We all need one of these !

[sng45]

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C12 ... -120401399

[hot66]

[wildtexas]

"A medley of sought after styles, recombined to realize a timeless classic that never was"

[911hillclimber]

What a great folly.
Looks fab to me, goth Batmobile.

Imagine that cruising down the M6...

[KS]

Imagine that cruising down the M6...

Imagine that trying to get past IVA...

[Bootsy]

Imagine that cruising down the M6...

Imagine that trying to get past IVA...

Doesn't need one, its a 1979 Merc

[KS]

Oh yes, how silly of me!

[911hillclimber]

And I think that technically works?

[KS]

It will need to go through IVA as it's not a simple 'rebody' – the Merc didn't have a separate chassis (which would have to have remained unmodified to qualify). But there lies the problem - the builder needs to put the vehicle through IVA, so to be registered legally in the UK, the vehicle would need to be broken down into main constituent parts, and a record kept of that and the subsequent rebuild to show it's a personal build not a commercial one. If it's regarded as the latter, then a whole new can of worms is opened. This is why it's all but impossible to import a street rod from the USA and legally register it.

[911hillclimber]

Miserable...

[hot66]

It will need to go through IVA as it's not a simple 'rebody' – the Merc didn't have a separate chassis (which would have to have remained unmodified to qualify). But there lies the problem - the builder needs to put the vehicle through IVA, so to be registered legally in the UK, the vehicle would need to be broken down into main constituent parts, and a record kept of that and the subsequent rebuild to show it's a personal build not a commercial one. If it's regarded as the latter, then a whole new can of worms is opened. This is why it's all but impossible to import a street rod from the USA and legally register it.

but if you buy it a a used car .. who builds it is irrelevant isn't it ?

[KS]

It will need to go through IVA as it's not a simple 'rebody' – the Merc didn't have a separate chassis (which would have to have remained unmodified to qualify). But there lies the problem - the builder needs to put the vehicle through IVA, so to be registered legally in the UK, the vehicle would need to be broken down into main constituent parts, and a record kept of that and the subsequent rebuild to show it's a personal build not a commercial one. If it's regarded as the latter, then a whole new can of worms is opened. This is why it's all but impossible to import a street rod from the USA and legally register it.

but if you buy it a a used car .. who builds it is irrelevant isn't it ?

Sadly, no.
First scenario: the car is to be imported therefore has to go through the UK registration process, which will pick up the fact that it is a build/rebuild that significantly changes the car from the stock Mercedes. Result? IVA...
Second scenario: supposing the car had previously snuck under the radar and been registered in the UK, the chances are now that it would need to be inspected at the point where the new owner tries to register it in his name as the DVLA has got wise to this. This is what's happening in the street rod world – plenty of people are trying to off-load their illegally registered street rods and finding it all but impossible to sell them. Many are being broken and sold for parts, all because the owner/builders tried to cut corners and register their glassfibre bodied '32 Fords as Ford Pops, or whatever, using an old V5.

It's interesting to put the reg number of rods and kit cars you see for sale on eBay into the DVLA database and see what comes up. You'd be amazed at the number of illegally-registered cars out there...and that means no insurance should the worst happen.

[911hillclimber]

So...
Street rodding is dead?

Say I now, today, built a Y Type Ford as I did in the early 70's.
Back then the car was original and UK registered, I put a new home made chassis under it, alongside the stock one, Capri V6 engine and auto, Jaguar S type rear and Viva HA independent up front with rack n pinion etc etc.
No problem with the DVLA who were told everything.

If I did this same thing today I guess that is IVA?

[KS]

Street rodding is far from being dead - a lot of cars are being built legally to go through IVA. This is Mark Harley's Pop - fully IVA'd. It was built 'illegally' in the past and DVLA picked up on it, so he had two options: break it for parts or carry out a full IVA-legal rebuild. He chose the latter to prove it is possible to build a wild rod and be legal.



As for your build, that was back in the 1970s. Everything changed a decade later...but only relatively recently have things tightened right up, largely as a result of two things: a bad accident involving a Cobra replica that wasn't quite what it said it was and the Bugatti owners club, which had been 'verifying' Pur Sang replicas as genuine Bugattis...

[hot66]

I understand all that bit ... it was the suggestion a commercial build was treated different to a home build even if iva compliant