Self Drive Classics

Classic Car MOT exemption

Last year the government - as instructed by the European Union - made cars build prior to 1960 exempt from the annual MOT. This was met with considerable opposition from the classic car community who could see where this action would ultimately lead. Now it seems the same European law makers are insisting that we extend the MOT exemption to vehicles over 30 years old. This means thousands of old cars would no longer be required by law to be subjected to an annual road worthiness test checking lights, brakes indicators and tyres. For the classic car hire hire industry this is a non starter. At the very minimum we would continue to have hire cars MOT'd annually as well as the usual maintenance older cars require. If you are hiring a classic car you should insist on checking that the car carries a current MOT as well as being satisfied that the car is being regularly maintained. There can be no guarantee of safety especially with older cars when mechanical components may fail despite the strictest maintenance regime. However, to remove one of the most basic safety checks seems insane and, frankly, dangerous. It is my belief that the ultimate goal is to see older cars removed from our roads and this will be facilitated by older cars causing more accidents and being labelled as dangerous and lacking in modern safety features. lets face it, the very powerful motoring lobby would rather we all bought brand new Euroboxes than kept out old classics on the road. I sincerely hope this is one of those daft European directives we will have the guts to ignore but I expect we will end up with this potentially fatal (in many ways) legislation on the books.