So...I may have found a car I want to buy and bring to the UK and road register. The cost of adding a horn etc doesn't bother me but anyone got experience of other costs? It's a 2003 model so would only need an MOT to get a vin?? And plate or not? If the car had vat in eu paid from new, would I have to prove that and if so would I not have to pay import duty/vat on it? Plan is to import a race car on a trailer, tweak it, get it road ready, slap a plate on it and then at some point take it to my second home in Sweden (I'm not there enough to just import it to Sweden and do the work there...plus I don't know the costs of registering a race car etc) Anyone?
When you say race car, how extreme are we talking? Has it ever been registered anywhere, or was it just built as a race car? If it's never been registered, you'll have to have an IVA done, which is a pain in the arse, but if it's been registered before, you could just have it swapped to a UK logbook I guess. If it's never been on the road, proving age would be difficult so it would probably end up on a Q plate. That has some stigma, but one of my rally cars is a Q and it doesn't bother me at all. The Most requirements are easier. Out of interest, why do you want to road register a race car?
Thank you! It's never been registered and was built for the trophy cup. I actually have the option of 3 cars...all same status. So if it never had a vin?? Even though it's over 10 years old it would need an iva?? What are we talking cost? And any idea if it would be subject to vat as that would make it expensive to go through. Just fancied being able to drive it on the road, why not being my thought. After a mental road legal sr3 Radical, it can't be as bad as that!
I haven't looked into it that closely so far, but something that might impact one of my projects. My Escort that's on a Q plate (it was re-registered at some point for some reason) has a DVLA issued chassis number I think, rather than a Ford one. It doesn't have a proper Ford chassis plate on the slam panel. I can double check though. I was just looking on the gov.uk site and it isn't very clear is it?! What is a Megane Trophy Cup car like? What sort of Megane? If it's not super modified, I wonder if you would get away without an inspection but, if it's really modified, they might demand it. Some race cars would be a nightmare to register I would think, as I believe the IVA can be fussy about sharp edges and the like. Best bet is to call the DVSA I suppose!
I will find out more about the cars and then do as you suggest. Was hoping I could just get one into the uk on a trailer and put it in the garage while I sort it out. How would the government prove I owed them money on it? Would that be because it had no log book etc. I have the choice of 3 in price order, clio v6 trophy 2003, megane v6 trophy 1999, megane v6 trophy 2005. The Clio looks normal ish but both Megs are mental spaceframed with massive aero and composite bodies :/
Another problem is potential lack of interest from the OEM when it comes to parts and support. There was an interesting article a good few years back about a guy who wanted to convert a Porsche Cup car to road use, Porsche specifically don't want people to convert their factory race cars to road use so he had no end of problems and costs which in the end made it a bit of a nightmare. I bet a Megane trophy would be an incredible track day tool though, the clios do look more tempting, I spotted one before on racecarsdirect and had this same thought as they are much cheaper than late V6 road cars. One would hope that with the much less aggressive bodywork and overhangs the clio could be made into a road car. I don't know what gearbox they run though? I may be of some help, I have been converting my race car back to make it road legal again, partly because I am convinced they have more value that way and I may sell the thing. Things I had to refit includes: horn, side repeaters, hand brake mechanism & rear number plate lights. Car already had heater (for the screen), wipers, rear fogs (used for rain light when racing), driving lamps (but not original pop up headlights), windscreen wipers and rally car style wash/wipe. Refitting the whole handbrake setup was a monumental PITA, only finished setting it up yesterday BTA the handbrake system is a well known pain on that car. Its basically in the same state now as it was back in 2010 and 2011 when it had an MoT but I have also refitted PAS as I got mega fed up with the overly physical drive on track.
I would hope that getting it ready for the road would be straight forward enough (not thought about handbrake though....or reverse gear...sadev 6 speed sequential in all of them), I remember importing cars from Japan and getting them mot ready which isn't exactly the same thing! I think they all have headlights and rear lights, wipers but will need horn, maybe washers, fog lights, handbrake etc. Will definitely give you a shout as I progress. First thing is deciding on the car. Clio is affordable now, older Megane is a bit of a push and the late spec Megane is a bit out of reach (500hp though in a 980kg body!). I don't care about creature comforts, just want it to be road driveable
In terms of handbrake you need to have some form of secondary (mechanical) emergency brake as they test it on the MoT. Many things you will already have on a race car such as 2 forms of rear view mirror (most will have 3 with a huge in car rearview mirror), the other thing many race cars don't have is the means to demist the screen aka interior heater. Need it on rally cars I believe and some series regs are now saying you need one but most of the Porsches I raced against didn't have a heater and subsequently could just mist straight up in the rain. I always kept mine despite the potential to save a stack of weight by binning off the heavy blowers and heater box in the dash (ISTR about 20 Kg total saving). Some of these are solvable with aftermarket rally car stuff such as the little 1kg dash/screen heaters for rally cars, similarly ISTR seeing little add on calipers for a secondary braking system the key issue though is will it be mechanical rather than hydraulic. Less of an issue of course if the race car uses components from its road going cousin such that you can just raid scrappies for compatible parts, my fear with the Renaultsports however is that many of these cars seemed to be bespoke designed purely for racing only. I would definitely be asking for any supporting build sheets or workshop manuals for the cars, some parts may by completely unobtainable already anyways, this is an ongoing issue with historic race cars such as old single seaters/clubman or proto type cars where parts end up having to be custom made. Its a side point but its why when I have looked at that sort of thing (clubmans, classic clubmans in particular) I pretty much discount anything which doesn't say Mallock on it for the simple reason that they still have a factory of sorts up in the midlands that can support the cars. Personally I would love one of these beasties, the clio V6 racers sounded incredible but I think I would just leave the thing as is and trailer it to tracks.
So the hydraulic won't cut it? The car does have a heated screen or at least the switch for one and a heater apparently? I doubt the rear hub assembly would be the same as the road car but could be wrong? So I'd have to get the rears off and someone would have to weld/modify brackets to take handbrake calipers...doesn't sound too terrible but I'd hate adding the weight! I'm torn between getting it, doing all the work and then driving it to track and slowly doing the work whilst trailering it to track. Either way on track it's going to be an absolute weapon. I couldn't drive the Radical (brain wasn't quick enough, balls weren't big enough) but the V6 should be a good fit.
Yes has to be mechanical at the hub end (but could of course be electrically actuated to on, as on many modern cars): http://www.ukmot.com/manual/3.1/Parking-Brake-Control ISTR the MSA putting out a circular on this a few years back as some rally cars had gone to hydraulic secondary and weren't bothering with keeping the mechanical system in a proper fully working state.
I know someone who has a Fiesta rally car. The handbrake cables run from the rear calipers, into the chassis rails and then stop lol
Get yourself onto a kit car forum as everything you have asked they can answer as the IVA is something a self builder has to complete. I use https://locostbuilders.co.uk/forum/ for my bike engine kit car.
