posted by Nathan Williams
How many times have I posted pictures of less-than stock cars in the US that elicited the question: are there no mandatory inspections in the US? I’m 99% certain that this would not pass the German TUV inspection, because any modifications or non-stock parts have to be certified by that august organization.
But then the UK isn’t Germany. So does anything go, as long as it’s functional, has lights, etc.? Or?
I wouldn’t want to rear end this jacked up Toyota: there’s no Mansfield bar, as is required on all big trucks. How about a bumper sandwich?
I assume those are 15″ wheels, but those big tires make them look minute.
This looks all-too familiar to me here in Oregon, but it looks a wee bit out of context in London.
The UK has a recent history of allowing things like sports racing cars to be registered as road cars, so who knows? Take a look at Radical Sportscars for examples. I always thought that the MOT was no joke, and that cars received rust repairs there to meet their standards far more often than they did here. On the other hand, we never bought as high a percentage of light cars that were easily compromised by rust.
There are lots of superficially rusty pickups and Suburbans in MN which may well have a solid frame, which is fine. Many have jagged edges, sometimes even rust is cut out with snips and left that way. In the UK, that would fail MOT because it’s hazardous to pedestrians, but if you slapped a bit of fiberglass or filler on it, it would pass while merrily rusting away underneath.
My wife’s aunt drove her Mercury Tracer wagon in Minnesota until the struts busted through the rusty mounts. It would have failed MOT several years prior if MN had such a thing.
I remember a lot of people used to get prosecuted for ‘dangerous parts’ having Mini’s without the bumpers in place as that exposes a sharp (and usually rusty) seam join.
Poor Jayne. Her name will always be associated with a trailer bumper.
In the UK they’re just called underrun bars. If you said Mansfield bar they wouldn’t know what you were talking about. I think they are required on the sides in Europe too.
It’s a total lack of respect. Jacked up cars are not common here in Brazil, but many of our fellow truckers have some bizarre taste for jacked up hear ends, both on trucks and trailers. It’s illegal, but the highway police doesn’t care much about it … just Google “caminhões com traseira levantada” and you see many many of them.
It’s it common anywhere else?
I haven’t seen it in the U.S., but where I’m located most of the rigs are corporate-owned. Can’t speak for other parts of the country, although the U.S. and Canada are stricter than the rest of the Americas when it comes to regulating large trucks and their drivers.
I can’t imagine that’s good for stability or aerodynamics. At least with the corporate rigs there appears to be a concerted effort to prevent air from flowing under the trailer, in an effort to squeeze out a few more miles from a tank of fuel.
Many American big rigs are driver owned, even though they might have a corporate livery. Lowered (but level) suspension is not uncommon, and illegally deleted emissions systems are very common, and often openly discussed in used truck ads.
The posh can’t ride to hounds anymore, so they have to risk their necks another way. But on the highway, it’s the people behind them whose necks are at risk.
In a downhill panic stop, it will probably go arse over teakettle. I saw a regular Explorer do that ten years ago when it T boned another car’s hood.
Providing you can get that past a certifying engineer you could drive it on the road over here, in any kind of crash it would likely fall over and how it would handle ay highway speed is anyones guess.
Well, here’s the UK MoT vehicle inspection manual…!
This might be a case of “make it legal for the MOT, and then change everything out to how you want it”. If you get ticketed or otherwise called on it, change it back to stock, get the inspection, rinse and repeat. There was a lot of that going on for my group of ambitious car guys, back when we were young and willing to spend a bunch of time and effort to do this sort of thing.
“…I’m 99% certain that this would not pass the German TUV inspection, because any modifications or non-stock parts have to be certified by that august organization…”
Scratch Germany as a place to emigrate to…
You don’t need to scratch it from your list, they don’t want you anyway. Unless you find yourself a fraulein.
The whole lifted vehicle thing for street use is absurd. I wonder every time I see one why
A sane person would do that.. Having a driven a few, it is a horrible, dangerous,
Experience for all parties concerned.
The only thing I can see that would make me wonder about MOT viability is the fact that the wheels stick out beyond the wheelarches. There were/are a variety of flared arches available for the original Mini for that reason.
Otherwise, if it has lights and brakes and the ball joints and bushings etc are sound, no structural rust and it passes emissions, it should be good.
Remember, the UK allows people to do incredibly dangerous and irresponsible things like import a new car from the US or Australia, or in the good old days, a Mexican T1 or Brazilian T2. Come and take it!
Australia’s national vehicle standards (the ADRs), just like the UK’s vehicle standards, are aligned with the UN Regulations, so there’s little or no difference between vehicles built for the Australian market versus the UK market.
US-spec cars are not allowed in the UK; people in the UK cannot import a new car from the USA. Some US (and Canadian) standards are regarded by the UK as functionally equivalent, but not all of them, so invariably there’s a fair amount of conversion work required on a US-spec vehicle before it’s allowed in the UK. This can be very difficult and costly, if it’s even possible.
Here’s the relevant document.
(i.e., people in the UK cannot just import a new car from the USA, register it, and hit the road in it).
Hi Daniel, I had the first year (2001) Corvette C5 ZO6 and registered it in the UK. As the Z06 variant was never homologated for the EU (although “normal” ‘Vettes were and sold through Opel dealers), it required passing a “Single Vehicle Approval” that involved weighing it with a half tank of gas (it came in under 1300kg!) and replacing the lights with Euro spec ones, which I did myself. My ’66 427 C2 was also UK registered – there is a huge US car scene in the UK and there was never a rule that said you have to change to right hand drive (as used to be the case in Australia).
Many cars were also imported and left by US servicemen and some specialized dealers such as Lendrum and Hartman in London sold new vehicles.
..and here you can see the British license plate (and another landmark)…
Note the Euro rear lamps…
Given that the steering wheel is on the wrong side, American cars are very common in the UK. Far more common than Australian cars, if you don’t count the Vauxhall branded ones.
It doesn’t take much driving around to come across RAMs,
Silverados, and Challengers among others. Perhaps conversion parts are more common for those than something like a Malibu that nobody wants, but I’ve also seen Tauruses and the like on UK plates, presumably left behind by an American, and I know of Americans who brought other mundane models to the UK and registered them because they had only recently bought them in the US and despite all advice to the contrary, insisted on bringing them.
As noted, MOT standards are pretty lax. So to say that US spec cars are illegal in the UK is technically correct, but in reality not exactly true either.
It’s very different to the US, which treats a Renault Clio like a nuclear weapon.
Does the UK have a 25 year old rule?
Allowed to import most anything to the US. Just needs to pass local inspections which very significantly from state (nada) to state (up your tail pipe and a whole lot more).
The UK doesn’t have a 25-year rule like the US (nor a 15-year rule like Canada, etc). In the UK, imported vehicles generally have to meet the UK standards—or foreign standards accepted as functionally equivalent—that applied when the vehicle was new. For example, if you look at the requirements for turn signals in the lamps/electrical section 4 of the MoT manual, you’ll find this:
Direction indicators must be amber.
Vehicles first used before 1 September 1965 may have white front indicators and red rear indicators, if the direction indicators are combined with stop lamps or combined with front or rear position lamps.
Vehicles first used before 1 April 1986 do not need to have hazard warning devices.
Vehicles first used on or after 1 April 1986 must be fitted with an amber side repeater indicator on each side.
It’s normal in Britain to take a separate chassis vehicle like a Beetle or a Triumph Herald, and put a different body on it so it looks like a 30s roadster or a 50s Porsche, and it retains the same license plate number, the V5 will say it’s a Beetle or a Herald, and it passes MOT as long as it is roadworthy.
So big wheels and jacked up suspension is no big deal.
This Lomax 223 is a trike on a 2CV chassis. The fact it doesn’t have a Q plate suggests it is still titled as a 2CV, unless (highly unlikely) it was built from all brand new parts. The black plate is illegal though, because it’s post ’73.
This Lomax appears to have a German plate. Presumably it passed TuV somehow?
German TÜV actually allows quite a lot fun stuff, especially concerning older vehicles, as long as it’s executed properly, ie, safe and reliable. Sure, many performance-related accessories need to be certified, but there are work-arounds and scope for loads of DIY projects. It does help to be personally aquanted with one of their inspectors though…
?
Seems like the smart way to avoid getting your bumpers scuffed by careless parkers. Bonus if they don’t leave enough space for you to get out you can simply drive right over them.
Or climb out onto their roof.
Imagine the spray kicking up from those tires, driving behind it in the rain.
Even with that red thing around the door, you’ll still need a step ladder to get in.
Funny how different places have different inspection priorities. Here in Calif, emissions/SMOG is the ultimate. Doesn’t matter if it’s falling apart, if it passes smog, both looking exactly like it came from the factory, and what comes out the tailpipe, it’s good. Back east/south, tailpipe is less important but suspension play and E brakes are more in play. UK/EU are different again. That first pictured pickup truck is extreme even by Calif standards, but wouldn’t be a shocker to see on the road. Headlights, bumpers etc aren’t even a thought, as long as it passes emissions.
While things would be different if I was King, in a way I like the differences.
In California, especially rural areas, these types of jacked up, lifted trucks are common. What isn’t apparent is that they’re often on extremely powerful trucks with incompetent drivers, at the helm of 6-7000lb vehicles. It’s frightening. Lousy handling, insane speed, glacial stopping power and 9 miles per gallon. I think these things should have speed limiters and annual safety inspections. Even better.. special driver’s licenses.
Oh, I’m with you.
I’d add, though, let’s make the drivers take their road test in them.
Ahhh, Yesss, the infamous TUV. It’s designed to rid the country of older vehicles. Older German vehicles that no longer pass the TUV are typically shipped to Africa where they bring top prices because they are still in very usable condition.
Did you know the TUV doesn’t permit the new 2021 Rolls-Royce Lalique crystal Flying lady because it has a small lamp in the base that makes it glow? But they do allow the big Mercedes-Benz car front emblems to glow much brighter! Currently all new Rolls-Royce cars sold in Germany are shipped without the Lalique ornament.
Years ago the University of Michigan did a study of accident and death numbers in states with and without vehicle inspections. The study found the difference was almost nil. The reason why? Most car owners who drove “dangerous” vehicles found a way to drive a vehicle that would not pass inspection, often because they were not able to afford the repairs.
After that report, the state of Michigan decided to stop inspections, and track the results. There was little change, and to this day the state no longer has vehicle inspections.
Maryland has an inspection ONLY when the car changes ownership. I have cars I bought 40 years ago, and once they passed the initial inspection, they were never inspected again. Virginia has a yearly inspection of all vehicles [except for historic class]. Yet Maryland & Virginia accident and death rates are statistically the same [per published DOT info].
I assume the UK has something on the books similar to this Canadian statute. Seems like an open and shut case to me.
“Acts intended to alarm Her Majesty or break public peace.
49. Every one who wilfully, in the presence of Her Majesty,
(a) does an act with intent to alarm Her Majesty or to break the public peace, or
(b) does an act that is intended or is likely to cause bodily harm to Her Majesty,
is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years.”
R.S., c. C-34, s. 49