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Despite being the original builder of my car and still holding the LVLO letter confirming the car’s registration in 1983, a recent attempt to correct an omission from the V5c turned into a 4 month mission! This undertaking was another reminder of the importance and value of an owners club with many thanks going to David Cunnington for his dedicated work on the MOC archive which provides an authoritative back up when dealing with the DVLA.
My first kit car registration experience involved a visit from the Police (I think to check that cars weren’t built from stolen parts) followed by a letter from the Local Vehicle Licensing Office confirming that the Police “inspection” had taken place and that authorisation to MOT and Tax the vehicle was now granted. Simpler days with the MOT doing much of the heavy lifting regarding safety!
When the car was first built the new V5 retained the registration number of the donor Herald, the vehicle make remained as a “Triumph”, the model section was left blank, the Marlin chassis number was added to the document and the body type was changed to Sports. Whilst all of this acknowledged the changes made, it didn’t reference the Marlin Roadster identity and this was the norm for these early cars.
A basic explanation of the pre-1998 kit car registration rules (before the SVA was introduced) would be that a single donor car could potentially retain the donor registration number whilst cars build from various donor parts would be given a “Q” registration. I’m not sure at what point the DVLA started to acknowledge the Marlin brand but if anyone needs to go through the process of adding the Marlin reference to their V5c then the following information may be useful to you.
The process began with a phone call to the DVLA followed by posting them evidence of first registration, a covering letter and a MOC proof of history letter. Despite clearly explaining why this was not a request to carry out a “notification of changes to a vehicle" I was still sent and asked to fill out forms providing a full build report along with appropriate receipts. I did eventually get an acknowledgement that, in this case, this was not a relevant action as any significant changes had been dealt with some 41 years ago. I had to reiterate this several times but it was worth the effort because attention could then be turned to what is basically a data entry correction. Once I had been given an email contact and reference the process did become easier and whilst it may feel like your case has been lost in the system I think in reality the process is just unbelievably slow.
It is useful to know that apparently the V5c Make and Model entries are triggered by codes, if a “Make” code isn’t entered the “Model” section of the form cannot be used and unsurprisingly the DVLA do not have a “Make” code for a Marlin. Only the “Make” section is available for free typing and therefore the full car description has to appear on this line due to the “Model” section remaining unavailable (See Attached Image). This also goes some way towards explaining the DVLA’s original dilemma in registering kit cars.
When you see the documents side by side it is hard to believe this took 4 months but the “simple” amendment is a welcome conclusion to my recent Mk1 recommission and hopefully 2025 will be more about driving and going to shows J
My first kit car registration experience involved a visit from the Police (I think to check that cars weren’t built from stolen parts) followed by a letter from the Local Vehicle Licensing Office confirming that the Police “inspection” had taken place and that authorisation to MOT and Tax the vehicle was now granted. Simpler days with the MOT doing much of the heavy lifting regarding safety!
When the car was first built the new V5 retained the registration number of the donor Herald, the vehicle make remained as a “Triumph”, the model section was left blank, the Marlin chassis number was added to the document and the body type was changed to Sports. Whilst all of this acknowledged the changes made, it didn’t reference the Marlin Roadster identity and this was the norm for these early cars.
A basic explanation of the pre-1998 kit car registration rules (before the SVA was introduced) would be that a single donor car could potentially retain the donor registration number whilst cars build from various donor parts would be given a “Q” registration. I’m not sure at what point the DVLA started to acknowledge the Marlin brand but if anyone needs to go through the process of adding the Marlin reference to their V5c then the following information may be useful to you.
The process began with a phone call to the DVLA followed by posting them evidence of first registration, a covering letter and a MOC proof of history letter. Despite clearly explaining why this was not a request to carry out a “notification of changes to a vehicle" I was still sent and asked to fill out forms providing a full build report along with appropriate receipts. I did eventually get an acknowledgement that, in this case, this was not a relevant action as any significant changes had been dealt with some 41 years ago. I had to reiterate this several times but it was worth the effort because attention could then be turned to what is basically a data entry correction. Once I had been given an email contact and reference the process did become easier and whilst it may feel like your case has been lost in the system I think in reality the process is just unbelievably slow.
It is useful to know that apparently the V5c Make and Model entries are triggered by codes, if a “Make” code isn’t entered the “Model” section of the form cannot be used and unsurprisingly the DVLA do not have a “Make” code for a Marlin. Only the “Make” section is available for free typing and therefore the full car description has to appear on this line due to the “Model” section remaining unavailable (See Attached Image). This also goes some way towards explaining the DVLA’s original dilemma in registering kit cars.
When you see the documents side by side it is hard to believe this took 4 months but the “simple” amendment is a welcome conclusion to my recent Mk1 recommission and hopefully 2025 will be more about driving and going to shows J
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