Hi
Just been browsing some topics and looking at some of the recent Fugs that have come up for sale

There is quite a bit of discussion regarding what should be on the V5

The one I've got is down as:
Make - Volkswagen
Body type- Sports

Interestingly there is a letter from the DVLA that came with the paperwork [ dated 2006 ]
It appears that the previous owner requested a change on the V5 to Fugitive 2

DVLA reply :

Unfortunately , the Volkswagen Fugitive 2 is a limited edition model and the manufacturers have not issued a special code [ used in our computer system ] to describe it .
I am sorry to disappoint you , but unless the manufacturers supply a new code the details must stand as they are
If you are unhappy about the situation , might I suggest that you contact Volkswagen direct
yours
--

:rolleyes:

The quality of service regarding vehicle registrations seems to vary hugely! In this case in was probably dealt with by someone with (understandably) no kit-car knowledge and in 2006 there would have been no way of switching the model without undertaking a SVA test.

In my case (back in the '90s) my local VRO were worse than useless including losing all my documents twice in succession when they sent them to Swansea and refusing to deal with me each time until 3 months had elapsed and they were sure they were lost!

In contrast the people I dealt with directly at the DVLA in Swansea were great.

Paul,

From your reply then, am I right in thinking you had your log book changed retrospectivly?

Yup, the change was done a fair while after it was built, there was an amnesty period just before SVA came in I think. This is no longer available.

Mine was down as "VW" and "2 axle rigid bodied convertible" as make and model at that point. I'm of the opinion that even this isn't horrendously bad as it at least showed the DVLA has been notified of some sort of change. The only really problematic one would be VW/Beetle.

The amnesty period allowed you to get the details changed on the V5 as long as you could prove the car had already been on the road. It was billed in the publicity at the time as being a simple rubber stamping exercise. I sent a load of paperwork off via the local VRO as it looked to be a good opportunity to ensure it was 100% legit.

It took a while but eventually it got to someone sensible and helpful at the DVLA who sorted a description of "UVA VW FUGITIVE KIT" as the make. Not sure what it's got as model as I only have a SORN to hand at the moment rather than the V5.

I'm hopeful this will cover me for any future tightening of the MOT side of things. It's going to be interesting to see what happens on this side of things, the DVLA know that they allowed a lot of kits to be registered with unusual makes/models in the past.

Even though I always advise buyers to be careful about registrations I suspect most Fugs are along the lines of "VW"/"2 axle rigid bodied convertible" at best and VW/Beetle at worst.

Hi, i've just bought a fugitive in the last fortnight & it's described as 'Volkswagon' body type 'convertible' but it does have a chassis number starting 'UVA.......' & also has the donor vehicle reg. tax free too!
i know that there seems to be a concern over exactly what a kitcar log book should say, but just because it doesn't say Uva Fugitive on a log book or carry a 'Q' plate doesn't mean it's not correctly registered & in regards to future MOT's surely they cannot 'retrospectively' apply new regulations to older vehicles?

Hi,
If they could have changed the rest of it when chassis number was done, I guess they would of. It's up to you if you want to chance driving it, but it's not applying new rules to old vehicles, as it would never have been allowed, just not so easily picked up on. Guess there's so many out there, you may as well just keep using it till it gets picked up, could be years. DVLA site, explains it all.

Mmm, i'm a little confused by your answer, this is how i think my Fug has arrived at it's description on the log book: i don't know when the kit was built, but i would think around the early 90's, it would have had an inspection by the DVLA, who would have concluded that as a vast majority of the mechanicals are of V.W. origin, it's make would be exactly that, but as it has the majority of the chassis from UVA, it was given the UVA chassis number, & as for the body type, convertible, well i suppose thats just about the best description you could give to something with such unique design as a Fug. Does this sound right? this is my first experience with a kit car, so any opinions will be appreciated!

I can see where your coming from, but no. If it has VW Beetle convertible on the V5 it's not correctly registered. It need not have been inspected anywhere ever, if you change chassis or engine numbers, it probably doesn't flag anything at DVLA. So as far as they are concerned it's still a Beetle. You are right in regards to keeping Beetle reg with respect to it being the donor car, but it can't have the donor cars discription. If you look on Westfield kit cars site, it'll become clear.

After my Fug's DVLA inspection At Preston two weeks ago (was registeed as vw beetle) my V5 arrived with make as VW Fugitive Buggy and retained its historic class.

festerbestertester - Hi and welcome to the forums.

Sounds intriguing! Most of us were under the impression that the only test that would allow a re-classification of a vehicle nowadays would be the current IVA test - so hope you can answer a few questions as this is likely to be of interest to a lot of members. I'm sure they'll be more questions from others as well!

Did you build it yourself or buy it recently on a Beetle V5?

What sort of test was booked/carried out at Preston DVLA?

What did the test entail?

Did you need to show any evidence of when the conversion was carried out or that it had been on the road at a certain date?

Did Preston then amend the V5 or did it go back to Swansea?

Cheers

Paul.

Hi, thanks for the welcome. I bought the Fug registered as 1972 VW Beetle (reregistered 1987 still a Beetle) at the back end of 2009. After getting it through MOT (sympathetic garage) I wrote to Swansea with engine change colour change and said it was a buggy. They sent appointment at Preston Where the examiner gave it a visual inspection and agreed it was obviously mostly Beetle and not a new conversion (I told him firm went out of business early 9os). He said he would write a sympathetic report to Swansea. 2 weeks later V5. Maybe I was just lucky.

If the V5 states: make - Volkswagen , body type - convertible , as britpart66 states [ no mention of Beetle] then he is not 'chancing it' at all - the V5 about covers anything with VW mechanicals and no fixed roof

That's not why that legislation was in place, that was for specials/kits retaining floorpans that were not subject to SVA, or indeed anything else. It would I guess give you an argument in court if it went that far, and yes I can see exactly your point. Think Scrapyard challenge done it with a Landrover ice-cream van in one of the episodes, it's appearance was totally different, but it needed no SVA. If this was right in Fugs, Westfields, Cobras etc there would be no need for any Qplates, IVA etc. There is a huge amount about this on DVLA/Ministry websites. Think things were also tightened so you couldn't have a 1959 Landrover, with a new Rangerover sport body, running gear and interior, thus making it tax exempt, or rung in real terms. It was because of this type of abuse the government stopped scrapping tax on vehicles as they became 25yrs old.
We can agree, disagree, make our own opinions etc, but in the end it's the legislation that makes the definitive decission for us.

Well, i've just got my log book back from DVLA & this is what it says:
Make - Volkswagon
Type -
Body type - Convertible
Wheelplan - 2-Axle-Rigid body
Vin/Chassis/Frame No- UVA...........
There is no mention of Beetle on the log book! surely at some time in the past my Fug has been inspected by the DVLA, it has the UVA chassis Number, they wouldn't allow a change of something as important as that without inspection? also there is no 'Type' description on the log book?? :unsure:

For what its worth, check my response to your earlier post.

I guess things may have changed a bit since then though. I'm probably in the same boat with the cobra, looks correctly registered under the kit mfr's name, but is on the donor Jag plates rather than Q's.

Hopefully with the recent cutbacks, they won't have time to chase every kit car around the country checking up on it......

You're ok with that Dom, It's registered as the kit. It now makes no odds where that number originally came from and it's probably not even be on record. I've often wondered what one set of my personal plates were originally off, their probably turn of the century. I've exhausted all routes to find out inc DVLA, register, specialist dealers etc. It'd just have been nice to see what type of old car came out the showroom with them on it.

Thanks Bob, that's reassuring to know.

Let's hope festerbestertesters experience proves typical going forwards. It seems to depend on being able to prove the vehicle has been on the road in that form for years, so I hope britpart66 got all the history and old MOT's n'stuff when he took over the green Fug, that's probably what helped getting my little mess sorted out without trouble.

Hi all,
I just bought a fug and have the old problem in that on the V5 its down as a "classic beetle" its quite obviously not ! lol
have sent festerbestertester a message to see how he went about getting his V5 renamed, have also seen this mentioned in a few kit car magazines but am not sure how much history if any you need to get it signed off.
I could probably get it insured under a "modified beetle" but has anybody got any clues as to what might happen at the MOT station ? and if i got pulled with the valid insurance what would the cops say and would it be legal ?
cheers
MH

Unfortunately when it comes to dealing with the DVLC it seems to depend on who you actually speak to.

Worst case scenario is that you may end up having to get an IVA.

could you ever get one of these through a SVA / IVA ?

I don't think it would be too hard to get one through, it would purely be the cost...When you see some of the nasty looking trikes that are about, lots of them have made it through, and there's the scrapyard challenge and top gear stuff as well.

I'm sure you could, especially if you took it through without the body panels and screen.

A while back the magazine (CKC) did a feature on a guy who'd passed SVA/IVA with a one off rail that he'd scaled up from a Tamiya or similar RC model.