Historic

[Angus]

Hello all I'm restoring a 1973 lightweight on a Q plate tryed to get it registered as historic with DVLA they threw it out with hardly any explanation or advice no help at all any advice welcome Chris young

[removeduser185]

First of all, welcome to the forum. The rules governing the issue of registration plates are extensive, but generally quite clear. Check that your vehicle actually does qualify for an historic plate very carefully first of all. It may not for a number of reasons. If you are sure that yours does, then gather the evidence together. DVLA at the moment are under a great deal of pressure, but, normally, it is possible to phone them and they can usualy be quite helpful.

[longlegslandyman]

removing a q plate used to be impossible but they did change this , you will need to prove the manufacture date think this can be the military b card which can be obtained as a download .you will need to get the vehicle verified through a military vehicle club . The imps do this i think the series landrover club did do this too .You can then apply for a age related number plate which if your vehicle is old enough will then entitle you to get it in the historic category . Some times dvla dont do this altermatically i had to send mine back when i was going to tax it from when they issued me a age related plate from a v registration plate it had from its first registration.
Best give dvla a call they will tell you what forms and evidence you will need to send in .

[diffwhine]

It would also be prudent to assess why it ended up on a Q plate in the beginning? Most MOD cast vehicles get re-registered with plates corresponding to the year of civilian registration. (My 1968 LWT is on an R plate).
Vehicles end up on Q plates for multiple reasons, but if the reason for Q plate allocation is a problem with build date verification, or the vehicle's providence is in question, this will be a struggle.

[danster]

I think at the time it was easier to get a Q plate than trying to sort the year of manufacture out, I think there was also some other reason why it was better but can’t think of it off the top of my head.
My lightweight was on a Q plate I got a heritage certificate the b card and I did a freedom of information request from the mod sent everything off and it was done within 2 weeks.
You need as much information as you can get to prove your right!

[Ludo]

Hello all I'm restoring a 1973 lightweight on a Q plate tryed to get it registered as historic with DVLA they threw it out with hardly any explanation or advice no help at all any advice welcome Chris young

Hi Chris - I'm also restoring a 1973 halftonner at the moment - which month was yours built?

I went through the process of registering mine for the first time with DVLA recently, but I was able to get age related plates for it - I sent in a copy of the B Card, but I also had a certified copy of a factory record from the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust - I think that helped a lot, as it literally states when it left the assembly line.

I also tried to make the submission as simple as possible for them, seeing as they are ridiculously busy atm - I wrote a cover letter, outlined the documents I was submitting and which aspects of my application they related to etc. They have a DVLA chat facility, I would recommend going onto there and getting their agent to spell out everything they need. I did this, and simply sent a copy of the transcript with my application too...

RE: your Q plate, you also need to think about other stuff - for example - do you still have the original engine, or has it had a TDI put in it ? I think some instances of "significantly altered" will push you into Q plate territory.

[sickpup]

There is a belief among many including DVLA that once a Q plate is issued nothing can change it but this is wrong. I have read that it cannot be changed after a year but this is also wrong.

Does your vehicle have clear provenance including chassis plates and stamped chassis numbers? assuming it does then there shouldn't be a problem.

First get a certificate from Gaydon, they hold the factory records for build date and delivery date.
Try and get a copy of the military record from Deepcut if its Ex-Army, Hendon if RAF or contact the Navy Museum in Portsmouth and see of they can help if it's Navy.
Check if your vehicle chassis number is listed in any of the many Land Rover books and if so get a copy and be prepared to send it to DVLA.

Call DVLA and ask how they want you to approach this and submit all of your information.

DVLA may try to tell you that to change the details the vehicle needs to be MOT'd and Taxeed, it doesn't.

Now DVLA may tell you there is nothing they can do to change the plate but this is wrong, they have a statutory duty to keep their records accurate which if they do there is no need to have a Q plate., in fact if the record is accurate it then cannot have a Q plate as it doesn't meet the requirements for one.

Took me 6 months or so to get mine sorted after DVLA changed it to a 3500kg when issuing a new log book. Insisted it had to be MOT'd which it couldn't be due to the wrong MOT class. They kept asking questions but finally gave in and issued it a new N plate.