This problem has been flagged up by two member clubs. The Federation has passed these concerns onto DVLA. As a result of this, it is anticipated that in June the Post Office will be putting out a general circular which will remind Post Office staff accordingly. The Federation has also made suggestions to DVLA regarding how the wording on the tax reminder form and exemption form could be refined. This could help both owners, and Post Office staff.

However, it is essential that if you are claiming an exemption, that you fill in an exemption form. I would also suggest, (and this is not a DVLA or Post Office requirement), that you circle on the form the specific exemption that you are claiming, and have your V5C (the new style log book), in your back pocket. (The ‘Revenue Weight’ on the V5C is the same as the GVW). If the Post Office counter clerk is unfamiliar with this particular exemption, at least he/she can see exactly what the exemption is, and that your vehicle meets the weight and age criteria. The Federation would be interested to know of owners who have ~~any~~ difficulties claiming the exemption and the address of the specific Post Office involved would be helpful.

Currently it is not possible to apply for a tax disc over the phone when this exemption is being claimed. There is the possibility that this may change in the future, and when we have specific information, we will pass this on.

Recently I heard of an instance where an owner was enquiring that, if his vehicle was a ‘Showman vehicle’ would it be exempt from P&T? That is a question that, at the time, I could not comment on. Another owner has a particular type of post-1959 commercial vehicle, and is on the lookout for a similar pre-1960 ‘donor’ vehicle, with documentation. Use of ‘donor parts’ is one thing, but use of ‘donor documentation’ on a different vehicle, could be called fraud.

It is perfectly valid that if a vehicle’s use/construction/age/taxation class/ownership meets certain requirements, that an owner can claim P&T exemption for that vehicle, but, if to avoid the expense and ‘inconvenience’ of P&T, some details are ‘adjusted’, then this is a completely different matter.

If you are claiming the exemption from Plating and Testing, the vehicle still needs to be roadworthy, and it could always be subjected to a roadside check by DVLA/VOSA.

CLASSIC BRITISH QUALITY CHARTER

We are sorry to report that the affairs of the Classic British Quality Charter were wound up recently at a meeting of all interested parties held at Stoneleigh, Warwickshire.

FBHVC will shortly be publishing details of an enhanced Trade Supporter scheme that will replace many of the benefits of CBQC and give traders catering to the historic vehicle movement a strong representative voice.

DRIVE IT DAY

Now in its third year, Drive It Day was once again a great success with all kinds of events taking part in every corner of the British Isles, with all ages of vehicles and any number of wheels.

The Federation was delighted to welcome over 100 vehicles throughout the day at the Royal Oak, Bishopstone, near Swindon, aged from 1902 to 1987. They were mostly on four wheels but there was a single three-wheeled Morgan, and a posse of bikes from AJS and Matchless Owners Club. Some of the rarer cars represented were a 1902 MMC, a Carbodies three-seat Daimler of 1955, and a Norwegian registered Auto Union. Some just stayed for a quick cup of coffee on the way to another run, others made a day of it.

The next Drive It Day will be 26 April 2009.

ALL PARTY PARLIAMENTARY HISTORIC VEHICLE GROUP

Chris Hunt Cooke, David Hurley, Geoff Smith and Andrew Burt met seven members of the APPHVG on St George’s Day, April 23, in Westminster. Among the topics discussed were the new trade and skills initiative, culture and heritage links, the lack of news after the recent consultation on number plates and the rolling date for the historic vehicle taxation class. Also of concern were a couple of paragraphs of the Finance Bill which would amend the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act to change the basis on which VED refunds are made and also open the way to enable DVLA to take enforcement action against VED evaders on private land. Greg Knight, APPHVG chairman, agreed to investigate.

EU LEGISLATION

(Extracts from FIVA’s regular update provided by its lobbying service, EPPA)

FIVA makes submission to European Commission on Urban mobility policy

FIVA made a submission to the European Commission’s consultation for its Green Paper on Urban Mobility in March. This focused on urban vehicle bans and vehicle charging designed to reduce urban pollution and congestion, and the disproportionate impact some of these measures have had on historic vehicle owners.

The submission therefore highlighted the recent positive decisions taken by the German and Danish Governments, Transport for London and the Italian cities which have exempted historic vehicles from such measures. The submission also urged the European Commission to develop guidelines to allow all authorities across the EU to benefit from experience – and for those guidelines to recommend that Member States/local authorities make provisions for historic vehicles to the effect that they are not disproportionately impacted by bans or charging regimes designed to reduce peak time high volume traffic and more specifically that historic vehicles are neither banned from entry to Zones/urban areas nor penalised with excessive charges for entry to such zones or other controlled urban areas.

FIVA makes submission to European Commission on small business policy

As reported earlier this year, the European Commission’s DG Enterprise launched a public consultation on the content of a European Small Business Act with the objective of putting small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) at ‘the forefront of decision-making in the EU’. FIVA’s [and FBHVC’s] Trade and Skills Director Tony Davies made a submission on behalf of the FIVA which was designed to highlight to the Commission’s Enterprise Directorate the existence of this large and valuable body of businesses which services the historic vehicle movement and to explain that FIVA is currently undertaking an in-depth examination of the sector and the skills inherent in it so that FIVA can work with the sector to help ensure its continued success in the future. As FIVA’s work will include a focus on maintaining and developing the skills needed to service the movement, FIVA has explained to the European Commission that it will share with it the results of the work to help identify any possible support for the sector from the EU.

EC plan dichloromethane paint-stripper ban

The European Commission has proposed a Directive to partially ban sales of paint strippers containing dichloromethane. FIVA is considering whether this will impact upon restoration of historic vehicles.

Environmental benefit of biofuels in doubt

The US Nature Conservancy has found that converting rainforests, peatlands, savannas or grasslands to produce biofuels in Brazil, southeast Asia and the US releases up to 420 times more carbon dioxide than the carbon reductions these biofuels provide. Another study, by the US German Marshall Fund, has claimed that previous biofuel impact studies failed to consider indirect land-use changes – and when they are considered, corn-based ethanol production - the major biofuel in the US - doubles greenhouse emissions.

These studies coincide with the EU’s intent to increase biofuel consumption to ten per cent of transport fuels by 2020. However, the European Commission has also set out sustainability criteria that it claims will guarantee that only biofuels with a healthy carbon balance and no negative land-use effects would count towards its target.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

Renewal notices went out early in May to all clubs, museums and individuals whose subscriptions fell due for renewal on 1 June 2008. These have been sent to the ‘nominated address’ in accordance with the articles of association, and in the case of clubs this can often mean that the renewal notice goes to someone other than the treasurer... if you’ve had a renewal notice that needs to go to someone else, please pass it on; if you haven’t had a renewal notice that you were expecting, please let Rosy Pugh know at the new address.

2008 AGM

A reminder - the 2008 AGM will take place on Saturday, 18 October at the Hunt House, Paulerspury (by courtesy of the Rolls Royce Enthusiasts’ Club and the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation). Unusually, there will be no elections this year. This is because those elected last year were elected for either two or three year terms in order to establish correctly the future rotation of directors following the adoption of new articles of association.

MEMBER ORGANISATIONS

We are pleased to welcome the Reliant Sabre and Scimitar Owners Club and the Delage Register back to membership and to welcome to membership the following clubs and museums, all of which have recently joined.

Friends of Beamish Museum;

On-Line Austin Seven Club

Norfolk and Norwich Rover Owners Club

Left Hookers American Auto Club

Rover 200 & 400 Owners Club

Three Counties Vintage & Classic Car Club

Glamorgan Classic Car Club

Kildrummy Veteran & Vintage Vehicles Club

EVENT NEWS

Colin Francis

Tyres and FIVA ID cards

In the last edition I promised to write about the latest situation regarding the tyres used on FIVA events. Getting matters like this changed or improved takes a lot of time and effort but the FIVA’s Events Commission of FIVA have now written to ask the Technical Commission to consider the situation. One problem is that the Technical Commission of FIVA sees FIVA ID cards from a wider perspective than just events. Here is the text of that letter:

We would like you to review the manner in which you treat applicants for ID cards as far as tyres are concerned. Tyres are disposable items and it is impossible for a car to retain its original tyres if the car is used.

The best that an owner of a car can do is to find a tyre similar to that in use when the car was made. This is often very difficult and, in a few cases, impossible. Furthermore one must take note of what is happening in practice.

Two examples: applicants for an ID card can get a car with period tyres fitted and when the tyres need replacing, fit more modern tyres, also some countries do not consider the tyres fitted to a car when issuing an ID card. For these two reasons many sixties cars are running on 70 profile tyres.

We are aware that ID cards are not issued solely for the purpose of competing on events and in practice most events accept sixties cars fitted with 70 profile tyres. In our view the Technical Commission should recognise what happens in practice. When a rule is abused the organisation that enforces it falls into disrepute.

I hope to report something about this ongoing saga in a future Newsletter.

La Dolce Vita

In the last edition I also said that I would report on Italian events such as the Coppa Milano San Remo Rally which I attended in March of this year. The main news is that the organisers of the Coppa Milano San Remo event are the MAC Events SRL organisation from Genoa and they have bought the rights to the Mille Miglia.

What are the differences between most Italian and British events? First and foremost are the number of participants and type of car. Our events that best equate to the Italian style are the Goodwood Festival of Speed and similar speed and race oriented events.

Secondly the competition is, for most car owners, of secondary importance to participating in the festive atmosphere. Many people enter the Mille Miglia and similar events in Italy to display their cars, impress girl friends and show how successful they have been in life! The competition is secondary to that objective. This could lead to an interesting debate. Letters welcomed.

But what is the Italian style of competition? Support cars are allowed and navigation is easy; map reading is not required; there are no restrictions on instruments. There are the occasional time controls at the start and at lunchtime but unless something dramatic occurs, everyone gets around in time. In between the time controls are a series of secondary controls where one must drive over a pad which times you to one tenth of a second, at a time which you are given in advance e.g. 66 minutes and 20 seconds from the start and there can be a number of these checks in quite rapid succession. There are boards in advance of these time checks and after each time check. You are not allowed to stop between these boards without getting a large penalty. Up to the advance board you can drive at any speed you like and the secret is to get to the advance board early, wait and then drive carefully up to the timing pad and away past the ‘out’ board. The experts drive very slowly between the boards and look carefully at their front wheel so that it breaks the timing line at an exact fraction of a second. There ~~are~~ is usually one test with about four timing points in two kilometres each morning and each afternoon. The rest of the time you drive around at your own pace enjoying the crowds and atmosphere. Like most continental events the stops and food are memorable.

All drivers must have a medical certificate and I believe this is merely to give participants the impression that they have participated in an event with a sporting history and they are successors to Fangio, Moss, and Nuvolari etc who would have driven on these events in the years that they were based on speed.

You may sense my view that although these events are an interesting experience the competitive aspect and requirement for driving skill is negligible. The competition is all about driving about one hundred metres to a point within one tenth of a second. If you can do that about eight times a day you will win. One second out per time and you will probably not make the top ten. I have no idea how the experts can be so precise.

ARE THEFTS ON THE INCREASE?

A couple of years ago, there was a sense that thefts of old vehicles, particularly of higher performance cars of the 1960s, was increasing. We set up a system to enable victims to report their losses to see if there was any pattern. Over a period of about a year, we heard of fewer than 10 instances of theft, there was no pattern and we heard nothing more. Then recently, a 1965 Austin Healey was stolen in West London and a collection of motorcycles was stolen in Gloucestershire.

If similar thefts occur within one police region, it is likely the police will notice a pattern and investigate accordingly. If similar thefts occur in different areas, it is unlikely that the pattern will emerge for some considerable time - and that is why FBHVC asks to be informed of historic vehicle thefts: we can’t do anything with any one case, but we might spot a pattern before the police are able to do so.

IMPORTANT If your club sends publications to FBHVC, please make sure you use the new address - see page 2 for details.

CLUB NEWS

David Davies

Plenty of anniversaries are coming up: the diamond jubilee celebration for the Landrover at the end of June, contact the Landrover Series One Club www.lrsoc.demon.co.uk. The Frazer-Nash Car Club’s 75th anniversary celebrations will include a Nash Race at Cadwell Park on 31 August, contact Jonathan Cobb at: jacdesigns@aol.com. The Military Vehicle Trust is celebrating its 40th birthday by re-enacting ‘operation market garden’ on 12-14 September at Spanhoe airfield, Corby, www.mvt.org.uk. The Model T Register reminds us it is the centenary of that famous Ford and six years hard work has given us ‘The English Model T Ford’ available at £25.00 www.modeltregister.co.uk. The Vincent Owners Club reminds us that