Certificate of Conformity

[dessolbyjon]

10 years ago I brought my Marlin Berlinetta over to Bulgaria. I have not used it because the roads were dreadful, and now want to register it in BG to use as the roads are now much improved.
The reg is PWR 448P, this car was completed and registered by YKC in 2000.
Can you help me with such a certificate of conformity?

[dcunn]

Certificate of Conformity see below

[dcunn]

Certificate of Conformity? Dave Cunnington

In a word, NO, not for a Marlin Roadster or Berlinetta.

I only have a general knowledge and bow to those who know more on this subject, so please with your input let us make this a definitive document for future reference. I have included some comments from the Fb site and MOC members, and I shall be posting this on Fb with the same request for help.

Note that as a Club, all we can do is advise on this subject, any actions and decisions are your own.

From Geoff Grumble: Based on my general industrial experience a formal C of C can only be issued by an accredited organisation that has done the necessary tests and evaluations on the 'product'. Even if the kit car company built the car in their factory (eg the Marlin Hunter) the only evaluation today would be the IVA which mainly checks for driver, passenger and pedestrian safety. I may be wrong but I doubt they put together a general specification (performance, safety, environmental durability etc) and then test samples against that spec.

From Neal Batten : One possible answer is to register it in a country that already has a few Marlins, such as Romania which I believe has a couple. Then import it into Bulgaria. This won't work with a British registered car due to Brexit but should work with an eu registered car.

From Peter Boydell : As Marlins were not homologated I would imagine that you would have to get it assessed within the Bulgarian current equivalent of the UK's IVA system. However if you imported it as a finished car into Bulgaria then you might be able claim conformity using the build nations registration procedure for kit cars

From Doug Billings: C of C for vehicles only came into being from 1992, so vehicles before that date would not have one anyway.
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Both Marlin and YKC built kits for individuals to make their own vehicles using donor car parts
which, if they complied with the rules of the day, were enabled to be put legally onto the road.
Neither company still exists today.

The important word above is “individuals” – while kits were (nominally) produced to a standard specification, the completed vehicles were all finished as totally unique examples.

OK, so both companies did complete a very small number of vehicles for customers, but I would venture that each one of these too was unique, with it’s own customer required specifics.

So conformity did not exist.
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In the past a simple MoT inspection and test was once the standard, but in recent years there have been many changes in what is required for a vehicle to safely be on the road - emissions, SVA and latterly IVA particularly spring to mind.

A Marlin Roadster has recently been through IVA in the UK and is on the road as SF 23 ABO. It is very much modified from “standard”, has taken a long time and a large amount of money – so it is possible, and there may be others I do not know of.

The Marlin Berlinetta (Cortina based) will not pass IVA due to (I believe) the way the front suspension is mounted, but once again I presume large amounts of the aforementioned time and money might enable it -- but to my knowledge that has not happened yet.

N B The Sierra based Berlinetta has the same front suspension as the Cabrio and is OK.

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Roadsters and Berlinettas are in evidence all around the world, many in frequent use. It would appear that as a minimum requirement, most authorities look for a UK V5c and proof of previous MoT or equivalent to show the car’s roadworthiness. Some past history and provenance usually helps as well.

Therefore it is suggested that contact be made with the authorities of the country concerned, explain the above, and find out exactly what they require in order to register the car in that country…..and let us know the story please.

[dessolbyjon]

The car has been issued with an SVA/IVA certificate in 2000 and based on the Cortina Mk3. I actually brought the completed car over in 2014 and have it safely stored in my garage. I have been advised that I need to take the car to Sofia which is about 3.5 hours away and get inspected in order to be issued with a European Certicate of Conformity so shall leave until next year now. Will let you know of my progress.

[dcunn]

Thank you for the clarification, good luck with the process.