Another online petition...

i'm afraid a return to the rolling 25 yr tax is not ever going to happen.....because the dvla would go bankrupt. lord montagu gave a interview a while back and this was one of the issues he was talking about and the reasons why it was froze at jan '73.

peeps would be better off lobbying for the 2 yearly mot which would save nearly as much for us retro banger runners.

or should i get my coat

Don't see how it would make the DVLA Bankrupt!!!

My moneys on it being restored (eventually) as a rolling thing, but set to 30 years instead of 25. Then after that loads of anti-old car measures being introduced like the edinburgh city centre one, from which historic vehicles will be exempted.

I remember this too - the number of vehicles that remain on the road after this point and remain on the road climb fantastically, so it'd cost them a small fortune and Joe Public would be due more tax increases somewhere!

I'm worry that if this happened I'd see my XR4i tax become free and my Astra tax double.

Anything thats going to cost the man money will never happen IMHO and there wont be enough people signing the petition to make any difference. I thought the fashion nowadays was to protect and promote minorities?

I'm just an old cynic though.

Petition signed!

Signed and posted on all the forums I use

I am worried about the two year MOT - stuff I get an advise on now will surely be a failure if there isn't another test for two years?! Not sure it would be a saving.

I feel this petition is about more than just hoping to get free road tax again - it is about us classic car folk getting together and letting the government know that we are not a silent few who only use our cars to go to shiney events!!

The main reason it was stopped was because of the increase in the number of cars registered from 1973 onwards

However DVLA have since tightened up on the system and introduced SORN and various other catch all systems to track if cars are still in existance

If you scrap a car a "salvage yard or breaker" has to get the log book from you and notify DVLA etc etc

However - the system couldn't be introduced retrospectively so if you own a vehicle that wasn't taxed before the SORN system was introduced you DO NOT have to SORN it unless it changes hands (in which case the new owner will have to SORN it I think but it might even still not require a SORN)

So anyway slight digression but to the point - all these fringe vehicles are still on their system with registered keepers that they have no contact with unless the submit a change of address when they move

My money is on a huge number of cars long since scrapped but with records on DVLA's Database that are never ever gonna be checked but are "inflating" the number of cars liable to benefit from this "free" Road Tax classification

Hence the resistance from the Chancellor to "expand" the catchment range

Now if I was to look at the potential for lost revenue as a result of extending the time period I would want to see how many cars from that period are actually taxed on the system

ie 1/1/73 to 1/1/74 (increasing "free" Historic class period by 1 year)

Right DVLA you have a great big database my search criteria would be

- Registered between 1/1/73 to 1/1/74

- Not already in "historic class" by virtue of previously establish build date

How many are Taxed at this moment in time???

My money is on very very few

Compared to the probable search criteria used to defend not extending the date

Right DVLA you have a great big database my search criteria would be

- Registered between 1/1/73 to 1/1/74

- How many car still on your database regardless of the fact that you haven't had to establish if the car even exists anymore...........

Typical example of "NOT" asking the "Right" question :lol:

I would guess a lot of 1970's cars have been scrapped between 1997 and the present day, not only through natural wastage, accidents, banger racing etc but also precisely because of their non tax exempt status.

If the DVLA truly believe there are only 2,000 Ford Cortina 4/5s left then, given there were at least 750,000 Cortinas Mk4/5 registered new in the UK, any other non-Mini/MGB/Midget/Beetle (ordinary) cars such as Dolomites, Vivas and Datsuns must be around in pretty small numbers.

I reckon it will be moved forward but fixed at 1980, as that is in line with what most European countries/clubs want as a historic category. As for anything newer than about 1985, forget it....until about 2025!