Now, I know this is a subject that has been the topic of many a conversation down the pub, but it seems the Federation Internationale des Vehicules Anciens ( I know, them bloody Europeans again! ) has decided.


Whats worse, is that they have taken it upon themselves to start lobbying for a distinction between OLD and HISTORIC vehicles that can be used to govern European policy on Low-Emission Zone exclusions!


What they define as an HISTORIC VEHICLE is.... A mechanically-propelled road vehicle at least 30 years old ( 10 years younger than the UK Government currently does ) and maintained in a historically correct condition and NOT USED AS A MEANS OF DAILY TRANSPORT!


It states that vehicles that meet the above conditions, should not be lumped together with old badly maintained cars that are used as daily transport!


So that means any classic that deviates from its factory spec, or is a daily driver is not a classic in their eyes.

 

Interesting subject. At one level its totally subjective and whatever floats your boat from any marque any era. The more prosaic part is legislative and what more directly affects us in terms of use and hip pocket.

We (the various States in Oz) roughly line up with that EU definition and allow limited use between 45-90 days typically. My State is a bit more generous with age and is at 25+years old, but rumblings are they will align to 30. We don't however penalise modified cars accept at the entry to the system, where heavily modified cars may need engineering safety certification and are identified with distinctive plates. Ongoing costs are the same though.

Don't think the EU overlords think or car about whats classic. This is just more Green evangelism. Live life their way or else style. We will probably get our dose with the next left leaning government.

 

That is the trouble with a lot of legislation, especially from Brussels, it is conceived, and implemented by unelected, leaf licking tree huggers that have no knowledge or interest in the subject they are meddling with.


Because they are unelected, they have no voters to please so can pursue any course they see fit, and jump on any bandwagon that comes along!


Case in point, FAT is bad for you!!!


For 40 years The "experts" backed by these unelected officials have said FAT is bad....


Now, the self same "experts" and unelected officials are saying " SORRY we meant SUGAR is bad for you not fat " the reason being... they can introduce a new tax on sugar, and while the population is trying to avoid sugary foods, they do not notice that the tax on FAT has not been repealed!

 

Personally I think of my X308 as a Classic, and treat it as such :-)

However the government says that I need to wait until it is 40 years old before it becomes a classic in their eyes and no longer needs to have paid road tax, and now as you say the EU says that it is 30 years, and prior to all this it used to be at 25 years, if I remember before the government considered a car to be classic and no longer requiring paid road tax. It is incredibly subjective and variable..

So for the meanwhile I will have to go with my personal concept of Classic.. classic is more than a legal definition, it is something not so easily defined.. it is the art we see in older vehicles, a link to concepts we know and love..

Maybe one day the government will grasp the true concept of classic :-) but then again.... LOL

 

The reason becomes clear!... tfl.gov.uk Ultra Low Emissions Zone, that is coming into force sometime in 2020.


Basically a £12.50 a day tax per car not complying with the latest emissions regs, on top of the £11.50 a day congestion charge tax.


If you have a van or lorry it is up to £100.00 a day on top of the Low Emissions Zone tax of up to £200.00 a day tax, and of course you still have to pay the congestion charge tax!


But as the Government are nice people..... they would prefer you to go and buy a new car/van/lorry that is compliant!


How the f*(k is that environmentally friendly???


Has of course NOTHING to do with 20% VAT on a 10 grand plus car or 20 grand plus van or 60 grand plus lorry the Government will mug us the people for!

 

"unelected, leaf licking tree huggers that have no knowledge or interest in the subject they are meddling with."

I love the leaf licking part, I will steal that.

Given the facts as you lay them out Andrew, I would consider emigration. They dont seem to be indicating that they want you to hang around.

 

speaking of London, have any of you tried driving around our fair capital lately? Boris Johnson has done a fine job murdering an entire city with "cycle lanes". I drive in London all day long as a taxi driver and in one form or another I have driven in London for 38 years. I have never seen it this bad and it is all through malicious incompetence
by a twit trying to get into number 10. A couple of weeks ago I was caught in half a mile of traffic getting over Blackfriars bridge at 20:30 on a sunday night jesus christ

 

This hits the nail on the head for me! Totally agree

 

This can be a serious distinction for you. It sounds as though your vehicle tax structure is quite onerous. Reading Jaguar World magazine I see that the road use fees can be very high. Here, in California, any vehicle newer than 1975 model year must pass a bi-annual smog compliance test. Which pretty much means it may not be modified with non complying parts. The license tax fees are tied to vehicle value and drop over the years for a passenger car. There is an an exemption for an older car which can use historical vehicle plates. This is a lower license fee that is combined with use restrictions. There are specialty insurance plans that also have use and mileage restrictions. I've always used my old cars as daily drivers so I just have regular license plates and insurance. I like driving my cars to work, and that is usually prohibited. My cars might be old but they are generally not worth very much. There are American antique car clubs that have their own strict definitions of what is an actual (Capital letter) "Classic" vehicle is, as opposed to the popular (lower case) "classic" car. When it comes to Jaguars it is very easy. Just about every one built can be considered a Classic.