Registering an old 7 style car.

[SkemJazzer]

I have a 10 year old Caterham race car that has never been registered for road use so no V5. It’s had a replacement/repaired chassis in the past so there is no chassis number.

I want to register it and use it on the road, all of the relevant mods have been done to make it roadworthy, so is it possible for this to be done.

I was hoping to do something similar to an IVA and then hopefully be assigned a chassis number and Q reg by the DVLA, is this possible?

Thanks

[sociopath]

I think you're going to need a chassis number before you can do anything.

After that it's going to be like a new build so will need a full IVA to current requirements, and it will be a q plate.

[Fastpedeller]

You may need proof of engine age or it could be difficult getting it through emissions......... agreement of the engine's age will likely result in less stringent requirements (sorry I don't know what's changed emission-wise during the last 10 years of IVA)

[AdiT]

Caterham might be able to trace the original Chassis number for you. Failing that you'd need to contact DVLA and get one issued from them BEFORE applying for IVA.

Proof of engine age if it's early enough (pre'95) to avoid needing a cat'. Once you get through IVA then you will get a Q plate as you can't meet the requiremets for either a new reg or an age related one. The advantage of that is that it'll only face a visable smoke check when it comes to future MoT's ('cat might even fall off)

[CanAm]

My late '96 car scraped through registration without having a cat fitted and only has to meet no visible smoke requirements.

[Chris-S]

Just to agree with points already made.

First step is a chassis number. If Caterham can't oblige then write to K&R at DVLA and explain the situation and ask them to issue one. You can make up your own, but it's potentially problematic, so much easier to just accept one from DVLA. I needed a chassis number for a recent(ish) project and found them to be very helpful. If you do have a chassis number issued from DVLA, you'll need to get a friendly local garage to sign a form DVLA send you with the number to prove the number has been correctly applied to the chassis.

Next key step is engine age - depending on the engine itself, you may be able to get the info from the engine manufacturer based on engine number, maybe owners groups, maybe the likes of Burton for example who keep records for Ford engines. Regardless, if you can't prove the engine age with documentation, it'll be tested to the current MOT standard which means a basic CAT test. Given it's a 10 year old car, it'll likely get this test anyway, assuming it was built with a new or near new engine? I recently IVAd a car with a 20 year old engine that needed the basic CAT test.

For the rest, grab a copy of the IVA manual if you haven't already. It's a free download from DVSA.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/iva-man...

Your car will be subject to the BASIC IVA TEST, so make sure to use the correct section of the guide.

If at any point this all seems an entirely weird and wonderful process, bear in mind that DVLA and DVSA are different entities with different remits and at present, both departments are struggling with staff and backlogs, so some patience is going to be needed at times. I've only ever found them to be friendly and helpful folk myself, and always bear in mind they are constrained by unfriendly and unhelpful commuter based systems and processes.

No, I have no connection with them at all!

Edited by Chris-S on Monday 23 August 08:55

Edited by Chris-S on Monday 23 August 08:55

[SkemJazzer]

Thank you all for your help.

The DVLA vs DVSA thing threw me, next step for me is to contact the DVLA and see what they say but I feel more encouraged after reading the replies.