Automotive purgatory
QI took my GT6 off the road in the Nineties before the SORN system was introduced. I never received a red V5C. I recently moved house and sent the old blue V5 to DVLA. I was asked for photos, including the registration number, stamped chassis number and VIN plate. I sent these. The car’s partly dismantled, though the body’s on the chassis. The DVLA said it can’t issue a V5C due to the car’s ‘incomplete state’. They’ll hold the V5C application on file and process it when the car is ‘complete and running’, at which point they’ll require a vehicle inspection. They won’t return the old V5, though they have sent me a scan of it. What can I do? Jonathan Crossley, via email
ADon’t panic. It’s an irksome formality, not a threat. It’s the result of a scandal a few years ago, when it was discovered that valuable classics were being broken up and their parts used to build clones. A chassis here, an engine there and, all of a sudden, there were five replicas masquerading as priceless originals. Keep copies of the correspondence and the scan of the V5. When the Triumph is ‘complete and running’, get back to the DVLA and resume the application, copying in the previous exchanges. The DVLA may send an inspector out, or you may have to pay a small sum to have the car examined and certificated by an approved club. Comply with both the spirit and the letter of the requirements and you shouldn’t have any bother.